Organization and Structure of Traffic Management Centers: Two Case Studies in211 Michigan

摘要

This report describes two traffic management centers (TMCs) in the state of211u001eMichigan; (1) the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) center, which 211u001emonitors the expressways in the greater Detroit area and (2) the Oakland County 211u001eRoad Commission center, which monitors the surface streets for the northern 211u001eDetroit suburbs. The MDOT center consists of two systems: (1) a legacy system of 211u001ecameras, changeable message signs, loop detectors, and ramp meters on 32 miles of 211u001edowntown freeways and (2) a newer system of cameras, signs, and loop detectors to 211u001eexpand coverage to 180 miles of freeways. MDOT's goal is to assist in responding 211u001eto incidents and to communicate traffic information to the public. Since alerts 211u001eto most incidents occur via 911 calls, a key feature is the collocation of the 211u001estate police 911 dispatch officers in the TMC allowing the state police access to 211u001ethe MDOT cameras and information. At the time of the interviews, the center was 211u001estaffed 12 hours per day on weekdays only, though as of December, 1998, it is 211u001ecurrently being staffed 24/7. The Oakland center is fairly new and was originally 211u001econstructed for incident management. However, with a limited number of cameras 211u001eand so many miles of surface streets, the role of the center shifted to planning 211u001eand coordination, so there are no operators in the control center.