High-Tech Highway Solutions...Press Enterprise 050706)

I have to tell you that information about the traffic is not really going to stop the over crowding of the Freeways in California. But this is a good article and there are several that are all about trying to look ahead to clear up the Freeways and get traffic down to a more manigible level.

BSRancher...

High-tech highway solutions

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05:25 PM PDT on Friday, April 28, 2006

By Dennis Schuetzle

California's population is expected to grow by about 13 million in the next 20 years. This growth will further stress a transportation infrastructure system that is already stretched to the limit.

Linking road, rail, water and air transportation with the latest telecommunications, computers, on-board vehicle electronic systems and other advanced technologies can efficiently and economically manage the movement of people and goods down to the square foot.

Although the last century of transportation has witnessed many technological innovations, little has changed with respect to the interaction of cars and trucks with the roads they roam.

But with rapid advances in low-cost and compact telecommunications, global positioning systems and Internet devices, California now has the opportunity to help foster and apply emerging technologies to improve the safety, capacity and efficiency of their roads, rails and highways. Combining advanced technology with transportation infrastructure is known as Intelligent Transportation Systems, or ITS.

Special to The Press-Enterprise

ITS could help establish California as a global leader in developing efficient transportation systems to provide:

Traveler information services (e.g. traveler advisory systems).

Traffic management services (e.g. advanced traffic signal systems, freeway incident detection and management systems).

Public transport services (e.g. electronic transit schedule information, GPS tracking of bus movements and locations).

Commercial vehicle operations (e.g. weigh-in-motion, electronic truck clearance at vehicle inspection stations and border crossings).

Electronic payment services (e.g. electronic toll payment, transit fare payment).

Emergency management services (e.g. improving emergency vehicle response time by fleet tracking, route guidance and overriding traffic signals to allow police, fire and rescue vehicles to move through intersections unimpeded.)

Vehicle safety and control systems (e.g. in-vehicle technologies such as on-board computers and collision-avoidance sensor technologies).

Information warehousing services (e.g. traffic safety data collection, archived data management).

With minor and relatively inexpensive modifications to existing infrastructure, "smart highways" in California could be just a few years away. Soon, it will be possible to link Californians' personal communication devices -- cell phones, BlackBerries, laptop computers -- with their vehicles and the highways. Microsoft, IBM, Siemens, Intel, Ford, Toyota and others are developing technologies that connect in-vehicle technologies with these personal communication devices.

Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed "GoCalifornia" plan to allocate $3 billion for "smart highway" technologies over the next decade is a step in the right direction. But state, regional and local government should embrace the efforts of automakers, telecommunications companies, computer and electronics technology developers, transportation service providers and academic organizations to make Intelligent Transportation Systems a reality.

Dennis Schuetzle is president of Renewable Energy Institute International and a former vice president of research and development at Ford Motor Co.