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| ITS Georgia President Scott Mohler |
An innovation in safety and
efficiency is coming to Interstate 285 in 2014 and ITS Georgia member
organizations are at the heart of the new driving experience that, proven successful,
may become the norm for metropolitan Georgia freeways in the future.
The concept is simple – utilize technology to vary the
real-time speed limit to improve traffic flow and create safer driving
conditions. Reducing speeds and harmonizing the flow of traffic upstream of an
incident makes for safer driving conditions and ideally prevents secondary
accidents that arise from stop-and-go conditions.
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Changes coming to I-285
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As part of the program, the
overall speed limit will be raised to 65 MPH for the 260,000 or so daily
vehicles on I-285, with the variable speed limit zone encompassing the northern
section from I-20 in the east to I-20 in the west. Depending on traffic conditions,
the speed limit will be adjusted up or down in 5 MPH increments.
“You’re able to move more
traffic through” with the variable sign system, GDOT Commissioner Keith Golden
told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “If you’ll slow down you’ll actually get
there faster,” Commissioner Golden said, quoting traffic reporter Herb Emory of
News Talk WSB radio.
The technology behind the
system is developed by ITS Georgia member Atkins and is called Advanced Traffic Demand Management (ATDM). The ATDM system,
managed at GDOT’s Transportation Management Center senses conditions on I-285 and
then calculates the optimum speed per segment to move the most vehicles, the
most efficiently.
"Atkins is
honored to work with GDOT and bring our worldwide ATDM resources to bear on
this important project,” said John Hibbard, Atkins ITS Practice Manager
and longtime ITS Georgia Board member.
ITS Georgia member
Brooks-Berry-Haynie was selected to handle the hardware and installation of the
system. BBH project manager Bill Gunter knows it is high-profile and important
for the state and region.
“Variable Speed Limit Systems
are a first for Georgia and therefore need a team that is up for the challenge.
Brooks-Berry-Haynie looks forward to bringing our expertise in ITS and working
with our design team, Atkins, to deliver this project to GDOT on time and on
budget,” Bill said.
We look forward to keeping
you updated on progress and results once the system is in place. To find out
more about ITS Georgia members who are on the forefront of safety, innovation
and efficiency in Georgia scan the QR, or visit http://itsga.org/our-members.html.
2012 Annual Meeting
Follow Up –
I mentioned last time that I felt our 2012 annual meeting at
Callaway Gardens was a success. Well we verified that with an attendee survey. Of
those taking the survey, 45% said the meeting exceeded expectations with 52%
indicating the meeting met expectations. Eighty-three (83%) percent rated the
vendor exhibits as excellent, with 69% indicating the meeting contained the
right balance of networking, sessions and vendor time allocation. Ninety
percent (90%) of attendees indicated they wanted to hold the conference at
Callaway in 2013, so we’ll see you in Pine Mountain next year.
To keep up with the latest ITS Georgia news, please visit our web site (www.itsga.org), join us on facebook or follow us on twitter @ITSGA.
ITS Georgia Chapter
Leadership
President
Scott
Mohler, URS
Vice
President
Tom
Sever, Gwinnett DOT
Secretary
Kristin
Turner, Wolverton Associates
Treasurer
Christine
Simonton, Delcan
Immediate
Past President
Marion
Waters, Gresham Smith & Partners
Directors
Mark Demidovich,
GDOT
Susie
Dunn, Atlanta Regional Commission
Eric
Graves, City of Alpharetta
Carla
Holmes, Gresham Smith & Partners
Winter
Horbal, Temple, Inc.
Keary
Lord, Douglas County DOT
Michael
Roberson, GDOT
David
Smith, DeKalb County Transportation
Prasoon
Sinha, ARCADIS
Grant
Waldrop, GDOT
State
Chapters Representative
Kenny
Voorhies, Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
Ex
Officio
Greg
Morris, Federal Highway Administration
Andres
Ramirez, FTA
Our 2012 Sponsors
Control Technologies
Metrotech
Temple
Arcadis
Gresham Smith and Partners
HNTB
World Fiber Technologies
Atkins
Delcan
Kimley-Horn and Associates
Sensys
Southern Lighting and Traffic Systems
URS
Telvent
Cambridge Systematics
Grice Consulting
Wolverton & Associates
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