26 Feb TransCore Serves as Integrator for Award-Winning Silicon Valley Express Lanes, Wins Project of the Year
Commuters Saving up to 20 Minutes
SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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, U.S. 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 5 and 20 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 7 minutes.
The project received top honors for being a key benefit to the public by providing commuters 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 utilize 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 utilizes the company’s unique combination of traffic management and toll systems expertise. Specifically, TransCore’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.
Nationally, TransCore has supported HOT lane deployments on I-15 in San Diego, which also won the California Transportation Foundation 2012 Project of the Year Award; Houston METRO’s recent deployment; Miami’s I-95 Express; Seattle’s SR 167; and Salt Lake City’s I-15.
About VTA
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is an independent special district that provides sustainable, accessible, community-focused transportation options that are innovative, environmentally responsible, and promote the vitality of our region. VTA is responsible for bus, light rail and paratransit operations and also serves as the county’s congestion management agency. As such, VTA is responsible for countywide transportation planning, including congestion management issues, specific highway improvement projects, pedestrian and bicycle improvement projects, and provides these services throughout the county, including the municipalities of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga and Sunnyvale. VTA continually builds partnerships to deliver transportation solutions that meet the evolving mobility needs of Santa Clara County.
For more information about the VTA Express Lanes project, visit www.vta.org/expresslanes.
About TransCore
TransCore’s 75-year heritage supporting the transportation industry spans the development of RFID technology at Los Alamos National Labs to implementation of the nation’s first electronic toll collection system. With installations in 46 countries, more than 100 patents and pioneering applications of RFID technology, TransCore’s technical expertise is unparalleled in the markets it serves. In 2012, Engineering News-Record (ENR) ranked TransCore No. 140 out of the Top 500 Design Firms. TransCore is a U.S. owned and operated company with products designed, engineered and manufactured in the United States.
TransCore operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Roper Industries. Roper Industries is a Standard and Poor’s S&P 500 index company and trades on the New York Stock Exchange.