The Minnesota Public Transit Association awarded the ITS Institute’s Intelligent Vehicles (IV) Lab director Craig Shankwitz and Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) transit planning manager Mike Abegg with its Management Innovation Award on September 13 for their work on the Bus 2.0 driver-assistive system. The research is part of a $133.3 million federally funded state project to improve traffic flow on I-35W between downtown Minneapolis and the southern suburbs.
The award is given for innovative work in the field of transit or creative new methods of addressing the transit-related concerns of transit users.
Improving transit schedule reliability and helping bus drivers feel confident when using bus-only shoulders on suburban highways are two of the goals of the Bus 2.0 driver-assistive system currently being implemented by the MVTA. Using technology developed by the IV Lab, the system combines GPS satellite tracking and on-board technology to give drivers trained in a simulator tools to improve their performance.
The system is significant because there will not be a full transitway along the Cedar Avenue Corridor between the southern suburbs and Minneapolis, but rather the buses will be operating in bus-only shoulders. Shoulder operation presents special challenges because they are not as wide as the regular lanes and they butt up against guardrails, jersey barriers, or the edge of the pavement. Further, it can be challenging to drive on shoulders during inclement weather or when it’s dark. The driver-assistive system will increase the bus driver’s confidence in using the shoulders by providing a mix of visual, tactile, and haptic feedback. The system will also warn of shoulder obstructions such as a stalled vehicle or debris.
“This [project] is a great example of a successful university–transit agency partnership that is deploying innovative technology to solve a problem,” says Max Donath, ITS Institute director.
Shankwitz credits the significant contributions of team members from the IV Lab and the Institute’s HumanFIRST Program for the success of the project.
