Overview of the State-of the-Practice in Disseminating Traffic Information by Advanced Traffic Management Systems (0-1752-1)

For more than 30 years, traffic engineers have attempted to provide information to travelers about traffic conditions and other occurrences on the roadway network that could affect their journey. The traffic data collected by agencies and its dissemination was, and still is, a necessary tool to help those agencies manage the transportation system to provide the public better service. Recent improvements in traffic sensor and data acquisition methods now allow public agencies to expand the capabilities of their transportation management systems by providing a better representation of the network. By having the ability to acquire better traffic data, each agency has information that is more valuable to itself, to the public, and potentially to provide enterprise than similar information of just a few years ago. However, several procedural and institutional questions arise when an agency contemplates undertaking the acquisition and dissemination of traffic information. To determine how other agencies have answered these questions and to provide a reference to assist in developing policy and procedures, this research project synthesized the state-of-the-practice of traffic information dissemination within the United States by conducting a survey of some of the agencies that are operating traffic management centers and disseminating traffic information. This project also synthesizes the findings.