UPDATE: Wednesday, April 13th, 2011
The objective of the One Stop Shop (OSS) Phase 1 project was to put real-time and near real-time information together in a single web-based location in a user-friendly format that does not stop at jurisdictional boundary lines (state, district or county lines, for example). This will allow travelers making a trip in or through rural areas to have access to current travel information on a route-specific basis and across a wide geographic area, customized for a specific origin and destination, which will help them to make their trip more safely and with a minimum of delay.
The One Stop Shop project was motivated by two of Caltrans’ overarching goals:
- Safety: Provide the safest transportation system in the nation for users and workers.
- Mobility: Maximize transportation system performance and accessibility.
OSS Phase 1 focused on a limited geographic area (Caltrans District 1 and District 2, southern Oregon) to provide a proof-of-concept for this approach. While this scale of implementation is expected to yield some direct benefits for the selected area, researchers believe that the principal value of this effort is in demonstrating the feasibility and attractiveness of a One-Stop Shop website for real-time route-specific traveler information for rural areas.
Phase 1 of the One Stop Shop project has concluded and the final report is available here. This report presents the results of work which led to the development of a prototype website. Project tasks included a review of practice, compilation of concept of operations and website requirements documents, and development of the prototype website.
The motivating factor behind OSS was the provision of route-specific information to users based on their origin and destination. To that end, one of the unique aspects of the One Stop Shop website is the ability to map a route with a specific origin and destination and then view conditions along the route. With the route planner feature, a user enters start and end points and can then view current weather, forecast weather, DOT field elements, and other relevant traveler information, along the specific route with an accompanying elevation profile. Take a look at the overview screenshot below with a route between Redding and Yreka, California, and then a zoomed in view with information for Route 89 in Northeastern California.
While Phase 1 of OSS has been completed, work on the prototype website continues through a Federal Highway Administration, USDOT Broad Agency Announcement Award. The Western States One Stop Shop for Rural Traveler Information – Research on Clarus System Data project supports the objectives of the FHWA Clarus Initiative. Building on the previous work of OSS Phase 1, the project team is developing a website that will aggregate and display conditions for a four state region, including California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. The website will integrate Clarus Environmental Sensor System (ESS) data, along with other information streams as available, such as DOT ITS field elements, CCTV, planned and active closures, incidents, weather sensor readings from non-DOT sources and National Weather Service forecast information.