USDOT Integrated Corridor Management ( ICM) Initiative
March 31, 2008
FHWA- JPO- 08- 003
EDL Number 14389
Concept of Operations for the
I- 880 Corridor in Oakland, California
I- 880 INTEGRATED CORRIDOR
MANAGEMENT
Concept of Operation
Final Submittal
Submitted to
U. S. Department of Transportation
Submitted by
Metropolitan Transportation Commission ( MTC)
California Department of Transportation ( Caltrans) – District 4
Alameda County Congestion Management Agency ( ACCMA)
Alameda- Contra Costa Transit District ( AC Transit)
Bay Area Rapid Transit ( BART)
Prepared by
California PATH Program, University of California at Berkeley
California Center for Innovative Technologies, UC Berkeley
Cambridge Systematics Inc.
DKS Associates
Kimley- Horn and Associates, Inc.
System Metrics Group
Notice
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U. S. Department of
Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U. S. Government
assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document. This
report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The U. S.
Government does not endorse products of manufacturers. Trademarks or
manufacturers’ names appear in this report only because they are considered
essential to the objective of the document.
Quality Assurance Statement
The U. S. Department of Transportation ( USDOT) provides high- quality information to
serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public
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improvement.
Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No.
FHWA- JPO- 08- 003
EDL Number 14389
2. Government Accession No.
3. Recipient's Catalog No.
5. Report Date
March 31, 2008
4. Title and Subtitle
Concept of Operations for the I- 880 Corridor in Oakland, California
6. Performing Organization Code
7. Author( s)
Oakland Pioneer Site Team
8. Performing Organization Report No.
10. Work Unit No. ( TRAIS)
9. Performing Organization Name and Address
Oakland Pioneer Site Team
11. Contract or Grant No.
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
U. S. Department of Transportation
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
ITS Joint Program Office
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
14. Sponsoring Agency Code
15. Supplementary Notes
RITA Contact: Brian Cronin
FHWA Contact: Dale Thompson
FHWA Contact: Robert Sheehan
FTA Contact: Steve Mortensen
16. Abstract
This report describes the draft Concept of Operations that has been developed for the Integrated Corridor Mobility ( ICM)
program by the I- 880 corridor team. The I- 880 corridor team has defined this Concept of Operations ( ConOps) based on two
primary principles: ( 1) it must improve overall corridor performance by meeting the needs of the local stakeholder agencies,
within their practical operational, institutional and financial constraints; and ( 2) it must focus on integration of pre- existing
systems rather than on implementation of new equipment or infrastructure. The I- 880 corridor is a truly multimodal corridor,
including a robust freeway network, major arterials which carry high volumes of local traffic as well as absorb diversion
from the freeway networks, a transit network which includes the Bay Area Rapid Transit ( BART) rail system and multiple
AC Transit bus transit lines, and heavy freight movements with trucks comprising between 4% and 11% of the average
annual daily traffic in the corridor. Transportation management systems ( TMS) have been widely deployed in the corridor
for many years including: a) ramp metering on I- 880; b) HOV lanes and HOV bypass lanes for ramp meters; c) incident and
emergency management systems on all freeways; d) changeable message signs on freeways; e) electronic toll collection
systems ( FasTrak); f) coordinated traffic signal systems on major arterials; g) BART transit management system; h) bus
transit with signal priority capabilities and AVL; and i) transportation management centers for freeways, arterials, BART,
bus transit and the Port of Oakland. Transportation facilities in the corridor are highly instrumented with real- time data
collection systems. An institutional integration/ coordination setting is already in place: the Metropolitan Transportation
Commission ( MTC), California DOT ( Caltrans), Alameda County Congestion Management Agency ( ACCMA), BART,
Alameda- Contra Costa Transit District ( AC Transit), and cities in the corridor have a history of cooperation.
17. Key Word
ICM, Integrated Corridor Management, Con Ops, I- 880,
Oakland, Freeway, Arterial, Transit, bus, rail, Intelligent
Transportation Systems, ITS, ramp metering, HOV,
electronic toll collection, performance monitoring system,
PeMS
18. Distribution Statement
19. Security Classif. ( of this report)
Unclassified
20. Security Classif. ( of this page)
Unclassified
21. No. of Pages
290
22. Price
Form DOT F 1700.7 ( 8- 72) Reproduction of completed page authorized
Page i
I- 880 ICM Concept of Operation
Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................... 1
1.2 SCENARIOS AND STRATEGIES .................................................................. 4
1.3 EXPECTED BENEFITS AND COSTS ............................................................... 7
2. REFERENCES......................................................................................... 8
3. EXISTING CORRIDOR SCOPE AND OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS 10
3.1 CORRIDOR BOUNDARIES AND NETWORKS .............................................................. 10
3.1.1 I- 880 Freeway .................................................................................... 10
3.1.2 Arterial Highways ................................................................................ 14
3.1.3 AC Transit Bus Routes.......................................................................... 15
3.1.4 Transit Rail ( BART) .............................................................................. 18
3.1.5 Water Transit Authority ........................................................................ 19
3.2 CORRIDOR STAKEHOLDERS............................................................................... 20
3.2.1 Caltrans............................................................................................. 20
3.2.2 MTC .................................................................................................. 21
3.2.3 ACCMA .............................................................................................. 24
3.2.4 Local Jurisdictions ............................................................................... 25
3.2.5 AC Transit .......................................................................................... 25
3.2.6 BART................................................................................................. 26
3.2.7 The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority ( WTA)....................... 26
3.2.8 Port of Oakland................................................................................... 27
3.2.9 Emergency Responding Agencies ( CHP, Police, fire and paramedics)........... 27
3.3 EXISTING OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS, CHARACTERISTICS AND STRATEGIES OF 880 CORRIDOR
AND INCLUDED NETWORKS .................................................................................... 28
3.3.1 Performance Measures ......................................................................... 28
3.3.2 Existing Operation Conditions and Characteristics .................................... 33
3.3.3 Cross- Network Coordination Strategies Already Implemented .................... 39
3.3.4 Summary........................................................................................... 43
3.4 EXISTING NETWORK- BASED TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT/ ITS ASSETS ....................... 45
3.4.1 Freeway............................................................................................. 45
3.4.2 Arterial Highways ................................................................................ 57
3.4.3 AC Transit .......................................................................................... 62
3.4.4 BART................................................................................................. 65
3.4.5 Regional ITS Systems and Services........................................................ 67
3.4.6 Information Sharing Capabilities............................................................ 70
3.4.7 Summary........................................................................................... 74
3.5 PROGRAMMED NEAR- TERM NETWORK IMPROVEMENTS................................................ 76
3.5.1 Highways ........................................................................................... 76
3.5.2 Arterials............................................................................................. 77
3.5.3 AC Transit .......................................................................................... 77
3.5.4 BART................................................................................................. 78
Page ii
3.6 CURRENT NETWORK- BASED INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS ..................................... 79
3.6.1 Summary of Existing Institutional Agreements......................................... 80
3.6.2 Description of Existing Institutional Agreements ...................................... 82
3.6.3 Major Milestones in Institutional Integration ............................................ 89
3.6.4 Opportunities for Improved Institutional Integration................................. 91
3.7 OVERVIEW OF REGIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE.......................................................... 92
3.7.1 Summary of Bay Area ITS Architecture................................................... 92
3.7.2 Intra- network or center- to- field standards deployed................................. 93
3.7.3 Center- to- Center ITS Standards Deployed .............................................. 96
3.9 INDIVIDUAL NETWORK AND CORRIDOR PROBLEMS, ISSUES AND NEEDS .......................... 100
3.8.1 Freeway System ................................................................................ 100
3.8.2 Arterial System.................................................................................. 102
3.8.3 AC Transit ......................................................................................... 102
3.8.4 BART................................................................................................ 103
3.9 CORRIDOR MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ALREADY IMPLEMENTED FOR THE I- 880 CORRIDOR .... 104
3.10 GAPS ..................................................................................................... 105
3.10.1 Insufficient information sharing among different transportation systems:
105
Gaps in traveler information for influencing .................................................... 106
travelers’ decisions and choices:................................................................... 106
3.10.2 Gaps in collaboration among agencies for coordinated operations ............ 106
3.10.3 Gaps in collaboration among agencies for event planning ...................... 107
3.11 THE NEEDS FOR ICM................................................................................... 108
4. ICM SYSTEM CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS........................................... 113
4.1 I- 880 ICM CONOPS DEVELOPMENT APPROACH...................................................... 113
4.1.1 System Engineering Approach.............................................................. 113
4.1.2 Guiding Principles and Development Process ......................................... 114
4.1.3 Approach for Selecting ICM Strategies................................................... 116
4.2 I- 880 CORRIDOR VISION, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES................................................. 117
4.3 ICM APPLICATION SCENARIOS.......................................................................... 118
4.3.1 Normal Operations Scenario................................................................. 119
4.3.2 Incident Scenario ( Highway and Arterial) ............................................... 123
4.3.3 Incident Scenario ( Transit) .................................................................. 126
4.3.4 Planned/ Scheduled Event Scenario ....................................................... 127
4.3.5 Catastrophic Event Scenario ................................................................ 131
4.4 DEVELOPMENT OF CANDIDATE ICM STRATEGIES ..................................................... 133
4.4.1 Information Sharing ........................................................................... 133
4.4.2 Candidate ICM Strategies .................................................................... 135
4.5 ANALYSIS OF CANDIDATE ICM STRATEGIES .......................................................... 140
4.5.1 Assessment of Candidate ICM Strategies against issues and ICM goals....... 140
4.5.2 Analysis of Candidate ICM Strategies .................................................... 143
4.5.3. Potential Benefits of 880 ICM Strategies ............................................... 161
5. ICM IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ........................................................ 174
5.1 FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS .................................................................................. 174
5.2 ICM NEW ASSET REQUIREMENTS AND NEEDS ........................................................ 178
5.3 ALIGNMENT WITH REGIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE .................................................... 180
Page iii
5.4 IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES................................................................................ 183
5.4.1Technical Issues.................................................................................. 183
5.4.2 Institutional and Operational Issues ...................................................... 186
5.5 I- 880 ICM CONCEPT IMPLEMENTATION INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ............................. 190
I- 880 CORRIDOR ICM OPERATIONAL DESCRIPTION ...................................................... 192
5.7 AVAILABILITY OF DETAILED REAL- TIME DATA FOR EVALUATION.................................... 195
5.8 TRANSFERABILITY OF LESSONS LEARNED FROM 880 ICM IMPLEMENTATION TO OTHER
METROPOLITAN REGIONS ..................................................................................... 201
APPENDIXES ........................................................................................ 203
APPENDIX A: MEETING MINUTES ............................................................................ 203
A1. Kick- off meeting minutes ....................................................................... 203
A2: Stakeholder meeting Jan 11, 2007 .......................................................... 210
A3: TAC meeting Jan 18, 2007 ..................................................................... 217
APPENDIX B: STRATEGIES .................................................................................... 223
APPENDIX C: CANDIDATE STRATEGIES...................................................................... 229
APPENDIX D: ITS FUTURE PROJECT DESCRIPTION .............................. 238
APPENDIX E: BAY AREA REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE CHANGE APPROVAL PROCESS..................... 244
APPENDIX F. FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 248
APPENDIX G AC TRANSIT BUS SERVICE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 880 CORRIDOR................. 277
Cover images source: DKS Associates
Header image source: DKS Associates
Page 1 of 281
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report describes the draft Concept of Operations that has been developed for
the Integrated Corridor Mobility ( ICM) program by the I- 880 corridor team. This
draft document aims to solicit feedback from federal reviewers who are
responsible for selecting submittals for the next phase of the ICM program.
The I- 880 corridor team has defined this Concept of Operations ( ConOps) based
on two primary principles: ( 1) it must improve overall corridor performance by
meeting the needs of the local stakeholder agencies, within their practical
operational, institutional and financial constraints; and ( 2) it must focus on
integration of pre- existing systems rather than on implementation of new
equipment or infrastructure. Considering that the individual transportation
networks within the corridor are already generally well equipped with ITS systems,
this is not as serious a limitation.
WHY THE I- 880 CORRIDOR WAS NOMINATED?
The I- 880 corridor in Alameda County, CA is well suited for ICM because:
It is a long and densely populated urban corridor connecting a major
employment center ( Silicon Valley in the south) with the Port of Oakland,
Oakland International Airport, and major population centers including the
Cities of Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro, Hayward, Fremont, and Union
City.
It is a truly multimodal corridor, including a robust freeway network, major
arterials which carry high volumes of local traffic as well as absorb
diversion from the freeway networks, a transit network which includes the
Bay Area Rapid Transit ( BART) rail system and multiple AC Transit bus
transit lines, and heavy freight movements with trucks comprising between
4% and 11% of the average annual daily traffic in the corridor.
Alameda County has the greatest amount of freeway congestion of the
nine Bay Area counties, with 50,000 vehicle- hours of daily delay. I- 880
alone has average daily delays of more than 10,000 vehicle- hours. The
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corridor also has a high incident/ accident rate, with an average of over 10
collisions and over 100 incidents per day. It is estimated that collisions
account for 30 percent of overall corridor delay. These statistics suggest a
significant opportunity to demonstrate improvements gained from ICM,
Transportation management systems ( TMS) have been widely deployed in
the corridor for many years including: a) ramp metering on I- 880; b) HOV
lanes and HOV bypass lanes for ramp meters; c) incident and emergency
management systems on all freeways; d) changeable message signs on
freeways; e) electronic toll collection systems ( FasTrak); f) coordinated
traffic signal systems on major arterials; g) BART transit management
system; h) bus transit with signal priority capabilities and AVL; and i)
transportation management centers for freeways, arterials, BART, bus
transit and the Port of Oakland.
Transportation facilities in the corridor are highly instrumented with real-time
data collection systems. Real- time data collection capabilities include:
a) the freeway Performance Monitoring System ( PeMS); b) the Smart
Corridor system focusing on arterials; and the rail and bus transit
operations systems. Furthermore, through the California Model Corridor
Study high- quality data have been collected and used in modeling and
microsimulation of all networks in the I- 880 corridor; these data and
models are readily available for use in the analysis of ICM opportunities in
the corridor. Specifically for 880 ICM Field of Operational Tests, the
primary operation agencies along 880 have all agreed to add additional
instrumentation and communication to facilitate high quality real- time
traffic and transit data to support quantitative before- and- after evaluation.
The transportation management systems are consistent with the regional
ITS plan, the national ITS architecture, and the Caltrans strategic plan for
TMS. These management systems are semi- integrated, with higher levels
of integration at freeway and arterial systems, and lower integration levels
at BART and bus transit systems.
An institutional integration/ coordination setting is already in place: the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission ( MTC), California DOT ( Caltrans),
Alameda County Congestion Management Agency ( ACCMA), BART,
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Alameda- Contra Costa Transit District ( AC Transit), and cities in the
corridor have a history of cooperation.
As the I- 880 corridor is both operational and institutionally complex
compared to most corridors in the U. S., the experience gained and lessons
learned from deployment of ICM along I- 880 can help other regions in the
U. S learn how to deploy ICM in less complex environments.
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1.2 SCENARIOS AND STRATEGIES
The agencies listed above have participated actively in the Technical Advisory
Committee for the I- 880 ICM project, providing guidance about their needs,
desires and capabilities for ICM deployment. This project has followed the five-step
ConOps development process developed by 880 ICM team, considering how
corridor integration would be applied in the five broad classes of operating
scenarios specified by DOT: normal operations, highway/ arterial incidents, transit
incidents, planned/ scheduled events and major ( unplanned) events. Specific
instances of these scenarios were defined to focus on the special needs of the I-
880 corridor.
In order to use ICM as a tool to address the gaps and needs for the I- 880 corridor,
the ICM team prepared a comprehensive list of ICM strategies that would be
applied to deal with these scenarios, starting from the master list supplied by DOT.
Some new strategies were defined to meet specific needs in the I- 880 corridor,
while other strategies on the original list were combined or re- characterized as
enablers rather than independent strategies. A few strategies that have already
been implemented in the corridor were dropped from further consideration within
this project because they would no longer be considered new in this corridor ( such
as integrated transit fare payment and electronic toll collection). The
stakeholders and consultants screened the candidate ICM strategies based on the
following criteria:
operational feasibility
technical feasibility
institutional constraints
benefits and costs
compliance with the regional ITS architecture.
Even after this screening, a substantial collection of strategies remained under
consideration because of the high level of stakeholder interest in maximizing the
opportunities for corridor integration. These strategies were grouped into logical
clusters to be evaluated in the next phase of the ICM as shown in the Table:
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( A) Influencing Travelers’ Decisions & Choices and Traveler Information Strategies
A corridor- based advanced traveler information system ( ATIS) database that
provides information to travelers for pre- trip and en- route decisions, across all
networks.
Promote route shifts between roadways via en- route traveler information
devices ( e. g. DMS, HAR, " 511") advising motorists of congestion ahead,
directing them to adjacent freeways or arterials.
Promote modal shifts from roadways to transit via en- route traveler information
devices ( e. g. DMS, HAR, " 511") advising motorists of congestion ahead,
directing them to high capacity transit networks and providing real- time
information on the number of parking spaces available in the park and ride
facility.
Promote shifts between transit facilities via en- route traveler information
devices ( e. g. station message signs and public announcements) advising riders
of service outages and directing them to adjacent rail or bus services.
( B) Facilitating Collaboration among Agencies for Operational Improvement
Integrated Freeway/ Arterial Operations
Coordinated operation between freeway ramp meters and arterial traffic signals
to accommodate traffic shifts in both directions.
Enhance arterial signal timing with advance information about special events at
Coliseum.
Coordinated Roadway/ Transit Operations
Signal priority for transit ( e. g. extended green times to buses that are operating
behind schedule).
Adjustment of AC Transit bus operations based on real- time information about
highway traffic and special events.
Integrated Transit Operations)
Transit hub connection protection for incidents and emergencies
Collaboration between Freeway Operations and Port of Oakland)
Port of Oakland advises trucks travel time based on real- time traffic
information.
Coordination with Emergency Services)
Signal pre- emption or " best route" for emergency vehicles.
Coordination for Incident Response)
Multi- agency or multi- network incident response teams and service patrols and
training exercises.
( C) Facilitating Collaboration among Agencies for Event Planning
Coordinate scheduled maintenance and construction activities among networks.
Guidelines for construction work hours during emergencies or special events.
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In order to determine the technical feasibility of these strategies, functional
decompositions were performed to identify the specific functions that would have
to be implemented in order for each strategy to work. The fundamental
categories of functions that were considered were:
data collection
data receiving
data archiving
data processing
interface with users.
Once the specific functions were identified, required data flows between functions
were defined in block diagram form, as shown in Appendix F. This graphical
display provided an effective way of showing which functions were already
implemented by existing systems and which functions would still have to be
implemented as part of the ICM integration activities. Through this process, it was
concluded that the data collection and user interface functions are largely covered
by existing systems and devices owned by the operators of the individual
networks, but the new ICM functions are concentrated in the middle three
categories: data receiving, archiving and processing. These functions involve
communications and software development but not the installation of significant
new field devices. For ease of display, the functional decompositions are shown
separately for the freeways, arterials, transit and others ( emergency services and
freight).
The functional decomposition also reveal the synergy that can be gained when
data collected by one network can be used by operators and travelers in other
networks and user interface displays installed by one network can provide
information about other networks. In this way, the incremental costs for adding
strategies decline as more strategies are implemented because they make use of
the same underlying capabilities for data collection and display.
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Following the functional analysis, the 880 ICM team conducted a preliminary
investigation of assets needs for implementing the candidate ICM strategies and
provided an estimate of the cost of the ICM implementation. The ConOps
concludes with a review of the technical, institutional and operational issues that
affect deployability of the ICM capabilities and therefore need to be considered
from the start. The stakeholder representatives are acutely aware of what is easy
and what is hard to implement within their organizations. They provided a wealth
of information about the practical considerations that will make or break attempts
to implement each ICM strategy and what operational model will allow ICM to be a
viable tool beyond Field Operational Tests. The institutional and operational
complexity of the I- 880 corridor bring their own sets of challenges, but at the
same time set an example for other less complex corridors around the country.
By showing that ICM can be made effective here, we can provide encouragement
to other corridors that they can succeed with less complex challenges to address
in their integration work.
1.3 EXPECTED BENEFITS and COSTS
At this early stage, and building on the aforementioned analyses, the I- 880
corridor team estimated performance improvement targets for the multi- modal
system. For instance, freeway congestion is expected to be reduced by at least
10 percent. Moreover, overall freeway travel time reliability will be improved by
the same amount. Arterial and transit benefit targets are also estimated. The
next phase of the ICM will focus on testing these targets and further narrowing
the list of strategies based on the evaluation results. Fortunately, the existing
models ( e. g., corridor micro- simulation) will enable this evaluation to be
accomplished in a cost effective manner. Costs associated with implementing the
proposed strategies are still being developed, and will be refined as more detail is
developed through the analysis process.
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2. REFERENCES
1. Bay Area Regional Intelligent Transportation Systems ( ITS) Plan
http:// mtc. ca. gov/ planning/ ITS/ Bay_ Area_ ITS_ Plan. pdf
2. Bay Area Transportation State of the System 2005
3. Bay Area Regional ITS Architecture
4. ICM Program Plan http:// www. its. dot. gov/ icms/ icms_ workplan. htm
5. ICM Generic Concept of Operation
http:// www. itsdocs. fhwa. dot. gov/ JPODOCS/ REPTS_ TE/ 14281. htm
6. ICM Implementation Guide
http:// www. itsdocs. fhwa. dot. gov/ JPODOCS/ REPTS_ TE/ 14281. htm
7. Develop Criteria for Delineating a Corridor
http:// www. itsdocs. fhwa. dot. gov/ JPODOCS/ REPTS_ TE/ 14274. htm
8. Develop Alternative Definitions for Corridor and Integrated Corridor
Management ( ICM)
http:// www. itsdocs. fhwa. dot. gov/ JPODOCS/ REPTS_ TE/ 14273. htm
9. Relationship Between Corridor Management and Regional Management
http:// www. itsdocs. fhwa. dot. gov/ JPODOCS/ REPTS_ TE/ 14275. htm
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3. EXISTING CORRIDOR SCOPE AND
OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
3.1 Corridor Boundaries and Networks
The San Francisco Bay Area is the fifth most populated metropolitan area in the
United States, and the I- 880 corridor is centrally located within the region. The I-
880 corridor starts from the connector of freeways I- 880, I- 80 and I- 580 and
ends at SR237. A number of parallel arterial highways, including Highway 185
( International Blvd./ E14 blvd. Fremont Blvd) and San Leandro St., are part of the
I- 880 ICM corridor. I- 880 ICM corridor provides connectivity between densely
populated residential areas and many major commercial and industrial centers.
The corridor also plays a key role in freight and goods movement, directly serving
the Port of Oakland, the fourth busiest port in the United States. Thus, the
efficient operation of I- 880 is of critical economic importance to the region the
state, and the entire nation. The I- 880 corridor is truly a multi- modal, multi- use
urban freeway corridor.
3.1.1 I- 880 Freeway
As one of the main arteries of the freeway system in the Bay Area, I- 880
consists of 45 miles of freeway connecting Silicon Valley with the East Bay.
Major interchanges in the corridor include junctions at SR- 112 ( Davis Street
in San Leandro), I- 238 ( connecting I- 880 in San Leandro to I- 580), SR- 92
( from Hayward, west to the San Mateo- Hayward Bridge), SR- 84 ( from
Fremont, west to the Dumbarton Bridge), and SR- 262 ( Mission Blvd. in
Fremont, east to I- 680).
I- 880 serves the Port of Oakland, Oakland International Airport, and the
Oakland Intermodal Gateway Terminal ( the Joint Intermodal Terminal), the
Oakland Coliseum, as well as a major concentration of industrial and
warehouse land uses. I- 880 serves as both an access route for major inter-regional
and international shippers and a primary intraregional goods-movement
corridor.
The I- 880 ICM team has selected the segment of the I- 880 corridor between
the cities of Oakland and Fremont in Alameda County, with the I- 580/ I- 80
interchange as the northern boundary and SR- 237 as the southern boundary
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( a distance of about 38 miles and 250+ lane miles). This is a logical
segment for the Integrated Corridor Management project as it matches the
existing institutional agreements in place for the corridor management plan.
In addition, the necessary infrastructure is already in place to support the
integrated corridor management functionality, without major additional
investments.
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FIGURE 3.1a CORRIDOR MAP
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FIGURE 3.1b CORRIDOR CALL BOX MAP
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3.1.2 Arterial Highways
There are a number of major north- south arterials along the entire project
corridor on both sides parallel to I- 880, with connecting arterials to the
freeway segment. On the east side of the I- 880 corridor, Mission Blvd ( SR-
238) and E. 14th Street/ International Blvd ( SR- 185) forms a continuous
corridor from the southern limit of the project corridor to the northern limit.
On the west side of the I- 880 corridor, the major north- south parallel
arterials form a continuous segment from the southern limit of the project
corridor, starting at the Ardenwood Blvd, Union City Boulevard and
Hesperian Blvd, crossing I- 880 in San Leandro and joining the E. 14th Street.
On the east side of the I- 880 corridor, Doolittle Drive ( SR- 61) serves the
Port of Oakland and Oakland Airport and is connected to the I- 880 corridor
via Davis Street ( SR- 112), 98th Avenue and Hegenberger Road.
These major arterials link to a number of other key arterials that connect to
the I- 880 freeway. These connections include:
29th Avenue ( Oakland)
42nd Avenue ( SR- 77) ( Oakland)
Hegenberger Road ( Oakland)
98th Avenue ( Oakland)
Davis Street ( SR- 112) ( San Leandro)
West A Street ( Hayward)
West Winton Avenue ( Hayward)
Tennyson Road ( Hayward)
Industrial Parkway ( Hayward)
Alvarado Niles Road ( Union City)
Alvarado Blvd ( Union City)
Paseo Padre ( Fremont)
Fremont Blvd. ( Fremont)
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Within downtown Oakland, the major arterials include 14th Street, Broadway
and Grand Avenue, where it joins the I- 880 corridor at the northern limits of
the project corridor.
Major portions of these arterial networks are currently included in the East
Bay SMART Corridors program. The East Bay SMART Corridors program
includes East 14th/ International Boulevard, East 14th Street, San Leandro
Boulevard/ Street, Hesperian Boulevard, and Union City Boulevard; this
arterial corridor is approximately 18 miles long and parallels I- 880 from
downtown Oakland to Union City.
3.1.3 AC Transit Bus Routes
AC Transit operates a number of Regional Express Bus routes and
dozens of local bus lines in the proximity of the I- 880 corridor. This
includes Route 82/ 82L, a key high- ridership trunk line along the I-
880. This route operates 24 hours a day from the Hayward BART
station ( Bay Fair BART for 82L) to downtown Oakland via E. 14th
Street and International Boulevard. Figure 3.2 is the AC Transit
route map for most of the East Bay, which includes Route 82/ 82L.
Regional Express Bus lines using I- 880 include Line S ( South
Hayward to San Francisco), Line SA ( San Lorenzo to San Francisco),
Line SB ( Newark to San Francisco), Line OX ( Harbor Bay / Alameda
to San Francisco), Line O ( Alameda to San Francisco), and Line W
( West Alameda to San Francisco). The following table is a summary
of transit service along East 14th/ International Blvd:
TABLE 3.1
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Existing Transit Service on E. 14th Street/ International Boulevard
Weekday Service Weekend Service
Daily
Operating
Service Frequency
( min)
Daily
Operating
Service
Frequency
( min)
Route Span Peak Base Eve Span Base Eve
82
International
( Downtown
Oakland to
SL BART) 24 hours 12 15
No
servic
e
24
hours 15- 60
N
o
s
e
r
v
i
c
e
82
International
( SL BART to
BAYFAIR
BART)
7: 30 p. m.
to 7: 00
a. m.
No
service
No
service 15- 60
7: 00
p. m. to
10: 00
a. m. No service
1
5
-
6
0
82L
International
Limited
( Downtown
Oakland to
Hayward
BART)
7: 00 a. m.
to 7: 00
p. m. 12 15
No
servic
e
10: 00
a. m. to
7: 00
p. m. 15
N
o
s
e
r
v
i
c
e
Page 17 of 281
AC Transit is in the process of implementing Bus Rapid Transit ( BRT)
between Berkeley and San Leandro along the E. 14th
Street/ International Blvd. corridor. Completion of the first phase of
arterial infrastructure to support BRT operations was completed in
January 2007, featuring signal coordination and transit priority.
Phase Two is scheduled to begin in 2008 and will feature dedicated
transit ways at a large percentage of its run- ways and significant
ITS and other technological improvements. Ridership for the BRT is
anticipated to reach about 30,000 boardings per day in the next 20
years, which is almost double the current ridership for the corridor.
Construction of the full BRT project is scheduled for completion in
2008.
FIGURE 3.2
AC Transit Route Map
3.1.3.2– OTHER BUS TRANSIT SERVICES
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority ( VTA)
operates primarily in Santa Clara County, but has bus service
linking the Fremont BART station to its light rail network as well as
ACE and Caltrain stations in Santa Clara and San Jose Diridon
Station. Union City Transit provides bus transit service
exclusively within Union City, including the key arterial Alvarado-
Niles Blvd.
Page 18 of 281
3.1.4 Transit Rail ( BART)
3.1.4.1 San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District ( BART) is a
public rail rapid- transit system that serves major parts of the San Francisco
Bay Area, including the I- 880 corridor. The total system comprises 104
miles of track and 43 stations. Figure 3.3 shows the BART system, which
along I- 880 corridor includes 20 miles of track and 12 BART stations. BART
is connected to regional rail and bus services and to San Francisco
International Airport and Oakland International Airport ( via AirBART buses).
FIGURE 3.3
BART System Map
3.1.4.2 INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL LINES
Two intercity passenger rail lines provide service along the I- 880
freeway corridor, providing additional travel options for commuters
and interregional travelers.
Page 19 of 281
Amtrak Capitol Corridor is an intercity passenger train system
that provides a convenient alternative to traveling along the
congested I- 80, I- 680 and I- 880 freeways by operating intercity rail
service connecting the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Areas.
This includes 16 stations in 8 Northern California counties ( Placer,
Sacramento, Yolo, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco,
and Santa Clara) along a 170- mile rail corridor. An extensive,
dedicated Amtrak motorcoach network provides connecting bus
service beyond the Capitol Corridor route. The Amtrak Capitol
Corridor is operated by a Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority
( CCJPA), which is managed by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District
( BART) with support from Amtrak and Caltrans. The CCJPA Board
consists of representatives from the eight counties in The Capitol
Corridor. Within the I- 880 ICM corridor limits, the Amtrak Capitol
Corridor runs parallel to the BART tracks with key stations at Jack
London Square in Oakland, Coliseum/ Oakland Airport, and Fremont
Centerville Station. The Coliseum Station is a true “ cross- platform”
connection point with BART.
Altamont Commuter Express ( ACE) rail line provides service
from Stockton in San Joaquin County to San Jose in Santa Clara
County. The route parallels the highly congested I- 580 corridor,
part of the I- 680 corridor ( Sunol Grade), then along I- 880 ( Fremont
Centerville Station, Great America, Santa Clara, San Jose). Near
the southern limits of the I- 880 ICM corridor, the rail line connects
from the Diridon Intermodal Station to Fremont Centerville Station,
and has an intermediate stop at the Great America Intermodal
Station ( just south of SR- 237). The possibility of Union City BART
Station becoming an intermodal connection for the Altamont
Commuter Express ( ACE) and the proposed Dumbarton Rail line has
also been discussed.
3.1.5 Water Transit Authority
The Water Transit Authority ( WTA) operates a comprehensive San
Francisco Bay Area public water transit system. Alameda- Oakland-
San Francisco is the most popular route.
Page 20 of 281
3.2 Corridor Stakeholders
Several institutions and agencies play key roles in the management of the I- 880
corridor. These institutions include two State agencies, the California Department
of Transportation, District 4 and the California Highway Patrol ( CHP); one
metropolitan planning organization, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
( MTC); one county agency, the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency
( ACCMA); three transit agencies, Alameda- Contra Costa Transit District ( AC
Transit), Bay Area Rapid Transit ( BART) Water Transit Authority, and the Port of
Oakland. A description of each institution’s role and responsibility in the
management of the I- 880 corridor is described further below.
3.2.1 Caltrans
The California Department of Transportation ( Caltrans) is the owner-operator
of all state highways, and is comprised of twelve regional districts
and a Headquarters office in Sacramento, California. Caltrans District 4’ s
boundaries are the nine Bay Area counties, and its headquarters are in
downtown Oakland at the northern end of the I- 880 corridor. District 4 is
responsible for the planning, design, construction, maintenance and
operations of more than 1,425 miles of Bay Area highways and freeway.
Along the I- 880 corridor, Caltrans not only has jurisdiction over the freeway,
but also over several of the major arterials that are also part of the State
Highway System. These include East 14th/ International Boulevard ( SR- 185),
Davis Street ( SR- 112), Mission Boulevard ( SR- 238 and SR- 262), and
Jackson Street ( SR- 92).
District 4’ s 2,360 employees are divided among eight separate divisions,
each of which has specific responsibilities in carrying out the Department’s
mission, ranging from Program Management, Planning, Design, Construction,
Maintenance and Operations. The division that will be primarily involved
with ICM activities is the Division of Operations, which employs 320 staff
serving under a Deputy District Director. The following six offices in the
division will play an active role in the ICM demonstration:
Office of Traffic Operations Strategies develops and implements a
Traffic Operations Strategic ( TOPS) Plan for Caltrans District 4. The
plan provides guidance and establishes priorities for traffic operations
on the development of the plan, coordination with adjoining Caltrans
Page 21 of 281
Districts, and presenting and promoting the plan to local and regional
transportation partners.
Office of Truck Services coordinates truck and freight activities to
ensure that they are appropriately considered in all transportation
decisions.
Office of Highway Operations reviews and performs all traffic
operational analyses, including corridor studies, interchange and
intersection analyses, and also identifies and develops operational
improvement projects.
Office of Traffic Management coordinates work on the freeways and
expressways in the Bay Area to minimize the impact of construction
and maintenance activities on the traveling public.
Office of Traffic Systems plans and develops the Traffic Operations
Systems ( TOS) and Park & Ride Lot operations for the District. TOS
includes traffic monitoring stations, ramp metering systems, CCTVs,
CMSs and HARs. The Office also develops intelligent transportation
strategies with its transportation partners, and operates and maintains
over 200 ramp meters in the Bay Area. In addition, the Office operates
the District 4 TMC.
Office of Traffic is primarily involved in traffic safety issues. It designs
and reviews the design of signing and striping components for Bay Area
freeways, maintains sign logs and photo logs, maintains accident
records, provides services for Legal and Claims, conducts speed zone
studies and administers the District’s Traffic Safety Program.
In addition, Caltrans has contracted with UC Berkeley, System Metrics Group,
Inc. and Cambridge Systematics, Inc. to perform a corridor management
study of I- 880 that is currently in progress.
3.2.2 MTC
Created by the state Legislature in 1970 ( California Government Code §
66500 et seq.), MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and
financing agency for the nine- county San Francisco Bay Area. MTC functions
as both the regional transportation planning agency — a state designation–
and, for federal purposes, as the region's metropolitan planning organization
( MPO). As such, it is responsible for regularly updating the Regional
Transportation Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for the development of mass
transit, highway, airport, seaport, railroad, bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
Page 22 of 281
MTC also acts as the region’s Service Authority for Freeways and
Expressways ( SAFE) — in partnership with the CHP and Caltrans—
overseeing the maintenance and operation of call boxes along Bay Area
freeways and administers the Freeway Service Patrol, a roving tow truck
service designed to quickly clear incidents from the region's most congested
roadways.
In recent years, MTC has taken a more active and direct role in expanding
transportation system management capabilities in the Bay Area. MTC’s 511
Traveler Information System is the premier real- time traveler information
system in the nation, and provides real- time traffic conditions via the phone
and a companion web site at www. 511. org. The system relies on an
elaborate data- gathering network that MTC and Caltrans have jointly
installed along Bay Area freeways as well as transit data from Bay Area
transit agencies. Other MTC programs to improve the efficiency of the
system include the Regional Signal Timing Program to re- time and
coordinate signals on major arterials, the Traffic Engineering Technical
Assistance Program to provide consultant support to smaller jurisdictions
that do not have in- house traffic expertise, and more recently, the
development of a transit connectivity plan and TransLink, a regional
electronic electronic fate payment system to facilitate transfers between the
different transit operators in the region.
The Commission’s work is guided by a 19- member policy board. Fourteen
commissioners are appointed directly by local elected officials ( each of the
five most populous counties has two representatives, with the board of
supervisors selecting one representative, and the mayors of the cities within
that county appointing another; the four remaining counties appoint one
commissioner to represent both the cities and the board of supervisors). In
addition, two members represent regional agencies — the Association of Bay
Area Governments and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Finally, three non- voting members represent federal and state
transportation agencies and the federal housing department. The District
Director of Caltrans District 4 is one of the non- voting members of the
Commission. Carrying out the Commission’s directives is a staff of
approximately 160.
Page 23 of 281
As the Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways ( SAFE), MTC — in
partnership with the CHP and Caltrans— oversees the maintenance and
operation of call boxes along Bay Area freeways and administers the
Freeway Service Patrol ( FSP), a roving tow truck service designed to quickly
clear incidents from the region's most congested roadways. Within the I- 880
ICM corridor, MTC SAFE operates approximately 90 call boxes and 12 tow
trucks that
provide
coverage
along five
service routes.
The SAFE
program is
funded by a
$ 1 per year
fee on motor
vehicle
registrations.
In addition,
MTC supports
the 511
Traveler
Information
System that
provides real-time
traffic
and transit
conditions via
the phone
and a
companion
Web site
located at
www. 511. org.
( Source: MTC SAFE 2007)
Page 24 of 281
The Highway & Arterial Operations section of MTC has responsibility for the
agency’s role in ICM. This section oversees the SAFE program, and works
directly with Caltrans District 4 on system management issues and the
agencies’ own corridor management efforts.
3.2.3 ACCMA
The Alameda County Congestion Management Agency ( ACCMA) was created
in 1991 after the passage of State Proposition 111, which raised the state
gasoline tax by 8 cents and required counties to designate agencies to
perform specific duties to better integrate transportation, land use and air
quality in order to receive the additional funds. The ACCMA was established
by a joint- powers agreement between Alameda County and all of its cities to
assist local governments to meet the requirements of federal, state and local
transportation laws by providing technical assistance. The ACCMA decides
which transportation projects are the best investments for Alameda County.
Through traffic studies, the ACCMA assesses traffic problems and explores
solutions along specific corridors.
An example of such a project is the East Bay SMART Corridors Program.
The East Bay SMART Corridors Program is an East Bay multi- modal
advanced transportation management system, which provides real- time
traffic conditions to the public. The intent of the East Bay SMART Corridors
Program is to give easy access to local real- time conditions and empower
users of the project website at www. smartcorridors. com to make better
travel decisions. The East Bay SMART Program consists of two major arterial
corridors in the East Bay portion of the San Francisco Bay Area - the San
Pablo Avenue ( I- 80) corridor and the Hesperian/ International/ E. 14th
Boulevard ( I- 880) corridor.
Page 25 of 281
The ACCMA Board includes representatives from Alameda County, its cities,
AC Transit and BART. Technical expertise is provided by the staff- level
Alameda County Technical Advisory Committee with representatives from
each of these organizations, plus Livermore- Amador Valley Transit Authority
( LAVTA), Union City Transit, the Alameda County Transportation Authority
( ACTA), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission ( MTC), Caltrans, the
Port of Oakland and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
( BAAQMD).
ACCMA has retained Kimley- Horn and Associates, Inc. ( KHA) to provide
technical support for several of their technology initiatives, including the
East Bay SMART Corridors project. KHA also provides support for 880 ICM
activities.
3.2.4 Local Jurisdictions
The I- 880 ICM demonstration corridor is located within the Alameda County,
which is comprised of 17 cities. The corridor extends through seven of these
jurisdictions ( the cities of Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro, Hayward, Union
City, Fremont and Newark). Collectively, each local jurisdiction has an
economic and political interest in the efficient management, maintenance
and operations of the I- 880 system networks. The transportation needs of
the locals are represented by the Alameda County Congestion Management
Agency ( ACCMA). However, several of the cities have been particularly
active on transportation matters through their Public Works departments.
3.2.5 AC Transit
AC Transit is a regional bus agency serving 364 square miles of Alameda
County and Contra Costa County in the western San Francisco Bay Area. In
addition, AC Transit runs " Transbay" routes across the San Francisco Bay to
the City of San Francisco, and selected areas in San Mateo County and
Santa Clara County. Paratransit services for the elderly and disabled are
made available to individuals with conditions that preclude them from using
public transit.
Page 26 of 281
AC Transit is constituted as a special district under California law. It is
governed by seven elected members ( five from geographic wards and two
at- large). It is not a part of the Alameda or Contra Costa County
governments, although the initials " AC" are often mistaken to mean
" Alameda County”.
3.2.6 BART
BART is a special governmental agency created by the State of California to
operate the Bay Area’s rapid rail system. The District consists of Alameda
County, Contra Costa County, San Mateo County and San Francisco
City/ County. It is governed by an elected Board of Directors, and each of
the nine directors represents a specific geographic area within the BART
district. In addition to its rail transit services, BART has its own police force.
BART also manages the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority ( CCJPA).
BART provides rail transit service for most of the San Francisco Bay Area,
including the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Daly City, Richmond,
Fremont, Hayward, Walnut Creek, and Concord. It also serves San
Francisco International Airport and, via AirBART buses, Oakland
International Airport. The BART system operates three rail lines along the I-
880 corridor, the Richmond- Fremont, Millbrae- Dublin/ Pleasanton and the
Daly City- Fremont lines. Trains on each line typically run every 15 minutes
on weekdays and 20 minutes during the evenings, weekends and holidays.
3.2.7 The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority ( WTA)
The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority ( WTA) is a regional
agency authorized by the State of California to operate a comprehensive
San Francisco Bay Area public water transit system. In 2003, the WTA's plan,
" A Strategy to Improve Public Transit with an Environmentally Friendly
Ferry System" was approved by statute ( Senate Bill 915, Ch. 714, stats of
2003). WTA operates a total of 8 ferry routes across San Francisco Bay Area.
The Oakland- Alameda- San Francisco is the most popular route.
Page 27 of 281
3.2.8 Port of Oakland
The Port of Oakland is responsible for the operation of the Oakland
International Airport, Maritime Seaport Facilities and over 400 acres of
commercial real estate. It is through the management of these facilities
that the Port of Oakland generates revenues to reinvest in the City of
Oakland and Alameda County’s infrastructure. The Oakland Airport serves
more than 9.8 million passengers and handles more than 1.4 billion pounds
of cargo annually. The Port of Oakland is the fourth busiest container port in
the nation behind, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Newark. Ten Container
terminals and two intermodal rail facilities serve the Oakland waterfront.
The Port loads and discharges more than 99 percent of the containerized
goods moving through Northern California. The I- 880 freeway is the major
thoroughfare that facilitates the movement of the region’s imports and
exports to and from the Port.
3.2.9 Emergency Responding Agencies ( CHP, Police, fire and
paramedics)
The California Highway Patrol ( CHP) has law enforcement jurisdiction over
all California State Routes, U. S. Highways and Interstate Highways, and also
serves as a statewide police force. Its officers enforce the provisions of the
California Vehicle Code, pursue fugitives spotted on the highways, and
attend to all significant obstructions and incidents within their jurisdiction.
CHP requests and coordinates the incident scene response efforts of the fire
department, paramedics, tow truck operators and Caltrans personnel when
requested. Incident management and emergency preparedness have been
increasingly significant priorities for the CHP in recent years. The CHP’s
offices in the Bay Area are headquartered in Vallejo, California, with 11
separate area offices. The specific area offices that will be involved in the
ICM demonstration are the Oakland and Hayward offices. Through reports
from the field officers and additional phone calls from drivers, an incident
database is filled. This database is then shared with other transportation
agencies.
Page 28 of 281
3.3 Existing Operational Conditions, Characteristics
and Strategies of 880 Corridor and Included
Networks
3.3.1 Performance Measures
Different performance measures are typically used in different networks to
capture the characteristics and performance of the facilities. This section
discusses the performance measures used in each network.
3.3.1.1 FREEWAY PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Freeway performance measures are primarily collected through an
extensive freeway loop detector network. Real- time detector
station data is sent to the Caltrans TMC, which in turn provides this
data to UC Berkeley’s Freeway Performance Monitoring System
( PeMS) using an XML interface.
PeMS is a web- enabled system and analysis tool that collects and
stores data for the California freeway system. The traffic data
include traffic volume ( number of vehicles traveling over the
detectors during 30 seconds) and occupancy ( the percentage of
time that a vehicle “ occupies” the detector). PeMS stores the
freeway detection data then uses the data to compute a number of
performance indicators and present data both numerically and
graphically via the web. Currently, PeMS is hosted at UC Berkeley
and can be accessed at http:// pems. eecs. berkeley. edu/; it is in the
process of being transitioned from UC Berkeley to Caltrans.
Currently, the performance measures provided by the system
include speed, density, delay, and other aggregated values such as
VMT and VHT. PeMS also provides incident related measures based
on CHP CAD data, which include the number, type and duration of
incidents, as well as the relationship between other performance
measures and incidents. Figure 3.4 illustrates the interface to the
PeMS analysis tool.
Page 29 of 281
FIGURE 3.4
Screenshots of PeMS Web Interface
( Source: PeMS,
https:// pems. eecs. berkeley. edu/)
PeMS contains a suite of applications that processes the detector
data into information of use to managers and other decision makers,
traffic engineers, planners, value- added resellers ( VARS),
transportation consultants and researchers, and the public.
Examples of information provided by PeMS include:
freeway speeds by time of day
freeway vehicle miles and hours traveled trends ( for State,
District and routes)
congestion delay trends ( for State, District and routes)
Diagnostic information for field detectors
Figure 3.5 is an example that illustrates how speed patterns from
PeMS were used to identify bottleneck locations and length and
duration of congestion, and other speed patterns and trends and
how bottleneck severity changes from day to day. Figure 3.6 shows
how bottlenecks were identified over a one month average by PeMS,
and also point out how the data can indicate locations with bad loop
detectors.
Page 30 of 281
23rd Avenue
SR- 238
Tennyson
Fremont
Auto Mall Pkwy
NORTHBOUND I- 880
AVERAGE SPEED ( mph)
10/ 1/ 04 – 10/ 31/ 04 ( TUE- THUR)
TIME OF DAY
12 AM 5 AM 11 AM 5 PM 11 PM
SPEED COLORS
( mph) 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
DIRECTION OF TRAVEL
Recurrent
traffic
congestion
bottleneck
location
length of
congestion
period of
congestion
October 2004
( 1 month average)
Bad loops
23rd Avenue
SR- 238
Tennyson
Fremont
Auto Mall Pkwy
FIGURE 3.5
( A) congestion level and ( B) bottleneck severity
( Source: PeMS, https:// pems. eecs. berkeley. edu/)
FIGURE 3.6
Bottleneck identification and loop condition monitoring
( Source: PeMS, https:// pems. eecs. berkeley. edu/)
Page 31 of 281
3.3.1.2 ARTERIAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES
The 2000 Highway Capacity Manual ( HCM2000) uses the average
travel speed as a measure to define Level of Service ( LOS) along
signalized arterials. The average speed is calculated from the
running time along the arterial links and the delays at the traffic
signals. Level of Service analysis is performed using the Synchro
software. Delay analysis is conducted using standard floating car
studies along the project corridor to measure the overall travel time
and delays at each intersection. Emergency response time is also
used as a measure for arterial performance. The performance
analyses are currently done manually.
Ongoing research as part of the NCHRP 3- 70 project1 on arterial
quality of service identified average speeds ( travel time), and
number of stops ( quality of progression), as key factors affecting
the perceived quality of service by auto users.
As part of the PeMS system, UC Berkeley PATH is assisting in the
development of Arterial Performance Measures ( A- PeMS), which is
intended to provide tools for traffic performance monitoring on
arterials and optimization of signal timing plans to avoid queue
spillovers at the critical intersections. While not yet deployed, A-PeMS
expects to provide these performance measures from
surveillance data ( counts and speeds) and signal status data.
3.3.1.3 TRANSIT PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Transit performance measures indicate both quantitative and
qualitative factors used to evaluate a particular aspect of transit
service. These measures include quality of service aspects, the
overall measured or perceived performance of transit service from
the passengers’ point of view, as well as transit service measures,
1 Dowling, R. G, “ NCHRP 3- 70: Multimodal Arterial Level of Service: Status
Report,” Presentation, Mid- Year Meeting of Transportation Research Board
Committee on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service, Las Vegas, July 2005.
Page 32 of 281
or measures of effectiveness. These measures are indicative of
transit access and use.
Transit routing is determined by each operator based on a variety of
criteria, including the location of “ attractors” such as employment
centers, street network characteristics and travel pattern.
Consequently, transit routing is an important measure used to
indicate access to transit, the area of coverage and proximity of
transit service to residential areas and job centers. This measure is
commonly shown as the percentage of major centers served within
¼ - mile of a transit stop. Access to transit increases the propensity
to use transit, thus reducing auto trips, improving air quality and
informing decisions regarding land use.
Transit frequency is a measure that is used to determine the
convenience of the transit service. It effects mobility, air quality and
land use. The data needed for this measure is the number of lines
operating at each frequency level. Transit frequency can also
indicate the number of buses and operators needed to provide the
service, along with the associated costs.
Coordination of transit service is a measure that is used to
determine reliability and convenience for patrons when connecting
between services. Regional mobility and air quality can be improved
if transit connectivity is enhanced between modes or services. This
qualitative measure includes the coordination of fares, schedule,
service, public information, marketing, and administration.
Transit ridership is a measure that is used for micro and macro
trend analysis. It affects economic factors within the transit agency
as well as air quality and land use. The data needed for this
measure is the number of riders stratified by route, corridor, service
type of bus type. A related measure to ridership is the percentage
of transit dependent within the total population.
Transit vehicle maintenance is a measure that has several
applications. It can be used for trend analysis, to compare between
Page 33 of 281
operators, and can be a factor in investment allocation. It ensures
that facilities are in operation and effects air quality. The data
needed for this measure for BART is mean time between service
delays, and miles between mechanical road calls for AC Transit.
Transit performance is also examined at the route level. Travel
time, trip length, wait time, and dwell time are other measures that
are used to determine transit quality and effectiveness. Service
schedules and on- time performance are also often used as
measures. At the route level , comparison are made between
scheduled and actual service provided, such as hours of service,
number of trips, miles traveled, number of operators, and speed of
the vehicle. Additional passenger information can be measured
including counts of passengers carried, boardings, and alightings.
From this data other measures such as average passenger load
during each trip and number of passengers per mile can be
calculated. AC Transit and BART use a variety of these performance
measures relative to ridership and operating performance in the I-
880 corridor. Additional performance measurements include the
number of service hours, number of trips, load factor, miles
traveled, number of operators and the speed of the bus coach.
3.3.2 Existing Operation Conditions and Characteristics
3.3.2.1 HIGHWAY
Overall traffic volumes along the I- 880 corridor are heavy. The
average annual daily traffic ( AADT) of the I- 880 freeway ranges
between 120,000 to 275,000 per weekday. The corridor
experiences extended peak hours, which are typically heaviest for
the northbound AM peak period and southbound PM peak period.
HOV Network: Carpool lanes in the Bay Area operate effectively
and generally enjoy public and political support. Peak hour carpools
experience significant time savings on the HOV lanes in the I- 880
corridor. The carpool lanes in the northbound morning peak ( 1.2-
mile segment) to the Bay Bridge offer an 18- minute time advantage.
Page 34 of 281
During the morning peak, carpools on the southbound I- 880 HOV
lane save 36 minutes in travel time during their commute on a 19-
mile segment of HOV lane.
I- 880 is an intermodal urban freeway corridor which serves the
following major traffic generating sources:
Port of Oakland: I- 880 serves a key interregional role as the
primary route serving the Port of Oakland. I- 880 serves as both an
access route for major inter- regional and international shippers and
a primary intraregional goods- movement corridor. The connection
with the Port of Oakland generates significant truck volumes,
representing approximately 10% of the total freeway volume. The
corridor carries the highest volume of truck traffic in the region and
among the highest of any highway in the state. In 2004, the
number of containers processed by the Port of Oakland was slightly
more than two million Twenty- foot Equivalent Unit ( TEU) containers.
Ten container terminals and two intermodal rail facilities serve the
Oakland waterfront. The Union Pacific and BNSF railroad facilities
are located adjacent to the heart of the marine terminal area to
provide a reliable and efficient movement of cargo between the
marine terminals or transload facilities and the intermodal rail
facilities. Additionally, there a major concentration of supporting
industrial and warehouse land uses along this portion of the I- 880
corridor.
Oakland International Airport: The I- 880 corridor also serves
Oakland International Airport, one of three major airports in the
Bay Area. The Oakland International Airport is located west of I-
880 just north of the Oakland / San Leandro city boundary. It
serves approximately 14 million passengers annually, and processes
more than 600,000 metric tons of freight annually. The volume of
air passengers and air cargo processed at this airport has been
steadily growing each year. The airport is currently undergoing a
significant expansion.
Page 35 of 281
Oakland Coliseum: The Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum &
Sports Arena is located just north of the Oakland / San Leandro city
boundary, adjacent to I- 880 freeway and a BART station. It is
home to the Oakland Raiders NFL football team, the Oakland A’s
MLB baseball team and the Golden State Warriors NBA basketball
team. The Oakland Coliseum hosts Raiders and A’s games, as well
as other events accommodating up to 63,000 people. The Sports
Arena hosts the Warriors games and other major events/ attractions
with a capacity of 19,200 people. People attending these events
have a direct impact on the capacity and flow of traffic along the I-
880 corridor. The Coliseum, in coordination with MTC’s 511
Traveler Information System, ensures that event information is
reported as a “ hot spot” on the system to inform the public of
potential traffic delays.
3.3.2.2 ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS
There are a total of 40 miles of arterials along the project corridor
on both the east side and the west side of the I- 880 corridor, with
approximately 12 major connecting arterials between the north-south
corridors and the I- 880 freeway. The arterials are typically 4
to 6 lanes wide with major turning lanes at all of the signalized
intersections. There are approximately 250 signalized intersections
along the entire north- side and east- west major connecting arterials
with auxiliary turning lanes at all major intersections.
Traffic signals are controlled and maintained and controlled by their
respective local agencies. Data from most of the systems are
shared through the common data exchange platform to other
participating agencies.
The following are the signal control systems in each agency:
Oakland BITrans QuicNet System
Hayward Econolite Aries System
San Leandro Econolite Icons System
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Fremont Eagle Actra
Union City BITrans QuicNet System
Alameda County Naztec Streetwise System
Caltrans CTNET System
Most of the intersections along the project corridor are
interconnected with either hardwired twisted pair or fiber optic
communication lines. Most of the traffic signals are fully actuated
with detection system on both the mainline and side streets. There
are some semi- actuated signals in the City of Oakland. The signals
are also coordinated using time of day coordination plans, during
morning, midday and afternoon peak hours.
As a part of the East Bay SMART Corridors program, all agencies
( except for Fremont and Newark) are interconnected via high speed
T1 lines to share signal coordination information between the
agencies. Except for a few short segments, on- street parking exists
on both sides of E 14th Street, International Boulevard and Mission
Blvd. A significant amount of the parking on each corridor is
metered with 30- minute to 2- hours time limits. There is no parking
for most of the Hesperian Boulevard and Union City Boulevard
segment.
Moderate pedestrian volumes ( from 20 to 150 pedestrians) exist
throughout the corridors. Higher densities of pedestrians ( from 150
to 300 pedestrians) are found along International Boulevard
between 2nd Avenue and 25th Avenue. Bicycle volumes generally
average 30 per hour at all intersections during all peak periods.
The truck/ bus traffic along the routes does not appear to be heavier
than normal, or within 2% of the overall traffic volumes, except for
the routes that serve the Port of Oakland. These routes include
Davis Street, 98th, Hegenberger and Doolittle Drive ( State Route
61).
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Dozens of individual AC Transit routes operate along the project
corridors within the study limits. Transit routes operate with varying
frequencies between 12 minutes and 60 minutes. A majority of the
bus stop locations on major arterials appear to have adequate room
for buses to pull over and stop without blocking through traffic.
This is due to having wide curb lanes with restricted parking or bus
turn- outs.
The Average Daily Traffic ( ADT) volumes range between 25,000 to
60,000 vehicles per day, depending on the location along the
arterial network. Currently the level of service along the project
corridor is between C to D at most key intersections. Below are
levels of services at selected intersections along the E.
14th/ International Blvd corridor.
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TABLE 3.2
Existing Level of Service and Delay
As a part of the East Bay SMART Corridors program, 18 miles of the
existing arterial network are equipped with Closed Circuit TV ( CCTV)
and monitoring stations. These devices collect real time information
about the project corridor and share the information with all of the
agencies in the program. In addition, the East Bay SMART Corridors
program will allow agencies to share and distribute incident and
construction information about the project corridors. Freeway
incident information is also received from California Highway Patrol
and displayed for the I- 880 corridor, as well as the 511 congestion
information on the freeway.
3.3.2.3 AC TRANSIT
Of the dozens of AC Transit routes that serve the I- 880 corridor,
Route 82/ 82L is the primary high- ridership route that parallels the
majority of the I- 880 corridor. Passenger boardings and passenger
miles for AC Transit routes 82 and 82L are displayed in the Table
3.3 on the following page.
AM Peak Midday Peak PM Peak
Intersection
Delay LOS Delay LOS Delay LOS
E 14th St. and Fairmont Dr. 23.0 C 30.1 C 39.5 D
E 14th St. and 150th Ave. 100.3 F 17.9 B 50.2 D
E 14th St. and Bancroft Ave.-
Hesperian Blvd.
33.7 C 74.6 E 125.1 F
E 14th St. and Castro St.- Sybil
Ave.
25.1 C 9.0 A 34.4 C
E 14th St. and Hwy. 112- Davis
St.- Washington
22.8 C 27.0 C 30.1 C
E 14th St. and Dutton Ave.- Best
St.
20.8 C 19.3 B 36.5 D
E 14th St. and 98th Ave. 23.4 C 24.1 C 43.4 D
E 14th St. and Hegenberger
Rd.- 73rd Ave.
22.1 C 30.1 C 48.1 D
International Blvd. and 42nd
Ave.
38.8 D 24.5 C 39.5 D
International Blvd. and Fruitvale
Ave.
20.7 C 23.5 C 21.2 C
International Blvd. and 29th
Ave.
23.0 C 21.9 C 24.7 C
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TABLE 3.3
AC Transit Route 82 and 82L Passenger Information
Daily Passenger Boardings
Route Weekday Saturday Sunday
82/ 82L 16,727 10,169 9,723
Average Daily Passenger Miles per Trip
Route Weekday Saturday Sunday
82/ 82L 244.3 139.2 173.7
AC Transit has several major transfer points along the I- 880
corridor: Fruitvale BART, Coliseum BART, San Leandro BART and
Bayfair BART. Each of these BART stations serves between 6- 12
bus routes and provides intermodal transfers with BART. Over
7000 passengers per day access BART or buses at these stations.
3.3.2.4 BART
The combined daily ridership for A line, L line and downtown
Oakland stations is close to 100,000 or 25% of the total BART’s
daily ridership. This ridership includes: ~ 48,000 on A- Line ( Lake
Merritt Station to Fremont) or approximately 14.2% ,.~ 10,000 on
L- Line ( Castro Valley and Dublin/ Pleasanton stations) or
approximately 3% and 29,000 entries, or 8.6 %) for the downtown
Oakland stations ( 12th St. and 19th Street) or approximately 8.6 %.
3.3.3 Cross- Network Coordination Strategies Already Implemented
Certain cross- network coordination strategies are already implemented in
the I- 880 corridor, primarily through manual coordination among different
agencies. Such strategies for the corridor can be categorized as four groups:
within freeways, between freeways and arterials, within transit, and
between freeways and transit.
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3.3.3.1 STRATEGIES ALREADY IMPLEMENTED WITHIN
FREEWAYS
As shown in Figure 3.7, The 511 system in the Bay Area provides
freeway travel times and delay information via a web interface
( www. 511. org) and phone services to the public. Using information
from 511, motorists can make informed decisions pre- trip and en-route
regarding which freeway to use to their specific destinations.
FIGURE 3.7
The 511 Website in the Bay Area ( Source: www. 511. org)
Nine ( 9) Changeable Message Signs ( CMS) are currently deployed
along the I880 freeway. Two ( 2) of the signs, located at 5th St and
Oak St on NB I880 respectively, are now activated for providing
travel time information to motorists at en- route. Similarly as the
511 system, motorists can make informed decisions on freeway
choices based on travel times displayed on CMS.
For freeway operations managers, the Caltrans TMC is the hub for
interagency transportation coordination. Co- located with CHP and
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MTC ( which operates 511 and the Freeway Service Patrol),
coordinated management strategies can be implemented and
monitored from the TMC.
3.3.3.2 STRATEGIES ALREADY IMPLEMENTED BETWEEN
FREEWAYS AND ARTERIALS
Signal pre- emption devices are installed at some intersections in
the I- 880 corridor. Under emergencies, some first responder
agencies can trigger signal pre- emption along major arterials.
Otherwise, signal coordination between Caltrans signals near
freeway on/ off ramps and local signals along arterials is done
manually, with the notable exception of the 880 Smart Corridor
( where an interagency agreement and operations plan are in place
regarding signal coordination).
3.3.3.3 STRATEGIES ALREADY IMPLEMENTED WITHIN
TRANSIT
MTC is implementing Translink, a multi- modal payment system for
riders to pay for transit in the Bay Area
( www. mtc. ca. gov/ services/ translink). Translink provides smart fare
payment card so that riders can use to access bus, train and ferry
services in the Bay Area ( including the I- 880 corridor).
AC transit receives the BART schedule every time the schedule is
changed. Transit planners at AC transit manually review and revise
their schedules to best serve their riders and maintain coordination
between BART and AC transit.
Other coordination strategies between BART and AC transit occur
during incident and emergency scenarios only. With major
disruptions in BART service, AC transit often provides “ bus bridges”
between BART stations. However, this coordination is done
manually and based on professional judgment. Under certain
emergency conditions and pre- planned special events, AC transit
often provides connection protection between BART arrivals and bus
departures.
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3.3.3.4 STRATEGIES ALREADY IMPLEMENTED BETWEEN
FREEWAYS AND TRANSIT
Research has shown that parking availability is an important factor
impacting commuters’ choice of using transit and transit mode
choice. A pilot study at the Rockridge BART stations provided real-time
parking availability information via a freeway CMS on State
Route 24. This information helped motorists determine whether or
not they should exit the freeway, park their cars, and use BART
rather than continue in congested freeway conditions. The pilot
program proved the utility and feasibility of the concept, which
could be repeated elsewhere in the Bay Area ( particularly the I- 880
corridor). Figure 3.8 shows such CMS with parking availability
information for the BART station.
FIGURE 3.8.
Parking Information for BART Station on Freeway CMS
( Source: Caltrans 2007)
Another example of interagency coordination between Caltrans,
BART and AC transit is regarding special events. Caltrans, BART
and AC transit receive notification of special events schedules from
event sponsors or organizers. BART and AC transit will often
provide extra services if the attendance is expected to impact
freeway operations in order to relieve the potential congestion
before or after the scheduled events.
When major freeway incidents occur, a typical AC transit response
is to make or receive a call from the Caltrans TMC and/ or check the
ACCMA SMART Corridor website. AC Transit can then use the
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information to manually provide route guidance for express bus
drivers and generally assist all Bus Operators ( via a state of the art
radio system) that are operating in the vicinity of the highway alert.
3.3.4 Summary
Table 3.4 summarizes the operation conditions and characteristics of the
freeway, arterial and key transit networks.
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TABLE 3.4
Network Operation conditions and characteristics
Freeway Arterials AC Transit BART
Network I- 880 between I- 580/ I- 80
interchange in the north and SR-
237 in the south; length 38 miles
International Blvd, East 14th
St, San Leandro Blvd,
Hesperian Blvd, and Union City
Blvd; length 40 miles
Two major local AC Transit lines
along I- 880 ( 82, 82L) plus
about 15 express lines
20 miles of double
track
Facility TMC located in Caltrans District Office
in Oakland. 250+ freeway lane miles,
all under TMC surveillance and
control. 39 miles HOV lanes.
Dense ITS deployment includes traffic
detectors, CMS, CCTV, HAR, etc.
Distributed TMC with satellite
locations. Arterials are primarily
4- 6 lane undivided highways. Over
250 signalized intersections, 40
arterial miles, 48 miles under TMC
surveillance and control.
TMC located in Division D- 2,
Emeryville, CA.
There are approximately 200 bus
stops along the corridor, with three
major parking facilities.
AC Transit is in the process of
implementing BRT between
Berkeley and San Leandro along
the International/ E. 14th Street
corridor
12 BART stations along
study corridor. 10
stations have parking
lots/ garages, with
11,432 spaces.
Operations Overall traffic volumes along I- 880
corridor are very heavy, with AADT
between 120,000 to 275,000 per
weekday.
I- 880 is an intermodal freeway which
serves major traffic generators,
including the Port of Oakland,
Oakland International Airport, and
Oakland Coliseum. Trucks comprise
up to 11% of the AADT in the
corridor.
Current ADT along the arterials is
between 15,000 and 60,000
vehicles per day.
Passenger boarding for Route 82
and 82L is 16,727 per day on
weekdays.
AC Transit has several major
transfer points along the corridor.
Each of these stations serves
between 5 and 8 bus routes and
provides intermodal transfers with
the BART service. Over 7000
passengers per day access BART or
buses at these stations
At stations along I- 880,
approximate number of
passenger boarding and
alighting per weekday
is 138,000.
Problems &
Issues
Recurrent congestion causes more
than 10,000 veh- hrs of delay per
weekday, and significantly disrupts
freight movement through the
corridor.
Non- recurrent congestion is also a
major problem. I- 880 averages over
10 collisions per day and over 100
incidents per day. It is estimated that
collisions account for 30 percent of
overall corridor delay.
The arterials along the project
corridor currently operate at level
of service D or worse during the
peak hours. Due to incidents on
the freeway, there are routine
diversions to the local arterials
that will increase the delay and
reduce the levels of service along
these arterials. Therefore,
coordination of the operation of
the network of arterials with the
freeway is crucial to optimizing the
overall capacity of the system.
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3.4 Existing Network- based Transportation
Management/ ITS Assets
There have been significant investments in ITS infrastructure within the I- 880
corridor, which establishes a solid foundation for the ICM demonstration.
3.4.1 Freeway
3.4.1.1 FREEWAY FACILITIES
Within the 38- mile section of I- 880 identified for the Integrated
Corridor Management demonstration, the freeway is primarily an
eight- lane facility, with numerous auxiliary lanes between major
interchanges.
An HOV lane has been in operation in the southern two- thirds of
this corridor for 15 years. The oldest HOV segment started in the
Hayward area, then the HOV network was extended to the San
Leandro and Fremont areas during the late 1990’ s. The HOV lane is
in effect during weekday commute periods, and the minimum
occupancy is two persons per vehicle. Two shorter segments of
HOV lanes in the northern part of the corridor lead to the Bay
Bridge and eastbound I- 80, with minimum occupancy of three
persons per vehicle.
In November 2006 voters approved a state infrastructure bond
package that includes $ 19.9 billion to make safety improvements
and repairs to state highways, upgrade freeways to reduce
congestion, repair local streets and roads, upgrade highways along
major transportation corridors, improve seismic safety of local
bridges, expand public transit, help complete the state's network of
car pool lanes, reduce air pollution, and improve anti- terrorism
security at shipping ports. Specifically, the bond includes $ 4.5
billion to relieve congestion by expanding capacity, enhancing
operations, and improving travel times in high- congestion travel
corridors. As a result, this bond measure could provide new funding
opportunities for corridor management projects in the I- 880
corridor.
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3.4.1.2 FREEWAY ITS INFRASTRUCTURE
The transportation infrastructure on I- 880 includes a dense
deployment of ITS field elements, which enable traffic monitoring
and management at the Caltrans District 4 TMC. The TMC is
housed in the main Caltrans District 4 office in downtown Oakland.
The facility is co- staffed by Caltrans Maintenance and Operations
workers, CHP officers, and operators for the 511 traveler
information system. This management system communicates with
a variety of ITS field equipment along I- 880. The I- 880 corridor is
extensively instrumented with ITS field elements such as:
Vehicle Detection and Traffic Monitoring on I- 880 is performed
primarily through inductive loops and microwave sensors. Caltrans
currently has 83 inductive loop traffic monitoring stations and three
microwave stations along the I- 880 corridor. Traffic monitoring
stations are typically placed at interchanges, and between
interchanges at 1/ 2- mile increments. All vehicle movements are
detected for each freeway mainline lane, on- ramp and off- ramps.
Mainline detectors are generally dual loops in each lane. Toll tag
readers have been deployed on several freeway corridors that
measure average travel times of vehicles with the toll tag
transponders. The data from these traffic monitoring are used
locally by the ramp metering systems, and sent back to the TMC for
real- time traffic data ( speed, volume, and occupancy) for the speed
maps and archiving. Caltrans also has partnerships with private
firms such as Traffic. com and SpeedInfo. Traffic. com provides
traveler information to the public, while SpeedInfo supplements
microwave type detection where Caltrans has no detectors. Figure
3.9 illustrates detection stations in the I- 880 corridor.
Ramp Metering along the I- 880 corridor consists of local- traffic
responsive meters that help manage the freeway corridor. Freeway
on- ramps have been controlled by ramp meters along the entire
length of the corridor from Jackson Street in Oakland to SR- 237 for
over 10 years. Of the 98 on- ramps on the proposed ICM corridor,
86 of them are currently metered. This includes ramps from local
streets and arterials to some freeway- to- freeway interchanges.
Additional ramp meters are being installed and will be operational
within the next few years. The metering strategy is to meter all on-
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ramps in the corridor taking into account freeway operations at
bottlenecks and local street operations. Field staff has the
capability to upload and download ramp- metering parameters
remotely, and are currently monitored with field crews. Figure 3.10
illustrates ramp meters in the I- 880 corridor.
Closed Circuit Television ( CCTV) cameras give the TMC staff
real- time traffic surveillance and incident verification remotely.
Currently Caltrans has 25 CCTVs along the I- 880 corridor. CCTVs
are typically deployed at the interchanges and between at one mile
spacing to provide full video coverage of the corridor. Caltrans
typically uses cameras with capabilities of panning, tilting, and
zooming. The joint MTC- Caltrans BAVU project is upgrading the
CCTV control interface for TMC operators and will provide the
capability to distribute real- time video from these cameras to other
transportation agencies. Figure 3.11 illustrates CCTV cameras in
the I- 880 corridor.
Changeable Message Signs ( CMSs) give motorists information
on incidents, closures, environmental warnings, amber alerts, and
travel- times. There are five Model 500 CMSs along the I- 880
corridor. Typically CMSs are installed upstream of major decision
points on the freeways, which are usually at major freeway
interchanges. Messages are controlled remotely from the TMC.
Figure 3.12 illustrates CMS deployments in the I- 880 corridor.
Highway Advisory Radios ( HARs) are typically installed every
six miles along a freeway corridor, and are used to advice motorists
of incidents via short- range public radio ( three mile radius). Two
Extinguishable Message Signs ( EMSs) are installed in each freeway
direction within the radio coverage. These signs are only active
when a message is broadcasting. Typically Caltrans broadcast HAR
using station 840 AM. There are five HAR stations installed along
the I- 880 corridor.
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FIGURE 3.9
Detector Stations
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FIGURE 3.10
Ramp Metering Locations
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FIGURE 3.11
CCTV Camera Locations
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FIGURE 3.12
CMS Locations
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There are several planned upgrades or improvement projects to the
TMS network infrastructure. MTC and Caltrans are jointly working
on a project to upgrade the existing CCTV camera network with the
Bay Area Video Upgrade ( BAVU) Project. There is also an effort by
Caltrans Headquarters to install a statewide version of the ATMS
called CATMS in all TMCs.
With approximately 2,000 pieces of field equipment in the inventory
and more planned or under construction, a central database and
equipment management system are necessary in order to manage
the system. The current effort, named the TOS Equipment
Management System ( TEMS), is a software product that provides
Caltrans District 4 and MTC staff with tools to manage the TOS
inventory, and help ensure the reliability and accuracy of the TOS
and Traffic Management Center ( TMC) information. TEMS will
consolidate the several existing TOS databases and spreadsheets
and provide the uniform information and functionality desired by
the users. The goals of TEMS are to provide the MTC and Caltrans
District 4 Division of Operations with a readily- accessible, robust
repository for TOS equipment data, a practical way to manage TOS
inventory and status information, configurations, and track related
activities, a uniform, consistent information standard for
characterizing equipment; and a flexible design for readily
accommodating new technologies that may emerge and new
functionality.
3.4.1.3 USING COLLECTED DATA TO MAKE OPERATIONAL
DECISIONS
The Caltrans TMC uses Enterprise Transportation Management
System ( eTMS) software suite, which collects data from field
devices and incident data from the incident management module
and the CHP CAD, generates the map display, places dynamic icons
on the map, calculates and displays travel time estimates, supplies
real- time data to external systems such as 511 and PeMS, archives
data, emails detector station data to interested parties daily, and
provides a user interface for controlling signs, cameras, and ramp
meters. In addition to freeway traffic management, the following
regional functions are collocated with Caltrans TMC, including:
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511 Operators are co- located in the TMC, as well as occupying a
section of the TMC that houses its traveler information operations
center. Operations include transit and traveler information via the
web or phone for drivers, transit riders, and bicyclists for the nine
Bay Area counties. The center also receives data directly from
Caltrans field elements and is used to provide traveler information
to drivers for driving time calculations and incidents.
The Emergency Response Center ( ERC) is also co- located in the
TMC. Depending on the nature of the emergency and the response
that is needed, the ERC may be activated. Once activated, the ERC
is the central focal point for all emergency activities in the District.
It will provide uniformity of response, and it will provide consistency
in disseminating information to Caltrans management, local ERC’s,
and to the public.
BAIRS ( the Bay Area Incident Response System) is a tool that
Caltrans Maintenance Dispatchers use in the TMC that integrates
incident tracking and tools to improve Caltrans’ incident response
capability. This allows dispatchers to quickly locate the nearest
qualified responder and provides the responder with detailed
resource information, helping them to coordinate a more rapid
response and resolution. BAIRS has the following functionality:
web- based incident log, GIS capabilities, enhanced reporting
capabilities, performance metrics, mobile devices, and increased
incident information available to both dispatchers and supervisors.
In the past this was done with multiple tools, most of which were
manual. BAIRS integrates these tools into one system. This
provides quicker response times and more up- to- date information
on what agency and type of equipment is needed to respond to
incidents. The BAIRS application BAIRS is expected to reduce the
average traffic incident resolution time from 4 hours to 90 minutes
or less. Given that for each minute a freeway lane is blocked,
traffic is delayed 4 to 10 minutes, BAIRS will result in a substantial
reduction in time spent in traffic for many Bay Area travelers.
Caltrans Headquarters Detector Fitness Group and Caltrans
Electrical Systems Group service the traffic monitoring stations.
TMC Operators inspect the conditions of CCTVs, CMSs, and HARs
are on a weekly or monthly basis and report problems to Caltrans
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Electrical Systems and/ or Caltrans Electrical Maintenance for service
or repairs. The ramp meters are monitored daily by Caltrans Field
Operations. Caltrans Electrical Maintenance performs preventive
maintenance on the cabinets and signal heads.
The TMC is a large two- story- high theater that houses 19 operator
consoles facing a large video wall. Seven consoles in the TMC are
used by Caltrans telephone and radio operators to receive problem
reports and to dispatch and coordinate field crews for maintenance,
traffic management, and motorist assistance. Five consoles are
used by Caltrans traffic managers to monitor traffic conditions,
especially those associated with incidents, to determine what active
management measures are needed and to check that measures are
having the desired effect. Four consoles are assigned to CHP
officers who provide close coordination between the TMC and CHP’s
Golden Gate Communications Center in Vallejo, which receives
cellular 911 distress telephone calls and serves as a CHP’s dispatch
and command center for incident management. The TMC has six
remote terminals connected to the Vallejo center’s computer aided
dispatch ( CAD) system that enables CHP officers and Caltrans’
operators to view details of incidents affecting the region’s
highways.
FIGURE 3.13
Caltrans Transportation Management Center in Oakland
( Source: Caltrans
2007)
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Operators in the TMC rely on information provided by TOS field
equipment to monitor conditions on the freeways. They also rely on
ramp meters, changeable message signs, and highway advisory
radios to control traffic flow and to provide information and
guidance to motorists, especially during incidents. These responses
include dispatching CHP, Caltrans Maintenance, Caltrans TMT, as
well as placing messages on CMSs, radio messages on HARs, and
messages to the public through the media.
Toll tag readers were deployed on several freeway corridors that
measure average travel times of vehicles with the toll tag
transponders. Data is also collected from the traffic monitoring
locations. Both real- time toll tag and traffic monitoring data are
used to calculate travel times and then relayed to the public via
CMSs.
3.4.1.4 FREEWAY OPERATION TACTICS
HOV Lanes
Freeway HOV lanes are active during the morning ( 5 to 9 AM) and
afternoon ( 3 to 7 PM) peak periods on weekdays, and are open to
all traffic at other times. ( Almost all HOV lanes in Northern
California operate during peak periods only, in contrast with the
continuous HOV operation found in Southern California.) The
mainline HOV lane operates with 2 or more persons ( 3 or more at
the approaches to the Bay Bridge). Currently the HOV lane
operates on both the NB and SB directions of I- 880, from Mission
Blvd in Fremont, to Marina Blvd in San Leandro. There is currently
a construction project in southern Alameda County that will extend
the HOV system to Route 237 in Santa Clara County.
The ramp meters on I- 880 ( both directions) are in operation during
the morning and afternoon peak periods from 6 to 9 AM, and from 3
to 7 PM. The HOV bypass lane at a metered on- ramp from the local
street is in operation 24 hours. Most of the on- ramps from SR- 237
in Milpitas to the Broadway I/ C in Oakland are metered. Provisions
for future metering are installed north of Broadway I/ C to I- 80.
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Ramp Metering Control
Detector data are also used by ramp meter controllers to
automatically adjust metering rates as traffic flow changes during
the day. A ramp meter detector monitors traffic flow on both the
ramps and the mainline lanes. The mainline data at a meter are
used directly by the meter, but also serve as general- purpose
vehicle detector data that are sent to the TMC. Of the
approximately 1100 detector stations on Bay Area freeways, about
280 of them are part of a ramp meter installation.
Currently the ramp meters along the I- 880 corridor are local traffic
responsive. They operate from metering tables, which take into
account the several bottlenecks throughout the I- 880 corridor, as
well as variable demands at the on- ramps. Communications to the
TMC assist Operations field staff in uploading and downloading ramp
metering parameters into the field controllers. Meters are in
operation for both AM and PM peak periods and on both directions
of I- 880.
Ramp meters along this corridor were activated following an
agreement between Caltrans and local jurisdictions within the
corridor to manage the freeway metering strategy without affecting
the local street operations. A Technical Working Group ( TWG) was
formed ( comprised of Caltrans, MTC, ACCMA, Port of Oakland, CHP,
and the local jurisdictions) to develop consensus on guidelines,
operational plans, and policies on I- 880.
Initial metering rates were determined by using FREQ, a freeway
simulation program, with data collected from traffic monitoring
locations. Freeway delays and field observations were also made to
quantify before metering was implemented. Once the metering
rates and policies were agreed upon by the TWG, metering was
initiated on I- 880 in October 1996. The freeway and local street
operations were monitored after metering was initiated. Queues on
the on- ramps were observed and once it extended into the local
streets, a faster metering rate was initiated. While this impacted
the freeway mainline, study showed HOV users still had significant
travel time benefits by using the mainline HOV lane and HOV
bypass lanes on the metered ramps.
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Incident Management
Incident response and clearance is the highest priority for freeway
operations in the Bay Area. The actions to improve incident
response and clearance reside in different agencies ( such as the
Caltrans TMC, the CHP computer- aided dispatch system, the
Caltrans Bay Area Incident Response System), with some actions
focusing on the incident scene and others on the Regional TMC.
Over the past 20 years, Caltrans has deployed several types of
closed- circuit television ( CCTV) cameras along Bay Area freeways
and camera control systems in the TMC. The camera control
systems have been upgraded and integrated to allow TMC staff to
quickly connect with and control cameras to confirm reports of
incidents and determine the type of emergency equipment that is
needed.
Under the MTC SAFE program, CHP has deployed a communications
system that facilitates all agencies responding to an incident to
communicate with each other. CHP and the four largest Freeway
Service Patrol agencies are working together to define and
implement a two- way CAD/ FSP ‘ Handshake’ interface for use
throughout California.
3.4.2 Arterial Highways
3.4.2.1 ARTERIAL FACILITIES
The arterials along the project corridor are typically 4- 6 lane divided
or sometimes undivided arterials, with access to commercial or
residential areas along the project corridor. There are
approximately 250 signalized intersections along the entire north-side
and east- west major connecting arterials with auxiliary turning
lanes at all major intersections. The Average Daily Traffic ( ADT)
volumes range between 15,000 to 60,000 vehicles per day,
depending on the location along the arterial network.
Most of the intersections along the project corridor are currently
interconnected with either hardwired twisted pair or fiber optic
communication lines. Most of the traffic signals are fully actuated
with detection system on both the mainline and side streets. There
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are some semi- actuated signals in the City of Oakland. The signals
are also coordinated using time of day coordination plans, during
morning, midday and afternoon peak hours.
The East Bay SMART Corridors program covers approximately 18
miles of the I- 880 corridor arterial network. For these segments,
major intersections are equipped with CCTV and monitoring stations
to collect and disseminate real- time traffic information to
transportation managers and to the public.
3.4.2.2 ARTERIAL ITS INFRASTRUCTURE
Figure 3.14 illustrates the ITS infrastructure along the 880 SMART
corridor including Caltrans operated cameras. Alameda CMA has
ITS infrastructure along 880 SMART Corridor arterial network at
strategically selected locations. The field ITS devices on arterials
include:
􀂃 Vehicle Detection System: Vehicle Detection System provides
the capability to measure volumes, speed and level of congestion
on the main and the crossing arterials. Non- Intrusive detectors
are alternative to the conventional loops. The most common non-intrusive
detectors use radar ( RTMS – Remote Traffic Microwave
Sensor), sound ( PADs – Passive Acoustical Detectors), or video
( VIDs – Video Image Detectors), to detect and classify vehicles.
Currently RTMS units are installed on Union City Blvd, Hesperian
Blvd, E. 14th Street, International Blvd, San Leandro Blvd, High
Street, Marina Blvd, Washington Avenue, portions of the project
corridor at approximately 2 miles spacing. There are
approximately 20 RTMS along the project corridor.
􀂃 Closed- Circuit Television ( CCTV) Cameras: CCTV systems
provide remote ability to visually confirm an incident and its
impact, and monitor general traffic conditions. With this ability in
place, agency staff can quickly determine the appropriate action
needed to mitigate traffic impacts when an incident occurs as well
as provide valuable information to appropriate emergency service
providers and other agencies. Currently, all of the major
intersections along the East Bay SMART Corridors are equipped
with CCTVs. Approximately 20 intersections are equipped with
CCTVs, which consist of 4- fixed cameras installed on signal mast
arms. CCTV can also increase information sharing with the media
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and the public. The CCTV and monitoring stations are monitored
from the central unit and are inspected weekly for functionality. A
maintenance contractor provides annual and semi- annual
inspection and cleaning for all units.
􀂃 Traffic management system for the arterial network is a
distributed system, where all agencies are interconnected with
Center to Center communications ( T1 line) to CMA’s network. The
software that is currently used for the East Bay SMART Corridors
program was developed by Bentley Corporation. However, CMA
is in the process of upgrading this system to a thin- layer, web
based system.
􀂃 Emergency management system for the arterial network is
based on the Opticom pre- emption system. Most of the
intersections along the project corridor are equipped with 4- way
Opticom receivers at all intersections. The Opticom equipment is
triggered when an emergency vehicle arrives at the intersection
by changing the signal operation and providing green indicated in
the direction of the emergency vehicle travel. There are currently
over 100 intersections along the project corridor equipped with
this equipment.
􀂃 Transit signal priority system is used for the Rapid Bus route
along the E. 14th Street/ International Blvd. The transit signal
priority system is based on the low priority Opticom equipment.
When the buses approach the intersection, an early green or
extended green is granted to the buses to allow the buses to
avoid stopping. There are approximately 50 intersections
equipped with the transit signal priority along the E. 14th
Street/ International Blvd corridor.
􀂃 Data and Video exchange system is in place, where all
agencies are interconnected with Center to Center
communications ( T1 line) to CMA’s network. The software that is
currently used for the East Bay SMART Corridors program was
developed by Bentley Corporation. However, CMA is in the
process of upgrading this system to a thin- layer, web based
system.
􀂃
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FIGURE 3.14
Arterial Instrumentation Map
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The 880 SMART Corridor program participants ( Oakland, San
Leandro, Alameda County, Hayward, Union City, AC Transit and
Caltrans) are connected through a leased, distributed network. The
distributed network utilizes high speed T1 lines that are
interconnected to via a client- server network configuration, co-located
at a managed facility. All participating agencies share traffic
management and incident information through the East Bay SMART
Corridors network. The system collects real time information along
the project arterials, including CCTV images, traffic volume and
speed data from the Monitoring Stations, traffic signal coordination
data, and incident information. This information is then aggregated,
fused and disseminated to all of the agencies. In addition, the CCTV
images, congestion information and freeway incident data is
published on an internet web site available for public access.
The existing traffic signal systems for each of the agencies are
interconnected with the network. The host system transmits real-time
signal status, including signal coordination plans, cycle lengths,
offsets and split information for approximately 65 traffic signals
along the project corridor. The information is aggregated, fused and
disseminated to other agencies so that all agencies can view the
status of signals of other agencies. However, the agencies cannot
change or control the signal control system for other agencies.
Other traffic signals along the corridor are mostly interconnected
with traffic masters. Caltrans has plans to instrument a wireless
communication link between traffic masters along International Blvd,
E 14th and the Caltrans D4 traffic control center as part of the
implementation of ICM strategies.
3.4.2.3 USING COLLECTED DATA TO MAKE OPERATIONAL
DECISIONS
The East Bay SMART Corridors collects real- time traffic information
along Union City Blvd, Hesperian Blvd, E. 14th Street/ International
Blvd, San Leandro Street, and San Leandro Blvd. Traffic data
include volume and speed data and are collected every 30 seconds
on arterials using RTMS data collection units. Data is transmitted
via wireless GPRS system and is aggregated at the ACCMA data
center. The data are owned by ACCMA and data exchanges with
other networks are carried through a leased T1 line.
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Currently, the real time data collected along the project arterials,
including CCTV, traffic monitoring station data ( speed and volume),
level of congestion, and incident information are disseminated via
public web site. All of the fire department engines in Alameda
County are planned to be equipped with mobile computer units to
receive this information through a wireless connection. This will
allow the fire departments to access SMART Corridors web site to
verify locations of incidents for best routing to the incidents. They
also use the cameras to verify roadway conditions en- route to
incidents.
3.4.2.4 ARTERIAL OPERATION TACTICS
Actuated Signal Control
Most of the traffic signals along the project corridor are fully
actuated. Some traffic signals, especially along East
14th/ International Boulevard are semi- actuated. Most of the traffic
signals along Union City Boulevard, Hesperian Boulevard, E. 14th
Street, International Blvd, San Leandro Street, and San Leandro
Boulevard are coordinated during morning, midday and afternoon
peak hours. A time- of- day plan is programmed for each peak period.
The traffic signals are also equipped with emergency pre- emption
equipment for emergency services. The same equipment is utilized
for transit signal priority control along the E. 14th/ International
Boulevard for Rapid Bus service.
Signal Interconnect
The entire corridor between Union City and Oakland, along Union
City Blvd, Hesperian Blvd, E. 14th/ International Blvd, San Leandro
Street, and San Leandro Blvd are interconnected via hardwired or
fiber optic interconnect. There are some minor gaps in the
interconnect system, where the traffic signal coordination is not
needed.
3.4.3 AC Transit
3.4.3.1 AC TRANSIT FACILITIES
AC Currently has approximately 90 pairs of bus stops along the East
14th/ International Blvd corridor, connecting to over 20 cross- town
routes and major intersections such as 14th Avenue, 23rd Avenue,
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Fruitvale Avenue, High Street, Seminary Avenue and 73rd Avenue.
AC Transit also has several major transfer points at BART stations:
Fruitvale BART, Coliseum BART, San Leandro BART and Bayfair
BART. Each of the BART stations serves between 6 to 12 bus routes
and provides intermodal transfers between the BART service to the
7,000 transferring passengers. Ridership along the corridor is
currently approximately 17,000 per day, but is anticipated to
increase with the introduction of Rapid Bus service, described below.
AC Transit is in the process of implementing Bus Rapid Transit ( BRT)
between Berkeley and San Leandro along the E. 14th
Street/ International Blvd. corridor. Plan is described in 3.1.3.1.
3.4.3.2 AC TRANSIT ITS INFRASTRUCTURE
A number of state- of- the- art transit ITS technologies have been
deployed within the AC Transit fleet to enable advanced planning,
operation and improved service quality. These technologies are:
Advanced Transit Management System: AC Transit
management center located at its Division 2 office in
Emeryville has implemented the Orbital " Satcom"
Transportation Management System ( TMS) which combine
GPS satellite navigation and terrestrial communications
technologies to enable public transit authorities to better
track, manage and dispatch their vehicles. The system polls
bus location of every vehicle in the entire 600 bus fleet every
2 minutes. Two way voice communication shares the same
communication channel. The Orbital TMS allows transit
dispatchers and supervisors to monitor the operations and to
pinpoint the location of a specific bus and respond to an
emergency situation, send a repair crew or notify passengers
of a delay. This system also provides next stop
announcements on a number of routes on all AC Transit
buses. A sub- fleet of buses are instrumented with automatic
passenger counters. The TMS records on- time performance
data for all buses, which is used for planning purposes.
The NextBus Prediction System: The NextBus system
uses GPS position to predict bus arrival time at the intended
stops, using historical data on speed and travel time. The
predictions are made available on the Web and to wireless
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devices ( including signs at bus stops and internet- capable
cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants ( PDAs)). Within
the I- 880 corridor, AC Transit has NextBus service enabled
on high ridership routes, but does not currently include any
TransBay lines. In May 2007, Nextbus became operational
on an additional 25 routes, including some Transbay routes
that serve the corridor. Also, NextBus message signs are
located at the Alameda/ Oakland ferry terminal located in the
city of Alameda. Approximately 100 NextBus signs are in
operation.
AC Transit WiFi Service: AC Transit is in the process of
implementing a unique customer service on their TransBay
buses - WiFi. AC Transit’s NetBus concept utilizes a mix of
wireless WAN ( WWAN) and wireless LAN ( WLAN)
technologies. The basic idea behind the NetBus service is to
take a 3rd Generation mobile modem, which connects to a
mobile carrier’s cellular infrastructure through an on- board
router, and share the connection between users via WiFi-
( 802.11). In addition to providing wireless Internet access to
patrons, there are other uses of the technology for AC
Transit. Although not planned as a feature of the initial
installation, the Internet connection can also be used by the
driver to send and receive information to and from AC
Transit’s Central Dispatch. If the need arises in the future,
combined with GPS technology, telematics information such
as mechanical health status and the exact location of the bus
could be relayed back to AC Transit for better and more
effective fleet management. Currently, the WiFi access has
become available on 79 MCI motorcoaches, all of which are
chiefly dedicated to Transbay service ( Route descriptions are
provided in Appendix G).
3.4.3.3 USING COLLECTED DATA TO MAKE OPERATIONAL
DECISIONS
AC Transit collects bus operation data, including vehicle movements,
running time, schedule adherence, and prediction reports for its
entire fleet every 2 minutes using Automatic Vehicle Locators ( AVL).
The NextBus system also provides scheduling predictions for a
number of routes under contract with the vendor. Boarding and
alighting passenger data are collected on a number of buses using
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Automatic Passenger Counter ( APC), which are cycled through the
bus network to provide stop- level data for all routes annually. The
data is owned by AC Transit. Historical data are sometimes shared
with other agencies, but there is no shared database. When data is
shared, it is usually manually provided.
Two consoles at Central Dispatch have video screens available for
viewing both SMART Corridor and NextBus systems along with
Caltrans CCTV cameras. CHP incidents, which are mostly collected
through its field offices and phone calls from drivers, are depicted
as icons on the SMART Corridor website, and supervisors access the
incident data by placing the cursor over the pop- up icon. This data
can be used to detour buses during major incidents. Currently, the
Smart Corridor covers International Blvd/ E. 14th from 1st Ave to
Bayfair, Hesperian Blvd from E. 14th Street to Union City Blvd and
Alvarado Road.
AC Transit has been training dispatchers on how to make best use
of the SMART Corridor website. Currently, the Central Dispatch
operators take any incident data and broadcast the information over
the Orbital TMS system. Dispatchers can also text message
incident data field staff and supervisors for follow up. If necessary,
due to the severity of the incident, Dispatchers will monitor the
freeway and arterial congestion, and reroute vehicles that are
deadheading as appropriate.
3.4.3.4 AC TRANSIT OPERATION TACTICS
Bus operation for regular bus routes are schedule based. Rapid
buses will apply headway based operation policy aided by signal
priority systems. Location of the transit signal priority equipped
corridor is illustrated in Figure 3.14 on page 60.
3.4.4 BART
3.4.4.1 BART SERVICE IN I- 880 CORRIDOR
Two BART lines serve the I- 880 corridor, including the A- Line
running from Lake Merritt Station to Fremont Station and the L- Line
running between Castro Valley and Dublin/ Pleasanton. The BART
segment along I- 880 is approximately 20 miles with 12 stations
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( West Oakland, 12th St, 19th St, Lake Merritt, Fruitvale, Coliseum,
San Leandro, Bayfair, Hayward, South Hayward, Union City, and
Fremont). The BART system is entirely grade- separated, with no
interaction with surface traffic.
The BART system has a total of 42,390 parking spaces, among
which 11,432 parking spaces are located at 10 stations along I- 880
corridor. The 12th Street and 19th Street stations in downtown
Oakland do not offer parking.
3.4.4.2 BART ITS INFRASTRUCTURE
BART train operations are entirely automated. The Automated
Train Control System consists of an Operations and Control
Center ( OCC), which communicates with all of the train control
rooms located in many of the stations. OCC can adjust train
operations by making requests in a number of ways; basic
operations are the responsibility of the train control room. OCC can
adjust station dwell time, and train performance level for example.
Trains are located using audio frequency track circuits, and speed
commands are sent to trains through the same circuits. Trains
have small antenna that send train ID and destination to the
wayside, and a similar system is used for precision train berthing.
BART has also developed a communication based train control
system that uses the MASH communication system to position
trains and to operate train in “ moving blocks.” The system has yet
to be implemented, however. The system has great potential for
significantly increasing passenger throughput. The operation data
collected by this system has finer resolution than the system BART
is currently using.
In addition to train operations, train arrival and system status
information is collected from OCC and disseminated on dynamic
platform message signs. Information dissemination outside of the
BART system is performed manually.
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3.4.4.3 USING COLLECTED DATA TO MAKE OPERATIONAL
DECISIONS
BART OCC monitors the train movements and power systems in
real- time through track circuits and twisted wires at stations, where
adjustments to train operations can take place. Route information
( through switch positions), signal status and system health
information are also collected, as well as passenger
origin/ destination information.
Due to its segregated nature, the BART system is operated
independently from other transit systems. BART operation staff
coordinates with AC Transit and other transit agencies when major
incidents or system failures occur.
3.4.4.4 BART OPERATION TACTICS
BART adopts classic schedule- based control strategies for passenger
rapid rail systems. BART train control center is located in
downtown Oakland where dedicated operation, power, emergency
response and traveler information staff perform control and
monitoring functions. Coordination with Caltrans, AC Transit, the
news media and other agencies typically occurs during service
disruptions or special event planning, and is conducted manually on
an as- needed basis. Strategies are not strictly pre- defined, and are
primarily based on professional judgment.
3.4.5 Regional ITS Systems and Services
3.4.5.1 BAY AREA REGIONAL TRAVELER INFORMATION - 511
Traveler information in the San Francisco Bay Area has been readily
available through the Bay Area 511 service since December 2002.
The service is operated, maintained and updated by the MTC.
511 is a free phone and Web service ( www. 511. org) that
consolidates Bay Area multimodal transportation information into a
one- stop resource. 511 provides up- to- the- minute information on
traffic conditions, incidents and driving times, schedule, route and
fare information for the Bay Area’s public transportation services,
instant carpool and vanpool referrals, bicycling information and
more. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Public Transportation information features include:
􀂃 Transit Agency Information: Transfers to agency operators,
routes, schedules, fares, service announcements, lost- and- found
and customer service for more than 40 transit providers.
􀂃 Transit Trip Planner: 511 TakeTransit ™ Trip Planner is an
automated Web- based tool which assists in planning Bay Area
transit trips. By typing in the starting and ending points, the Trip
Planner will return the most efficient routes, including walking
maps to and from transit. The Popular Destinations feature offers
information on how to travel to famous or familiar Bay Area sites
using transit.
􀂃 Commuter Incentives: Transfers to an operator who provides
information about programs that offer financial incentives for
commute alternatives, including the commuter tax benefit
program and free services for commuters.
􀂃 Airports: Transfers to an operator who provides information
about public transportation, ground transportation, and shuttle
services for San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento
airports.
􀂃 Paratransit Agency information: Information for
approximately 20 paratransit agencies serving persons with
disabilities or the elderly, including shuttle services, public
transportation, and customer service.
Traffic information features include:
Traffic Conditions: 511 Traffic provides information via the
Internet about travel on Bay Area freeways and expressways. The
traffic page includes 511 Driving TimesSM, Bay Area traffic maps,
and FasTrak ™ information. The traffic maps are interactive and
help the user to calculate driving times for their routes. The map
also shows traffic alerts, incidents, levels of congestion, special
events and construction information from CHP, Caltrans, and
other transportation agencies.
511 Driving TimesSM : 511 Driving TimesSM provides actual
driving times for specific routes based on real- time traffic
information.
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Airports: Provides information about traffic conditions, ground
transportation and parking rates for San Francisco, Oakland, San
Jose, and Sacramento airports. Oakland International Airport also
provides, when available, parking- status information.
FasTrak ™ : Transfers to an operator with information on the
FasTrak ™ Electronic Toll Collection program.
Carpooling and Vanpooling: The 511 Online Ridematching
service can help in finding members for a carpool or vanpool. The
service also provides information on starting a carpool and
vanpool, the locations of carpool lanes and park- and- ride lots as
well as information on incentives for carpoolers and vanpoolers,
and rules about diamond/ HOV lanes ( express lanes on freeways).
Bicycling: 511' s Bicycling Page ( bicycling. 511. org) serves as a
resource for bicycling commuters and recreational cyclists. The
site provides useful information, including safety tips, bike maps,
tips for taking bikes on transit and across Bay Area bridges,
information on local bicycling organizations, and announcements
that affect the Bay Area's bicycling community.
3.4.5.2 TRANSLINK ®
The TransLink ® is a transit fare smart card that can simultaneously
keep track of value equivalent to cash, transit passes, and/ or ticket
books. Currently, TransLink ® smart card is used to provide transit
fare payment. In the future, this technology could provide a broad
range of services beyond transit fares. Future uses could include
payment for parking, telephone calls, retail purchases and Internet
purchases. Note that TransLink data has a latency period of 24
hours. No real- time information is provided.
3.4.5.3 FREEWAY SERVICE PATROL
The Freeway Service Patrol is a regional service of tow trucks
patrolling the Bay Area’s most congested freeways during the peak
periods, clearing accidents and other incidents, assist motorists in
trouble and removing dangerous road debris.
FSP is managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways ( MTC SAFE) in
cooperation with Caltrans and the CHP. Currently, the FSP consists
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of a fleet of 84 trucks patrolling 450 miles of the Bay Area's
freeways. Patrol routes are selected based on several factors,
including a high rate of traffic congestion, frequent accidents or
stalls, and lack of shoulder space for disabled vehicles. The service
is financed with federal, state and local funds, including a $ 1 annual
vehicle registration fee in participating counties.
3.4.5.4 CHP CAD SYSTEM
The California Highway Patrol ( CHP) Statewide Computer Aided
Dispatch ( CAD) System is currently in use with CHP
communications centers throughout the state. The system provides
automated dispatching and incident management capabilities.
Functions include receiving, r