TDOT RDS Data Quality Assurance and High-Resolution Content Enhancement

TDOT’s ITS radar detection system, spanning Tennessee’s urban interstates and highways, faced challenges with data quality and reliability, limiting its potential for advanced traffic management and analytics. This research aimed to enhance the system by standardizing configurations, recalibrating sensors, replacing outdated equipment, and implementing data storage and visualization tools. Collaboration with ITS contractors, TDOT IT, and TMCs resulted in significant improvements in data quality and downstream data applications. High-resolution RDS data provided actionable intelligence for variable speed limit control, detailed volume data for crash rate performance evaluation, and traffic wave analysis. Future applications lie in traffic management, incident detection alerts, more detailed traffic volume reporting and congestion impacts, and others that have not been identified. Recommendations for maintaining the quality and integrity of the system include increasing awareness of RDS data applications within TDOT, centralizing configuration processes to ensure statewide consistency, transitioning to event-level data reporting for modern detectors, and implementing continuous outage monitoring with automated tools. These efforts lay the foundation for expanding the RDS system’s capabilities, improving traffic safety, efficiency, and planning outcomes across Tennessee.

• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/79431
• Corporate Authors:

  Vanderbilt University

  Nashville, TN  United States  37240

  Tennessee Department of Transportation

  505 Deaderick Street
  Nashville, TN  United States  37219-0334

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Barbour, William
  • Baroud, Hiba
  • Dubey, Abhishek
  • Sprinkle, Jonathan
  • Work, Daniel
• Publication Date: 2024-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 59p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data management; Data quality; Detection and identification systems; Intelligent transportation systems; Radar; Speed data; Traffic data
• Identifier Terms: Tennessee Department of Transportation
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01944993
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: RES2023-20
• Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Feb 6 2025 10:49AM