NYC’s Midtown In Motion Receives National Transportation Award

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) on June 5 recognized the New York City Department of Transportation for Midtown in Motion, a traffic management system that uses intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to ease traffic congestion, improve traffic flow, and reduce greenhouse emissions and air pollution on the city’s most congested streets.

Janette Sadik-Khan, Transportation Commissioner, was presented with the ITS America Smart Solution Spotlight award in recognition of the city’s commitment to "smart" technologies that allow engineers to respond to traffic conditions in real time. The data is transmitted wirelessly through the city’s network and made available to motorists and to app developers to use on smart phones and PDAs. The system allows Department of Transportation engineers the ability to conduct real-time analysis and change signal patterns at the touch of a button, helping to alleviate congestion before it worsens.

The Department announced that the service area will more than double in size to include Midtown from 1st to 9th Avenue and from 42nd to 57th Street. Installed in July 2011, the first phase of the program included one hundred microwave sensors, thirty-two traffic video cameras, and E-ZPass readers at twenty-three intersections to measure traffic speeds. Over the course of the year, engineers in DOT’s Traffic Management Center (TMC) used the technology to identify congestion issues as they occurred and use networked Advanced Solid State Traffic Controllers (ATSC) to remotely adjust Midtown traffic signal patterns, unplug bottlenecks, and smooth the flow of traffic. Preliminary results of the first phase showed an overall ten percent increase in travel speeds on the avenues in the 110-block service area, as measured by E-ZPass readers, and taxi GPS data showed similar results. The expanded service area, covering more than 270 square blocks, will include an additional 110 microwave sensors, twenty-four traffic video cameras, and thirty-six E-ZPass readers, and will be fully operational this summer, allowing engineers to respond to congestion in heart of Midtown.

The Midtown in Motion program also included the installation of turn lanes at fifty-three intersections, allowing vehicles to turn from cross-town streets on to the avenues without blocking an entire lane of through-traffic, and added turn signals at twenty-three of these intersections to allow turning vehicles to do so more safely without conflicting with pedestrians. Half of the City’s signalized intersections-6,200-have been computerized and integrated with the Traffic Management Center. The goal is complete integration of all signals by 2013.

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