DeviceGuru

A free webinar sponsored by the U.S. DOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Research and Innovative Technology Administration (ITS RITA) will explore the benefits of using open-source software in transportation management systems. The Oct. 20, 2010 online event will provide insight into an open-source alternative for deploying transportation management systems on the state and local level.

According to the webinar’s website, “open-source solutions tend to be less expensive to deploy, maintain, and enhance. In addition, agencies may benefit through collaboration by investing their resources in a common product that is mutually beneficial in function and form.”

A key focus of the webinar will be a description, presented by representatives of the transportation agencies of California and Minnesota, of the benefits that resulted from using the open-source Intelligent Roadway Information System (IRIS) Advanced Transportation Management System (ATMS).

The webinar will explore the IRIS features and enhancements developed by the Advanced Highway Maintenance & Construction Technology Research Center at the University of California, Davis, in order to adapt and expand the IRIS for use within the Caltrans Stockton District 10 Transportation Management Center (TMC).

On its website, ITS RITA provides the following interesting description of the general benefits of using open-source software in ITS (intelligent transportation systems) applications.

Historically, acquiring a transportation management system has required a huge investment of capital and a long implementation timeframe. Often, the acquiring agency is beleaguered with nondisclosure agreements and is left with little or no software documentation.

The acquiring agency is often forced to execute sole-source contracts in order to maintain the system. Additionally, the agency inherits off-the-shelf software and hardware components that require costly annual maintenance agreements.

In this time of economic uncertainty, agencies cannot afford to propagate “large size” ATMS’s to smaller sized transportation management centers. Agencies need more transparency into the systems they acquire and a competitive and economic means of deploying and maintaining these systems. Most importantly, it is time for DOTs to reach out and collaborate on common solutions.

According to the event’s website, webinar participants will learn about…

• State-of-the-art operations for Dynamic Message Signs (DMS), travel times, speed harmonization, automated warning, and incident detection
• The common thread between two state departments of transportation that face similar challenges, demands, and visions
• The benefits of using open-source GPL (General Public License) software for public agency transportation management applications and development
• How a successful collaborative model can be used between public transportation agencies, universities, consultants, and hardware and software vendors
• How multiple agencies can use internationalization configuration settings that allow them to share a “one size fits all” system
• Insight into the systems engineering principles and tools that were used for adapting and enhancing Mn/DOT’s IRIS for use within Caltrans.

Targeted participants include “public and private transportation practitioners, ITS deployment and system integrators, ITS software developers, state and local transportation engineers, traffic operations engineers and managers, and ITS hardware and software companies,” according to the agency.

Further details regarding the webinar — including precise time and a registration URL — are available on the U.S. DOT’s ITS RITA website, here.