INFORM - Long Island, New York State DOT

Emilio Sosa

Ph (631) 952-6733

Fax (631) 952-6780

esosa@dot.state.ny.us

10/30/03

INFORM has been operational for 16 years. It started in 1987.

153 Permanent

26 Portable Signs

This depends on where the sign is located. On the freeways, they are either 4 lines by 16 characters or 3 lines by 16 characters.  On the major arterials (at critical diversion points or ramps), they are 1 or 2 lines by 12 or 13 characters.

They currently have 190 centerline miles deployed. They would like to increase this to 340 centerline miles. They have 2 new construction projects in the works. They are both travel time projects.

1. Linear Travel Time Signs - These are roadside static signs that will include a CMS insert panel.  These signs will display travel time to upcoming intersections. The actual signs may include distance to each intersection. The current plan is to deploy 12 of these signs by summer 2004. (See picture)

2.  Diversion Travel Time Signs - These are also roadside static signs that will include a CMS insert panel. These signs will display travel time for a certain destination using different routes. The current plan is to deploy 3 of these signs. (See picture - sign colors not representative of proposed sign)

Data Collection to compute Travel Time - Data that will be used to compute travel time will come from 2 sources. The first data source is the spot speed data from the detectors that exist on the roadways. The other data source is from the TRANSMIT project, which is part of TRANSCOM where data is collected through the EZ pass toll transponders and tags.

Note, the above hybrid CMS/static signs will display travel time information continuously. They will supplement existing CMS, which will not be used to display travel times. Instead, the CMS will include relevant information regarding travel conditions.

Approximately 50% of the signs are deployed on the freeways and the other 50% on major arterials. Specifics to be added...

24/7 Operations: INFORM operates the TMC and the signs 24/7.

Display messages on:

• Travel time (real-time) - currently do not display any travel time.
• Construction - Yes
• Real-time incidents, etc? - Yes

Main purpose is to report traffic information relating to recurring and non-recurring congestion.

Travel Time: None

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Once, they put

AMBER ALERT: 5 messages throughout the state. Locally 2 messages.

Traffic Conditions: They average around 4400 messages a day (both automated and manual)

N/A

N/A

They very rarely tell the driver "what to do". The reasons being that they would like to instrument more miles, and due to legal issues and complications that may arise. The only time they would post a message on diversion or alternate route is when the road is closed or if the road has major delays.

N/A

Sign Types: They have different sign libraries with various syntax with the ability to add new ones anytime to the library.

They do not take into account any environmental conditions.

Traffic: Mostly Commuters. Sometimes, during the summer tourist season, for a couple signs on the tourist route are tailored to provide alternate routes and direction to get to the destination.

Traffic: The messages are automated based on the speed data thresholds. They are also inputted manually by an operator.

Currently the only agency they coordinate with is New York City.

INFORM provides the traffic related information to the local media and cable channels. The media and a 24 hour traffic and weather cable channel get their video feeds. The radio channels receive fax updates every 15 minutes during peak hours and only when an incident occurs during non-peak hours.

Travel Time: For the future Travel time signs, see the picture earlier.

AMBER ALERT: AMBER ALERT- Vehicle Type, License Number and sometimes a phone number to contact.

The operators at the TMC.

N/A

If New York City needs a message posted, they will call INFORM with the details, and the operators will modify it accordingly based on the sign conventions and place it on their signs. INFORM is the clearinghouse for the state. The State Police notifies them of any emergencies and the TMC personnel contact the appropriate state agencies for displaying the information.

Local incidents and traffic situations take priority over the regional ones, unless the regional one is a major traffic related event.

Not really guidelines. But he will send us a VMS messaged document.

No. Their system was installed a while back. Even the new systems will not be using ITS standards because they have to integrate with the legacy system.

Both pre-canned and manual - Situation dependent

The system they operate is a regional system. They are not linked to any other system. Theirs is the largest.

All the feedback received so far has been positive. The commuters especially like the fact that there is information displayed on the signs 24 hours and it is never blank.

N/A

They can operate one, multiple, or a group of them - a variety of options.

Not applicable

New York State DOT - Statewide Regional Areas apart from INFORM

Ed Roberts, NYSDOT

Ph: 518-457-1944

Fax:

E-mail: eroberts@dot.state.ny.us

John Bassett, NYSDOT

Ph:

Fax:

E-mail: jbassett@dot.state.ny.us

11/4/03

Statewide Permanent - 193 (this includes the signs deployed by INFORM)

Portable - 195 (this includes the signs deployed by INFORM)

Vary based on location. Most of them are 3 line 16 character - Some of them are 24 to 28 character.

All the major regions have ITS Strategic Plans - CMS are part of the plans. With the exception of Long Island, most of the regions plan to install or enhance their current deployment over the next 5-10 years.

Located in various regions. Primarily 8 regions including Lower Hudson Valley, downstate, New York City, and Long Island. Regions have anywhere from 3 to 18 signs.

The regions that have TMC's operate 24/7. There are a few exceptions in some regions.

• In the Buffalo area, an independent agency, NITEC (Niagara International Transportation Technology Corporation) controls all the field devices. This agency is a coalition of 16 agencies including City of Niagara on the Canadian side. NITEC operates 24 hours. The agencies that are part of this coalition also have control over the devices. There are currently 15 to 20 signs that are operated by NITEC.
• In the Albany region, the state police are trained and are co-located in the TMC- so they have control if they want to change any messages.
• In another region, the city has reached an agreement with the County Emergency Center, which takes control of the signs after regular operating hours - The County Emergency Center was trained on how to operate the signs and post messages.
• In some of the rural locations, the state police in that region have terminals and controls to post messages.

Display messages on:

• Incident Related Information
• Lane Closures
• Construction
• Weather Advisories
• Amber Alert
• Looking to provide Travel time in the future based on the INFORM model.

They don't provide travel time currently.

Travel Time: - None

Homeland Security/Emergencies: - Once

AMBER ALERT: - 3 times.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: - The one time they provided it, they received the direction from the State Office of Security. They put the Terror Tip Line information with a threat level color. The public got confused and the tip line got flooded with calls. This was up only for 1 day. They took it out the next day immediately.

AMBER ALERT: Make, Model and License Plate (being debated) of the car.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Throughout the State

AMBER ALERT: The State Police has divided the state into a dozen activation areas. Out of the three messages that have been displayed so far, there have been a couple in the NYC metro area and 1 in the Syracuse/Rochester Area.

AMBER ALERT: Have the public tune to local radio stations.

The content of the message is controlled by the policy. For the permanent signs, they usually have the condition on the 1line, and then related information on the next lines. On the portables, they use abbreviations due to limitations.

If its portable, the message is abbreviated.

Mainly targeted towards commuters. When they post special event messages, these are aimed at unfamiliar drivers/tourists.

Mostly manual.

They coordinate with the media in each urban area. They send them e-mails and/or call them.

Will send.

Will send.

The operators. The content of the message is controlled by the policy. They also have some pre-canned messages.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: From the State Office of Security - to the Commissioner - to the Clearinghouse.

AMBER ALERT: State Police sends an e-mail to all the TMC's and INFORM (the clearinghouse). INFORM will contact the appropriate agencies for posting the messages. The messages are displayed for 8 hours, unless they hear from INFORM that it has to be cleared.

INFORM is the clearinghouse for messages related to Amber Alerts. The rest of the messages are coordinated by telephone on an as needed basis.

Incident Related messages always come first.

1.  VMS General Policy

2.  Statewide Amber Alert Policy

Yes - for the new ones and the ones that were acquired 6 months back. Some of the older signs are not NTCIP compliant.

They use manual messages most of the time. They also have template messages that an operator can tailor according to the situation.

No.

Received a mix of suggestions and complaints. Commuters don't like seeing messages that are "general" (use seat belts, etc).

• Some guidelines on what is "nationally" acceptable Amber Alert messages.
• Also some guidance from FHWA on how to tell companies/associations that they can't put messages regarding public service announcements.

Yes.

• Coordination currently exists with NITEC (coordinate with the Ministry of Ontario).
• Downstate, they coordinate with TransCom (telephone call)

Hampton Roads - Virginia DOT

Stephany Hanshaw

Ph: 757-424-9907

Fax: 757-424-9911

s.hanshaw@virginiadot.org

James Mock

Ph: 757-424-9906

Fax: 757-424-9911

James.Mock@VirginiaDOT.org

10/31/03

Received a copy of the Draft VDOT Policy. Each district has the ability to tailor it according to their local conditions.

80 Permanent Signs - Various Manufacturers including Daktronics, Mark IV, LEDStar.

8 Portable - Solar Powered. Cell phone Connectivity for Remote Operation.

They are of different types, flip disk, LED, Hybrid, etc. Most of them are 3 Row 13 Character and the Messages have a maximum of 3 frame capability. They try to keep the messaging to 2 frames.

They want to expand their coverage to 113 centerline miles. The plans are to add 40 more signs over the next 24 months to cover 60 miles of the total 113 miles. These new signs will primarily be installed in the rural areas and cover Interstate I 66. New vendor, Vultron will be providing some of the new signs.

Most of the signs are dedicated to the interstates. The arterial street signs are deployed at the approaches to the interstates. The arterial street signs are not more than a mile away from the interstate access.

They are a TMC and they have 24/7 operations. They are the only controlling agency currently. They are planning to allow the City of Norfolk to have the capability to post messages on specific signs that the TMC is not using. The TMC currently provides video feeds to the City of Norfolk.

Display messages on:

• Motorist Advisory (traffic and construction)
• Lane Control
• HOV reversible Roadway Operations (they have a 8 mile dedicated reversible HOV lane).
• Amber Alerts
• Delays in "minutes"

Travel Time: They don't provide this currently.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Have not used any.

AMBER ALERT: 3 Times

Delay Messages: Daily at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Area.

Delay Time: Currently post delay time in "X" minutes. This is based on visual verification through the video surveillance near the tunnel.

AMBER ALERT: The Virginia State Police contacts the Traffic Emergency Operations Center (TEOC). The TEOC will alert the TMC to post a message. They do not call them Amber Alerts. They call it Child Abduction Alert. They use this term because they do not want to confuse the public in using the color AMBER, which may be construed as a color code for the security "threat levels".

Delay Time: They provide the route.

AMBER ALERT: They provide the vehicle make, model, color, if available. They will not display the license plate due to safety concerns and driver distractions. They will sometimes, put a line to read "tune to local media".

Delay Time: When the delay at the tunnel is more than 30 minutes, the TMC provides alternate routes.

AMBER ALERT: Out of the 3 alerts, one of them was successful, but they are not sure if the CMS message had anything to do with the success.

They use the FHWA Guidelines. They emulate the suggestions made by the guidelines. Prior to the guidelines, there was a lot of discussion on what were the right words to use for structuring messages.

AMBER ALERT: The statewide Amber Alert Policy.

The TMC has pre-designated incident response plans. When an incident occurs, messages are generated automatically using the computer generated software for the response plans. The operator has the ability to change this at any time.

The TMC is very conscious of the messages they display. They have a lot of tourist traffic, so they try and keep the messages more generic rather than route specific.

Mostly automated. When multiple incidents occur, they use manual methods.

They have 2 HAR's. Planning to expand it to 4 more. The messages send to HAR are canned. They currently don't have 511. When they get 511, it will be managed by districts, so they can coordinate it easily.

Will send info.

Delay Time and Motorist Advisories - Operators

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Have to be coordinated with the central office. They have not displayed any messages so far.

AMBER ALERT: The TEOC

AMBER ALERT: The statewide Amber Alert Policy

AMBER ALERT: Coordinate with TEOC

Their main priority is incident management and making sure traffic flows freely. Incident messages take priority.

FHWA Publication - Principles of Message Design - One module in the document titled CMS Message Design.

About half of their current signs are NTCIP Compliant. The new ones will be NTCIP compliant.

Yes.

They are a regional TMC. They currently have a plan to have a continuity of operations during any major emergency situations. This plan has not been deployed...its just a plan currently. This plan will allow the TMC to continue operations remotely.

Would like to apply the actual research (if any has been done) on the field. This includes motorist behavior to certain messages, effectiveness of CMS, etc.

Their main concern is that the motorist should have enough confidence in what they are reading on the messages, especially when providing travel time.

Yes.

Currently coordinate with North Carolina to coordinate any incident related information (through phone call). Do not coordinate often with the State of Maryland unless there is some major construction project that will produce significant delays.

Virginia DOT

Kevin Barron

1221 E. Broad St.

Richmond, VA  23219

1/22/04

This interviewee specified he had very little time, therefore the interview concentrates only on VMS for homeland security.

Travel Time:

Homeland Security/Emergencies: I thought we may have used VMS during the sniper attacks last year, but actually it was only after Sept 11th. We posted the terrorist tip line; a 1-800 number. I believe the FBI received those calls.

AMBER ALERT: 

Homeland Security/Emergencies: After September 11th. There was confusion when the message went up; people called the tip line, thinking they could get information on terrorist activities. Also, a 10 digit number is too bulky for VMS; too much information to be valuable to a motorist.

AMBER ALERT: Child abduction

Homeland Security/Emergencies: The message posting the tip line came from the Governor's office.

AMBER ALERT:

 We have just finished writing our guidelines for VMS in Virginia. There is some text in that document regarding what and how to place messages related to homeland security.

When posting messages related to homeland security, DOT's need to consider: why would you want to alert people in cars about this? You could flash the message on television and radio and reach more people. You have to consider, what information is being posted, to whom is it directed, and why is it effective on VMS? VMS is not a billboard. If there is a reason to communicate with people in cars, what is that reason. There are specific issues with reading VMS; a long or inappropriate message could have negative impact on traffic.

AZ DOT

Manny Agah

602-712-7640

Arizona Dept. of Transportation, Traffic Operations Center

2302 W. Durango St., Phoenix, AZ  85009

Filled out electronically.

None

Urban: 130

Rural: 50

Fiber-optic,alphanumeric character matrix.

Three lines per display.

18 characters per line; 18-in-high character.

Approximately, 10 CMSs are deployed on rural highways annually, with plans to install several CMSs in the Phoenix and Tucson urban areas.

See 2.3 above.

24/7 Operations: Arizona DOT Traffic Operations Center

• Construction prewarning
• During incidents

NA

Travel Time: NA (Do not post TT)

Homeland Security/Emergencies: 3

AMBER ALERT: 4

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Requested by the airport

AMBER ALERT: Statewide

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Urban

AMBER ALERT: Statewide

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Informational purpose

AMBER ALERT: Informational purpose

Homeland Security/Emergencies: To-the-point and clear

AMBER ALERT: a) Alert notification; b) abductor and vehicle information.

AZ DOT uses only one type of CMS throughout the state. Messages are formatted for the existing sign.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: For general motorists

AMBER ALERT: For general motorists

Travel Time:

Homeland Security/Emergencies: By an operator

AMBER ALERT: By an operator

Travel Time:

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Independent at this time.

AMBER ALERT: Independent at this time.

Travel Time:

Homeland Security/Emergencies: AIRPORT INSPECTION

                                           IN PROGRESS

                                           EXPECT DELAYS

AMBER ALERT:    CHILD

                ABDUCTION

                ALERT

                BLUE FORD PICKUP

                LIC # 123 ABC

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Department of Public Safety, AZ DOT, Governor's Office

AMBER ALERT: Department of Public Safety

Homeland Security/Emergencies: As requested by authorities

AMBER ALERT: As requested by authorities

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Work is underway for the AZ DOT to post messages for the City of Phoenix, since the City does not operate 24/7.

AMBER ALERT:

Homeland Security/Emergencies: The CMS closest to the incident obviously receives highest priority; severity of incident.

AMBER ALERT:

Yes.  The guidelines are part of the Traffic Operations Center Manual.

All of the CMSs deployed by AZ DOT are NTCIP compliant.

No.

No.

Occasionally, the public provides some comments.

• Prewarning messages for construction, special events, etc.
• General message formatting.

Yes.

A 24/7 dispatch center in the neighboring state (NV) can be contacted via telephone for posting message on the NV DOT CMS, which is close to AZ border in the event an incident has occurred in AZ.

FHWA

Alan Hansen

602-379-3645

Federal Highway Administration

One Arizona Center, Suite 410

400 E. Van Buren Str.

Phoenix, AZ 85004

January 5, 2004

General: Phoenix has a population of approximately 3 million.

• Arizona DOT (ADOT) - 70
• City of Phoenix - 4
• City of Tucson - 8
• City of Scottsdale - 8
• City of Mesa - 4
• City of Gilbert -  2 

ADOT uses 3 lines of text, 18-inch characters. They put the message on one panel; they don't like to have different pages. The reason for this is they don't feel like the driver should be distracted.

The cities have smaller signs; 2 lines of text in general, except for Scottsdale which uses 3 lines. The cities use paging where ADOT does not.

ADOT is planning to have about 50 more; when they get to 120 they will consider CMS to be fully deployed. 

Almost all the cities are talking about deploying more CMS. Those encompass the AZTech signs as well. Maricopa County DOT (MCDOT) is pushing AZTech when they build a smart corridor. In these instances the sign is deployed by MCDOT but operated by the city in which the sign is located.

ADOT has a heavy concentration in the Phoenix metro area, but signs are scattered throughout the state as well. Official ADOT criteria for sign placement:

• 2 miles before intersections of major routes
• 2 miles before the first exit into a city with 3 or more off ramps
• 2 miles before alternate routes for full roadway closures,
• All interstates within 5 miles of a border or port of entry
• 2 miles before an area of mandatory snow chain usage
• Rest areas: in coordination with adjoining states
• other areas where the districts deem necessary

Cities are mostly trying to deploy CMS on smart corridors, as well as around major sporting event areas like the America West Stadium and Bank One Ballpark. 

Operations: ADOT is the only agency with 24/7 operations; the rest operate during business hours only. ADOT has the ability to operate City of Phoenix signs, so they can be operated 24/7.

To provide permanently located signs that can be programmed remotely to inform the traveling public of:

• Roadway conditions or changes
• Notification of maintenance, construction, accidents, unique road conditions
• Potential adverse weather conditions, road closures
• Suggested alternate routes
• Pollution advisories
• Amber alerts
• Public service announcements

Travel Time: None. All we're doing is testing on one corridor I-17, from Buckeye Road to Peoria Ave.  This is mainly a research project at the moment, currently in Phase I.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Alerting the drivers that if they're going to the airport, there will be vehicle inspection. This is done during Orange alerts.

AMBER ALERT: We have had 3 AMBER alerts.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: During all Orange alerts.

AMBER ALERT: Child abduction.

AMBER ALERT: 200 mile radius of the abduction

AMBER ALERT: To identify the vehicle

3 lines, 18 characters per line. ADOT has specific guidelines as far as word and abbreviation library, order of information given, and amount of information given.

Freeway VMS have 3 lines, 18 characters per. Portable VMS have 3 lines, 10 character per. Freeway VMS can display only 1 page, portable 2 pages.

AMBER ALERT:  The public.

Content is put together by an operator, using specific guidelines stated in the operations manual.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: No other

AMBER ALERT:  The AMBER alert put into the Highway Condition and Reporting System (HCRS), and that automatically goes to the website and 511.

EVENT TRAFFIC

USE SPEEDWAY

OR CONGRESS

CHILD ABDUCTION

RED FORD SUV / LIC XXX-XXX

CALL 911

Page 1:

1-10 EB

RAMP

CLOSED

Page 2:

TONIGHT

AT

7 PM

ADOT has sole responsibility for initiating messages.

Left to the discretion of the TMC operator.

AMBER ALERT: There isn't really coordination for AMBER alerts between ADOT and cities, but there is coordination between ADOT and DPS, as well as a whole group of enforcement agencies that sit on an AMBER alert task force.

Event Priorities:

• Safety-related
• Incidents
• Traffic Management
• Minor Traffic Impacts
• Test Messages
• Public Service Announcements

We have pages of guidelines in our Operations Manual.

NTCIP

Generally pre-formatted messages, with operators filling in details.

All the ADOT signs in the state are linked to the ADOT freeway management system. In addition, through the AZTech server, ADOT has access to VMS that are owned by City of Phoenix. But, that's not the case with all jurisdictions.

There have not been any studies directed specifically at determining how people feel about signs, but there have been studies that have been done that at least touch on it. For instance there is a current study targeting elderly or mature drivers. Some of the questions cover CMS. The feedback is positive. The only negative; people feel like they're not used enough.

Getting CMS formatting standardized is important. How ever you want to lay it out nationally, it should be standard. First line accident, next one is location, 3rd one what to do, it would help to have a national standard. Standards on abbreviations is important. Theoretically under the MUTCD, but not always used. The symbol, there needs to be some discussion.

All three.

Done on an ADOT district level. For example, if there is something going on in Southeast Arizona, there is just a working relationship with the New Mexico people. A lower level working arrangement.

Florida Department of Transportation

Larry Rivera 386-943-5312 and Jennifer Heller 386-943-5322

719 S. Woodland Blvd., FL  32720

11-6-03

Current: Approximately 30

Full matrix and capable of displaying multiple pages of at least three rows of fifteen, 18-inch characters. The DMS is capable of displaying multiple fonts, and flashing, centering, and left or right justifying messages.

Complete the Interstate Roadways

Install on Arterial Roadways for detour routes, evacuation routes and/or special events.

Interstate Roadways and Arterial Roadways

24/7 Operations: FDOT

Display messages on:

• Delay Times
• Construction lanes blocked info
• Real-time incidents lanes blocked info
• Where Congestion Begins and Ends

Travel Time: We use our DMS several times a day.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Have not used them for this, in the past 12 months.

AMBER ALERT: Approximately 10

Travel Time: Congestion, incidents, etc.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: N/A

AMBER ALERT: Child Abducted

Central Florida Region

For Traveler information purposes so drivers can make decisions and be informed.

Only 2 Pages with 3 lines of text. 

Environmental Conditions: There are settings that can be changed to display the DMS Brighter for nighttime or rainy conditions.

Sign Type: We typically use the same type of signs for our roadways. We have some that are for area attractions that display only one or two lines of text.

All types of groups. We keep the descriptions typical of what can be found on Guide Signs.

Operator

There are some automated devices that make suggestions and the operators make the final decision of the content.

Our operations are all in one. Operators for DMS sit next to 511 Operators. All operators view the same information.

Page 1:

Congestion Ahead

XX Miles

X Min Delay

Page 2:

Congestion Ahead

SR 50 to

Lee Rd.

Incident Related:

Page 1:

Accident Ahead

XX Miles

X Min Delay

Page 2:

Accident Ahead

At Lee Rd.

Lt Lane Blcoked

Combined:

Page 1

Accident Ahead

At Lee Rd.

Lt. Lane Blocked

Page 2:

Congestion Ahead

XX Miles

X Min Delay

Or

Page 2:

Congestion Ahead

SR 50 to Lee Rd.

X Min Delay

Typical Congestion and Incident Messages are determined by the Operators.  They do not need authorization to display messages.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Coordinated by FDOT, Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)

AMBER ALERT: FDLE

Typical Congestion and Incident Messages are determined, posted, updated and terminated by the Operators.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Coordinated by FDOT, Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)

AMBER ALERT: FDLE

We keep lists with contact information on individuals who need to be notified for certain situations. These contact lists include way to contact someone 24 hours a day.

Typical Congestion and Incident Messages are prioritized by the Operators. If there is a question on which message to display, they contact the Operations Manager for guidance.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: This would be a coordinated by FDOT, Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).

AMBER ALERT: This takes priority. When the amber alert is over, we go back to messages needed.

Yes.

Some.

Yes, then modified to fit the situation.

Yes.

Not recently.

Not at this time.

Regional Groups

N/A

Illinois DOT - Traffic Systems Center

1. Scott Lee - IDOT ITS Technical Coordinator, Gateway Project Manager.

(847)-705-4800

E-mail: leesg@nt.dot.state.il.us

2. Jeff Galas - IDOT Traffic Systems Center

 708-524-2145

E-mail: GalasJM@nt.dot.state.il.us

120 West Center Court

Schaumburg, IL 60195

1/14/2004

Main Focus w/ Jeff Galas. Additional Information from Scott Lee.

22 existing. By the end of February, they will have 26 signs and by the end of the construction year, they will have one more sign. Total of 27 by the end of this year.

Mainly 3 line x 20 and a couple that are 3 line x 21 chars. No scrolling. They are capable of 4 phases but they only use 2 most of the times.

The Gateway System will look at a more robust way to integrate the messaging and interagency requests in a more automated fashion. They currently have 37 locations identified on a map of which they will have 22 existing currently.

They are deployed on a 25 mile radius of downtown Chicago. They are all on the expressways and are a combination of outbound and inbound freeways.

Regular 5am-7pm Traffic System Center Operations.

24/7 Operations - by the dispatch center at the headquarters and an unmanned automatic computer.

Display messages on:

• Travel time (real-time) - they started displaying travel time only a month back
• Congestion Limits - This is what they used to display before they switched to travel times. They do not display the congestion limits currently.
• Real-time Incidents - Only when the incidents affect any of the lanes and they have lane closures due to the incident. If the incident is on the shoulder or if it's a stalled vehicle they do not post any messages on it.
• Roadway Construction - Lane closures, road work, etc.
• Weather Conditions affecting traffic

The Secretary of Transportation (Illinois) told the DOT to post travel time messages. This was mainly due to the fact that the Illinois Toll Authority has been posting travel times on their signs using their toll plazas and probe vehicles. The DOT is using their 2400 loop detectors and their ATMS system to generate the travel time information using algorithms. To calculate travel time, they cap off the segment speed at 55 miles per hour and use segments no longer than 5 miles. The Toll Authority is using segments of 10 to 15 miles and are currently working on improving their algorithms to provide accurate travel times.

Travel Time: Continuous for the past 1 month

Homeland Security: None so far

AMBER ALERT: 5 or 6 times

Travel Time: Default

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Have not posted so far.

AMBER ALERT: Child Abduction

Travel Time: Currently 3 of the 7 expressways post travel times. They are working on the algorithm for the remaining freeways and should have them by the end of this month.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Entire system

AMBER ALERT: Entire system

Travel Time: Information to avoid road rage, hopefully use diversion routes if the travel times are longer.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Stay out of downtown or the specified area.

AMBER ALERT: Help find abducted child.

Travel Time: Minimize phases, staff input and external input on formats. Try and provide it for key landmarks and interchanges.

Homeland Security/Emergencies: None posted so far

AMBER ALERT: 2 Phase message. 1st phase flashes for 2 seconds and reads "Child Abduction". 2nd Phase contains the car make, model, license plate (If known) and Call 911.

Same for all.

Travel Time: Focus on Commuters, cover non-commuters when space and readability permit

Homeland Security/Emergencies: For all groups of travelers

AMBER ALERT: For all travelers.

Travel Time: Automated

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Operator

AMBER ALERT: Pre-canned Message from the Library

Travel Time: Efforts to maintain general consistency with other data sources.  The travel times are provided on the HAR, 800 dial in number, web page, and media.

AMBER ALERT: The State Police sends the information to central headquarters.

Travel Time: Travel time to (1st Line) Downtown XX minutes, Sometimes Via Express XX minutes, Via Local XX minutes.

AMBER ALERT: Child Abduction (1st line), Make, model, color, license plate of car, and contact 911 (2nd line)

Will try and send some pictures.

Travel Time: Computer - Automated

Homeland Security/Emergencies: Traffic Systems center during regular hours and the dispatch center during other hours.

AMBER ALERT: The Illinois State Police sends an e-mail alert or fax with the information and passes it through the central headquarters and everyone gets the message to post it on the signs.