Distributed ITS control and the Oklahoma virtual TMC

Practically all major metropolitan and large scale modern intelligent transportation systems have a centralized traffic management center (TMC) at their logical and functional core. The TMC provides control, coordinates system wide communications, and typically serves as a common hub from which multiple agencies plan and execute coordinated incident responses. Early in the development of the Oklahoma statewide ITS, it became clear that the costs associated with building and operating a large, centralized TMC would be prohibitive. An alternative design strategy emerged built around a distributed peer-to-peer network of low-cost ITS consoles based on desktop PC's equipped with innovative software and special hardware to support efficiently handling multiple video streams simultaneously. This has led to a geographically distributed, fault-tolerant communications and control system where the desirable functionality of a large centralized TMC is realized by a virtual TMC that enables the stakeholder agencies to remain physical located in their current facilities around the state. In this paper, we provide an overview of the system architecture as it has evolved through the first quarter of 2009 and highlight some of the recently developed system enhancements.