MPO Directors Meeting: Year in ReviewThe annual meeting for ATAC's Metropolitan Transportation Support Program steering committee was held in January in Bismarck. The steering committee consists of representatives from metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, as well as the NDDOT, and the FHWA ND Division. The committee provides guidance to the program by identifying priorities, planning funding support, and assisting ATAC in developing annual work plans to serve various agency needs. The steering committee meets twice a year at a location and date acceptable to participants. The meeting reviewed last year's modeling activities, financial reports, upcoming modeling activities, federal requirements, and planned model improvements. ATAC has been working with each MPO to develop a plan for improving current travel demand models, which make the basis for transportation and land-use decisions. Augmenting local travel and traffic data were among the top priorities for model improvements. The group expressed their satisfaction with the services provided by ATAC and their strong support for the program. The Metropolitan Transportation Planning Support Program is in its fourth year. The main emphasis of this program is on enhancing travel demand models for North Dakota metropolitan areas. The targeted enhancements aim at providing robust modeling systems that can effectively support the transportation decision making process with responsive and accurate answers, while minimizing resource requirements. The program facilitates greater institutional cooperation by providing a neutral source for modeling expertise and advice. It also provides training opportunities on developing and improving transportation planning models, including innovative practices in data collection and representation, use of GIS, and new modeling software. North Dakota Achieves ITS Architecture Conformity with ATAC HelpThe best intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are the ones you don't notice. Traffic signal timings automatically adjust to regulate traffic flow, electronic signs advise motorists of hazards and alternate routes. Computer and telephone systems keep drivers abreast of travel conditions along their intended routes. The systems use sensors, computers, and communication technologies to keep traffic flowing smoothly and efficiently. Sometimes, these systems are not so seamless. As travelers move from one jurisdiction to another, for example from rural highways to city routes or across state lines, information flow can be interrupted or inconsistent. For interstate travelers, this means having to obtain information on their route from a variety of sources that may not necessarily be coordinated or integrated. Inter-agency coordination is also paramount, as can be illustrated in the case of highway incidents which involve transportation, law enforcement, and emergency management agencies. Accurate and timely information exchange among these agencies is critical for enhancing the safety of motorists and reducing the impacts of incidents. To avoid those situations, the Federal Highway Administration is requiring transportation planning regions nationwide to develop ITS architecture - a plan and vision for ITS implementation and use. The regional ITS architecture serves as a roadmap guiding future ITS planning, detailing system requirements, coordinating agency roles and integrating functions across jurisdictional lines. Regions that do not comply will no longer receive federal highway funding for ITS projects. ATAC helped the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Bismarck-Mandan Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments, and the North Dakota Department of Transportation develop architectures to meet the FHWA requirements. The work which began in late 2003 is now complete. ATAC was able to pool resources from North Dakota's MPOs and the NDDOT for developing the four regional architectures. The FHWA ND Division assisted ATAC and provided support for training to regional stakeholders and reviewing the completed architecture. This not only ensured consistency across the state, but also resulted in a streamlined process which produced the regional architectures ahead of the April 7, 2005 federal deadline. Steve Busek, FHWA's Safety and ITS Engineer for North Dakota, gave high marks to ATAC for its work with those groups. "ATAC did a good job of identifying those groups and making the process accessible to the groups that wanted to contribute. That stakeholder involvement is a key component in the architecture," he says. "The beauty of having ATAC involved was the coordination of all these planning organizations and the interrelationship with the NDDOT," notes Bob Bright, executive director of the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments. "As a result we're not all on different tangents; we are all on the same page. The implications of that are large in the long-term." Bright says ATAC was a logical choice for the work. "They have built up the skills for this in their staff and they have consistency over time. The long-term benefits of our relationship with ATAC are worth us making the investment with them." |
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