On September 23rd, 20 USC students led by two professors from the University of Southern California visited three transportation management centers: the Los Angeles Regional Transportation Management Center (LARTMC), Transportation Management Center at the City of Pasadena, and the Port of Long Beach Joint Command and Control Center.

The first stop on the agenda was LARTMC, the Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) District 7 headquarters that also houses the regional emergency response control center. After a brief introduction of the facility and history of highway systems in Southern California, the group was led by Senior Engineer Allen Chen to the command center. Chen explained to the students what was displayed on each screen, including the messages displayed on the highway changeable message signs. He also described how the database of the police department, 911 call center, and the highway patrol are coordinated there. The group also had the chance to see the foundation structure of the Caltrans building. To better serve the role of an emergency command center, the TMC building itself was built to sustain a level 8 earthquake.

Siyuan Yao, a first-year graduate student major in Transportation Engineering found the idea of highway metering fascinating. “In China, ramp metering is a new topic. With the traffic demand increasing, more cities have started building expressways around cities to reduce the commute time for citizens,” Yao said. ” In my opinion, this is a good measure to control the number of cars and fill the vacancies in the traffic flow on the expressway or freeway, making the traffic flow more stable,” he added.  Second Year Transportation Engineering student, Jonathan Chen from the Viterbi  School of Engineering was also impressed by the integrated management solutions. “The use of surveillance system to monitor road conditions, use of the ramp metering to alleviate congestions, use of changeable message sings, and cooperation with the highway patrol are all effective tools to resolve highway congestions and incidents,” he noted.

The next stop was the Pasadena City TMC. One of the biggest differences between a state TMC and a local one is the scale. Pasadena TMC is located in the City Hall building in just one room. Upon arrival, the engineer there gave students a very detailed introduction of all the duties performed by them. The group also witnessed one of the engineers directing a field worker to solve the signal issue at one intersection. The students also got the chance to see a traffic cabinet and the controllers inside. The camera detectors installed at Pasadena also generated a lot of interest among the students. The senior engineer told the students that the TMC purchased specialized cameras and installed them in fixed positions so that they can determine the detecting area on the graphic captured. The students then had an extensive discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of each mode of signal controllers with the professors and the engineers.

After a short tour of the Pasadena City Hall, the group headed to the Port of Long Beach. Students were welcomed by the chief of security at the Port. He introduced the monitoring system "VirtualPort", an open platform that stores all information of the port and links to social media. The security concern of the Port is their priority during operation. With shipments from all over the world, the security team is working with the traffic control and local police to provide fast respond to any incidents and control the traffic.

Sunghea Khil, a senior year undergraduate student in Policy, Planning, and Development reflected, "The field trip to three different Traffic Management Centers exposed me see how the traffic is managed in real time. We often learn about the theories in class but do not have opportunities to see or experience them firsthand. From different scales of TMCs to a port TMC, the experience was extremely insightful."

Master of Urban Planning student, Axel Hellman, observed “One of the things that surprised me was learning that the Freeway Service Patrol is actually a highly effective congestion management program. On the trip I learned that the Freeway Service Patrol has a large measurable impact on reducing the congestion impacts of stalled or disabled vehicles on the road.” Hellman said he also did not expect security and traffic management to be integrated like they were at the Port of Long Beach.  Both departments shared their camera feeds and data to respond to different events from the same facility.

Professor Eric Shen, facilitator of this field trip, noted that “This tour gives our students an insight to regional and local agencies’ transportation management priorities and complexity. The practical knowledge not only complements our students’ academic training, but also helps them to be more marketable when they enter the job market.”

Kaitlyn Zhang

Kaitlyn (Kenan) Zhang is a second-year Master of Public Policy (MPP) student attending the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Her interests are in transportation policy, urban development, and economics. She is also working towards a certificate in Transportation Systems from the Viterbi School of Engineering, and is an active student member of and volunteer for WTS Los Angeles. She now works at Culver City as a Transportation Planning Intern.