Project of the year win for TransCore Silicon Valley project

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) State Route (SR) 237 Express Lanes, for which TransCore serves as lead integrator, received the 2012 Transportation Project of the Year Award from the San Francisco Bay Area Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). VTA is implementing the Silicon Valley Express Lanes Program to provide congestion relief in one of its major Bay Area commuter corridors. As part of the program, the SR 237, US 101, SR 85 and parts of I-680 corridor will convert the existin
February 27, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
1791 Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) State Route (SR) 237 Express Lanes, for which 139 Transcore serves as lead integrator, received the 2012 Transportation Project of the Year Award from the San Francisco Bay Area 5667 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).

VTA is implementing the Silicon Valley Express Lanes Program to provide congestion relief in one of its major Bay Area commuter corridors. As part of the program, the SR 237, US 101, SR 85 and parts of I-680 corridor will convert the existing HOV lanes to express lanes.

Since the opening of the 237 Express Lanes, commuters are saving between five and twenty minutes compared to those driving in the general purpose lanes during peak commute periods. The travel time for commuters in the general purpose lanes has also improved by upwards of seven minutes.

The project received top honours for being a key benefit to the public by providing commuters with an additional travel option, making better use of the existing roadway and improving operations in the corridor.

Converting high occupancy vehicle (HOV) to high occupancy toll (HOT) or express lanes has become a popular approach to better utilise capacity on existing roadways in major urban areas across the country. The project demonstrates the ability to use roadway pricing as an effective travel demand management tool by controlling the demand through dynamic pricing, which changes the toll rate as the level of congestion changes. Today, over 10,000 solo drivers a week are choosing to use the express lanes for travel time reliability.

“The results from the SR237 Express Lanes demonstrate the benefits provided to the traveling public from systems of this nature,” said Michael Mauritz, TransCore managing director for the Western Region and project manager. “TransCore was honored by the opportunity to lead the design and deployment of this program and is pleased VTA earned this deserved recognition.”

This project utilises TransCore’s unique combination of traffic management and toll systems expertise. The company’s work as system integrator included the development of the system software that includes the dynamic pricing algorithm as well as design and installation of AVI equipment, dynamic message signs, traffic monitoring detectors and CCTV cameras.
Parking & Access Control Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Urban Traffic Control Charging, Tolling & RUC

Related Content

  • Super Bowl 2014 to benefit from adaptive traffic control
    January 22, 2014
    To address the traffic needs of one of the busiest traffic corridors in the US, TransCore and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission are on schedule to complete another phase of an adaptive traffic control system - just in time for Super Bowl 2014. To improve traffic flow and reduce congestion, TransCore began engineering and installing an adaptive traffic control system at more than 100 intersections throughout the 30-square miles of the Hackensack Meadowlands District.
    Read More
  • Figures show Express Lanes bring wider benefits
    August 12, 2015
    Drivers in the Washington DC area are realising time savings following the opening of Express Lanes on the I-95 - and not only those paying to use the new facility. Washington is ranked as being the worst gridlocked city in the United States. Every day its drivers face an average commute time of 39.5 minutes and they waste an average of 67 hours every year just sitting in traffic. In a move to counter these problems, late last December new Express Lanes were opened along 46.6km (29 miles) of the I-95 betwee
    Read More
  • Diverse development of tolling business models
    April 25, 2013
    A diversity of tolling business models offers a wider toolbox of highway finance options, as the IBTTA’s Patrick Jones explains. The business models for America’s tolled highways have gone through several different evolutions over the last 75 years, reflecting a succession of shifts in transportation policy and politics, financing and funding models, urban patterns, customer needs, and technology. And with more and more decision-makers expressing renewed interest in tolling, it’s that very diversity that ma
    Read More
  • Road user charging – change the name to change public perceptions
    February 2, 2012
    Jack Opiola explores the oft-underestimated effect that a charging scheme's name can have on public acceptability and ultimate success. The Bard of Avon wrote: "What's in a name?" For transport, especially Road User Charging, that is an especially relevant question.
    Read More

Highlighted Content