ITE, in a partnership with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), conducted a successful one day workshop Prioritizing Transit in a Connected Vehicle World on Monday, March 19th in Fort Worth, TX. Over 50 traffic engineering and transit professionals participated in this sold out event which included presentations from industry experts across the country. The workshop provided an excellent overview of the U.S. DOT Connected Vehicle (CV) initiative and highlighted of the barriers associated with implementation and maintenance of transit signal priority projects.
Attendees also learned how the federal CV program may impact future projects resulting in increased safety, efficiency, and improved transportation systems.
ITE, FTA, and APTA will be partnering to conduct a second workshop in conjunction with the ITE 2012 Annual Meeting and Exhibit in Atlanta, GA on Tuesday, August 14th, 2012. Background information follows.
Transit signal priority offers transportation agencies
an opportunity to make public transit faster, more reliable, and competitive
with other modes. The capital costs of a signal priority project are modest
compared with the lifetime savings associated with their implementation. There
are several unquantifiable savings associated with their deployment including
reduced pavement wear, fewer emissions, and lower vehicle maintenance costs
associated with elimination of stops at signalized intersections.
The implementation of transit signal priority has been
impacted by the ability of agencies to invest in technology that works
cooperatively between transit and traffic systems. A common concern related to
traffic congestion can be addressed by limiting the application of priority
during the peak hour. The use of the Connected Vehicle (CV) technology platform
will allow for growth, expandability, and incorporation of newly evolving
technologies that will make transit signal priority more effective and easier to
maintain.