Federal Highway Administration Resource Center

FHWA Resource Center Assists PA Division Office To Improve ITS Specifications

Because State matching funds can be endangered if project plans, specifications, and estimates are not streamlined for approval, the FHWA Resource Center often responds to requests from States to assist with this process. Recently, the FHWA Resource Center collaborated with the Pennsylvania Division Office and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to enhance project specifications through the systems engineering process.

To meet the short timeframe for obtaining PennDOT’s ITS project approval by the FHWA Division Office, PennDOT asked the FHWA Resource Center and division office in several instances if they could complete their reviews within three to five days. (The typical turnaround time to review documents for such a significant, complex project is usually between two weeks and a month.) The FHWA Resource Center rose to the challenge. They completed the review in days rather than weeks. FHWA Resource Center staff “burned the midnight oil”—working on weekends, holidays and many hours beyond the typical business day to get the much-needed work completed.

The most significant outcome of this project was a change in communications design. During one of the specification reviews, FHWA Resource Center staff discovered that only one communications link was proposed to communicate and control all the dynamic message sign (DMS) and highway advisory radio (HAR) field devices. Through the Center’s advice to develop a Concept of Operations Plan for the project, PennDOT quickly found that having a single communications link would defeat the purpose and need for the project.

For example, if the PennDOT needed to post a system-wide AMBER Alert, a single communications link would require dial-up for each DMS and HAR device separately in order to get the time- sensitive information either posted on a sign or broadcast over a transmitter. For the number of DMS and HAR units in the system, this could take an hour or more rather than the required minutes.

Based on recommendations from the FHWA Resource Center and the division office, additional communications links were added to make the system more responsive to operational needs. More importantly, a design flaw was caught that may have kept a multi-million dollar ITS project from providing significant benefits to the PennDOT and the motoring public.

For more information, contact:

Emiliano Lopez
ITS Specialist
Operations Technical Service Team
FHWA Resource Center, (410) 962-0116
emiliano.lopez@fhwa.dot.gov

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