Spring 2018 Edition
ITS Michigan Quarterly Newsletter
Greetings!

There are lots of exciting things happening in the world of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in Michigan. The Intelligent Transportation Society of Michigan (ITS Michigan) is your link to these activities. This quarterly newsletter will help you keep up to speed on what's happening in ITS in Michigan and learn about opportunities to network with others in the field.
 ITS America president visits
ITS Michigan Board meeting
ITS America President and Chief Executive Officer Shailen Bhatt presented his vision for the future of ITS at the January ITS Michigan Board of Directors meeting.

Bhatt, who is relatively new to the top ITS America position, previously served as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, was cabinet secretary for the Delaware Department of Transportation and was an associate administrator for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

The chief executive noted that ITS America is focused on promoting and advancing the safe deployment of ITS technologies and the importance of working both at the federal level and with state chapters to bring these technologies to communities across the country.

“We are in the business of saving lives and making people’s lives better,” Bhatt stated. During the meeting, he also asked those in attendance for their thoughts on the role of the national organization, and received some constructive feedback.
ITS American Annual Meeting coming to Detroit June 4-7
It was in 2014 that the ITS World Congress came to Detroit -- and the event was wildly successful. Now, in 2018, ITS American is coming back to Detroit, this time for the ITS America Annual Meeting.

As with the 2014 event, the Annual Meeting will be at Cobo Hall downtown. The theme of the event will be "Transportation 2.0".

The meeting will review how people interact with transportation and how those interactions are changing as technology evolves, what new business models will emerge from the changes and what questions will be vital to prepare markets, governments and researchers for the future.

For more information or to register for the meeting, visit The ITS America 2018 Annual Meeting website.
13th Annual Transportation Incident-Management
Partnering Workshop a success
On March 8, approximately 110 professionals from across the traffic incident-management (TIM) community gathered for the 13th annual Southeast Michigan Traffic Incident-Management Partnering Workshop at Macomb Community College (MCC) in Warren. Participants in the workshop ranged from police, fire, emergency medical services, towing companies, freeway service patrol operators to road agencies from the state, county and municipal levels.

The half-day workshop was opened with remarks from Joe Patrosky, dean of Engineering and Advanced Technology at MCC and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.

Speakers included Capt. David Daniels of the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department, Vicky Wolber of Macomb County Homeland Security, John Abraham of the Macomb County Department of Roads, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Senior Project Manager Michele Mueller, Chaplain Mindy Albright of Warrior Family Ministries, Aaron Raymond of the MDOT Southeast Michigan Transportation Operations Center, Sunny Jacob of the City of Detroit and Road Commission for Oakland County Signal Systems Engineer Ahmad Jawad.
  
After lunch, Richard Beaubien, of Beaubien Engineering, provided a brief history of traffic incident management in Metro Detroit for fire chiefs who were unable to attend the morning portion of the program. The event was organized by ITS Michigan, MDOT, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), the Southeast Michigan Fire Chiefs, the Macomb Traffic Safety Association and Beaubien Engineering. It was sponsored by Opticom and Carrier & Gable .
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel welcomes participants to the Transportation Incident-Management Partnering Workshop.
Joe Petrosky, dean of Engineering & Advanced Technology at Macomb Community College, shares his vision with those present.
Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) Signal Systems Engineer Ahmad Jawad shares some insight during a panel discussion.
John Abraham, Macomb County Department of Roads director of Traffic and Operations, leads a discussion during the event.
The audience at the event.
Member Profile
Member name:  Macomb County Department of Roads

Primary contact:  John Abraham, PhD, Director of Traffic and Operations

How long a member of ITS Michigan:  33

Type of organization (company, individual, public sector, academic): Public sector, county government

Primary product or service:  Design, operation and maintenance of Macomb County roadways.

Reason you’re involved in the field of ITS:  The Department of Roads’ mission is to provide the public with a quality county road system, with a focus on safety and convenience for motorists and the community, environmental responsibility and financial accountability. The technologies available through ITS solutions allow the mission to be achieved more effectively and efficiently.

Macomb County utilizes ITS technologies to mitigate congestion, reduce the negative impact motor vehicles have on air quality and improve safety. ITS deployments have allowed Macomb County to actively optimize traffic operations, monitor traffic flow patterns and disseminate information to the public, all of which is done from one facility that is integrated with three other county departments.

The interdepartmental collaboration aides the community through ITS deployments during the response and management of first responders and emergency management. ITS technology has been deployed and is expanding rapidly throughout the county in the realm of connected-vehicle applications, providing benefits such as red-light-violation warnings, priority/preemption and Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) dissemination.

What are your favorite benefits of ITS Michigan:  ITS Michigan provides collaboration, innovative means to resolve issues in transportation and institutional knowledge of barriers to deployment. Each variable that is overcome advances the operational network of Macomb County’s roadway system.

Collaboration between Macomb County and other members generates dialog with those who share a common border or interest and individuals with new and innovative ideas about how congestion can be alleviated.

The available presentations, webinars, and workshops provide information on new technological advances that are available in ITS. Expanding beyond just presentations are discussions amongst a wide variety of professionals, from other municipalities to consultants to vehicle manufacturers. The knowledge and varying ideas that are generated expand the realm of potential implementations that could be provided on our roadways.

What excites you most about ITS and the future of the ITS industry?  The transportation world is transforming through the continued progression and implementation of ITS technologies. Developments, such as connected and automated vehicles, may drastically alter the current mobility decisions that the community is making. Solutions implemented today to alleviate delays may not be the same tomorrow. Such variation and evolution in mobility is exciting and made possible through advancements in the ITS sector.
ITS news summary  

Technology

The slow yet steady progress of wireless charging tech
Wireless-charging technology is being explored for its potential applications in electric vehicles, industrial systems and mobile devices, Kevin Fogarty writes. The Qi industry standard is being used for smartphone chargers and other uses, this analysis notes. In fact, wireless power has been widely available for years. Whether this approach will be used to extend battery life isn’t entirely clear. But it is attracting renewed attention as the balance between more processing and functionality in edge devices clashes with glacial improvements in battery capacity, and as new markets such as electric cars and connected industrial applications continue to gain steam.
Semiconductor Engineering (2/28) 

General Motors plans to invest $100 million to produce its Cruise self-driving car in Michigan. No steering wheel or pedals are anticipated to be in the vehicle's design. In January, GM filed a petition seeking U.S. government approval for a fully autonomous car - one without a steering wheel, brake pedal or accelerator pedal - to enter the automaker’s first commercial ride-sharing fleet in 2019.
Reuters (3/15)  

Policy

A supplemental spending bill signed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will allocate $175 million for road and transportation projects in the state. The funding increase was proposed by Snyder for 2019 but was accelerated by a public outcry for improved roads. The funding should reach local road agencies in time for summer construction work, but experts say it will not fully reverse projected long-term declines in road quality across the state.

The Laker Line rapid bus system, which would connect Grand Valley State University's Allendale campus to downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., has received a $57 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration. The Michigan Department of Transportation will contribute $14 million to the project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2020.
Newsletter comments or content? Contact:
Craig Bryson 
(248) 645 2000 
Intelligent Transportation Society of Michigan (ITS Michigan)