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engage in inspection/observation throughout the process. It is desired that the “governing party”
have at least some level of independency from the “demonstrating party”. Our team provides
numerous entities possessing this knowledge, particularly our University Research unit partners.
We propose that our colleagues at the HRTPO serve as the governance lead. They will have little
direct roles in the concept developments and implementation, and they are experienced in the
role of operating as independent technical staff from the region’s cities, to remain regionally
objective. Their staff is already engaged frequently in the development of regional data
collection, evaluation and reporting, for example, the annual congestion report developed from
INRIX travel time data. VDOT has a somewhat similar “independency” relative to the City and can
support that role.
Our team would develop demonstration plans and processes initially, and submit them for
review and comment to USDOT, VDOT and HRTPO. Once the plans are finalized, any needs for
additional staff, maintaining independence, could be provided through on-call consultant
contracts, or by soliciting another University unit.
The main point is that given the breadth and depth of our team and partners, there will be
ample opportunities for developing such processes over what could be multiple independent
demonstration/testing exercises.
8 Existing Transportation Infrastructure
a) Arterial Miles – 189
b) Freeway Miles – 22 plus a 7 mile reversible HOV lane on I-64
c) Transit Services
Norfolk provides a robust family of transit
services including 21 local routes with
complete coverage of Norfolk’s arterial
system, 6 express routes, paratransit, a ferry
service connection to Portsmouth, and the
7.4 mile “Tide” light-rail line. A new
Downtown Transit
Center has just
opened. Most
buses are
equipped with AVL
tracking devices.
d) Shared Use Mobility Services
The City is pursuing a joint effort with
neighboring Portsmouth to implement a
bike-share service, targeted at 30 – 40 stations. Uber and Lyft are both operating locally.
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e) Information and Communication Technology
The City, along with our shared services partner Cox Communications, has a robust 10GB
Institutional Network (I-NET) fiber optic ring with 13 nodes that supports City facilities. We are
also in our first year of upgrading our I-NET infrastructure to 100GB. The wide area/metro
network has multiple connection methods, including owned/leased T1 services, Hybrid Fiber
Copper/Transparent LAN Services (HFC/TLS), Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet services at
various shaped bandwidths, and an OC-192 I-Net.
The City’s Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) communications platform is a fiber-
optic network with a topology of redundant distribution rings emanating from Sonet nodes
(replaced with Packet-Optical Transport Systems this year) arranged on a redundant backbone
ring (over 100 miles of fiber cabling). We are upgrading all connected signals with 8-port Cisco
Ethernet switches – 40 successful installations with 120 more deployments this year.
f) Intelligent Transportation Systems
The City operates 316 signalized intersections, 275 (with continuing expansion) in its ATMS
environment, which includes:, type 170 controllers, 90% Type 170 cabinets, 23 Cohu traffic
monitoring cameras, 16 signals integrated with LRT operations and signaling, QuicNet central
management software, several Sensys vehicle counter installations, and 20 lane-use *-blankout
signs. $3 million in funding has been allocated for a complete upgrade of the control platform to
ATC controllers with new local and system software.
Norfolk’s Traffic Management Center (TMC) is located in City Hall adjacent to Transportation
Division staff offices. The center is in the midst of upgrades to its video wall and server/switch
room along with a conversion of all video to IP. Video handling and camera control will be a
state-of-the-art system later this year, including the sharing of the City’s camera images on
VDOT’s 511 website. We are connected to VDOT’s regional Transportation Operations Center,
and will be to Elizabeth River Crossings’ new Operations Center when the tunnel upgrades and
expansion project is completed in 2017.
There are several Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacon signals, some with active pedestrian
detection. The city is upgrading permissive left-turn phasing to 4-section FYA heads.
g) Smartgrid System
Three Electric Vehicle charging stations have recently been installed at City parking facilities.
Tesla has installed a charging station near I-64 in the eastern part of the city.
9 Data Management and Sharing
Integrating the new level of transportation data will improve capabilities in some existing areas
of fleet or emergency management, simply by providing more accurate travel time prediction.
Routing first responders around an unknown road blockage could save a life. For other
possibilities a potentially vast array of utilities may be realized by “cross-pollenation”, replacing
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some sources of frustration associated with transportation, with comfort and convenience. The
mere existence of smartphones allows people to “gain time”, but improved traveler safety and
predictability, plus “active” information to users, has the potential for changing behaviors, and
broadening a person’s “reach” to jobs, services, shopping and recreation – really anything.
Imagine stopping to have a cup of coffee with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time, because
the two of you were randomly and coincidentally passing near each other one day, and your
phone lets you know. Imagine you and your child’s day care being alerted simultaneously that
you’re going to be late, and without doing anything you get a message from them that a
neighbor with known permission has agreed to pick your child up so you don’t have to pay a
penalty, and the child gets to play with a friend while you are delayed. The possibilities and the
potential partners seem almost endless.
Recently, crowdsourcing and constant connectivity enabled by mobile sensing and computing
platforms (e.g., smartphones) spurred numerous remarkable innovations in many sectors of the
economy including the transportation sector. Companies like Uber and Lyft have leveraged the
mobile-phone platforms and provided new alternatives for taxi and ridesharing services that
disrupted the traditional business models. Metropia (a partner on Norfolk’s team) uses an app to
incentivize commuters for choosing departure times, routes, and modes so that traffic
congestion is reduced. All these applications and systems rely on constant communication and
mobile computing technologies to deliver the intended services. In particular, they rely on
smartphones which function as a key enabler and facilitate user interactions, user input, sensing,
data collection, computing, and communications. In 2015, 189.7 million people in the U.S.
owned smartphones (76.8 percent mobile market penetration). Given the continued increase in
smartphone market-penetration, the Norfolk team plans to develop various applications reliant
on mobile computing and sensing enabled by consumer electronics to address the mobility and
accessibility needs in the region. The City envisions building the necessary institutional and
technological components to create an environment where pervasive sensing and computing
play a central role to improve mobility and accessibility.
The City currently collects, stores, and maintains a variety of data related to this Smart City
Challenge. In addition to vehicle tracking of our public safety and fleet vehicles, we also have our
city facilities connected to building management systems to control energy consumption in real-
time. Outlined below are several key methods we currently collect data.
Verizon NetworkFleet: GPS driven fleet trafficking system on all City waste management trucks
and street sweepers. Onboard vehicle diagnostics, GPS tracking, and roadside assistance are
some of the features this system is used for.
Intergraph CAD: The City’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, we can quickly answer calls,
create and update incident details, and manage multiple resources in real time. This system also
gives us the ability to track and route individual responders using mobile devices allows
dispatchers to view each person’s location, permitting real-time risk assessment.
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