[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 152 (Monday, August 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47888-47891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19534]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


IntelliDrive\SM\ \1\ Performance Measurement and Performance-
Based Management Demonstrations; Request for Information
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ IntelliDrive is a service mark of the U.S. Department of 
Transportation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice is a Request for Information (RFI) and comments 
that will be used to help refine the plans for one or more 
demonstrations focused on the use of IntelliDrive\SM\ data sources for 
performance measurement and performance-based management. The FHWA is 
issuing this RFI in collaboration with and on behalf of other agencies 
within the DOT, specifically the Federal Transit Administration, the 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Research and 
Innovative Technology Administration. Feedback and comments on any 
aspect of the RFI are welcomed from all interested public, private, and 
academic entities. While all feedback is welcomed, DOT is particularly 
interested in feedback on the questions provided in the last section of 
this RFI.
    RFI Guidelines: Responses to this RFI should be submitted by 11:59 
p.m. Eastern Time on September 8, 2010. Responses to this RFI should be 
delivered electronically as an e-mail or as an attachment to an e-mail 
sent to [email protected].
    Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by 
the Government to form a binding contract or issue a grant. Information 
obtained as a result of this RFI may be used by the government for 
program planning on a non-attribution basis. If you wish to submit any 
information under a claim of confidentiality, you should submit via e-
mail to the address given below under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 
your complete submission, including the information you claim to be 
confidential commercial information. When you submit information 
containing information identified as confidential commercial 
information, you should include a cover letter setting forth the 
reasons you believe the information qualifies as ``confidential 
commercial information.'' (49 CFR 7.13(c)(4) and 7.17) If we receive a 
request to examine or copy this information, we treat it as any other 
request under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), but we

[[Page 47889]]

will process the request in accordance with the procedures found in 49 
CFR 7.17.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about the program 
discussed herein, contact Mr. Robert Rupert, Transportation Information 
Management Team, FHWA Office of Operations, (202) 366-2194, 
[email protected]. For legal questions, interpretations and 
counsel, please contact Sheryl Williams, Office of the Chief Counsel, 
(202) 366-0618, [email protected], 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC 20590. Office hours for the FHWA are from 7:45 a.m. to 
4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. 
Additional information about the IntelliDrive\SM\ initiative is at 
http://www.its.dot.gov/intellidrive/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DOT IntelliDrive\SM\ program is a 
multimodal initiative that aims to enable safe, interoperable networked 
wireless communications among vehicles, the infrastructure, and 
travelers' personal communications devices. IntelliDrive\SM\ research 
is being sponsored by the DOT and others to leverage the potentially 
transformative capabilities of wireless technology to make surface 
transportation safer, smarter, and greener. One component of this 
initiative is the Dynamic Mobility Applications program. This program 
seeks to identify, develop, and deploy applications that leverage the 
full potential of connected vehicles, travelers, and infrastructure in 
order to enhance current operational practices and transform future 
surface transportation systems management.
    The Dynamic Mobility Applications program will include one or more 
field demonstrations of applications that integrate IntelliDrive\SM\ 
data to support multi-modal performance measurement and performance-
based management. The applications are envisioned to include support 
for both real-time and non real-time decisionmaking and operations. The 
intent is to conduct one or more demonstrations that include mobility 
and productivity performance measurement as a cornerstone element of 
the demonstration plan. Demonstrations selected in this effort will 
focus on the data collection and processing to produce performance 
metrics in one, or preferably more, of the following areas:
     Productivity.
     Mobility, including impact on freight movements.
     Livability/Accessibility (accessibility is defined as the 
ability to reach goods, services and activities).
     Environment/fuel use.
     Pavement conditions (e.g., snow or ice cover, surface 
roughness, pothole detection).
    The DOT seeks comments and innovative ideas from the public sector, 
private sector, and academic communities concerning the demonstration 
program described in this RFI. While comments are welcomed on any area 
of the RFI, the DOT is particularly interested in responses to the 
questions listed at the end of this RFI.

Dynamic Mobility Applications Demonstration Program Description

    This program envisions one or more demonstrations beginning in 
2011. The intent of these near-term demonstrations is to begin work 
with private companies, States, transit agencies, and commercial 
vehicle operators or freight shippers to develop applications utilizing 
data captured from multiple sources (e.g., vehicles, travelers, 
infrastructure) across all elements of the surface transportation 
system (i.e., transit, freeway, arterial, parking facilities and 
tollways) to support performance measurement and performance-based 
management. This demonstration effort aims to leverage existing 
operational capabilities or to spur innovation among early adopters of 
innovative performance measurement and mobility applications. The 
limited number of resources and the short lead time for this effort 
precludes the large-scale deployment of new in-vehicle or roadside 
technologies. Therefore, unless a site already has a deployed Dedicated 
Short Range Communications (DSRC) infrastructure, it is anticipated 
that any required mobile communications will use existing commercial 
wireless services.
    The performance measurement demonstration(s) should address the 
following research questions:
     Can system productivity and traveler mobility be 
characterized in innovative and meaningful new ways by integrating 
emerging data sources (i.e., vehicles and mobile devices as data 
sources)?
     To what extent can IntelliDrive\SM\ be used to support 
real-time performance-based management of roadways, transit systems, 
and freight carriers?
     What are the institutional, legal, and technical issues 
that may help or hinder the use of IntelliDrive\SM\ to improve 
performance-based management?
     What wireless and other communications media can be 
combined to make large-scale data capture and mobility applications 
cost effective?
     How can diverse data sources be efficiently integrated and 
utilized?
     Can customer satisfaction with demonstrated applications 
be identified?

Proposed Performance Measurement Demonstration Program Requirements

    All candidate sites and prospective partners will be required to 
address the following fundamental aspects of the Performance 
Measurement Demonstration vision, including:
     Performance measurement. Well-defined, quantitative 
performance measures and a clear strategy for evaluating these impacts 
must be a part of any candidate demonstration. Preliminary thinking on 
possible measures of interest is provided later in this RFI. More 
specific guidance will be included in the solicitation. System 
productivity measures will quantify the efficient movement of travelers 
and goods under periods of peak demand. Traveler mobility measures will 
quantify travel delay and improved travel reliability. This 
specifically includes mobility or accessibility assessments for 
travelers who utilize transit as a component of end-to-end trip-making. 
Other measures will characterize the reliability of freight/goods 
movement within the system. Additional performance areas such as 
accessibility, environment/fuel use, and pavement conditions should 
also be considered.
     Multi-source data capture. Demonstrations should feature 
frequent capture and systematic integration of data from a broad range 
of sources. Desired sources should include multiple types of 
infrastructure-based sensors, transit vehicle systems (bus and rail), a 
full range of vehicle types acting as mobile probes (including freight 
carriers and transit vehicles), and travelers moving between modes as 
they complete trips.
     Innovative decision support applications. These 
applications should exploit the value of integrated multisource 
performance data. Applications selected for demonstration should fully 
and cost effectively leverage captured data to provide innovative 
services to multiple users. The primary focus is on providing decision 
support tools (both real-time and non real-time) to traffic managers 
and transit operators. As a secondary objective, demonstrations may 
also provide mobility applications targeted at system users, including 
freight carriers and multimodal travelers. To the greatest extent 
possible, it is the

[[Page 47890]]

intent of the Dynamic Mobility Applications Program to make algorithms 
and source code associated with new applications or application 
enhancements funded as a part of these demonstrations to be made freely 
available under open source agreements.
     Critical mass demonstration. Demonstrations should be 
scoped to be conducted in operational multifacility, multimodal 
transportation networks spanning urban areas or in interurban 
corridors. Demonstrations set in laboratory or closed facility test 
environments are precluded from consideration. Preference will be shown 
to demonstration proposals combining data drawn from large 
contemporaneous populations of vehicles or travelers with mobile 
devices participating as mobile probes concurrently with fixed 
infrastructure-based sensor systems.
     Complex Environment. System performance in each 
demonstration will be characterized in complex networks containing 
multiple facility types (e.g., freeway, arterial, parking, transit bus, 
and rail), considering both the quantity and quality of travelers and 
goods movement supported by the system in end-to-end trip-making across 
multiple facilities and modes.
     No driver distraction effects. Demonstrated applications 
will involve collection of information from moving vehicles. The 
information collection must be conducted in a manner that will not 
distract drivers or compromise safety. This demonstration will not 
include applications that require driver interaction while a vehicle is 
in motion. See http://www.distraction.gov for additional information on 
distracted driving.
     Data sharing. A required element of the demonstration(s) 
is the systematic collection of data (from both mobile and fixed 
sources). It is the intent to provide open access to these data through 
the IntelliDrive\SM\ Data Capture and Management program. These data 
may be made available as the demonstration is conducted, or made 
available shortly after the conclusion of the demonstration. These data 
are intended to support research activity and mobility application 
development in later phases of the Dynamic Mobility Applications 
program. If necessary, data may be transformed or aggregated to protect 
privacy, and the Government will consider allowing transformation or 
aggregation to protect intellectual property rights.
     Independent Evaluation. Demonstrations must contain an 
impacts evaluation and target user satisfaction assessment for each 
tested application. An independent evaluation contractor will assist in 
planning and executing an evaluation plan and will author a national 
evaluation report.
     Use of Standards. Demonstration projects shall make 
appropriate use of ITS standards for information exchange.
    The demonstration(s) should collect the data and implement 
applications that can calculate the following types of performance 
metrics and, where appropriate, include applications for acting on the 
real-time measurement information.
    Mode-Independent Overall System Measures. A key element of the 
demonstration will be the characterization and quantitative measurement 
of the performance of the overall surface transportation system. This 
includes the assessment of system performance based on the collective 
experience of travelers within the system and the ability of the system 
to efficiently transport people and goods. Measures of interest at the 
system level include:
     System Delay is travel time in excess of some subjective 
minimum travel time, or the trip-weighted average delay for corridor, 
region, or system.
     System Travel Time Reliability represented by the Planning 
Time Index which is the ratio of the 95th percentile travel time to the 
travel time under zero-delay conditions, by origin/destination pair, by 
time period, weighted by trip volume.
     System Throughput is intended to quantify the total number 
of people and goods transported reliably through the system over a 
period of peak transportation demand. While there are well established 
point measures, there is no consensus on a system-wide measure; 
therefore, innovative ideas for system-wide measures are sought.
    Trip-based travel time will likely be a key data element required 
for all of these measures of interest.
    Traffic Measures. Traffic measures of interest characterize 
performance in a range of conditions, from key bottlenecks, to specific 
facilities, in freeway/arterial corridors, and in subnetworks (e.g., an 
arterial grid or freeway network). Both real-time and non real-time 
measures are sought, including:
     Congested Hours.
     Delay.
     Travel Time Reliability, including the Travel Time Index 
and the Planning Time Index
     Throughput.
     Speed.
    While measures based on road segment are of interest, trip-based 
measures are of particular interest since such information cannot be 
easily collected today.
    Transit Measures. Real-time and non real-time measures are sought 
for transit, including measures that apply to fixed-route bus, 
paratransit, and rail systems:
     Ridership.
     Mode share.
     Passenger throughput.
     Travel time/speed.
     Travel time variability.
     Schedule/headway adherence.
     Delay.
     Station/stop dwell time.
     Miles between transit vehicle failures.
     Revenue miles per vehicle.
     Revenue hours per vehicle.
     Passengers per revenue vehicle-mile.
     Passenger wait time for pickup.
     Passenger and driver no shows.
     Cost per passenger trip.
     Cost per passenger mile.
    Freight Measures. Freight and goods movement measures include:
     Planning time index and travel time variance, as described 
under Traffic Measures, but measured specifically for freight trips.
     Point to point travel times on selected freight-
significant routes.
     Hours of delay per 1,000 vehicle miles on selected 
freight-significant routes.
     Number of bobtail truck trips (i.e., empty truck without a 
load).
     Truck travel time between origin and destination.
     Truck emissions.
     Idle time at terminals.
    Other Measures. Other measures of interest include:
     Accessibility or livability measures on a region-wide 
basis that may include metrics such as the percentage of population 
with total commute times less than a set parameter, both by travel mode 
and overall. Comments and input are sought for appropriate measures.
     Environmental measures, such as fuel use per passenger 
mile or ton-mile of freight and greenhouse gas emissions per passenger 
mile or ton-mile of freight.
     Pavement conditions such as snow or ice cover, slippery 
conditions, surface roughness, or pothole detection.
     Weather-related transportation management such as time to 
restore to bare pavement, or time to return to pre-event travel speeds 
after a weather event.

Summary of Questions

    A summary of the specific questions posed in this notice follows. 
Responders are reminded that feedback or

[[Page 47891]]

comments on any aspect of this notice is welcomed from all interested 
public, private, and academic entities. While all feedback is welcomed, 
the DOT is particularly interested in feedback on the following 
questions. Respondents may respond, to some, all, or none of these 
specific questions.
    1. Based on the nature of the performance measurement 
demonstration(s), DOT believes that a multimodal cooperative effort 
involving both private sector and public sector organizations will be 
required. The DOT currently envisions awarding one or more contracts to 
private sector organization(s) as the lead organization(s) in 
partnership with public transportation agencies and other entities 
appropriate to develop and conduct the demonstration(s). An alternative 
would be to conduct a competitive grant program and award one or more 
grants to public sector organization(s) as the lead(s) organization, 
engaging and involving other entities as appropriate. Academic 
institutions are welcomed as team members; however, DOT does not 
envision an academic institution serving as the lead. Feedback is 
requested on these procurement options and issues including the 
challenges in forming the teams as either a lead organization or as a 
partner or other participant. What forms or demonstrations of 
commitment by the participants are reasonable and appropriate 
requirements of respondents to a solicitation for the performance 
measurement demonstration program?
    2. The DOT envisions the demonstration(s) awarded and commencing in 
early 2011, with the demonstration's(s') applications beginning 
operations approximately 6 months of preparation and development. The 
operational period, results analysis, and publication of final results 
are anticipated to occur over a period that does not exceed 18 months. 
Is this schedule too cautious, too ambitious, or about right?
    3. Are the identified performance metrics the right ones to focus 
on? Are there metrics or applications that you would add or delete?
    4. The goals of this near-term dynamic mobility demonstration 
program are to demonstrate the use of IntelliDrive\SM\ to improve the 
collection of performance measurement information, and to demonstrate 
the use of this information to support performance-based management, 
e.g., through the use of decision support tools. To what extent can the 
real-time or near real-time collection of performance measures be 
demonstrated, and to what extent can real-time or near real-time 
performance-based management applications or tools be demonstrated?
    5. There are important advantages to conducting a single 
demonstration, including concentration of resources and funding, ease 
of management, and demonstration of integrated applications running in 
a common environment. At the same time, the breadth of envisioned 
applications and the desire for a diverse operating environment argue 
for conducting a small number of smaller demonstrations. Is it feasible 
to address a majority (if not all) of the goals and environments in a 
single demonstration project? Can multiple meaningful, smaller 
demonstrations be conducted if the funding per demonstration is 
$1,000,000 or less?
    6. It is the intent to provide open access to the data collected as 
part of this demonstration through the IntelliDrive\SM\ Data Capture 
and Management program.
    a. Do you see value in broadly sharing these data with other 
researchers?
    b. Will such data sharing inhibit participation in the 
demonstration? If so, what mitigation actions do you recommend to 
encourage participation?
    7. To the greatest extent possible, it is the intent of the Dynamic 
Mobility Applications Program to make algorithms and source code 
associated with new applications or applications enhancements funded as 
a part of these demonstrations to be made freely available under open 
source agreements.
    a. Do you see value in making algorithms and application source 
code funded by this demonstration program broadly available?
    b. Will an open source focus inhibit participation in the 
demonstration? If so, what mitigation actions do you recommend to 
encourage participation?

    Issued on: August 2, 2010.
Victor M. Mendez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2010-19534 Filed 8-6-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P