Travel Times on Changeable Message Signs

New requirements to enhance the functionality of the system MITTENS system emerged. As s result, a new version of the software, MITTENS 2.0, was developed during this project. The new system is flexible in using different data sources other than 511 data to calculate travel time. In addition, MITTENS 2.0 is able to handle smart message display by dynamically generating highway travel times, transit times, and destinations. Furthermore, it is capable of comparing transit travel time and highway travel time. This feature enables the system to display the transit travel time when there is an advantage in using trains during peak hours. The objective was to provide comparative information for commuters and encourage motorists to use transit system in the rush hours. The evaluation study on the transit sings showed positive effect of commuter behavior. For this version, the administrator Graphical User Interface (GUI) was deployed and CCIT continued enhancing the GUI. The new enhancements consisted of adding features to define different templates for the CMS display. The travel time system is fully operational in the Bay Area and covers more than 30 signs. In addition, the system is successfully displaying comparison of transit trip and highway driving time for Millbrae and Redwood City stations. The system received the California Transportation Foundation TRANNY award for the best traffic operation project and was nominated for Best of ITS Awards for best innovative practice. As a part of the project an upgraded MITTENS version was developed to allow deployment in other Caltrans districts as well. A study was also conducted on the feasibility study on disseminating travel time information on other districts, i.e. D3, D5 and D10.