| Connecting The DOTs
by Kirk Steudle
Connected technologies and
IoT must be leveraged for
the safety of all road users
“Connected technologies
and IoT are having
a significant impact
on advancing
transportation control”
urban response time is seven minutes
(JAMA 2017).
How can we increase safety in this
conundrum? And, doing so without
completely overhauling our infrastructure?
This is where I see technology making
a huge difference. We need to leverage
the intelligence of connected mobility
and the ability of IoT to integrate systems
to create interoperative solutions. In doing
so, we can maximize infrastructure
investments.
Most cities use at least a couple
of different independent systems for
dispatch, priority and GPS between
emergency services, transit, and traffic
control. We need to integrate these
different and varying systems into
an interoperable solution that not only
increases safety for all roadway users
but reduces response times for emergency
services by prioritizing responses and
routes. Until next time, travel safe.
Kirk Steudle is senior vice president of Econolite
and former director of Michigan DOT. He can be
reached at KSteudle@econolite.com
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com 051
The convergence of
connected mobility
and IoT is critical to
the viability of a Smart City and nearly
every relevant initiative, program, and
committee, cites transportation as the
main or one of the top priorities for
becoming one. This is because they
require an efficient and sustainable
transportation network to support the
needs, as well as the safety, of its citizens.
Fortunately, connected technologies
and IoT are having a significant impact
on advancing transportation control
and the infrastructure systems required
to support them. This is providing the
means for ultra-efficient transportation
(see my last column) that can have a
profound effect on safety by reducing
traffic collisions and reducing emergency
response times.
The new dimensions of data provided
by connectivity are opening a new world
of possibilities for forward-looking
municipal planners to further enhance
safety, particularly for emergency services.
Where IoT can be most influential is in
integrating independent connected
systems and maximizing digital
infrastructure into interoperative solutions
and automation that improves emergency
traffic management.
One of the sobering statistics at the
convergence of transportation planning
and emergency services is that the traffic
collision death rate is four times greater
for emergency response medical personnel
than for all other occupations in the US,
according to NHTSA’s 20-year study of
ambulance crashes.
Moreover, in these collisions, 63% of
the fatalities were the occupant of another
vehicle. It’s a dire issue that has its roots
in traffic management. As urban traffic
congestion increases, I’m afraid that this
statistic could get worse.
Adding to the problem, municipalities
are under constant pressure to increase
emergency response times. The Healthy
People 2010, a broad federal initiative
aimed at alleviating major preventable
threats to American’s health, urges to
“increase the proportion of people who
can be reached within five minutes in
urban areas,” while the current average
November/December 2019 Traffic Technology International
Left: 2DRoad weather
station
Far left: The 2DRoad has
a 4,096 pixel resolution
Below left: The MetSalt
Sensor
Below:MetRoad Mobile
measures in real time
to collect data with high spatial
resolution in real-time and to
send them to the superior RWIS.
In the RWIS, the combined
information from 2DRoad,
MetSalt, and MetRoad Mobile
form a comprehensive and
reliable data input into road
weather forecasting models.
Where the 2DRoad with MetSalt
are a source of truth for the
entire detection site, MetRoad
Mobile measures in real time all
that is happening between these
sites, thus delivering the full
picture of the entire road
network and enabling accurate,
timely, and efficient Winter
Road Maintenance operations.
Cross believes that
MetSense’s products will be
heavily represented in future
RWIS with a key focus on road
surface temperature, status,
and freezing point conditions.
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