Recommendation: Harness technology to improve travel and anticipate future impacts

Coordinated traffic operations involve collaboration between transportation agencies to collect data, monitor and adjust equipment, detect traffic incidents, reroute travelers, and dispatch resources to address problems on the region’s roadways. Traffic management centers are the hub of this coordination. The region’s largest TMCs are the Tollway Traffic and Incident Management System and Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) ComCenter. Local governments in the region operate TMCs at various scales and with varying degrees of coordination.

The ability for traffic signals to adapt to changing conditions is a key component of coordinated operations, but many of the region’s signals currently operate on fixed timing plans. These signals are not only unable to adapt in real time to changing conditions, but they also may have timing plans that are out of date, created years or even decades ago when traffic volumes were significantly different from current and anticipated conditions. Updating these older signals in areas with high current bus ridership or planned high-frequency bus service should be a high priority to make them compatible with future transit signal priority implementation. The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is leading the Regional Transit Signal Priority Implementation Program, which has identified 13 transit corridors spanning about 100 miles of roadway and 400 signalized intersections as strategic corridors for transit signal priority implementation.^{{{Regional Transportation Authority, “Regional Transit Signal Priority (TSP) Implementation Program,” accessed March 28, 2018, http://www.rtams.org/rtams/transitSignalPriority.jsp.}}}

The region should take advantage of every opportunity to modernize, improve, and enhance our transportation system while bringing it into a state of good repair. If paired with maintenance activities, these improvements can be accomplished at lower cost than if they were standalone projects. Although transportation agencies do regularly undertake such modernization efforts in conjunction with required maintenance, they could accomplish even more with additional advance planning. To cite several examples, reconstruction of a roadway can enable the laying of communications fiber. Requiring the installation of empty communications conduit when projects are built would decrease the cost of adding fiber in the future. Reconstruction projects also present an opportunity to upgrade infrastructure for utilities and stormwater and to implement complete streets projects. Routine rehabilitation of transit stations is also an opportunity to install real-time passenger information technology and to upgrade operational communications technology. Identifying all potential synergies and efficiencies between modernization and state of good repair will require additional communication across departments within agencies.

To make sound decisions, the region’s transportation agencies require data from all elements of the network, whether public or private. This is especially important to better understand non-motorized, freight, and TNC travel, each of which has been difficult to measure and analyze due to inadequate data. More frequent and detailed data on pedestrian and cyclist behavior could become available as sensing technology is increasingly deployed in public rights of way, and as private and public agencies analyze aggregated data from mobile devices and activity tracking apps. This might enable more efficient and accurate counts of cyclists and pedestrians as well as more complete inventories of the infrastructure they use. The region has greatly advanced its understanding of truck travel through the use of new data sources and monitoring systems, but similar information on rail movements — particularly private systems — is limited.

To understand rail performance, CMAP has made progress in collecting new data in recent years, but this data is aggregated to a high level that does not allow evaluation of potential rail projects. For tax dollars to be invested in private projects, private rail operators must demonstrate sufficient public benefits. Only with appropriate data from the freight rail industry — including speeds, volumes, and reliability of freight trains along specific corridors and at key rail-rail crossings — can this all-important analysis be conducted. Existing and emerging private providers have broad impacts on the transportation network, including impacts on congestion, mobility for people with disabilities, and transit ridership. Local governments and public transit agencies should work with TNCs and other private transportation providers to obtain the data necessary to understand these impacts and make sound policy and investment decisions. With full respect for the right of private companies for their sensitive data to be kept secure, public decision makers have the obligation to assess whether limited taxpayer dollars are being invested wisely and to examine the public benefits and costs of these services’ use of the public right of way. With a long record of safeguarding similarly sensitive data, CMAP will continue to play a major role in aggregating, normalizing, and sharing data as appropriate with regional stakeholders.

Public agencies also need to invest in their own data analysis, storage, and sharing capabilities. Such agencies, particularly lower capacity ones, might have difficulty collecting and managing transportation data as it increases in volume and complexity. Commercial services are increasingly essential for data collection, analysis, and visualization, reducing public agencies’ dependence on in-house expertise and potentially reducing costs, yet increasing their dependency on third-party tools and data providers. Public agencies should have the right to use, retain, and — when appropriate — share data collected by private sector sources on the behalf of public agencies or as a result of a public-private partnership. In turn, the public sector has its own valuable datasets, including system performance, conditions, and incidents. The public sector must carefully navigate competing mandates to provide open access to government data and protect the privacy of residents. This strategy also appears in the Governance chapter under the recommendation to Base investment decisions on data and performance.

Without thoughtful implementation, emerging transportation technologies may be cost-prohibitive for lower income households, people with disabilities, and municipalities with fewer fiscal resources. On the other hand, in combination with continued support for public transit, technology for shared mobility and automated vehicles has the potential to enhance mobility for lower income residents, seniors, and people with disabilities and to improve access to jobs, healthcare, and other essential destinations. Making inclusive growth a cornerstone from the very outset of policy development for emerging technologies can help leverage them to reduce rather than increase inequities of access to transportation.

Communities with limited resources will be less able to anticipate and respond to changing land use and traffic patterns caused by evolving transportation technologies. They may also be less able to purchase sensor, communication, and data processing equipment that could allow them to reap the benefits of new technology. Unless transportation implementers consciously include disabled users, seniors, and low-income communities in pilot projects and early implementation phases, technologies are unlikely to meet these communities’ needs. For example, without careful planning, AVs could exacerbate an existing trend: Congestion patterns lead to increased vehicle speeds in disinvested( A persistent, long-term lack of market investment, measured by a long term loss of jobs, low levels…
Read more) communities on roads that were originally designed to accommodate higher volumes of slower vehicles, now making them increasingly difficult and dangerous for bicyclists and pedestrians to navigate. Failure to ensure vehicle accessibility at the outset can prevent communities with the most to gain in improved mobility and independence from using new services, and require companies to make costly retrofits. At the same time, innovative technologies could reduce the need for car ownership, decrease household and municipal transportation expenses, attract new investment to disinvested areas with transit access, and provide a wider range of transportation options for residents of economically disconnected communities.

The impacts of TNCs, automated vehicles, and other emerging technologies will depend on the cost and convenience of low- and zero-occupancy vehicle travel for individuals and commercial services. The long-term direction of these advancements could provide considerable benefits to individuals, but they could also incur great public cost. On one hand, decline of car ownership in dense urban neighborhoods might allow substantial reallocation of road space for transit, pedestrians, and cyclists, yet some areas could see increased demand for automobile-oriented development, declines in public transit ridership and fare revenue, and increased congestion, unreliability, and maintenance needs on the region’s roadways. Many decisions about safety and design standards will be made at the federal level, but regional and local agencies will need to implement policies to manage the public costs of low- or zero-occupancy vehicle travel. New pricing strategies can support the competitiveness of high-capacity public transit, ensure funding is available for infrastructure and operational maintenance and modernization, and temper the demand for low occupancy vehicle use.

CMAP and its partners can influence the deployment of emerging technologies through strategic and coordinated policies. The region should avoid prohibiting or mandating specific technologies and focus on integrating new technologies into existing transportation systems and services in ways that leverage the new services’ strengths and help achieve reinvestment in existing communities, inclusive economic growth, congestion management, and emissions reduction. Appropriate policies may vary across the region depending on existing development patterns and local priorities. Communities with congested, transit-rich, or pedestrian-oriented corridors may consider expanding the use of geofencing( A virtual geographic boundary that can set different rules or enable different options for GPS-enab…
Read more), designated pick-up and drop-off areas, and local fees to support transportation infrastructure. Communities across the region will need information to understand impacts and identify appropriate policy interventions. Over the long term, the region must identify and implement pricing and infrastructure strategies to ensure that AVs and other emerging technologies provide equitable and sustainable benefits.

Urban neighborhoods, suburban downtowns, and commercial corridors must serve many types of travel and uses, from pedestrians to trucks and from mom-and-pop stores to mixed-use developments. These interactions are becoming more complex due to online shopping and associated deliveries, increased biking and walking, an aging population, an increase in residents with disabilities, and mobility innovations like ride hailing companies and dockless bikeshare. Transit vehicles, loading zones, bicycles, and parking all compete for dedicated right of way on the street network. Without careful planning, unintentional conflicts can arise on the street network and on the sidewalk, such as when street furniture or bike parking makes it harder for someone with disabilities to navigate, or for people to access bus stops.

Accommodating such varied needs in limited urban space is complex, but many solutions exist. Given the fast pace of change in mobility today, CMAP and partners can play a role in monitoring changes and establishing best practices for design, pricing, and shared uses. CMAP and partners should work with communities to pilot new approaches and establish strategies to support public transit and preserve vibrant, equitable, accessible, and walkable communities. This strategy also appears in the Mobility chapter under the recommendation to harness technology to improve travel and anticipate future impacts.

Because it is impossible to predict exactly which technologies will be in use by 2050, our core investments must be flexible enough to enable a wide range of potential outcomes. For example, most innovative transportation technologies, from real-time traffic information to automated vehicles, will rely on a robust communications network. No region-wide inventory of transportation-related fiber-optic cable location and condition currently exists, which makes planning for expansion opportunities more difficult. Building out a regional communications infrastructure network should be a high priority for the region’s many transportation implementers. Also, pilot testing of automated and connected vehicle infrastructure might provide opportunities to promote adoption of these technologies.

Due to increasingly stringent fuel economy standards, vehicles that use conventional gasoline will become more efficient, and more than a quarter of cars and light duty trucks could be powered by electricity and other alternative fuels by 2050.^{{{U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Annual Energy Outlook 2017,” http://cmap.is/2snwnMk.}}} Passenger cars are most likely to be electrified, with a dramatic increase in plug-in and hybrid electric vehicle market share projected by 2050. Public transit agencies and local governments are investing in electric vehicles and replacing their fleet with more energy efficient and less polluting vehicles. Yet, improved charging infrastructure is needed to increase adoption rates of electric vehicles.

Identifying these opportunities will require new tools and analytical techniques as well as effort from the public and private sectors to collaborate on transparently providing data and information. Implementers will also need to better understand the long-term financial implications of technology investments. For example, the many transportation agencies in the region who implement and maintain ITS equipment could benefit from a shared understanding and vision for the transition to connected vehicles. CMAP’s current role in convening the Advanced Technology Task Force positions the agency well to pursue analysis of connected vehicle opportunities in the Chicago region and coordinate development of a regional vision for AVs.