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Florida Department
of Transportation
ITS Office
605 Suwannee Street, MS 90
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0450
(850) 410-5600
systems and networks (CVISN). The business plan recommended several strategies for electronic clearance, credentialing and other information systems to support CVO.
Systems
Engineering
Statewide Workshop Held
On October 30-31, the ITS Office conducted a systems engineering workshop at Tall Timbers research station in Tallahassee. This first workshop and training session on systems engineering was intended to introduce the concepts of systems engineering and how we can apply them for ITS projects and programs in Florida. More than 70 persons attended the workshops with representatives from every District, local governments and the private sector. Valuable discussion and coordination occurred on how to tailor and adopt these project principles for ITS projects that will support the development of a Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) for the Department. The SEMP is anticipated to begin in January and will involve representatives from each District and the ITS Office. Information on the systems engineering training and the Department's proposed approach to systems engineering can be found at http://www.floridaits.com.
Rule 940
Committee Established to Support Rule 940 Implementation
In the Department's continuing efforts to address the FHWA's Rule 940 Intelligent Transportation Systems Architectures disseminated on April 8, 2001, a committee was established to coordinate the Department's implementation of the regional architecture requirements of this Rule. For additional information, please contact Michael Tako-Nicolaisen at (863) 519-2395.
511
Traveler Information
FDOT Moves Forward With Pilot 511 Implementations And Statewide
511 Implementation Planning
The Department is currently working toward implementing 511 services in Southeast Florida to support the SunGuideTM ATIS program and along the I-4 corridor in Orlando to enhance
dissemination of existing traffic data collection systems. Simultaneously, FDOT is developing a Statewide 511 Implementation Plan to support the long-term vision for statewide ATIS services. As these systems emerge, they will need to rely on a strong foundation of traveler information collected through public or private systems. These data collection systems will be integrated with telephone systems and call routing to implement the 511 services. As we move forward with developing these pilot deployments in Southeast Florida and along the I-4 corridor for Orlando, the following questions are being addressed to support the statewide vision for 511 implementation.
When I call 511:
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What type of information do I get? |
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What geographic area/transportation infrastructure is covered? |
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What will it cost me? |
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Is the information accurate, timely and reliable? |
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Is the information understandable? |
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Is the service easy to navigate? |
When I turn on a 511 service:
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Am I adhering to the Federal Communications Commission's rulings? |
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Can all callers access the service? |
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What are the geographic boundaries of the service? |
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How does the service work with adjacent 511 services? |
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How do I provide multi- jurisdictional/multi-modal information? |
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How do I minimize my costs? |
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Where do I get the raw data from which to supply quality information? |
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Am I meeting the needs of the traveling? |
The ITS Office is also submitting application for federal assistance in these pilot projects and the Statewide 511 Implementation Plan. Grants of $100,000 are available from FHWA to support 511 implementation planning and deployment.
For additional information, please contact Gene Glotzbach at (850) 410-5616.
FDOT Completes TMC Software Study
FDOT recently completed an assessment of traffic management center (TMC) software being used in Florida. The study was conducted in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation. The study recommendations, which are described in greater detail in the final report, are as follows:
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Do not abandon the current efforts underway at TMCs within the state to enhance and improve software. Continue with base development over the short-run. |
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Begin development of a statewide concept of operations to define what capabilities are required at the Districts and for sharing among the Districts and our transportation partners. |
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Based on the definition of statewide requirements, begin development of a statewide library of functional software components. These will form the basis for new developments and eventually replace existing systems. |
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Use currently available commercial off the shelf (COTS) software already licensed to the Department. Based on the assessment of software the PBFarradyne MIST software was recommended. During new system development careful attention to system network design is needed to promote successful migration beyond the existing software. |
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Utilize statewide buying power to acquire national standards-compliant hardware. |
The integrated statewide TMC software system will provide significant cost savings through a unifying platform to ensure interoperability and center-to-center communications on a statewide basis.