Real-Time Probe Data Dashboards for Interstate Performance Monitoring During Winter Weather and Incidents

Abstract

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) manages over 1800 centerline miles of interstate that can be profoundly impacted by weather, crashes, and construction. Real-time performance measurement of interstate speeds is critical for successful traffic operations management. Agency managers and Traffic Management Center decision makers need situational awareness of the network and the ability to identify irregularities at a glance in order to manage resources and respond to media queries. One way to access this level of detail is crowdsourced probe vehicle data. Crowdsourced probe vehicle data can be obtained by collecting speed data from cell phones and global positioning system (GPS) devices. In Indiana, approximately 2673 predefined interstate segments are used to generate over 3.8 million speed records per day. These data can be overwhelming without efficient procedures to reduce and aggregate both spatially and temporally. This paper introduces a spatial and temporal aggregation model and an accompanying real-time dashboard to characterize the current and past congestion history of interstate roadways. The primary high level view of the aggregated data resembles a stock ticker and is called the “Congestion Ticker.” The data archive allows for after-action review of major events such as ice storms, major crashes, and construction work zones. The utility of this application is demonstrated with two case studies: a snowstorm that covered northern and central Indiana in February 2015 and an I-70 back of queue crash in April 2015.