Transportation, Interior Departments To Conduct Traffic Improvement Test in Acadia National Park |
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Federal Highway Administration
November 1, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 1, 1999
Contact: Virginia Miller
Tel.: 202-366-0660
FHWA 72-99
Safety, Mobility and Access Improvements Anticipated
PHILADELPHIA—U.S. Assistant Transportation Secretary Eugene A. Conti Jr. today joined Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in announcing an unprecedented joint venture between the U.S. Departments of Transportation and the Interior that is expected to bring safety, mobility and access benefits to National Parks across the nation.
The joint venture, which includes a field test at Acadia National Park in Maine, will use Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applications.
"President Clinton and Vice President Gore are committed to putting people first and protecting the environment," Secretary Slater commented. "Improving safety, mobility and access in our National Parks will benefit visitors and at the same time help protect the fragile ecosystems in the parks, which are among our nation’s most precious resources."
The ITS operational test will center around an Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS). The ATIS will give travelers real-time information on parking availability, bus arrival and departure times, weather, and other information. In conjunction with other efforts, the traveler information system is expected to decrease congestion by encouraging visitors to ride the Island Explorer Shuttle System. The final design of the system may also include other traveler information such as availability of accommodations and notices of park events.
"Acadia is a microcosm for what’s happening everywhere. From Yosemite to Yellowstone, to the Grand Canyon and Zion, the Park Service is looking at emerging technology to help fulfill our 83-year-old mandate to provide public access to, and preserve unimpaired, our greatest natural resources," Secretary Babbitt said.
High volumes of visitors and increasing congestion led to the selection of Acadia National Park in Maine as the site for the field operational test, which is a joint venture between the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office and the National Park Service. Transportation information collected will be transferred to other parks across the nation. The cost of the project will be approximately $2 million, to be jointly funded by the two departments.
"We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to apply lessons of ITS metropolitan successes to the rural setting in Acadia National Park," Conti said. "Much of traffic congestion relief in the new millennium will be characterized by efficiencies such as those provided by ITS applications." Conti is the DOT’s assistant secretary for policy.
Acadia National Park encompasses 35,000 acres, primarily on Mount Desert Island, on the east coast of Maine. Nearly two million people visited the park during the summer of 1997, and in July and August Acadia’s visitors exceeded those to Yosemite National Park. These visitors, nearly all of whom arrive in private vehicles, plus roadway constraints and parking construction have created a rich climate for ITS applications.
The department’s ITS Joint Program Office said that final design of the system will be completed by early spring of 2000 and systems installation will begin in early summer. The U.S. Department of Transportation also will fund an independent evaluation of the field test.
The Intelligent Transportation Systems program was established by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and was reauthorized in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1998. ITS uses communications, computer and sensor technology to improve surface transportation safety, mobility and efficiency.