MEETING MINUTES
for the
1997 Annual Meeting of TRB Committee A3A18:
Traffic Signal Systems
January 13, 1997
Delaware Room A, 2:00 - 5:00 PM (Afternoon Session)
7:30 - 9:45 PM (Evening Session)
Washington Sheraton Hotel, Washington, DC
Chairman Alberto Santiago opened the meeting at 2:00 PM and welcomed everyone. After a round of self-introductions, Mr. Santiago made announcements regarding the conference sessions sponsored by the Committee, meeting agenda, and the appointment of Ajay Rathi as the secretary of the committee.
Chairman Santiago then discussed the TRB's call for Distinguished Lectureship nominations. The areas of traffic operations, safety, and maintenance (Group 3) have the responsibility for selecting the recipient of this prestigious award for the 1998 Annual Meeting. Committees, including A3A18, are requested to provide their nomination packages by February 20, 1997. Chairman Santiago stated that this topic will be discussed during the evening session and he hoped to have some recommendations from the Committee membership.
Chairman Santiago asked for the approval of the minutes of the mid-year meeting which was held in Boston on June 5-6, 1996. The minutes were mailed to the committee members on December 19, 1996 along with the preliminary agenda for the 1997 Annual Meeting. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Chairman Santiago then gave an update on the Committee membership. He reported that this was the year that the Committee must update its roster and replace as much as a third of its membership per TRB guidelines. A task force was appointed by the Committee at the mid-year meeting in Boston in June 1996. Chairman Santiago reported that he will forward the recommendations to the TRB based on the suggestions from the task force. TRB will be officially notifying the members of their appointments starting which will become effective February 1, 1997 subject, of course, to the individual's acceptance.
Mr. Richard Cunard, TRB Staff Representative, presented the TRB Staff Report. Among the key points noted by Mr. Cunard were:
For the 1997 Annual Meeting, Committee A3A18 sponsored the following paper sessions:
There were no invited speakers for the Committee meeting.
Reports were given by the FHWA staff and TRB/ITE/ITS committee liaisons. Task Force and Subcommittee reports were also presented. Perry Kent discussed the Vehicle Detector Clearinghouse (VDC) study and Rick Denney of the Viggen Corporation provided a briefing on the National Transportation Communications for ITS Protocol (NTCIP) effort. Rick provided a broad overview of the NTCIP effort covering the context, history, status, and the on-going work on the Exerciser software. John Kluga (Reno A&E) presented information on a Dual Channel Inductive Loop Vehicle Detector manufactured by his company. Several written reports and handouts were provided as a supplement to the oral reports. Included in Attachment 3 are the copies of the all reports provided.
Highlights for these presentations include the following:
FHWA Report:
Raj Ghaman (FHWA) discussed the agency's plans for updating the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). He indicated that the FHWA intends to publish a year 2000 version in June 1996. Jim Clark (FHWA) described the on-going FHWA funded activities on the RT-TRACS (Real-Time Traffic Adaptive Control Systems) projects including the planned tests that are or will be conducted in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and at other sites. Jim Clark also commented on the status of the "surface street incident detection systems" project and the FY97 planned project work on the ramp metering systems. John McCracken (FHWA) noted the availability of the Traffic Control Systems Handbook, a copy of which was sent to Committee members after the TRB meeting.
Task Force/Subcommittee Reports:
Paper Review Coordination: Ajay Rathi reported that a total of 22 papers were submitted for consideration by the Committee, of which 10 were selected for presentation during the Annual Meeting and 6 are being considered for subsequent publication in the Transportation Research Record series. Regarding paper award recommendation, Ajay said that one paper is being considered for award. Ajay thanked the Committee members and friends for their timely help with the paper review process. Ajay commented on the plans for the next year where the Committee intends to solicit papers on specific topics of interest as well as continue to review the papers submitted through the normal TRB process. A detailed report is attached.
Advanced Traffic Controller (ATC): Al Kosik provided a status report covering four items: 2070 ATC Steering Group, ITS Cabinet, Caltrans 2070 Specifications, and 2070 ATC Software Partnerships. Al proposed that the Task Force be dissolved. Al will continue to provide the status report to the Committee. Chairman Santiago concluded the discussion by stating that the task forces/subcommittees structure will be discussed during the evening session.
Operations and Maintenance (O&M): Bob DeSanto discussed the proposal prepared by the O&M subcommittee, which focused on the need to upgrade, operate, and maintain traffic control signals and systems. This led to a lively discussion about the federal and state/local roles in the operations/maintenance and funding issues and the impact of rapidly evolving and advancing technologies. Bob requested the comments of the Committee members on the draft proposal (attached).
Ed Rowe moved the following motion to be sent to ITE:
The Traffic Signal Systems Committee A3A18 of TRB supports the concept of greater flexibility in the provision of ISTEA funds for the operations and maintenance of traffic signal systems.
The motion was seconded and carried.
Chairman Santiago asked Bob and his group to develop the proposal further (based on the comments from the Committee members) so it is in a format suitable for transmission to the FHWA, as a problem statement submitted by the Committee. Bob agreed to provide an update during the mid-year meeting. Bob also asked for additional help with the subcommittee activity and the task in hand. Dave Powell, Les Kelman, and Herman Haenel agreed to participate in the subcommittee activities.
Traffic Models: Charlie Wallace reported that the work on developing the first draft of a circular on traffic operations models is progressing but has been delayed because of other commitments of the key members of the writing team. Charlie mentioned other related efforts, including the ITE's Transportation Software Developers' Tasks Force (TSDTF) and the FHWA-sponsored Traffic Management Data Dictionary (TMDD) project. Charlie noted that Transyt-7F release 8 is ready.
Liaison Reports:
Freeway Operations: Jeff Purdy reported on ITMS-related activities of the TRB committee on Freeway Operations, including the panel discussion at ITE in lieu of the workshop. Jeff mentioned that the focus of current ITMS activities is on the integration of the systems (technical) and seems to have lesser emphasis on integration of "jurisdictions." Jeff also discussed the Emergency Management Systems user service in ITS and the lessons learned for ITMS applications.
Traffic Flow Theory: Rick Denney reported that the Special Report on Traffic Flow Theory will be published by the FHWA in summer of 1997.
Transportation Systems Management: Feng-Bor Lin described the five sessions sponsored by the Committee during the 1997 Annual Meeting (see attached report).
ITS-TRB/ITE/ITSA: Ed Rowe noted the key points from his written report (attached) on the ITS Committee of TRB and the activities of ITS-America and ITE committees. Ed commented that these committees need more participation and representation in the areas of (a) standards, (b) O&M, (c) TMC users, and (d) institutional issues.
Highway Capacity and Quality of Service: Charlie Wallace reported that 1997 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) will likely be ready by fall 1997 and released by the 1998 Annual Meeting. The 1997 HCM will utilize metric units. Chapter 9 (Signalized Intersections) has been rewritten extensively. The MS Windows-based Highway Capacity Software (HCS) for the 1997 HCM will also be ready by fall 1997. Charlie also described the schedule for the year 2000 HCM/HCS and the associated utilities, including the planned training/tutorial software on CD-ROM.
Artificial Intelligence: Edmond Chang reported on the three sessions sponsored by the TRB's AI and Expert Systems Committee (A5008) for the 1997 Annual Meeting.
The afternoon session adjourned at 5:15 P.M.
Chairman Santiago opened the meeting at 7:05 P.M. and welcomed everyone. He distributed the attendance roster. After a round of self-introductions, Mr. Santiago outlined the agenda for the evening session and asked for any comments and suggestions. He noted that the member reports, originally planned for the afternoon session, would be presented in this session. No other changes were suggested to the agenda.
Old Business:
Brainstorming Report: Herman Haenel presented the report on behalf of Don Dey, who could not attend the meeting due to medical problems. Herman reported that a draft report, summarizing the discussions of the 1995 mid-year meeting in Seattle, should be available shortly. After editorial review comments and minor revisions, this report (attachment 4) will be submitted to TRB for publication as a research circular.
Research Problem Statements: Feng-Bor Lin reported that there are no current on-going activities in this task. The set of research problem statements compiled in fall 1995 represents the last major submission from this activity. Ray Derr encouraged the Committee to submit the research problem statements to the NCHRP through the state DOT members in the Committee. Chairman Santiago suggested that the Committee should pursue completion of the process and publish the problem statements as a TRB circular. Herman commented that the brainstorming report would include the research problem statements as an appendix.
Signal Systems Research Database: Dave Henry presented on the progress to date (see attachment). Dave's report generated significant interest and considerable discussion on the subject, including the content and usefulness of such a database, sources of information, the use of TRIS as the starting point, methods of information dissemination, and the cost of developing, updating, and maintaining the database.
Chairman Santiago concluded the discussion by acknowledging the significant interest of the Committee on the subject area. He appointed a task force on Signal Systems Research Database. Dave Henry was named chair. Members include Ray Derr, Edmond Chang, Lee Han, and Ajay Rathi. The task force will present its first report during the 1998 Annual Meeting.
Web Page: Edmond Chang presented a report on the potential usage of the Internet for the Committee activities and information dissemination (see attached). Edmond's presentation led to discussion on the content and design of the web site, committee member access vs. public access areas, links to the vendors and systems integrators, the development and maintenance of the site, and other related topics. Chairman Santiago asked the attendees about their access to the web. As expected, almost all attendees had web access. On the issue of development and maintenance of the proposed web site, Chairman Santiago said that his office (FHWA) can provide some resources to support these activities.
Chairman Santiago concluded the discussion by acknowledging the interest of the Committee on the subject area and appointed a task force. Lee Han was named chair. Members include Ray Derr, Edmond Chang, Dave Henry, Charlie Wallace, and Ajay Rathi. The task force was charged with putting together the proposal and specifications for a web site for the Committee. The task force will present its first report during the 1997 mid-year meeting.
Strategic Plan: Don Dey was unavailable to present his report because of medical problems. Chairman Santiago pointed out that the Committee needs to revisit the strategic plan periodically and update it as necessary. Included in attachment 5 is a copy of the current strategic plan (as of June 1996).
Committee Activities:
Open discussions were help on three topics: (1) the paper sessions and committee program for the future meetings, (2) information dissemination, and (3) task forces/subcommittees.
Committee Program: Regarding the Committee program for the annual and mid-year meetings, there was general agreement on a "thematic agenda" involving invited speakers/experts during the business meeting covering some timely topics. For the paper sessions during the annual meeting, a hybrid approach of invited special topic sessions as well as the sessions resulting from the routine TRB process was considered most fruitful.
Several potential themes were discussed for the upcoming meetings. This included: Surveillance and Detection Systems, Signal Timing Strategies, Communications, Standards, Data Interfaces, and Deployment Issues. Signal Timing Strategies was selected as the theme for the 1997 mid-year meeting and Detection/Surveillance Systems as the theme for the business meeting during the TRB 1998 annual meeting.
Chairman Santiago appointed a task force for the 1997 mid-year meeting. Tom Urbanik was named chair. Members include Rick Denney, Craig Gardner, and Jim Clark. The task force was charged with the responsibility for developing the agenda for the mid-year meeting.
Information Dissemination: There was a general consensus among the members to utilize the web site instead of a newsletter or information transmitted via e-mail.
Task Forces/Subcommittees: The committee agreed to dissolve the ATC task force per Al Kosik's request. However, Al has agreed to provide a written status report on liaison activity with the 2070 group during the Committee meetings. The status report will also be posted on the web page.
As reported above, three new task forces were appointed:
The existing task forces/subcommittees, which will continue their activities, are listed below.
Ajay Rathi is responsible for the coordination of the paper review activities.
Distinguished Lectureship Nomination: Charlie Wallace suggested Dennis Robertson as a potential candidate. Chairman Santiago asked for the opinion of the Committee members and for other names. Committee members supported the idea of nominating Dennis Robertson for the Distinguished Lectureship. Post-Meeting Note: The nomination package could not be submitted because Dennis could not provide the requested information in a timely manner. The TRB deadline provided very little time to put together the nomination package, which required very detailed information about the nominees along with three letters of recommendations.
ATC Task Force: Discussion reported earlier.
Conference/Workshops: No conferences or workshops are being planned as part of the Committee activities in 1997. Some Committee-sponsored workshop topics for the 1998 annual meeting were proposed and discussed. These workshops will take place on Sunday before the start of the annual meeting. The O&M subcommittee agreed to put together a workshop on O&M issues for the 1998 annual meeting.
Committee member presented oral and written reports on activities of interest in their respective organizations (see attached reports).
There was a brief discussion on the location of 1997 mid-year meeting of the committee. The potential locations considered were Las Vegas, NV, San Francisco, CA, and Monterey, CA. No decisions were made. Update: The meeting will be held on July 10-11, 1997 in Scotsdale, AZ. Additional details will be mailed soon.
The meeting adjourned at 10:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
| 2:00 pm- 2:15 pm |
Welcome And Call to Order
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Alberto Santiago
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| 2:15 pm - 2:30 pm |
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| 2:30 pm - 2:45 pm | TRB Report | Rich Cunard |
| 2:45 pm - 3:30 pm |
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| 3:30 pm - 4:15 pm |
Task Force/Subcommittee Reports
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| 4:15 pm - 5:00 pm |
TRB/ITSA/ITE Committee Liaison Reports
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| 5:00 pm | End of First Session |
| 7:00 pm- 7:15 pm |
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| 7:15 pm - 7:45 pm |
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| 7:45 pm - 8:00 pm | Strategic Plan | Don Dey |
| 8:00 pm - 8:30 pm |
Plan for Committee Activities
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All
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| 8:30 pm - 9:00 pm |
New Business
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| 9:00 pm - 9:45 pm |
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| 9:45 pm | End of Meeting |