This week, ITS Florida Lunch and Learn brought Mr. Eric Hill, Director, Transportations System Management & Operations Metroplan Orlando to talk about Mobility in the 21st Century,
Metroplan Orlando, that in fact includes three counties, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole.
The agenda included Philosophy of TSMO, Metroplan Orlando, TSMO Program, and Regional TSMO Program.
The plan, that is due 2045, is capable to analyze what is going on from different angles of the network, close circuit television cameras, traffic signal controller, road weather info system, regional transportation management center, dynamic message sign, 511, blue TOAD sensor, vehicle detention sensor, and road ranger.
Altogether Orange, Osceola and Seminole have a $70 Million budget to invest in this plan. Even though it looks like a considerable budget, the challenge is not as easy as it seems because of some factors.
One example is the growth of the population. Currently, Metroplan Orlando is handling 2 million people in the region, but this number is projected to increase to 3 million by 2040.
The pandemic has been another factor that impacts this challenge by decreasing gas consumption because people started working remotely and, consequently, fewer road trips resulting in less money from the gas tax.
Another impact is related to the advent of EV Electrical Vehicles, technology that doesn’t use gas, which is putting extra pressure on the innovative technologies that help better cost-effectiveness.
ITS Master Plan has been improving the way to analyze not only the benefits of investments but also the cost involved in each region. For example, Orange County gets $34.3 million to spend with $8.4 million costs, the benefit-cost ratio is 4.06.
According to Mr. Hills, since 2017 the Metroplan Orlando is considering the Update ITS Master Plan as an important task to be achieved since technology is dynamic, and it should keep looking for better solutions that balance cost-effectiveness with innovation.
A very simple example of a better use for technology showed during the event was the traffic signal retiming, that took action from 2010 to 2019, and it contributed to saving 294,000 gallon/year and the reduction of 2,800 tons CO2/year.
The idea of replacing historical data collection to the real-time data collection is one goal for Metroplan Orlando which is one of the FTA solutions, by focusing on increasing the pedestrian safety and offering this tool for the planners.
Pedestrian safety is a huge issue to be solved, particularly in Orlando, because it is still one of the worst cities for pedestrians in the country. According to the Metroplan Orlando study, 14% of fatalities occurred when pedestrians were crossing the pedestrian crosswalk. FTA is working on an innovative project considering the mid-block, this solution works 24/7 and is capable of capturing data from the pedestrian crosswalk.
After the solution helps with data collection, it can be configured to caught reckless drivers, generate complete reports, and evidence to further law enforcement action.
FTA keeps thinking big to bring the right solution, to the right place at the right time.