American Association of
State Highway and Transportation Officials
Special Committee on
Research and Innovation
FY2023 NCHRP PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Problem Number:
2023-G-29
Problem Title
Drivers
of Change and Their Impacts on Traffic Monitoring Program Management
Background Information And Need For Research
The
transportation industry is rapidly evolving, especially as it pertains to data
and technology. Trends that affect
planning and operations for transportation agencies fall into four categories:
social, environmental, technology and data analytics. The latter two are most influential as they
pertain to traffic data collection/analysis programs at state DOTs and other
transportation agencies
Trends
such as connected vehicles, probe-based data, artificial intelligence/machine
learning and data platforms all have the potential to affect traffic monitoring
programs from collection, analysis, and visualization to distribution of
data. They are, therefore, considered drivers of change for the industry. Key questions are: How will these trends
affect the traditional methods for traffic monitoring programs today and in the
future? How will the trends become
drivers of change for traffic monitoring programs? Will more or different
resources be needed to address these drivers?
How can state DOTs and other traffic data agencies benefit from
collaboration and joint consideration of the drivers and their impacts? How can traffic monitoring program owners
benefit from increased collaboration with others within and external to their
organization including the private sector, i.e., OEMs and data providers?
This
research will answer these questions and prepare traffic monitoring program
managers and staff with tools and opportunities for collaboration that
addresses the impacts of drivers of change on traffic programs in a productive
way leveraging new opportunities and saving resources where possible.
This
research statement is directly relevant to the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Committee on Data Management and
Analytics. Per their website The Committee on Data Management and Analytics
addresses the collection, procurement, processing, analysis, reporting, and
sharing of transportation data. The Committee on Data Management and Analytics
is dedicated to addressing issues related to knowledge, expertise, resources
and tools needed by state DOTs to implement a robust data management and
analytics program within their agencies.
Relevant committee Strategic Plan goals include:
GOAL 3
Lead in transportation data standardization
efforts. (AASHTO Goal 2).
GOAL 5
Support member departments in
achieving best data practices. (AASHTO Goals 1, 2, 3, and 4).
GOAL 4
Support both member agencies
decision-making data and analytics needs, and the Board of Directors needs on policy,
program, regulations, and guidance related to data management and analytics
(AASHTO Goals 1 and 3).
Research
questions to be addressed include:
1. What are the pertinent trends and
drivers of change for traffic monitoring programs as they address societal,
environmental, technological, analytical and data collection issues?
2. How does each trend result in a driver
of change that impacts traffic monitoring programs across collection,
analysis, reporting, distribution, and program management?
3. What are some collaboration, technical,
process, and technology methods to address the impacts?
4. How can state DOTs and other traffic
monitoring professionals be prepared to leverage the drivers of change
(positive and negative) to obtain meaningful traffic data that continue to meet
current and future customer needs?
5. What are recommendations for future
study?
Literature Search Summary
At least
two studies , examined related topics
pertaining to specific transportation data trends. There are also several articles listing
recent trends in transportation. The
topic of drivers of change pertaining to traffic monitoring programs is
addressed in Advancing Highway Traffic Monitoring Through Strategic Research
(Transportation Research Circular E-C227).
However,
a comprehensive and timely report has not been developed to explore current
trends and impacts on traffic monitoring programs, and to provide guidance on
how state DOT traffic managers can prepare for the future. Therefore, a review of existing literature
will be conducted and summarized in a best practice, lessons learned, and
current state of the practice evaluation document.
Research Objective
The
expected final product will be reports consisting of: (1) The research and
analysis of the identified drivers of change. (2) Guidelines to assist state
DOT and other agency traffic monitoring staff and managers in applying
techniques and tools to overcome obstacles and leverage opportunities for
improved traffic monitoring programs. (3) Suggestions for FHWA Traffic
Monitoring Guide (TMG) changes to accommodate the drivers of change. These findings will also be summarized in a
final report that will moreover include the procedures used in the study.
The tasks
to be conducted are:
1. Review Advancing Highway Traffic
Monitoring Through Strategic Research (Transportation Research Circular E-C227)
to identify specific trends and drivers of change as they pertain to Traffic
Monitoring Program Management, Continuous Count Traffic Programs, Short
Duration Traffic Count Programs, Weigh in Motion, Managing Large Traffic
Datasets, Traffic Monitoring and Performance Measures, Data Quality and
Equipment Calibration.
2. Identify, categorize, and explain
trends and drivers of change. Examples
include:
a. Traffic Data Related: improved traffic
detection technologies; increased and changing demand for traffic data and more
diverse models for data acquisition; applications of alternative data sources
in traffic monitoring; improving data quality through process documentation;
data sharing within and beyond a traditional traffic monitoring program.
b. Data Analytics: data management and
visualization capacity; Cloud-Based Transportation Management Systems; Location
of processing (edge versus cloud); Predictive analytics; AI/ML; Video
analytics; Data Governance.
c. Technology/Transportation: continued
development and adoption of connected and automated vehicles and availability
of data; Data Platforms; Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
d. Environmental and Social:
Sustainability; Equity; Damaged Infrastructure; Working from anywhere.
e. Resource availability: Constrained
resources for research and funding.
3. Determine impacts on current and future
traffic monitoring programs
4. Identify business processes that may
need to be changed to accommodate the drivers of change.
5. Identify and summarize possible changes
to business processes to overcome, accommodate, or leverage impacts of change
drivers.
6. Obtain feedback from the traffic monitoring
community and other stakeholders (agencies across the nation that include city,
county, state, federal, and private entity partners.)
7. Identify and summarize possible changes
to FHWA TMG to overcome, accommodate or leverage impacts of change drivers.
8. Prepare a final report documenting the
results of this study that will include information pertaining to all of the
above objectives and other pertinent results of the project.
Urgency and Potential Benefits
This need
was first identified by the TRB Traffic Monitoring Committee ACP70 in 2016 and
partially documented in Transportation Research Circular E-C227 (2017). The ACP70 Research Working Group examined the
issue further and recommended the topic for future research.
This
issue affects traffic monitoring programs in all state DOTs and FHWA. The impacts of not performing this research
include loss of opportunity to leverage new technology and data and potential
to spend unnecessary resources where leveraging impacts of change drivers can
be accomplished.
Those
benefiting from this research include state, county, MPO, and city traffic
program managers; signal operating agencies; and the public at large (due to
resource saving and increased safety and mobility due to improved data and decision-making).
Implementation Considerations
The
following state DOT offices will be involved in implementing the results of
this research: Planning, Programming, Traffic Operations, Transportation System
Management and Operations (TSM&O), and Design. FHWA will also be impacted as revisions to
the FHWA TMG will be discussed.
States
will be able to implement the research by adopting lessons learned from other
entities and applying the suggestions. Implementation will be supported with
communication methods such as webinars, training, and peer exchanges. The
AASHTO Committee on Data Management and Analytics will be a key benefactor of
these results.
Recommended Research Funding and Research
Period
Funding
Requested: $325,000, Research Period: 18 months.
Problem Statement Author(S): For each author,
provide their name, affiliation, email address and phone.
Anita Vandervalk, Iteris, Inc., (850)
570-5906, apv@iteris.com
Liz Stolz, Marlin Engineering, (303)
369-5570, estolz@marlinengineering.com
Lawrence Klein, Klein &
Associates, (714) 356-2275, larry@laklein.com
Potential Panel Members: For each panel
member, provide their name, affiliation, email address and phone.
Anita Vandervalk, Iteris, Inc., (850)
570-5906, apv@iteris.com
Wenling Chen, Virginia Department of
Transportation, (804) 225-3123, Wenling.Chen@VDOT.Virginia.gov
Person Submitting The Problem Statement: Name, affiliation,
email address and phone.
Kent L. Taylor, NCDOT,
kltaylor@ncot.gov , (919) 345-9829