ATAC is a Critical Element of UGPTI ProgramMobility is prized by U.S. residents as one of the most important characteristics of our advanced socioeconomic system. It is that mobility that underpins the justification for the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center (ATAC) at North Dakota State University. The ATAC was established to improve traffic management in small-to-medium sized urban areas, typical to North Dakota and many other rural areas. This is critical to the quality of life and the future growth of local economies for several reasons. First, the timely and efficient movement of people and freight is important to our future success as a society in a fast paced domestic and global economy. Without superior mobility time is wasted and scarce resources are poorly utilized. Second, small-to-medium size urban areas have an opportunity to avoid the mistakes that have been made in the largest metropolitan areas. It may take years and billions of dollars to mitigate traffic congestion in the largest U.S. cities, and in fact, the problem may not be solvable. On the other hand, advanced traffic management combined with careful land use planning can help the growing cities avoid these huge and costly mistakes. Finally, safety is a concern. Traffic fatalities and injuries due to highway crashes continue to plague our society. Advanced traffic management applications in small and medium sized cities can improve traffic safety providing untold benefits in actual economic saving not to mention the reduction in personal anguish. These fundamental reasons make the ATAC a valuable resource in advancing the state-of-the-art in traffic management and assisting in implementing cutting edge solutions. We look forward to supporting the ATAC program as an essential part of the UGPTI. This newsletter is published by the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center to provide information about its research and services. |
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