Befitting its position as the world’s high-tech hub, the San Francisco Bay Area is harnessing its information processing prowess to manage congestion in a nine-county territory that covers more than 7,000 sq miles, includes more than 1,400 miles of highways and some 20,000 miles of local streets and roads, is home to 7 million people and where more than 80% of all trips are taken by car or truck.
Leading the way toward solutions to the regional mobility challenge is the Metropolitan Transportation Commission makeup (MTC), whose 19 members also the Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (MTC-SAFE) and the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA). In each of its incarnations, MTC works to ensure not only that the myriad pieces of the Bay Area transportation system work as efficiently as possible but that these components mesh smoothly to create a unified network.
“Bay Area traffic management is a job that stretches across more than 100 different jurisdictions,” explained MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger. “So MTC has to work in concert with many other agencies. To squeeze more efficiency out of the state highway system, we work closely with the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans to coordinate our agencies’ efforts, make the best use of our resources and capitalize on advances in technology.”
Success in the daily battle against congestion requires motorists to make smart choices about when and where they drive or even whether to drive at all. Among the newest weapons in the Bay Area drivers’ arsenal is the 511 Driving Times service, which taps data from FasTrak electronic toll collection transponders—as well as constantly updated loop detector information from Caltrans—to tell motorists the current travel time between cities or landmarks on the Bay Are freeway network. 511 Driving Times also informs travelers of any current incidents along the route.
To identify origin and destination points, callers can say the name of cities, such as “San Francisco” or “Oakland”; landmarks such as “Bay Bridge Toll Plaza” or “SBC Park”; or highways such as “U.S. 101” or “I-80.” For larger cities, the automated operator prompts callers to refine their starting and ending points for requested locations if they so desire. These points include exits and highway junctions. Callers can always ask for “help” to get a list of options. The system also provides an route and its current. The drive time if an alternative is available.
Naming the time
511 Driving Times, which debuted in March 2004 on three key freeway segments and is being expanded in phases regionwide, is among several features that MTC has added to the Bay Area’s award-winning 5-1-1 system since its launch in late 2002. Developed through a partnership between MTC, Caltrans, the CHP and dozens of the region’s public transit and paratransit providers, the toll-free 5-1-1 system delivers up-to-the-minute, on-demand information—via phone at 5-1-1 or on the web at www.511.org—for drivers, car—pool ers, transit riders and bicyclists throughout the region.
Taking its place alongside 4-1-1 and 9-1-1, the toll-free 5-1-1 phone service features a state-of-the-art, voice-activated system for hands-free convenience. In addition to current driving times, callers can get the most current reports on road conditions and traffic incidents for the precise routes they travel; route, fare and schedule information from nearly three dozen public and private transit operators, 20 providers of paratransit services for elderly and disabled riders and several transit agencies in adjoining regions; plus information about car pooling, van pooling and bicycling options.
News about road construction, accidents, stalls or other incidents is constantly updated using sources such as Caltrans’ Traffic Operations System and the CHP’s computer-aided dispatch system. The nerve center of the 5-1-1 system is the MTC-funded 511 Traveler Information Center, which is tied in to the adjacent Caltrans Transportation Management Center (TMC) in downtown Oakland. The TMC also has been used by local TV stations to supplement their morning and evening traffic reports.
Data collection and dissemination—as well as marketing—for the Bay Area 5-1-1 system is handled by PB Farradyne Inc. under an innovative design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM) contract managed by MTC. Terms of the six-year contract give PB Farradyne incentives for meeting data quality, system usage and customer satisfaction goals. This arrangement spurs continuous improvement of the 5-1-1 system.
The 511 Driving Times service is fueled by some 400,000 FasTrak transponders and a network of overhead electronic readers. By tracking transponders as they pass successive readers, the system computes the average speed and travel time for each segment. To ensure privacy, each FasTrak transponder’s identification number is encrypted before any other information is processed, and the data are discarded every day.
Going fast
FasTrak, of course, plays a far more visible role in the Bay Area’s mobility drive by allowing motorists to drive through the toll plazas at each of the region’s eight toll bridges without having to stop and pay cash. During peak hours, dedicated FasTrak-only lanes accommodate more than twice as many vehicles as lanes staffed by toll collectors.
“FasTrak usage has surged over the past year,” noted Rod McMillan, MTC’s manager of Bridge and Highway Operations. “A temporary $1 toll discount that was in effect during the summer and fall of 2004 was a huge factor, and the growth trend has continued as drivers sign up for FasTrak to take advantage of the speed and convenience of electronic tolling.”
MTC expects enrollment to accelerate this summer as the MTC launches more dedicated FasTrak lanes on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, unveils a new website to make enrollment easier and consolidates Bay Area FasTrak operations into a unified regional program. FasTrak previously was administered through two separate customer service centers: one for the Golden Gate Bridge and the other for the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges.
Staying clear
Since up to half the congestion on Bay Area freeways can be attributed to accidents, stalls or other incidents, a quick response to roadway emergencies is critical to keeping the traffic moving. Jointly managed by MTC, Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol, the Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is a fleet of some 80 tow trucks and auxiliary vehicles representing the advance force in the Bay Area’s battle against congestion.
The FSP patrols more than 450 miles of the most congested freeways in the region, primarily during commute hours but also on Sunday afternoons, helping motorists with car trouble (free of charge), quickly clearing accidents and removing debris from the roadway. FSP units stop an average of more than 11,000 times a month and consistently receive high marks from motorists. An average of 95% of travelers assisted by the FSP deem the service “excellent,” the highest rating on the survey forms motorists fill out.
On the job around the clock is the Bay Area’s network of yellow roadside call boxes, which automatically connect callers with dispatchers who can summon help in case of emergency. Because the proliferation of personal cell phones has led to a steady decline in the usage of call boxes, MTC adopted a strategic plan to streamline the 16-year-old call box network. Over the next few years, the network will shrink to about 2,300 call boxes from a peak of some 3,500 boxes in 2002. Increasing the distance between many call boxes to one mile (from the original intervals of a quarter-mile or half-mile) will save about $4 million in maintenance costs over five years. These savings will be used to finance upgrades in the remaining backbone network. These include converting the cellular systems from analog to digital and improving access for hearing-impaired and physically challenged motorists.
The smart thing to do
MTC’s traffic management responsibilities stretch beyond the freeway shoulder to parallel arterials, where the Smart Corridors initiative uses advanced technology to help cities and counties fine-tune traffic flow. MTC is teaming with local authorities to deploy these intelligent transportation systems in San Francisco; the Silicon Valley; along I-80 and I-880 and adjacent thoroughfares in Alameda and Contra Costa counties; and along the I-580 corridor through Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore.
What makes a corridor smart? It starts with a combination of closed-circuit TV cameras (to give cities and counties the ability to track conditions), plus changeable message signs or other devices (to share this information with drivers). By using real-time data to change traffic signal timing, transportation engineers can boost a corridor’s IQ and better manage traffic flows. Other tools used by MTC and its partners include changeable signs that can direct travelers toward underused facilities and away from overcrowded ones, greatly enhancing the efficiency and overall carrying capacity of the corridor.
With the Bay Area projected to add 1 million more residents and a million more jobs over the next 25 years, managing traffic will be no small task. But the myriad forces MTC and its partners have marshaled to fight congestion show the region is ready to take up the challenge. TME
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