VDOT Hampton Roads Transportation Operations Center
Integrated Advanced Traffic Management System
Owner:
Virginia Department of Transportation
Location:
Hampton Roads, VA
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) established the Hampton Roads Transportation Operations Center (HRTOC) to use technology to improve motorist safety, reduce congestion, and manage traffic conditions on the area’s interstates. The integrated Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) for the HRTOC manages traffic on over 800 lane miles of roadway located in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and Hampton, VA.
Transdyn designed, developed, integrated, commissioned, and supports the traffic management system that enables HRTOC staff to monitor and control traffic conditions throughout the area from a central location. Running on Transdyn’s DYNAC® software, the system automates various traffic management functions such as vehicle monitoring, incident detection and management, motorist advisory, and traffic surveillance. State, regional, and local agencies utilize the system as a data warehouse accessible through the VDOT WAN and the Internet.
The system manages one of the largest regional ITS networks in the country. The seamlessly integrated system manages more than 71,000 yearly incidents and over 2,700 Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) field devices including reversible High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) control gates, surveillance cameras, variable message signs, vehicle detectors, and roadside traffic controllers.
A vital function of the system is the ability to manage the HOV reversible roadway section located in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. To ease congestion and improve traffic flow, these lanes reverse direction depending on the time of day. New programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in the field monitor and control variable message signs and gate arms associated with the two eastbound and three westbound entrances to the HOV roadway. Barrier gate sets are located at each entrance to prevent traffic from entering the roadway in the wrong direction. Central DYNAC® applications coordinate safe gate events and provide continuous monitoring of the HOV gate system to guard against unsafe conditions.
