2006 ITS Project of the Year Award

The Chicago Transit Authority was honored for its CTA BusTracker project and Illinois DOT was honored for the I-64 Smart Work Zone.

Other Finalist Projects included:

• Ashland Avenue Alternate for Dan Ryan Reconstruction
  by Chicago OEMC et al.
  The Dan Ryan Expressway carries nearly 300,000 vehicles every day. The Dan Ryan capacity was expected to be reduced by nearly 50 % during a three year construction project. Ashland Ave. was designated as one of two official alternate routes. Chicago OEMC and DOT planned for, implemented, and operated Ashland Ave. to serve this function and offer commuters a convenient and reliable option during the reconstruction. Improvements to Ashland Ave included installation of a fiber optic backbone, improved signal timing, installation and utilization of CCTV. The Ashland system serves as the beginning of the Chicago Traffic Management Center (TMC).
  Project Fact Sheet
• Chicago Unified Command Vehicle
  by Chicago OEMC et al.
  The Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) introduced a multi-million dollar vehicle outfitted with advanced communications and now leads the nation with its new emergency response vehicle. The vehicle will arrive on the scene within minutes during an emergency. It will be used to maintain communication with police, fire and other rescue operations and continue the flow of information to the media and the public.
  Project Fact Sheet
• Open Road Tolling Signing Simulation
  by Illinois Tollway and University of Illinois at Chicago
  As part of a large scale federally endorsed demonstration project, the Tollway had UIC develop a driving simulation that allows the Tollway to test different sign configurations in a variety of lighting conditions. By using the simulation, valuable information was gained to help guide the field deployment of the signs.
  Project Fact Sheet
• Upgrades to the Traffic and Incident Management System (TIMS)
  by Illinois State Toll Highway Authority et al.
  In 2006 the Illinois Tollway upgraded and added significant new features to its award winning Traffic and Incident Management System (TIMS). The Tollway added an AVL system including GPS hardware to its fleet of diverse maintenance and operations vehicles, GPS on all Portable Changeable Message Signs, and integrated the data into TIMS and the CAD systems. Many other enhancements were made to the TIMS system, including a web enabled interface, travel time upgrades, enhanced map features, and messaging improvements.
  Project Fact Sheet
• Illinois Traffic Alert Email Notification System
  by Illinois DOT | Website
  The Illinois Traffic Alert System currently includes 72 route segments for the Chicago area expressway and tollway system.  Individuals may register for this service at www.iltrafficalert.com to receive customized traffic reports.  These customized reports contain vehicle speeds, travel times, construction, congestion, and incident information that may be received through an e-mail inbox, cell phone text message, or other e-mail enabled mobile devices. 
  Project Fact Sheet