The real information highway
Published Saturday November 29th, 2008
Transport 10-year plan will allow things to be done smarter, more competitively, environmentally friendlier and much more safer
In an effort to pave the way for greater economic development, the government announced a 10-year Intelligent Transportation Systems strategic plan Friday that promises to improve both personal travel and business shipping in the province.
"This plan will be the blueprint for research, development and implementation of intelligent transportation systems," said Transportation Minister Denis Landry during a press conference at the University of New Brunswick's Aitken Centre.
According to the province's plan, the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) will harness information and communications technology to improve the safety, efficiency, accessibility and sustainability of transport infrastructure without actually building more roads.
The 10-year plan includes specific projects that will be unrolled over the next five years, like a conversion of the 1-800 traveller information number, an easier-to-dial 511 or cellphone alerts so travellers can get quick information about road conditions, an additional 15 environmental sensing stations and five weigh-in-motion systems.
"When trucks don't have to stop to be weighed they save time and fuel and it helps our economic competitiveness as a province," Landry said, adding that it will help the Atlantic Gateway initiative, as well, by equipping the province with a more integrated and competitive transportation system for international trade.
New Brunswick currently has four weigh-in-motion systems, which cost anywhere from $700,000 to $1-million each, depending on the location.
"Use of WIM technology has already saved the trucking industry in excess of $600,000," Landry said.
Peter Nelson, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, said the plan is good news for road transportation.
"For us it's a time saver," Nelson said. "This is a positive use of new technologies. It hits all of the elements that people are concerned about today: Energy efficiency, the environment and public safety.
"If you think about the nightmare that just took place on the Cobequid Pass in Nova Scotia that left people stranded for 14 to 18 hours - if they had had any kind of warning system you could have avoided that. This is New Brunswick being forward thinking," Nelson said.
In addition to the weigh-in-motion systems, environmental sensors on the highway monitor weather conditions and road temperatures.
"They are about the size of a hockey puck and they are put into the asphalt to tell the road temperature and other conditions," said Eric Hildebrand, a professor of civil engineering at the University of New Brunswick, whose National Rural ITS Research Centre will receive support through the plan.
"Operating a highway system is not just about patching potholes and painting stripes down the middle of the road anymore," Hildebrand said.
"We've talked a lot about the information highway and I think the strategy now is to look at highway information," he said. "We're enabling our highways to give us the information to allow to do things smarter, more competitively, more environmentally friendly and safer."
The sensors help road maintenance crews make informed decisions on the best time to apply salt and sand on the roads and how much to use, Landry said.
"Not only can this save lives but it reduces the use of road salt helping our environment," he added.
The price tag of the plan won't be released until the government's capital budget is announced in the coming weeks, Landry said.
But the United States has spent billions of dollars on ITS research to target big city congestion problems, Hildebrand said.
"Thankfully we don't have that congestion here but we can still enhance our competitive edge by exploiting these technologies."
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