I-90 Testbed

Today in the Capital District an intelligent transportation systems (ITS) laboratory is being developed unlike any other in the nation. Keyed to the "I-90 Connector," it will feature an instrumented highway imbedded in an equally instrumented highway network. Bounded on the east and north by Route 4, on the west by I-787, and on the south by I-90, the Testbed will cover roughly 14 square kilometers.

Located just north of I-90, on the east side of the Hudson River, the Testbed will have many features that make it particularly attractive for ITS product development:

Busy highways like NYS Route 4, I-787 and I-90 pass through it or lie along its borders.
The network is compact and of manageable size.
The Testbed can be observed in its entirety from the WRPI tower.
Major traffic generators lie within the area's boundaries, including Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC), the Rensselaer Technology Park, LaSalle Institute, major shopping centers and residential developments.
Many of the travelers in the network can provide critical assessments of ITS products because of their higher-than-average technological awareness. (Technological education is the hallmark of HVCC and technological research, development and deployment is the mission of the Rensselaer Technology Park.) These people also understand the constant state of flux that naturally accompanies a research environment.
Traffic volumes peak several times each day. With each changing of classes, waves of HVCC students arrive and depart the campus. These waves will mean faster product development, since many ITS technologies focus on managing fluctuating flows.
While traffic volumes are significant, the network is not overly congested.
Progressively-minded governmental agencies have jurisdiction over the highways involved.

Such attributes will make the Testbed an extremely attractive place for ITS technological develpment. ITS companies could take up residence in the local area to take advantage of the Testbed's unique experimental environment.

Public and private partners are already involved. These include the Capital District Transportation Committee, the region's award winning Metropolitan Planning Organization; New York State DOT, especially the Region I office, whose interest in in-novation and experimentation is well-known throughout the state; Rensselaer County; the Town of North Greenbush; and Hud-son Valley Community College (HVCC), one of the outstanding technologically-based community colleges in New York State. Private partners include Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one of the top technological universities in the US; and the Rensselaer Technology Park, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rensselaer that provides a suppor-tive environment for embryonic high-tech companies. This diverse constituency is committed to providing the support for and endorsement of the initiative needed to make it happen.

The Testbed will:

be a premiere site for testing of ITS technologies. It will be a place where new innovations can be devel-oped, tested and refined, and serve as both a proving ground for new ideas and a showcase for emergent successes. It will act as the transition between invention and deployment.
stress education and research. The Testbed will capitalize on the strengths of both Rensselaer and HVCC, stressing both research and education. Research results will make vibrant the educational experience, and the insights of those being educated will help guide and direct the research, expanding the ITS knowledge base.
emphasize design for maintainability. With the recognition that technology is useful only if it works, the Testbed will stress both design and maintainability. Researchers and designers will be able to capitalize on field deployment, and students will gain an understanding of the challenges of designing equipment for field deployment.
address rural ITS issues as well as urban ones. Taking advantage of the Testbed's semi-rural/semi-urban setting, tech-nologies applicable to both rural and urban markets will be stressed.

Five interlinked areas will form the Testbed's major research thrusts:

instrumentation and sensors: development, deployment, and evaluation of systems that monitor system condition and performance;
communications and information systems: design, development and deployment of ITS communication and information systems, especially those that rely on wireless communications and heavily distributed database management systems, such as wireless localized internets;
traveler information systems: pre-trip decision support systems, in-vehicle decision support systems, information distri-bution systems, information delivery technologies, methodologies for producing more consistent travel patterns and bet-ter travel choice awareness, better route selection, and reduced user stress;
traffic management systems: heavily distributed real-time command and control systems, simulation-based predictive models, decision support system designs, including ergonomics; incident detection, management and emergency re-sponse; and
infrastructure management systems: ITS technologies that monitor the performance and condition of the physical facili-ties that comprise the transportation network; the impact of ITS on facility design; also data interpretation from sensors, sensor deployment strategies, information integration, decision support systems, and philosophies of infrastructure man-agement, construction, operation, maintenance, and reuse.

The Testbed's educational thrusts will parallel these research areas, focusing on teaching future professionals how to design, build, install, operate, maintain and evaluate the performance of ITS technologies. Both degree and non-degree (continuing education) elements will be stressed. Continuing and distance-based education, capitalizing on the award winning programs at both Rensselaer and HVCC will allow students from off-campus, and locations around the globe, to participate in the educational ex-perience. These offerings will relate to and build upon courses now taught by Rensselaer and HVCC including traffic engineer-ing, highway engineering, infrastructure engineering, facility design, transportation systems planning, electronics, mechanical systems, communication systems, etc. There will also be linkages to other courses at the two institutions, including those from the Lally School of Management and Technology (e.g., project management, engineering economics, microeconomics, cost-benefit analysis, and decision analysis) and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (e.g., ergonomics and other aspects of the way in which people and society interface with such systems).


I-90 Testbed Today in the Capital District an intelligent transportation systems (ITS) laboratory is being developed unlike any other in the nation. Keyed to the "I-90 Connector," it will feature an instrumented highway imbedded in an equally instrumented highway network. Bounded on the east and north by Route 4, on the west by I-787, and on the south by I-90, the Testbed will cover roughly 14 square kilometers. Located just north of I-90, on the east side of the Hudson River, the Testbed will have many features that make it particularly attractive for ITS product development: Busy highways like NYS Route 4, I-787 and I-90 pass through it or lie along its borders. The network is compact and of manageable size. The Testbed can be observed in its entirety from the WRPI tower. Major traffic generators lie within the area's boundaries, including Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC), the Rensselaer Technology Park, LaSalle Institute, major shopping centers and residential developments. Many of the travelers in the network can provide critical assessments of ITS products because of their higher-than-average technological awareness. (Technological education is the hallmark of HVCC and technological research, development and deployment is the mission of the Rensselaer Technology Park.) These people also understand the constant state of flux that naturally accompanies a research environment. Traffic volumes peak several times each day. With each changing of classes, waves of HVCC students arrive and depart the campus. These waves will mean faster product development, since many ITS technologies focus on managing fluctuating flows. While traffic volumes are significant, the network is not overly congested. Progressively-minded governmental agencies have jurisdiction over the highways involved. Such attributes will make the Testbed an extremely attractive place for ITS technological develpment. ITS companies could take up residence in the local area to take advantage of the Testbed's unique experimental environment. Public and private partners are already involved. These include the Capital District Transportation Committee, the region's award winning Metropolitan Planning Organization; New York State DOT, especially the Region I office, whose interest in in-novation and experimentation is well-known throughout the state; Rensselaer County; the Town of North Greenbush; and Hud-son Valley Community College (HVCC), one of the outstanding technologically-based community colleges in New York State. Private partners include Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one of the top technological universities in the US; and the Rensselaer Technology Park, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rensselaer that provides a suppor-tive environment for embryonic high-tech companies. This diverse constituency is committed to providing the support for and endorsement of the initiative needed to make it happen. The Testbed will: be a premiere site for testing of ITS technologies. It will be a place where new innovations can be devel-oped, tested and refined, and serve as both a proving ground for new ideas and a showcase for emergent successes. It will act as the transition between invention and deployment. stress education and research. The Testbed will capitalize on the strengths of both Rensselaer and HVCC, stressing both research and education. Research results will make vibrant the educational experience, and the insights of those being educated will help guide and direct the research, expanding the ITS knowledge base. emphasize design for maintainability. With the recognition that technology is useful only if it works, the Testbed will stress both design and maintainability. Researchers and designers will be able to capitalize on field deployment, and students will gain an understanding of the challenges of designing equipment for field deployment. address rural ITS issues as well as urban ones. Taking advantage of the Testbed's semi-rural/semi-urban setting, tech-nologies applicable to both rural and urban markets will be stressed. Five interlinked areas will form the Testbed's major research thrusts: instrumentation and sensors: development, deployment, and evaluation of systems that monitor system condition and performance; communications and information systems: design, development and deployment of ITS communication and information systems, especially those that rely on wireless communications and heavily distributed database management systems, such as wireless localized internets; traveler information systems: pre-trip decision support systems, in-vehicle decision support systems, information distri-bution systems, information delivery technologies, methodologies for producing more consistent travel patterns and bet-ter travel choice awareness, better route selection, and reduced user stress; traffic management systems: heavily distributed real-time command and control systems, simulation-based predictive models, decision support system designs, including ergonomics; incident detection, management and emergency re-sponse; and infrastructure management systems: ITS technologies that monitor the performance and condition of the physical facili-ties that comprise the transportation network; the impact of ITS on facility design; also data interpretation from sensors, sensor deployment strategies, information integration, decision support systems, and philosophies of infrastructure man-agement, construction, operation, maintenance, and reuse. The Testbed's educational thrusts will parallel these research areas, focusing on teaching future professionals how to design, build, install, operate, maintain and evaluate the performance of ITS technologies. Both degree and non-degree (continuing education) elements will be stressed. Continuing and distance-based education, capitalizing on the award winning programs at both Rensselaer and HVCC will allow students from off-campus, and locations around the globe, to participate in the educational ex-perience. These offerings will relate to and build upon courses now taught by Rensselaer and HVCC including traffic engineer-ing, highway engineering, infrastructure engineering, facility design, transportation systems planning, electronics, mechanical systems, communication systems, etc. There will also be linkages to other courses at the two institutions, including those from the Lally School of Management and Technology (e.g., project management, engineering economics, microeconomics, cost-benefit analysis, and decision analysis) and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (e.g., ergonomics and other aspects of the way in which people and society interface with such systems).
Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Studies Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 110 8th St Troy, NY 12180