Active Traffic Management: The Next Step in Congestion Management

Appendix A First International Symposium on Freeway and Tollway Operations

The scan team began its trip in Greece with participation in the First International Symposium on Freeway and Tollway Operations in Athens. This symposium was jointly sponsored by a host of European and U.S. associations, including the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the International Bridge, Tunnel, and Turnpike Association (IBTTA). The objectives of the symposium were to capture the state of the practice in freeway and tollway operations, identify innovative strategies and techniques to improve the proactive management and control of traffic, and explore the potential benefits of using managed lanes, tolling, pricing, and other strategies to improve traffic operations on congested freeways.

The symposium was successful with more than 400 participants attending the 4-day event. More than 200 presenters from 18 countries gave technical presentations that centered around four major tracks:

• Expressway management and congestion solutions
• Tollway development, tolling operations, technologies, and issues
• Technologies and issues for operations and control centers
• Managed lanes

The following sections summarize the distinguished sessions and four major tracks held during the symposium.

Opening of Distinguished Sessions

The distinguished sessions that opened the symposium were divided into U.S., European Union, and IBTTA perspectives. The U.S. session, "Improving Mobility and Managing Congestion," provided insight into the American approach to managing congestion. Presenters provided highlights on the future direction of congestion management in the United States and specific regional perspectives from California, Texas, and Virginia. The IBTTA session, "Improving Policies, Practice, and People," outlined the worldwide mission of IBTTA, regional perspectives from Florida and Texas, Spain's foray into toll road interoperability, and the criticality of using tolling to help ensure the success and advancement of transportation across the globe. "Priorities in Europe," presenting the perspective of the Association Européenne des Concessionaires d'Autoroutes et d'Ouvrages à Péage (ASECAP) and the European Union, presented European toll-related priorities in France, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Expressway Management and Congestion Solutions

This track provided cutting-edge information on the various methods used to manage freeways to solve congestion problems. Specific sessions highlighted successful practices in the following areas of operations:

• Ramp metering
• Freeway speeds and variable speed limits
• Congestion and bottlenecks
• Traffic management tools and centers
• Travel time estimation and dissemination
• Incident management
• Operations in emergencies and special events

Presentations focused on projects and programs from across the globe, including Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, and the United States.

Tollway Development, Tolling Operations, Technologies, and Issues

This track focused on recent developments and trends in tolling and tollway operations, technologies that enhance their success, and issues that challenge operators and users of these facilities. Speakers from Austria, Chile, France, Greece, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States spoke on numerous topics related to the following:

• Open-road tolling
• High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes and congestion charging
• Road user charging systems and concerns
• Issues with tolling and financing methods
• Toll pricing, tendering, and forecasts

Technologies and Issues for Operations and Control Centers

The third track in the symposium centered on advancements in technology and their use with tollway operations and control centers for freeways. Topics of discussion addressed during the track's sessions included the following:

• Integrated toll and traffic management
• Freeway and tollway traffic simulation
• Sensors for automated data collection
• Technologies in the service of operations
• Notable examples of international freeway operations

Presenters highlighted advancements in the application of technologies in freeway operations and tolling in such countries as Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Managed Lanes/Expressway and Tollway Development and Issues

The final symposium track was split between addressing issues related to managed lanes and the development issues surrounding expressways and tollways. Sessions on managed lanes provided recent research results and practical experience—mostly from the United States—related to the following:

• Developing and designing freeways for the 21st century
• Managed lane strategies enhancing freeway performance
• Managed lane tools, deployment, and evaluations

Sessions devoted to expressway and tollway development highlighted critical issues and experiences in Canada, France, Greece, Spain, and the United States in the following areas:

• Large bridge and toll highway projects
• Concerns with systems, decisions, and costs
• Safety issues

Roundtable Panels

In addition to the technical tracks discussed above, the symposium featured a number of roundtable panel discussions to bring focused attention to critical issues related to freeway and tollway operations. These panel sessions, which followed the same topical areas as the tracks, were the following:

• "Past, Present and Future of Greek Motorways: How Far Have We Come and How Much is Left to Go?"
• "Speeding and Speed Limits: Are Drivers out of Control?"
• "Proactive Management"
• "Early Bird: Agency Approaches to Congestion Management"

In each panel discussion, experts provided critical insight into the topic and presented potential solutions to challenges agencies face in these areas.