Skip to main content

Open Roads collaborates with Virginia DOT on the 495 Express Lanes project

Opened on 17 November, the fourteen-mile corridor of new high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in Northern Virginia from the Springfield Interchange to just north of the Dulles Toll Road on the Virginia side of the Capital Beltway provides drivers with a faster, more predictable trip on the Capital Beltway. The 495 Express Lanes project supported more than 16,000 jobs and generated nearly US$3.5 billion of economic impact state-wide. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) provider Open Roads Consulting (Open R
December 11, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Opened on 17 November, the fourteen-mile corridor of new high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes  in Northern Virginia from the Springfield Interchange to just north of the Dulles Toll Road on the Virginia side of the Capital Beltway provides drivers with a faster, more predictable trip on the Capital Beltway. The 495 Express Lanes project supported more than 16,000 jobs and generated nearly US$3.5 billion of economic impact state-wide.

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) provider 5660 Open Roads Consulting (Open Roads) collaborated with the 1747 Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and roads operator 600 Transurban to develop an interface that integrates the 495 Express Lanes Transportation Management System (TMS) and the Northern Virginia Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center (PSTOC) Advanced Transportation Management System.

The system, OpenTMS Enterprise System, was developed and deployed by Open Roads. The interface is designed to share different types of data between the two systems: incidents, work zones, DMS (dynamic message sign), traffic sensor, travel time, and weather station data.  Open Roads worked closely with VDOT and Transurban to define the system interface requirements, software functional requirements, current user interface to incorporate the HOT lanes information for use by the PSTOC management and staff. VDOT and Open Roads have made tremendous efforts to create situational awareness to deliver improved safety and travel times to the motoring public in the region.

Governor Bob McDonnell participated in an opening event celebration in Tysons Corner with elected officials, media and key project personnel to commemorate the opening of the new traffic solution. He commented that the opening of the 495 Express Lanes means opportunity for Virginia as the project not only helped create jobs during construction, but will continue to make Northern Virginia a more attractive place to work and live. He also stated that the Express Lanes will open the region for business by providing better access to key employer centers and delivering the infrastructure needed to grow businesses and create additional jobs.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Virginia presses ahead with tunnels upgrade despite tolls challenge
    July 30, 2013
    David Crawford reviews current developments and legal/financial issues facing tunnel management in Virginia. This autumn the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in the US will defend its plan to introduce tolling on the Elizabeth River tunnels linking the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth in the State’s Hampton Roads area. The tolling, which is due to start from February 2014, will be examined by the State’s Supreme Court later this year. The anticipated toll income, along with loans and bonds, is
  • Comprehensive communications combats tolling resistance
    May 19, 2017
    Toll road operator must provide clear, comprehensive and consistent communications to user groups and the local community long before the facility opens. When new tolled highway infrastructure is about to go into service, the construction, management and finance specialists who brought it into being are about ready for a well-deserved celebration. But for the communications and outreach team responsible for building public support for the project – for bringing drivers to the road, and keeping partners and
  • TransCore to design and build I-66 active traffic management system
    February 15, 2013
    One of the most congested interstates in Virginia, US, is to get an Active Traffic Management (ATM) system. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has selected TransCore, a division of Roper Industries, to design and build its I-66 ATM system on northern Virginia’s main highway into the District of Columbia. The US$34 million contract is 90 percent federally funded and will support thirty-four miles of highway from the District of Columbia to Gainesville US-29 in Prince William County. The projec
  • VDOT to get world-class transportation operations centre
    May 8, 2013
    The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has issued a Notice of Intent to Award to Serco to integrate and run the state’s five transportation management centres under a six-year, US$355 million contract. The Commonwealth Transportation Board will make the final decision at its June meeting. The project will operate all five centres, including managing the Safety Service Patrol, under a single advanced active traffic management system platform, providing greater consistency and efficiency and enabli