In metropolitan areas, poorly managed traffic signal systems can have significant negative impacts on traffic conditions. Ineffective management, operation, and maintenance of traffic signals contributes to almost 300 million vehicle-hours of delay annually. Despite these turbulent conditions, technology is advancing rapidly and new ideas are providing fresh ways to handle problems related to congestion. However, many local municipal roadway systems lack the same level of technology as state and county systems, in many cases degrading that critical first and final legs of the journey. As the larger roadway facilities utilize these tools to better manage and operate the systems, these congested local roadways will become bottlenecks that prevent the movement of people and goods throughout the state.

The objective of this project is to perform a demonstration of an effective strategy to deploy advanced transportation management systems (ATMS) to better manage and operate the transportation systems. The project aims to demonstrate a “Virtual Traffic Management (VTM) Strategy” for the City of Mount Vernon, NY. This will include the demonstration of underutilized strategies and policies related to advanced traffic management and integrated corridor management by deploying wireless communication technologies, dynamic video detection and monitoring units, and a cloud-based ATMS solution. Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth readers and environmental sensors will also be installed on traffic poles and elevated structures throughout the corridor to allow the validation of the performance measures and demonstration of the potential to reduce transportation GHGs/energy consumption while requiring only minor amounts of equipment, materials, and effort to implement.

This project will develop the important performance measures that will be used to define the effectiveness of the project. One of the key elements of this demonstration will be the remote monitoring or “virtual management” of the corridor. This project is an opportunity to establish the effectiveness of VTM strategies for any small, medium, and large city. In this case, the City of Mt. Vernon VTM would be especially beneficial in improving the efficiency and safety of its transportation system, which will also result in the reduction of energy use, improvement in air quality, and reduction in the use of natural resources. This will also help improve and foster economic growth in specific portions of the city.