Chicago officials today unveiled an agency charged with reducing street congestion by quickly dispatching traffic personnel and tow trucks and, ultimately, installing thousands of “smart” traffic signals around the city.I especially like the mental image of bureaucrats riding bikes to congestion spots, even though aide, in this context, is another word for low-wage interns...The Traffic Management Authority “will have a very positive effect on the quality of life for the residents of Chicago,” Mayor Richard Daley said at a news conference to announce the initiative.
The authority would monitor street conditions and send to trouble spots civilian traffic control aides, tow trucks and other resources. Aides would use bicycles when necessary to maneuver around congestion.The authority also would keep tabs on construction permits as they are issued, beginning with the downtown area, to anticipate potential conflicts with city events.
Over the long term, the authority would wire 2,800 signalized intersections into an “intelligent traffic system” under centralized control of signals. Message boards also would be employed to direct motorists.
Officials have not yet determined how much the automated traffic signal system would cost or when it could be implemented. A pilot project is in the planning stages.
The Traffic Management Authority would be modeled on traffic control systems in Atlanta, Houston, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo, officials said.
And from John Hilkevitch's column:
Airport authorities in Chicago and Hong Kong are striking up a business relationship aimed at sharing information about airport operations and new technologies. Chicago Aviation Commissioner John Roberson said the partnership also will help with long-range plans to expand cargo operations at O'Hare International Airport.Roberson recently hosted Howard Eng, director of Hong Kong International Airport. Roberson said he plans to visit Hong Kong this year and launch a management-exchange program between the two airports.
“The exchange will help us as we begin talking more about what O'Hare should be in the future,” Roberson said. He said a top priority is attracting more companies that air-freight goods from the huge Asian manufacturing market to the U.S. to distribution centers near O'Hare.
Chicago Transit Authority officials are also taking note of the popularity of the Hong Kong airport's express train service. The CTA this month solicited bids seeking a consultant to develop a business model to operate express trains from downtown to O'Hare and Midway Airports.
The Hong Kong airport trains take about 23 minutes from downtown. Advanced baggage check-in and porter service are provided, as well as free shuttle bus service from hotels to train stations. “Airport access through a premium transit service in Hong Kong and elsewhere reinforces the fact that it makes sense to invest in a high-speed, highly reliable rail connection to the city center,” said CTA president Frank Kruesi.
{Chicago}
Chicago officials studied what Tokyo--the city Daley called the most advanced in the world on the traffic control front--Houston, Los Angeles and Atlanta have done to ease congestion and devised a local plan that incorporates methods used by each.The anti-congestion effort will be the responsibility of a new Traffic Management Authority that will be part of the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Employees from various departments, which until now have dealt with different aspects of traffic control, will staff the new authority.
Checking practices in other cities, Chicago officials concluded that “from a centralized location, we had to be able to quickly mobilize and move resources,” said Ron Huberman, executive director of the emergency management and communications office. “We needed to track multiple events simultaneously, we needed to be able to pull information from multiple places quickly and then communicate it quickly to the public so motorists could make better decisions.”
The things that are easiest to do will be done the quickest, all of them by late summer, Huberman said.
Experts say that as much as 60 percent of congestion is caused by accidents or other events that block lanes, and the first initiative will be the towing effort, he said.
City trucks currently are called only after emergency responders have reached the scene, but dispatchers in the 911 center next month will begin sending them at the same time as police and firefighters.
New software scheduled to go online in July will allow officials to track construction permit applications in relation to scheduled events that could affect traffic, allowing permit issuance to be delayed or the hours of work to be limited.
The costly and herculean task of installing “smart” signal timing, street sensors and changeable message signs to maximize efficient traffic flow is to begin in September, with a pilot project somewhere in the downtown area that will be funded by $14.9 million in federal seed money.
But Huberman could not estimate how many years it will take or how much it will cost to equip the city's 2,800 intersections. The current cost per location ranges from about $75,000 to $250,000, he said.
As the new technology is installed, green lights will be able to stay green longer for approaching Chicago Transit Authority buses, cameras will be able to catch motorists who invade bus-only lanes in the downtown area and message boards will be able to advise drivers how to avoid congestion. Also planned is real-time transmission of accident and congestion information to the electronic media for transmission to listeners and viewers.
Ald. Thomas Allen (38th), chairman of the City Council's Transportation Committee, applauded the new effort, but he called for new technology on side streets as well to improve safety. Specially equipped vans deployed in other cities use cameras to nab speeders and motorists who blow neighborhood stop signs, he said.
