EMTRAC Systems News Items
EMTRAC Shows Compliance with VTA Transmission Specs
September 2, 2010 - As part of a third party installation acceptance test for VTA of San Jose, California in July of 2010, Caltrans was asked to verify compliance of the installation with standard specifications. In the process of acceptance testing, the range of EMTRAC equipment transmissions were calculated along El Camino Real in Santa Clara County. The test was supervised by Caltrans engineers; a sample of field observations were generated with the following test procedures:
A floating car was used to replicate a VTA bus operating along El Camino Real, with the antenna placed at approximately 30 inches above pavement resting on the dash board inside of a sub-compact Caltrans staff car
The intersection antennae were mounted on the top of the traffic control cabinet at approximately 6 feet above pavement in the typical VTA installation configuration
Revenue service conditions for this deployment type would have involved a transit bus with antenna mounted approximately 10 feet above pavement. Under the circumstances the test used an antenna deployed seven and one-half feet below standard height, which—as anticipated--significantly reduced observed detection range. Actual test results yielded acceptable revenue service ranges for transit applications with the minimum transmission distance measured at 1300 feet
EMTRAC at Urban Transport World Australia 2010
March 26, 2010 - On February 22, EMTRAC's own Jim Jarzab summarized the current state of BRT practices during his opening remarks at the Urban Transport World conference in Sydney, Australia.
As Co-Chair of the NTCIP 1211 Emergency Vehicle Preemption and Transit Signal Priority standards committee, Jim Jarzab is a valuable resource about the specific strategies available to municipalities looking to implement a cost-effective Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. Mr. Jarzab's remarks included the following points:
"Many notable BRT projects have been developed around the world over the past two decades. Up to this point, the most successful projects have operated on exclusive rights-of-way in a manner, and at a comparable cost, to light rail. This comparison has often led to debates regarding the relative merits of investments in light rail transit compared to BRT.
"Advances in electronic data storage and information-processing speeds have allowed for transit operators in virtual rights-of-way using advanced vehicle location and identification (AVL/AVI), as well as sophisticated traffic control software, to replicate the safety and functionality of exclusive rights-of-way without the physical structures and resulting adverse community impacts. Sometimes called 'rapid bus', these BRT applications greatly expand the effective range of faster bus operations with enhanced schedule adherence, giving the traveling public better service with minimal investment in additional land or other infrastructure.
"These Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) components expand the sites suitable for successful BRT applications by an order of magnitude. Modern public transportation services are no longer restricted to large metropolitan areas with significant political influence and abandoned rail rights-of-way available to exploit. With apologies to Churchill: 'This is not the end, or even the beginning of the end but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning' with respect to BRT development."
EMTRAC TSP Shown to Decrease Bus Travel Time
February 8, 2010 - Based in Santa Clara, the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) serves the transit needs of six municipalities. Their bus and light-rail lines have seen significant increases in ridership each of the past five years, and VTA has continued studying and implementing improvement programs to better serve their growing number of riders.
One study in particular examined the increase in average operating speed provided by the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) application of Bus Signal Priority (BSP) in rapid bus operation as compared to traditional local bus operation. This study evaluated two methods of signal priority, an in-ground loop and detector system and an EMTRAC GPS and RF-based vehicle detection system.
The study noted that signal priority enabled the operation of rapid bus service with reduced stops and more liberal operating rules than local service. Buses receiving priority traveled 18.4 percent faster than those without priority. Further, buses receiving priority using the EMTRAC system traveled 23 percent faster than those without priority.
Another advantage the EMTRAC system offers is that there is no need to bury in-ground loops, enabling municipalities to improve on-time bus performance without requiring costly sub-surface installations.
From a financial standpoint, public transit has few opportunities to implement productivity improvements. The approximately 20 percent gains from Bus Signal Priority are very important to transit agencies from a resource-allocation perspective. An improvement of 20 percent equates to an effective operating savings for VTA of nearly $1 million annually. Since 2005, operating and maintenance costs for the BSP elements have been negligible, with no equipment failures encountered since installation. Capital costs for BSP average less than $10,000 per intersection and $3,000 per bus.
The use of Bus Signal Priority in combination with other BRT features has proven to have the desired effect on vehicle operations, and thus fulfills the goals of ITS projects. Not only are the results statistically significant, but rider gains in the corridor also accompany the perceived improvement in service quality by the public.
VTA's experience with BSP is similar to that of other transit agencies across the nation. Bus Signal Priority is one of the few cost effective tools available to public transit agencies that improve productivity without adverse consequences. BSP is a foundation element for VTA's extensive Bus Rapid Transit planning effort, and it is likely that BSP will will be a major component of transit operations industry-wide in the near future.
EMTRAC EVP in Coquitlam, British Columbia
(Original article by Angela MacKenzie appeared in Coquitlam NOW, Friday, October 10, 2008)
Firefighters in Coquitlam are using advanced technology to get to emergencies faster.
On Monday, Coquitlam council watched a live demonstration via web cam of the fire department's new EMTRAC traffic signal system that gives fire and rescue vehicles priority at traffic intersections throughout the city.
A city van equipped with an EMTRAC device demonstrated how a vehicle would travel through a major intersection without having to slow down or stop.
Coquitlam Fire and Rescue trucks are being fitted with the EMTRAC traffic signal system to help with response time and intersection safety.
The EMTRAC device, about the size of a book, is mounted in the interior of the vehicle.
When activated by the release of the emergency brake and switching on of flashing lights, the device automatically sends a signal to the traffic lights when the vehicle enters a specific zone.
The area of that zone is tailored to the intersection by city traffic technologists, but can be up to approximately 900 meters (3,000 feet) away.
The traffic signal for the vehicle then changes or remains green.
At the same time, the other signals in the intersection change to red to stop all other cars, allowing the priority vehicle to pass through without slowing down or stopping.
The advance signal allows enough time for pedestrians to finish crossing and for other cars to stop safely.
"If we come up to an intersection that is totally clogged, it can add 30 seconds to a minute to our response time, which can make a difference," said Coquitlam Fire and Rescue assistant chief Tom Boechler.
The system is expected to help improve response times by up to 20 per cent and increase safety at intersections.
All emergency vehicles find it difficult to move through heavy traffic, but Boechler says fire trucks are also typically larger in size than other emergency response vehicles and consequently not as maneuverable.
"Emergency driving is always a problem," he says.
"With heavy traffic, it's always a problem because you don't know what the people in front of you are going to do. They're supposed to pull over to the closest curb, but a lot of them just hit the brakes and stop."
The city estimates it will cost $290,000 to equip all of the department's fire and emergency vehicles.
Installation of the new system began in April of this year and approximately 75 percent of the vehicles have the devices installed.
Boechler believes it is money well spent.
"It may seem like a large amount of money at the beginning, but amortized over the lifetime of the system ... It's the life safety that's the issue," he says.
"One injury could make up for that cost."
Contact EMTRAC
EMTRAC Systems, Inc.
320 South 11th St.
Mt. Vernon, IL 62864
Phone: (618) 242-2678
Email: emtrac2@sbcglobal.net