In October I had the chance to participate in a workshop in Seattle held as part of an ongoing dialog series, organized by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and supported by Toyota Motor North America, aimed at encouraging joint U.S.-Japan activities in integrating vehicle technologies that reduce the climate impact of the transportation sector. The workshop brought together transportation specialists from the Japanese and U.S. governments, private sectors, and research communities to examine the challenges faced in bringing these kinds of integrated approaches to transportation to market.
As a Seattle-area native, I could think of few places more appropriate for a discussion on this topic. Earlier this year, Seattle’s traffic congestion was ranked fourth-worst in North America (or seventh-worst, following a different survey). While the region’s population has grown rapidly in recent decades, its spectacular geography of lakes, mountains and the Puget Sound also constrains where this new growth, and roads, can go. Geography has not been a barrier that engineering could not overcome—Lake Washington has for more than fifty years boasted the two longest floating bridges in the world. However, it is difficult to imagine the political will and funding availability ever converging to build another highway to join I-5 (and its I-405 bypass) to the north and south, or I-90 heading east-west. Improving mass transit access and capabilities is one solution actively being implemented. Another includes integrated approaches, ranging from the metered on-ramps and electronic speed limit signs that shift depending on traffic conditions along I-5 in Seattle, to the real-time traffic congestion mapping systems on the Washington State Department of Transportation’s website.
A primary focus of the workshop was on policy initiatives in both Japan and the United States that aim to promote these approaches and related enabling technologies, in order both to reduce emissions and the economic costs of congestion. One system highlighted was the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System (RITIS), which was developed by the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Transportation Technology and is in use by greater Washington, DC regional governments and transportation authorities. RITIS integrates and standardizes data from a diverse range of local and national government agencies responsible for managing transportation into one comprehensive resource, pulling together information ranging from measured speed on roadways, to traffic accidents and weather conditions. As the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments notes, while the general public may not know about RITIS, the information they get from a traffic report or website may have been compiled and processed by the system. At the workshop we had the opportunity to see several impressive capabilities of the system, including visualization technologies that enable users to view a virtual representation of actual traffic conditions, and to conduct training exercises around various traffic condition scenarios.
A major goal of RITIS is to identify the cost savings, as well as emissions reductions, that transportation managers—and ultimately, the broader public—can realize through rapid responses to congestion. These savings can then be directed towards funding for solutions to these problems. However, the ultimate success depends on how the data is presented to its consumers to that it can be used in an effective manner.
And herein lies the challenge: how to convince system users—from the general public to lawmakers—that these integrated approaches and new technologies may offer more effective, affordable solutions than building major new infrastructure and making the massive new investments required.
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