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2 2015 SMART SunGuide ITS Annual Report

A Message to Our Readers…

District Four SMART SunGuide Regional Transportation Management Center

2300 W. Commercial Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309www.SMARTSunGuide.com954-847-2785

I am proud to say 2015 was another impressive year for the Florida

Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Four Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) program. In retrospect, the

Regional Transportation Management Center (RTMC) continues to build solid and consistent programs driven on our commitment to customer service. With a strong foundation of FDOT leadership we will continue to grow as we pursue our vision - to be the best ITS program in the country.

This year’s annual report highlights our continued focus on the motorists that travel our roadways and the significant commitments made to enhance our services through several new projects and initiatives.

After much advancement within District Four’s managed lanes system, the ITS Unit worked to design and develop a traffic data simulator in partnership with the current Express Lanes System Software (ELS) that was created in 2014. The new simulation software generates real-time traffic

sensor data that is representative of actual traffic flow in express lanes segments. In unison, this software upgrade provides a foundation for the deployment of express lanes across the state. This broad-based platform addresses fundamental challenges in traffic operations while enabling new standards of commuting for millions of travelers each day.

We are confident that by building on our strengths and learning from past obstacles, the best is yet to come. Please join us in reviewing the highlights of the last 12 months and how we plan to continue moving forward.

Dong Chen

FDOT District FourITS Program Manager

ITS Staff

Dong Chen 12 years Daniel Smith 9 yearsDavid Moore 3 yearsNicole Forest 2 years Lisa Esmer 1 year

ITS Consultants

AECOM Anchor TowingEland Engineering, Inc. Florida International UniversityIBI GroupIn-A-Flash Towing, Inc.Schneider Electric Telvent

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Contents

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) SMART SunGuide 2015 ITS Annual Report is a snapshot of the past year’s achievements and a look at innovative ideas for the future. This year’s annual report highlights how the District Four ITS Unit has continued to create

new techniques for maintaining a high availability of the ITS network and made significant strides for the future of traffic management district-wide. Look inside to see what achievements made this year exceptional.

What’s Inside:

Benefit-Cost Ratio –

Find out about the ITS Program’s return on investment 4Infrastructure –

Updates on current deployment projects 8TMC Operations –

Delivering enhanced customer service on roadways 11New Initiatives –

Up and coming projects for 2016 14

Freeway Operations: Asset Management contracts added in the District·······························6

Traffic Information: Sharing valuable outreach information with the public·····························12

Information Technology: Improvements continue throughout the RTMC’s control room············10

Summary of Highlights: Achievements and updates in 2015·············································15

4 2015 SMART SunGuide ITS Annual Report

Each year, the District Four ITS Unit highlights its Benefit-Cost (B-C) ratio. The B-C ratio is a performance measure calculated to give a numerical representation of the annual return on investment that ITS provided to motorists for each dollar invested. The 2015 benefit is $285,627,165; a 9.7 percent increase compared to 2014. The total annual cost in 2015 increased 17 percent from $25,597,425 to $30,400,449. Using these two numbers, the benefit-cost ratio for 2015 is 9.40.

The B-C ratio shows a slight decrease in 2015 due to an increase in the annual cost of operating and maintaining the District Four ITS Unit. It is expected that the B-C ratio will rapidly increase as the program introduces new costs and significant benefits in the coming years with the management and operation of several managed lanes projects. The 2015 B-C ratio of 9.40 will be set as the new base line for this important performance measure. With a B-C ratio above 1.0, the

unit maintained its consistent net present value (NPV) of $2 billion for the ninth consecutive year. NPV is a measure of long-term profitability of a project. In this case, the NPV is based on a 15-year time span and a 7 percent interest rate.

The ITS Unit uses the chart to the right as a graphical representation of program costs since 2007. Unit managers create the 10-year snapshot for the three types of spending they manage: capital cost, operating cost, and maintenance. The ITS Unit annualizes the capital cost over the life expectancy of the project using a 20-year life expectancy for TMCs and a 10-year life expectancy for ITS field device deployments (at 6 percent amortization). This methodology provides a more even distribution of total costs and eliminates large fluctuations in the benefit-cost ratio.

2004 - 7.86

2005 - 10.44

2006 - 14.94

2007 - 16.19

2008 - 15.60

2009 - 13.91

2010 - 12.99

2011 - 9.36

2012 - 9.02

2013 - 9.88

2014 - 10.08

Benefit-Cost Ratio

20159.40

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SMART SunGuide RTMC

Districtwide Maintenance

Software Support

General Consultant

Road Rangers

Severe Incident Response Vehicle

Dynamic Message Signs

CCTV & Detection System Phase I

CCTV & Detection System Phase II

Northern Three Counties I-95 ITS

Broward County Advanced ITS

Palm Beach Vista Center

Northern Counties Incident Management Office

Palm Beach County I-95 ITS

Broward County ITS Power Upgrade

ITS Replacement Equipment

TOTAL

District Four ITS Program Costs

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

$18,452,571 $26,670,677 $28,165,080 $27,108,492 $25,597,425 $30,400,449

Legend Annualized Capital Cost Operating Cost Maintenance Cost Capital cost distributed over project lifetime

Each year, the District Four ITS Unit highlights its Benefit-Cost (B-C) ratio. The B-C ratio is a performance measure calculated to give a numerical representation of the annual return on investment that ITS provides to motorists for each dollar invested.

2013 - 9.88

6 2015 SMART SunGuide ITS Annual Report

Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Teams

The Traffic Incident Management (TIM) program brings together various agencies that respond to highway incidents. Partners within the multi-agency TIM Team meet bi-monthly in Broward, Palm Beach and Treasure Coast counties, to discuss and improve operational services related to traffic management. District Four has three TIM teams covering more than 200 miles of highway in five counties with an estimated 520 members. The TIM teams’ focus in 2015 was to improve traffic safety due to an increase in motorist crashes involving incident responders.

As in past years, District Four hosted training presentations for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) throughout 2015 with 110 attendees from Fire Rescue, Towing, Law Enforcement and FDOT. This year, District Four elevated its training standards

and asked FHWA to return and conduct “Train the Trainer” courses that allowed 24 partner agencies to provide the same training inside their organizations.

An important performance measure TIM managers use is FHWA’s annual “TIM Self-Assessment,” to identify achievements and opportunities for TIM programs. Scoring results for this past year showed again that District Four is a national leader in Traffic Incident Management, with a score of 83.9 percent. The national average TIM Self-Assessment score was 67.1 percent.

Rapid Incident Scene Clearance

The Rapid Incident Scene Clearance program (RISC) proved it’s a results-driven program since its 2009 launch in District Four. The purpose of the RISC program is to expedite the safe clearance of major incidents from highways by using specialized wrecker

District Four debuts new RISC rotator vehicle.

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Freeway Operations

111,522Road Ranger

Stops

83.9%Current TIM Self-

Assessment ScoresNational Average:

67.1%.

equipment. The program offers financial incentives to qualified wrecker companies who clear major incidents such as large vehicle crashes, rollovers, fire and cargo spills within a specified period of time. RISC has responded to a record high of 25 events in District Four in 2015.

Asset Maintenance Contracts

The year 2015 included several changes to the District Four Road Ranger program. All Road Ranger contracts have been transferred to Asset Maintenance companies. These are long term contracts that are performance based with penalties tied to contract requirements for performing all maintenance activities associated with specific corridors within the district. Currently, I-95, US-27, I-75 and I-595 in Broward County are under Asset Maintenance.

SIRV

Since its inception in 2005, the Severe Incident Response Vehicle (SIRV) Program has successfully operated in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The SIRV Team consists of highly trained operators with Law Enforcement or Fire Rescue Command backgrounds. They operate command vehicles with specialized equipment for severe crash scenes. The objective of this program is to enhance scene safety, expedite scene clearance and provide on scene FDOT incident command. Last year alone, SIRV responded to 6,709 district-wide incidents and cleared lanes 92 hours faster than the previous year, allowing responding agencies to return to their normal functions over 355 hours faster. These results are achieved by interagency cooperation. SIRV also provides inspections for District Four’s Road Ranger fleet. With almost 1,000 inspections SIRV ensures that FDOT maintains a level of Road Ranger service quality in the district.

District Four debuts new RISC rotator vehicle.

14.7Minutes Saved Per

SIRV Response

6,709SIRV Responses

8 2015 SMART SunGuide ITS Annual Report

The ITS deployment program has achieved a number of accomplishments for the year 2015. The major deployment projects include:

I-95 Managed Lanes Phase 2: This project extends the existing managed lanes from north of the Golden Glades Interchange, in Miami-

Dade, to north of Sunrise Boulevard, in Broward County, by converting the existing High- Occupancy

Vehicle (HOV) lanes to two managed lanes in each direction. Other work includes: installing ITS

components, modifying the Ives Dairy Road interchange, bridge widening at specific locations and installing noise

walls at locations between Hollywood Boulevard and Taft Street. Construction began in November 2011 and is expected to

be completed by mid-2016.

I-95 Managed Lanes Phase 3: Due to funding limitations, Phase 3 of the project will be completed in segments. Phase 3A segments 3A1

from Broward Boulevard to north of Commercial Boulevard and 3A2

Infrastructure

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241.4ITS Freeway Miles

Managed

98%ITS Device Availability

north of Commercial Boulevard to south of Southwest 10th Street are anticipated to begin construction by early 2016.Detailed information on the project is available at www.95express.com.

I-75 Managed Lanes: FDOT District Four’s work to implement managed lanes along 15 miles of I-75 from I-595 south to Northwest 170th Street in Miami-Dade County began in 2014. The project includes the addition of two managed lanes within the median of I-75, physically separated from the existing general purpose lanes by a 28-foot grass median. An aggressive schedule was developed in early 2014 to begin construction on the express lanes; they are expected to open to the public by mid-2018.

Work is being completed in five segments. All five segments of the project are currently under construction. Detailed information is available at www.75-express.com.

Airport Runway Expansion Project: In 2013, officials at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) embarked on a massive project to extend the south runway to increase capacity, reduce flight delays and keep up with increasing traffic demands in the area. The infrastructure project includes construction of multiple bridges to support the extended runway and parallel taxiway as they pass over the Florida East Coast Railroad, US1,

the airport perimeter road and associated airport access ramps. Motorists, trains and pedestrians will pass under the new runway through a series of tunnels that will accommodate three lanes of traffic. The new tunnels are equipped with ventilation systems, fire detection and suppression systems, emergency lighting, regular lighting and an ITS system. As of November 2015, the construction and testing for ITS systems is complete.

Construction is underway for the I-75 connection to I-595.

10 2015 SMART SunGuide ITS Annual Report

District Four’s Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Unit started construction of a new Video Management Wall system that will be utilized within the SMART SunGuide Regional Transportation Management Center (RTMC). Powered by Mitsubishi LED rear projection screens, this once in-a-decade project will create a new chapter within the RTMC for next generation ITS management capabilities. The RTMC video wall will be 33 percent larger than the existing video wall and will support native 1080p High Definition (HD) cameras. This will enable the ITS Unit to utilize HD capable cameras on the roadways as well as actively manage a larger number of cameras simultaneously in order to better service motorists within the district.

With multiple large construction projects underway, such as the Florida Airport Tunnel, I-95 and I-75 Express Lanes, the improved video wall provides the RTMC the needed capacity to better manage traffic incidents in the future. As the ITS Unit transitions its Active Video Management Wall plan from strictly monitoring and managing videos to actively controlling and disseminating multiple information sources from freeways such as speed and weather; this will provide greater control over the information occurring on freeway systems.

The new environment friendly video wall, features LED engines with a 100,000 working hour rated configuration. These LED engines are strictly air cooled, promising that the new video wall system will ensure adequate temperatures. This newest innovation continues to display how District Four is a leader in ITS management production. With a tenacious ability to balance productivity with environmentally conscious decisions, District Four’s mission is to improve motorists’ travel experiences for years to come.

InformationTechnology

The ITS Unit began construction on the RTMC video wall by removing the old TV monitors.

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TMC Operations

01020304050607080

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

Incident Clearance Time (Min.)

Always focused on customer service, RTMC Operators work during the night to assist motorists.

57.4 Minutes

Incident Clearance Time

1.22Regional Travel

Time Index

0.42 Regional Buffer

Index

With customer service as the constant priority, 2015 featured more than 58,929 disabled motorists assisted, 4,354 pieces of dangerous debris removed and 9,428 vehicle crashes managed by the District Four ITS Operations team. The District Four ITS Unit continues to fulfill its commitments to its customers and partners by effectively responding to these and many more incidents.

One of the most significant service measures for motorists is travel time reliability. In 2015, the travel time index (TTI), the ratio of the travel time during the peak period to the time required to make the same trip at free-flow speeds, was 1.22. For comparison, a value of 1.22 indicates a 20-minute free-flow trip requires 24.4 minutes during the peak period. The regional buffer index was calculated as .42. The buffer index represents the extra time that motorists must add to their

average commute when planning trips. For example, a buffer index of .42 percent signifies that a commute that usually takes 20 minutes would take a motorist an additional 8.4 minutes to ensure on-time arrival.

The ITS Unit continues to focus on giving Operations staff the tools and knowledge needed to effectively carry out their responsibilities. This year was spent preparing staff for Express Lanes operations in anticipation for the 2016 opening of the I-95 Express Lanes in Broward County. The express lanes will improve mobility and travel time reliability to the region’s motorists. Added benefits for motorists are the express buses offered to enhanced reliability and services on I-95. Due to the Express Lanes spanning both District Four and Six, District Four’s ITS Unit will coordinate closely with District Six as part of a regional plan to ensure a common approach to operations and incident management.

From training and certifying employees, maintaining solid partner relationships, to delivering faster, better and more consistent service across the entire district, the ITS Unit takes pride in listening to customer feedback to continually improve the quality and consistency of service delivered.

pre-ITS

12 2015 SMART SunGuide ITS Annual Report

Traffic InformationIn a continual effort to reach the motoring public with information about the ITS program, the ITS Unit continued to work with partner agencies and various outlets to educate the public on the ITS program. The objective is providing the public with exceptional service and well maintained partnerships. This year’s highlights included:

• Media Events: In 2015, the RTMC hosted a media event to update motorists on managed lanes construction projects, the FL 511 application, as well as safe traveling tips for the Thanksgiving weekend. The event attracted major news networks throughout South Florida to report live information from inside the control room to give viewers a behind the scene glimpse of freeway management.

• Tours: The District Four ITS Unit welcomes visitors of all ages, professions and backgrounds for tours of the RTMC. Tours are conducted to provide an overview of the center, including a view of control room operations, an

interactive presentation and in some cases, a personal tour of Road Ranger and SIRV vehicles. Guests learn how the facility and technology can make travel safer and easier on highways while providing real-time traveler information. Toward the end of the year, the RTMC held a private tour for Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) Supervisors and Regional Officers from Lake Worth’s Regional Communications Center in order to enhance communication between responding agencies and the RTMC during traffic incidents. The tour also featured a meet and greet with operators. The public information staff helped coordinate a total of 50 public tours and outreach events, published 12 industry-related articles and one newsletter.

• Customer Service Workshop: With the expected I-95 Express Lanes opening date approaching, District Four in collaboration with

District Six, South Florida Commuter Services and SunPass, created a customer service workshop to improve communication and outreach with current and future motorists of I-95 and the express lanes. The three-part workshop covered topics dealing with toll refunds, motorist inquiries, business policies and potential marketing efforts. The goal is to centralize communication across all participating agencies and districts within the I-95 Express Lanes project, in order to better respond to motorists’ comments and concerns.

Local summer camps often visit the District Four RTMC to learn about traffic safety and Road Ranger services.

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Report CardThe report card below depicts the ITS Unit’s performance in a “letter-grade” format. The “overall” grade increased from 3.5 in 2014 to 3.6 in 2015 (out of 4.0). The main reason for the increase is due to significant improvements in the system reliability for ITS field devices, primarily in Palm Beach County. Last year’s device down-times were caused by copper wire theft incidents. As a result, FDOT District Four heightened tracking efforts for copper wire and prevented further thefts. This year currently has 98 percent device reliability district-wide.

Performance Measure (Metric) 2014 Score

2015 Score A B C D F

ITS Systems% Completion of Systems Build-Out (Actual # Miles Built Per Year / Planned # Miles Built Per Year)

A 100

A 100 ≥90% 80-89% 70-79% 60-69% ≤60%

ITS OperationsAnnual Benefit / Cost Ratio (BCR - from Annual Report)

C 10.08

C 9.40 ≥15 11-15 6-10 1-5 ≤1

ITS MaintenanceSystem Reliability - Field Devices (% Time Operational)

C 93

A 98 ≥97% 95-97% 91-94% 85-90% ≤85%

Road RangersCustomer Satisfaction (% of Respondents Satisfied with Service)

A 95

A 97 ≥95% 90-94% 80-89% 70-79% ≤70%

Traffic Incident ManagementIncident Clearance Time(Overall Time to Clear Travel Lanes after Road Ranger Arrival)

A 55.4

A 57.4

<60 min.

60-75 min.

76-90 min.

91-120 min.

>120 min.

ITS SystemsSystem Reliability - TMCs (% Time TMC Systems are Operational)

A 99.999

A 99.999 ≥99% 98-99% 95-97% 92-94% ≤92%

PartneringNumber of Private and/or Public Partners (# Partners Collaborating with on a Daily Basis)

A 8

A 8 ≥7 6 5 4 ≤3

Traveler InformationRegional Travel Time Index ** (Peak Period Travel Times vs. Free Flow)

B 1.19

B 1.22

1.00-1.09

1.10-1.24

1.25-1.44

1.45-1.69 ≥1.70

Public OutreachSatisfaction with ITS Program (Customer Survey - Scale of 1 to 10)

A 9.2

A 9.3 ≥9 8-9 7-8 6-7 ≤6

New ITS InitiativesNumber of New Initiatives (# of New Initiatives)

A 4

B 3 ≥4 3 2 1 0

**Regional Travel Time Index was not available until Q4 of 2007.

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14 2015 SMART SunGuide ITS Annual Report

Throughout the year 2015, District Four’s ITS Unit had a number of accomplishments -- some were readily visible to the public and others were apparent only to those working behind the scenes. In 2016 the focus will be on the following initiatives:

• I-95 Managed Lanes Phase 3: The proposed project will extend the I-95 managed lanes from Stirling Road in Broward County to Linton Boulevard in Palm Beach County. Phase 3A, between Broward Boulevard and Southwest 10th Street in Broward County, is funded for construction to begin in early 2016. To expedite the process Phase 3 will be separated into segments. Segments 3A-1 from Broward Boulevard to north of Commercial Boulevard and 3A-2 north of Commercial Boulevard to south of Southwest 10th Street are anticipated to finish construction by January 2019.

• MIMS Mobile Application: With focus on providing efficiencies in staff time and resources by applying effective asset management systems, a mobile application was developed, in conjunction with District Four’s current Maintenance Information Management System (MIMS), to enable maintenance technicians to call up inventories in the field. All ITS equipment is bar-coded and secured to prevent loss and address audit requirements. It is our hope the application evolves into a self-learning software that monitors the ITS system and identifies potential problems. This self-learning system is based on historical device failures and predicts system maintenance needs.

• Ramp Metering: In order to improve system-wide traffic flow along the I-95 corridor without impacting operations at nearby signals along arterials, FDOT proposed a project that would apply ramp metering systems along I-95 at each ramp from the Hallandale Beach Boulevard interchange to the Southwest 10th Street interchange within Broward County. The project is currently under the design phase.

New Initiatives

Ramp Metering systems are currently being installed along I-95 at each ramp within District Four.

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Summary of Highlights

Tolling and Traffic Data Simulator Software: Most recently, District Four designed and developed a robust, configurable, and scalable ‘next generation’ dynamic pricing software platform, known as the Express Lanes System (ELS) Software v2.0 – a software foundation for the deployment of express lanes across the state. The ELS Software v2.0 is truly dynamic in recalculating express lanes segments and trip toll amounts at configurable intervals based on real-time traffic data received from field detectors and other data sources. In addition, Florida International University (FIU) developed a traffic data simulator to generate real-time traffic sensor data in conjunction with the ELS Software v2.0. The new data simulator allows users, through adjusting traffic speeds or volume for a single sensor, to simulate the impact of a traffic incident causing the software to realistically transmit that impact to all upstream sensors. For this development, the District Four ITS Unit received an honorary plaque on behalf of the 2015 ITS Florida Awards.

I-595 Express Lanes: After five years, the reconstruction of I-595 and the reversible express lanes in Broward County opened in March of 2014. After a successful operational year in 2014, the I-595 Corridor Improvements project was nominated at the Eighth Annual American Transportation Awards and won the People’s Choice Award after 56,000 votes were cast for the project. With express lanes, express bus service and a bike/pedestrian greenway, the project improved multimodal travel for the entire region. For District Four’s impressive efforts in improving transportation management, the I-595 Corridor Improvement Project also won $10,000 in support of any charity or transportation-related scholarship program of the district’s choosing.

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16 2015 SMART SunGuide ITS Annual ReportAll annual reports are available at www.SMARTSunGuide.com V4 01.25.16