American Transportation Award for ORT Technology
Idris Fits all Sizes
Award winning Technology Projects at the American Transportation Awards
Idris Technology continues to go from strength to strength. Open Road Tolling (ORT) projects for Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) and Washington DOT were both winners at the recent American Transportation Awards (ATA’s), thanks to the combined technology of Peek Traffic and Idris Technology. The awards were chosen through regional competitions between June and September 2008. The presentation ceremony will take place on the 19th Ocotber 2008 at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in Hartford, Conneticut .
America is a nation in constant motion – from truckers on the Interstate to commuters on the subway. They expect transportation services to keep pace with their busy lives, save time and money, and apply innovative solutions to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. The ATA's were designed to recognise achievement in the development and construction of transportation projects, and to instill an appreciation of transportation as a key element to the quality of life. The transportation projects are judged according to their size in three categories; 'Innovative Management,' 'On Time' and 'On Budget'.
FTE won the South Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO) best on-time small project for the improvements made to the Bird Road and Homestead Toll plaza. The project was completed in a record seven months, with the overall goal being to improve traffic flow and safety. This was achieved through both plazas having two directions of ORT, with travel lanes and no hard shoulders.
Jim Ely, Executive Director of Florida Turnpike Enterprise, was quoted to say, “I am very proud of our team and our partners for completing this important project in less than one year. This project significantly reduces congestion on the turnpike, moving Floridians and our visitors more effectively.”
The second award went to Washington DOT who were voted Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO) best on-time large project, for the work carried out to improve the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The project cost $724 million and required 3 million hours of labour.
The project was completed under budget and four weeks ahead of schedule, all thanks to the management team who combined local talent with specialists from around the world. Tacoma Narrows has one direction of ORT, having three travel lanes and no shoulder lanes. This was possible thanks to the combined technology of Idris and Peek, which improved the traffic flow conditions from stop start to freeway speeds for users of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
The Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) technology present in both projects increases the accuracy and efficiency of the ORT components of both of the projects. Peek incorporated Idris’ advanced tolling solution (AT600) into both of the award winning projects, through its SmartToll system.
The SmartToll system was used due to the accuracy that the technology provides in free flow and congested traffic. The overall layout of the SmartToll system was a great advantage. The system is self-contained and all communication with the lane controller handled via the IP socket, making it efficient and reliable.
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