At the May 24 luncheon, ITE members and other transportation professionals attended a presentation by the RTA and Pace on the Implementation of a Regional Transit Signal Priority (TSP) System in Northeastern Illinois. The May lunch program took place at Maggiano’s in Schaumburg and had over 30 attendees.
Dr. Mark Pitstick from the Regional Transit Authority discussed how TSP is beneficial for transit performance and the need to develop and implement a regional program. This program received funding from federal and local sources and includes 400 intersections and 13 corridors within multiple counties and municipalities. TSP implementation began in 2016 and will continue through 2018.
Taqhi Mohammed from Pace suburban bus presented how the agency implemented TSP and Lane Management in multiple counties. Pace first interconnected signals along 10 transit corridors and conducted signal timing optimization in order to improve bus travel time. Next, Pace evaluated systems architecture, technology specifications, and specialized equipment and software in order to implement TSP. The next steps are further deployment, a centralized TSP center, and data sharing between agencies.
The ITE activities committee organizes monthly luncheons as an opportunity for professionals to network, stay up to date with transportation endeavors and accomplishments, and learn about upcoming innovations in the transportation engineering realm.