Intelligent Transportation Systems

Our team applies its extensive design experience for the full array of ITS infrastructure, including freeway and arterial traffic management systems, fiber optics and wireless communications, as well as traffic information displays and traffic monitoring technologies. Our design experience includes advanced active traffic management components along with adaptive traffic signal control, transit priority, real-time parking information, and freight management elements such as weigh-in-motion and overheight detection. We have also designed numerous toll express lane projects which incorporate both traffic management and information as well as electronic tolling infrastructure. We utilize or tailor standard ITS specifications as well as special provisions for project-specific elements including central systems and interfaces, depending on the proposed nature of the procurement. Specific device locations are implemented based on project requirements and coverage criteria, e.g., consideration of continuous coverage as well as targeted / tactical improvements at incident hot-spots and smart work zones. Our team provides comprehensive services both in traffic control and electrical design and related site civil and structural needs. Care is taken that systems have adequate power, back-up, and status feedback information sent back to the operations center to warn of failures.

To assist in development, assessment and selection of candidate operational scenarios utilizing ITS tools, JMT has extensive resources to perform Analysis, Modeling and Simulation (AMS) for TSMO strategies. Our process includes identifying systems, desired corridor operational changes; addressing gaps between current and required services; considering technical and management options, including parallel concept exploration. We utilize data from various real-time sources including from connected vehicles, to more precisely identify traffic flow bottlenecks and crash “hot spots”, perform capacity and delay analyses including Travel Time Index (TTI) and Planning Time Index (PTI), and screen corridors and systems. Macroscopic (travel demand) modeling using tools such as Cube Voyager uses regional models to address regional impacts of TSMO and connected and automated transportation services, including truck platooning and automated vehicle market penetration. Microscopic modeling is done for active traffic management strategies such as part-time shoulder use, ramp metering, variable speed limits, and dynamic lane assignment. For arterials, signal timing optimization, transit priority and signal pre-emption are evaluated using Synchro and other tools. Level of Service and other measures of effectiveness (MOEs) are compared for various operations alternatives, and aid in benefit-cost analyses, project prioritization and TSMO decision support

JMT’s Systems Engineering (SE) approach, consistent with 23 CFR 940.11, includes feasibility analyses, systems engineering management plan (SEMP), Concept of Operations (ConOps), high-level and detailed requirements, design documents, specifications, and testing/integration requirements for new ITS subsystems or components including verification and validation testing. We identify and compare TSMO and related ITS options including traffic and roadway (freeway and arterial) monitoring systems, advanced detection systems and transportation information systems, such as automated incident detection systems, in terms of how they support TSMO strategies. We also bring experience with integration and testing of traffic management and tunnel control systems, ITS components, and communications. Our process includes developing a ConOps plan identifying roles/responsibilities of the different operators and stakeholders as well as use cases and operational scenarios that address what the system should do from each users’ perspective, including the public/driver perception. It also includes developing the appropriate SE documentation for implementing the different system elements. As a basis for ConOps development, JMT will apply AMS tools to identify current and future conditions as well as the likely impacts of proposed operational scenarios.

Our experience ranges from high-level program management to project definition, preparation of requirements, specifications, conceptual plans and procurement documents (including design-build procurement packages). JMT has augmented client staff as needed to support project development and funding assessments, including specific programs such as Virginia’s SMART SCALE initiative. We also bring substantial experience in preparing ITS design and implementation guidance documentation (including design standards). In addition to developing regional and statewide TSMO and ITS planning documents, JMT has also supervised working group and task force activities for various operations sub-areas associated with TSMO and Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) initiatives. For Maryland DOT State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), our Team’s program management activities also included development of internal and external online technical and organizational resources, GIS-based asset inventories, and training materials, including AASHTO Transportation and Civil Engineering (TRAC) CAV educational module courses for pre-collegiate audiences. In addition to overall program management, we are thoroughly familiar with application of USDOT’s Architecture Reference Tool for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT) and related software such as the Regional Architecture Development for Intelligent Transportation (RAD-IT) tool and, for project architectures, the Systems Engineering Tool for Intelligent Transportation (SET-IT).

JMT provides experience in serving as an extension of agency staff in the day-to-day operation of traffic management systems as well as developing support tools including integrated workstation dashboards to assess corridor operations for freeways and parallel arterials, along with monitoring and managing ITS devices including dynamic message signs and cameras, as well as modifying and adjusting traffic signal timings and other operations to support current conditions. Also included is support of special events, closures, and unscheduled conditions including crashes and weather-related conditions.

Our Team provides various aspects of performance management, ranging from services to specific annual deliverables for key clients. For the past decade, JMT has been contracted to Maryland DOT to produce the Maryland Mobility Report, an annual overview of statewide traffic operations. Our expertise in developing GIS and geospatial data systems for asset management, operational data and other sources can also support public agencies in development of real-time operational dashboards. We also evaluate operational solutions at bottleneck locations (e.g., queue warning, variable speed limits, part-time shoulder use, other strategies) using a data-driven approach. We have worked with various agencies and real-time data aggregators as well as private sector crowd-sourcing, probe and connected vehicle data providers. Related to these activities is the importance of data governance, asset management, and technology integration, and JMT provides substantial experience. Team members have been involved in development of data governance frameworks throughout the U.S., ranging from enterprise-wide to CAV-focused data. JMT’s services support integration of services across organizational silos, promoting new ways of managing, accessing, and ultimately using information. We serve as a progressive geospatial and information technology services provider that assists government and private sector markets to solve complex business challenges using web, desktop, and mobile technologies. Our Team can provide a variety of data integration services for geospatially-based data, from initial database design through the enterprise integration of information. Our extensive experience collecting and developing enterprise geospatial databases for large and small government organizations provides current and reliable data that supports business operations and analysis. Our Team also assists agencies to implement asset management programs. We assist with the identification of needs and evaluation of publicly and commercially available solutions, including the collection, compilation, management, and analysis of asset data.