Congestion Information Surveillance System: A Joint Project of the Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments and the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department. Project Proposal.

摘要

This document advances a proposal to implement a Congestion Information Surveillance system (CYSS)for the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The CISS will offer agencies in the region responsible for transportation and air quality management a new capability to monitor traffic and air quality conditions. Simplistically stated, the project is to utilize LIDAR technology on a macro scale to identify sources of pollutants, particularly CO, and their movements within the metropolitan area, and on a micro scale, to provide traffic volumes, vehicle classifications, turning movements, delays, and air quality data by intersection. This capability ia critical to successful management of congestion and air quality called for in the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 and the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. The propoaaI for the CISS is integral to MRGCOGS responsibilities for the development of a Congestion Management System (CMS) required under ISTEA. Congestion -gement in the region will require careful consideration of various types of mobility programs, possibly encompassing carpolling incentives, traffic reduction measures and optimization of the traffic signal control system. Whatever measures are employed in the future, prudent public policy will require accurate assessments of congestion levels with detailed knowledge of occurrence and severity. The objective of the CISS is to deliver this information. The proposal for the CISS also addresses the other critical problem facing the metropolitan area. Since Bernalillo County is in non-attainment of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for carbon monoxide, the region is mandated to take a number of measures intended to improve air quality. In a worst case scenario, the metropolitan area runs the risk of highway sanctions. Inasmuch as the relationship between prevailing traffic conditions and impacts on air quality are poorly understood, prudent public policy dictates that this relationship be further explored so that effective decisions can be made in the future.