The University Transportation Research Center, Region 2, a USDOT-supported university transportation center hosted by the City of New York, CUNY, and comprised of a consortium of 19 institutions in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, is pleased to announce that the Center has been awarded approximately $500,000 to conduct studies during 2015-16 on behalf of NYSDOT and NYCDOT for the Coordinated Intelligent Transportation Systems Deployment in New York City Program (CIDNY).  CIDNY is a multi-year program pertaining to urban Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) deployment with the purpose of providing ongoing training courses and conducting research and development programs in the areas of construction management, traffic demand management, dynamic data collection, traffic incident management, traffic signal timing and detection technologies, strategic ITS deployment plan, pedestrians and cyclists safety, data storage and access platform for MTA Bus Time data, and transportation modeling. Nine projects are to be funded in 2015-16 and 2016-17, with a possibility of additional projects being funded in future years.  FHWA is sponsoring this project with the local share provided by NYC Department of Transportation and NYS Department of Transportation.

The following projects were selected by a committee comprised of NYSDOT and NYCDOT representatives and will be funded during 2015-16.  The Agencies are expected to issue a subsequent call for proposals to select projects for 2016-17.

The development of a comprehensive guide to traffic signal timing project will be performed on behalf of NYCDOT. The study will focus on traffic signal control principles, practices and procedures. The final deliverable should be a synthesis of traffic signal timing concepts and their application, and vehicle detection technologies.The development of the construction management tool will be performed on behalf of NYSDOT. The project will aim to enhance coordination of planning and operations of construction within NYSDOT divisions and other agencies to optimize traffic flows within the travel corridors and networks impacted by one or more construction projects. In addition, improved coordination will enhance the safety of travelers and workers during periods of construction as a critical element of the NYSDOT “Driver’s First” program. This task will evaluate the effectiveness of an enhanced Construction Impact Analysis (CIA) tool designed and developed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) primarily in the Puget Sound Metropolitan area. The CIA will be evaluated by UTRC with the University of Washington Transportation Research Center (TRAC) to determine those elements of CIA which can be deployed in a test demo in NYC. 

Also being performed on behalf of NYCDOT, the Strategic Intelligent Transportation Systems project will assist the City to place all pieces of ITS together to improve operational efficiency. This Task will review and update the current Strategic Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Deployment Plan for New York City (2005).

The study on pedestrian and cyclist safety will involve research for NYCDOT on ITS-based countermeasures for reducing pedestrian injuries, conflicts and fatalities in the City, including but not limited to traffic signs, pavement markings, signals and signal timing, physical separations, and street lighting.

NYCDOT plans to use GPS data from GPS location devices equipped on public buses to monitor bus performance and support the Agency’s strategic goals. The data storage and access platform project using MTA Bus Time data will result in a database for storing the GPS data and a user interface for accessing the data for performing basic analysis.