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TM15: Railroad Operations Coordination

This service package provides an additional level of strategic coordination between freight rail operations and other transportation centers. Rail operations provides train schedules, maintenance schedules, and any other forecast events that will result in highway-rail intersection (HRI) closures. This information is used to develop forecast HRI closure times and durations that may be used in advanced traffic control strategies or to enhance the quality of traveler information.

Relevant Regions: Australia, Canada, European Union, and United States

Enterprise

Development Stage Roles and Relationships

Installation Stage Roles and Relationships

Operations and Maintenance Stage Roles and Relationships
(hide)

Source Destination Role/Relationship
ITS Roadway Equipment Maintainer ITS Roadway Equipment Maintains
ITS Roadway Equipment Manager ITS Roadway Equipment Manages
ITS Roadway Equipment Owner ITS Roadway Equipment Maintainer System Maintenance Agreement
ITS Roadway Equipment Owner ITS Roadway Equipment Manager Operations Agreement
ITS Roadway Equipment Owner Traffic Management Center Maintainer Maintenance Data Exchange Agreement
ITS Roadway Equipment Owner Traffic Management Center Owner Information Exchange and Action Agreement
ITS Roadway Equipment Owner Traffic Management Center User Service Usage Agreement
ITS Roadway Equipment Supplier ITS Roadway Equipment Owner Warranty
Rail Operations Center Maintainer Rail Operations Center Maintains
Rail Operations Center Manager Rail Operations Center Manages
Rail Operations Center Owner Rail Operations Center Maintainer System Maintenance Agreement
Rail Operations Center Owner Rail Operations Center Manager Operations Agreement
Rail Operations Center Owner Traffic Management Center Maintainer Maintenance Data Exchange Agreement
Rail Operations Center Owner Traffic Management Center Owner Information Exchange Agreement
Rail Operations Center Owner Traffic Management Center User Service Usage Agreement
Rail Operations Center Owner Transportation Information Center Maintainer Maintenance Data Exchange Agreement
Rail Operations Center Owner Transportation Information Center Owner Information Provision Agreement
Rail Operations Center Owner Transportation Information Center User Service Usage Agreement
Rail Operations Center Supplier Rail Operations Center Owner Warranty
Traffic Management Center Maintainer Traffic Management Center Maintains
Traffic Management Center Manager Traffic Management Center Manages
Traffic Management Center Owner ITS Roadway Equipment Maintainer Maintenance Data Exchange Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner ITS Roadway Equipment Owner Information Provision Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner ITS Roadway Equipment User Service Usage Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner Rail Operations Center Maintainer Maintenance Data Exchange Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner Rail Operations Center Owner Information Exchange Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner Rail Operations Center User Service Usage Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner Traffic Management Center Maintainer System Maintenance Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner Traffic Management Center Manager Operations Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner Transportation Information Center Maintainer Maintenance Data Exchange Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner Transportation Information Center Owner Information Provision Agreement
Traffic Management Center Owner Transportation Information Center User Service Usage Agreement
Traffic Management Center Supplier Traffic Management Center Owner Warranty
Transportation Information Center Maintainer Transportation Information Center Maintains
Transportation Information Center Manager Transportation Information Center Manages
Transportation Information Center Owner Transportation Information Center Maintainer System Maintenance Agreement
Transportation Information Center Owner Transportation Information Center Manager Operations Agreement
Transportation Information Center Supplier Transportation Information Center Owner Warranty

Physical

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Includes Physical Objects:

Physical Object Class Description
ITS Roadway Equipment Field 'ITS Roadway Equipment' represents the ITS equipment that is distributed on and along the roadway that monitors and controls traffic and monitors and manages the roadway. This physical object includes traffic detectors, environmental sensors, traffic signals, highway advisory radios, dynamic message signs, CCTV cameras and video image processing systems, grade crossing warning systems, and ramp metering systems. Lane management systems and barrier systems that control access to transportation infrastructure such as roadways, bridges and tunnels are also included. This object also provides environmental monitoring including sensors that measure road conditions, surface weather, and vehicle emissions. Work zone systems including work zone surveillance, traffic control, driver warning, and work crew safety systems are also included.
Rail Operations Center Center 'Rail Operations Center' represents the (usually) centralized control point for a substantial segment of a freight railroad's operations and maintenance activities. It is roughly the railroad equivalent to a highway Traffic Management Center. It is the source and destination of information that can be used to coordinate rail and highway traffic management and maintenance operations. It is also the source and destination for incident, incident response, disaster, or evacuation information that is exchanged with an Emergency Management Center. The use of a single object for multiple sources and destination for information exchange with railroads implies the need for a single, consistent interface between a given railroad's operations and maintenance activities and ITS.
Traffic Management Center Center The 'Traffic Management Center' monitors and controls traffic and the road network. It represents centers that manage a broad range of transportation facilities including freeway systems, rural and suburban highway systems, and urban and suburban traffic control systems. It communicates with ITS Roadway Equipment and Connected Vehicle Roadside Equipment (RSE) to monitor and manage traffic flow and monitor the condition of the roadway, surrounding environmental conditions, and field equipment status. It manages traffic and transportation resources to support allied agencies in responding to, and recovering from, incidents ranging from minor traffic incidents through major disasters.
Transportation Information Center Center The 'Transportation Information Center' collects, processes, stores, and disseminates transportation information to system operators and the traveling public. The physical object can play several different roles in an integrated ITS. In one role, the TIC provides a data collection, fusing, and repackaging function, collecting information from transportation system operators and redistributing this information to other system operators in the region and other TICs. In this information redistribution role, the TIC provides a bridge between the various transportation systems that produce the information and the other TICs and their subscribers that use the information. The second role of a TIC is focused on delivery of traveler information to subscribers and the public at large. Information provided includes basic advisories, traffic and road conditions, transit schedule information, yellow pages information, ride matching information, and parking information. The TIC is commonly implemented as a website or a web-based application service, but it represents any traveler information distribution service.

Includes Functional Objects:

Functional Object Description Physical Object
TIC Data Collection 'TIC Data Collection' collects transportation-related data from other centers, performs data quality checks on the collected data and then consolidates, verifies, and refines the data and makes it available in a consistent format to applications that support operational data sharing between centers and deliver traveler information to end-users. A broad range of data is collected including traffic and road conditions, transit data, emergency information and advisories, weather data, special event information, traveler services, parking, multimodal data, and toll/pricing data. It also shares data with other transportation information centers. Transportation Information Center
TMC Advanced Rail Crossing Management 'TMC Advanced Rail Crossing Management' monitors and controls rail crossing traffic control equipment at advanced crossings that provide additional information on approaching trains, detect and report obstructions on the grade crossing, and communicate directly with equipped vehicles approaching the crossing. It remotely monitors and reports the status of the rail crossing equipment and sends control plan updates to the equipment. It also provides enhanced coordination between rail operations and traffic management centers that supports forecast of closure times and durations that may be applied to advanced traffic control strategies or delivered as enhanced traveler information. Traffic Management Center

Includes Information Flows:

Information Flow Description
rail crossing advisories Notification of Highway-Rail Intersection equipment failure, intersection blockage, or other condition requiring attention, and maintenance activities at or near highway rail intersections.
rail crossing control data Data required for HRI information transmitted at railroad grade crossings and within railroad operations.
rail crossing request A request for highway-rail intersection status or a specific control request intended to modify HRI operation.
rail crossing status Status of the highway-rail intersection equipment including both the current state or mode of operation and the current equipment condition.
railroad advisories Real-time notification of railway-related incident or advisory.
railroad schedules Train schedules, maintenance schedules, and other information from the railroad that supports forecast of HRI closures.
road network conditions Current and forecasted traffic information, road and weather conditions, and other road network status. Either raw data, processed data, or some combination of both may be provided by this flow. Information on diversions and alternate routes, closures, and special traffic restrictions (lane/shoulder use, weight restrictions, width restrictions, HOV requirements) in effect is included.

Goals and Objectives

Associated Planning Factors and Goals

Planning Factor Goal
A. Support the economic vitality of the metropolitan area, especially by enabling global competitiveness, productivity, and efficiency; Improve freight network
D. Increase the accessibility and mobility of people and for freight; Reduce congestion
E. Protect and enhance the environment, promote energy conservation, improve the quality of life, and promote consistency between transportation improvements and State and local planned growth and economic development patterns; Protect/Enhance the Environment
F. Enhance the integration and connectivity of the transportation system, across and between modes, for people and freight; Enhance integration and connectivity
G. Promote efficient system management and operation; Improve efficiency
J. Enhance travel and tourism. Support travel and tourism

Associated Objective Categories

Objective Category
Integration: Connectivity
System Efficiency: Cost of Congestion
System Efficiency: Delay
System Efficiency: Duration of Congestion
System Efficiency: Energy Consumption
System Efficiency: Extent of Congestion
System Efficiency: Intensity of Congestion (Travel Time Index)
System Efficiency: Travel Time

Associated Objectives and Performance Measures

Objective Performance Measure
Annual rate of change in regional average commute travel time will not exceed regional rate of population growth through the year Y. Average commute trip travel time (minutes).
Improve average travel time during peak periods by X percent by year Y. Average travel time during peak periods (minutes).
Maintain the rate of growth in facility miles experiencing recurring congestion as less than the population growth rate (or employment growth rate). Percent of lane-miles (or rail) operating at LOS F or V/C > 1.0
Reduce door-to-door trip time by X percent by year Y. Average door-to-door trip time.
Reduce excess fuel consumed due to congestion by X percent by year Y. Excess fuel consumed (total or per capita).
Reduce hours of delay per capita by X percent by year Y. Hours of delay (person-hours).
Reduce hours of delay per capita by X percent by year Y. Hours of delay per capita.
Reduce hours of delay per driver by X percent by year Y. Hours of delay (person-hours).
Reduce hours of delay per driver by X percent by year Y. Hours of delay per driver.
Reduce the annual monetary cost of congestion per capita for the next X years. Cost (in dollars) of congestion or delay per capita.
Reduce the number of hours per day that the top 20 most congested roadways experience recurring congestion by X percent by year Y. Hours per day at LOS F or V/C > 1.0 (or other threshold).
Reduce the percentage of facility miles (highway, arterial, rail, etc.) experiencing recurring congestion during the peak period by X percent by year Y. Percent of lane-miles (or rail) operating at LOS F or V/C > 1.0
Reduce the regional average travel time index by X percent per year. Travel time index (the average travel time during the peak period, using congested speeds, divided by the off-peak period travel time, using posted or free-flow speeds).
Reduce the share of major intersections operating at LOS Z by X percent by year Y. Percent of intersections operating at LOS F or V/C > 1.0
Reduce total energy consumption per capita for transportation by X percent by year Y. Total energy consumed per capita for transportation.
Reduce total fuel consumption per capita for transportation by X percent by year Y. Total fuel consumed per capita for transportation.

 
Since the mapping between objectives and service packages is not always straight-forward and often situation-dependent, these mappings should only be used as a starting point. Users should do their own analysis to identify the best service packages for their region.

Needs and Requirements

Need Functional Object Requirement
01 Traffic Operations need to be able to receive from Rail Operations train schedules, maintenance schedules, and any other forecast events that will result in highway-rail intersection (HRI) closures, in order to develop forecasts of HRI closure times and durations that may be used in advanced traffic control strategies or to enhance the quality of traveler information. TMC Advanced Rail Crossing Management 02 The center shall accept collect highway-rail intersection (HRI) advisory or alert data from rail operations centers.
06 The center shall implement control plans to coordinate signalized intersections around highway-rail intersections (HRI), under control of center personnel, based on data from sensors and surveillance monitoring traffic conditions, incidents, equipment faults, pedestrian crossings, etc.
07 The center shall accept train schedules, maintenance schedules, and any other forecast events that will result in highway-rail intersection (HRI) closures data from rail operations centers.
02 Traveler Information needs access to timely and accurate rail and intermodal crossing status data. TIC Data Collection 16 The center shall collect road condition information for freeways, arterials, and secondary roads that are used as freight routes.
19 The center shall collect, store and process multimodal transportation service information (for example, from ferry, rail and airline operators), including current ferry and rail schedule and airport status information and transfer points.

Related Sources

Document Name Version Publication Date
ITS User Services Document 1/1/2005


Security

In order to participate in this service package, each physical object should meet or exceed the following security levels.

Physical Object Security
Physical Object Confidentiality Integrity Availability Security Class
ITS Roadway Equipment Moderate Moderate Moderate Class 2
Rail Operations Center Moderate Moderate Moderate Class 2
Traffic Management Center Moderate High Moderate Class 3
Transportation Information Center Low Low Moderate Class 1



In order to participate in this service package, each information flow triple should meet or exceed the following security levels.

Information Flow Security
Source Destination Information Flow Confidentiality Integrity Availability
Basis Basis Basis
ITS Roadway Equipment Traffic Management Center rail crossing status Moderate Moderate Moderate
This information could be of interest to a malicious individual who is attempting to determine the best way to accomplish a crime. As such it would be best to not make it easily accessible. If this is compromised, it could send unnecessary maintenance workers, or suggest actions that are incorrect for the true situation. This information is important, but if it is not reported there are other safety systems that should prevent related incidents. The impact of any rail/road intersection is particularly high, but in this case a MODERATE rating can be justified by the alternative mechanisms.
Rail Operations Center Traffic Management Center railroad advisories Low Moderate Moderate
Eventually intended for public dissemination, so no need to obfuscate. This informtion will be used for traffic routing, traffic management purposes. If it is incorrect or unavailable then suboptimal decisions may be made. If it is intentionally corrupted by a hostile actor then mobility may become significantly worse. This informtion will be used for traffic routing, traffic management purposes. If it is incorrect or unavailable then suboptimal decisions may be made. If it is intentionally corrupted by a hostile actor then mobility may become significantly worse.
Rail Operations Center Traffic Management Center railroad schedules Low Moderate Moderate
Does not contain any personal or confidential information. While accuracy of this data is important for decision making purposes, the greatest impact if manipulated or incorrect data would be financial and likely limited in scope. For example, making all options appear less expensive than an attacker's route of fiduciary interest, driving revenue to his route. This is undesireable and significant, but not catastrophic. Thus MODERATE generally. While accuracy of this data is important for decision making purposes, applications should be able to function without frequent updates. Thus MODERATE generally, though it could be LOW depending on the level of projected updates.
Rail Operations Center Transportation Information Center railroad advisories Low Moderate Moderate
Eventually intended for public dissemination, so no need to obfuscate. Travelers will use this information once it is disseminated; if it is incorrect or unavailable they may make decisions that negatively affects their mobility. Travelers will use this information once it is disseminated; if it is incorrect or unavailable they may make decisions that negatively affects their mobility.
Rail Operations Center Transportation Information Center railroad schedules Low Moderate Moderate
Does not contain any personal or confidential information. While accuracy of this data is important for decision making purposes, the greatest impact if manipulated or incorrect data would be financial and likely limited in scope. For example, making all options appear less expensive than an attacker's route of fiduciary interest, driving revenue to his route. This is undesireable and significant, but not catastrophic. Thus MODERATE generally. While accuracy of this data is important for decision making purposes, applications should be able to function without frequent updates. Thus MODERATE generally, though it could be LOW depending on the level of projected updates.
Traffic Management Center ITS Roadway Equipment rail crossing control data Moderate High Moderate
Control flows, even for seemingly innocent devices, should be kept confidential to minimize attack vectors. While an individual installation may not be particularly impacted by a cyberattack of its sensor network, another installation might be severely impacted, and different installations are likely to use similar methods, so compromising one leads to compromising all. Control flows, even for seemingly innocent devices, should have MODERATE integrity at minimum, just to guarantee that intended control messages are received. Incorrect, corrupted, intercepted and modified control messages can or will result in target field devices not behaving according to operator intent. The severity of this depends on the type of device, which is why some devices are set MODERATE and some HIGH. Control flow availability is related to the criticality of being able to remotely control the device. For most devices, this is MODERATE. For purely passive devices with no incident relationship, this will be LOW. All devices should have default modes that enable them to operate without backhaul connectivity, so no device warrants a HIGH.
Traffic Management Center ITS Roadway Equipment rail crossing request Moderate Moderate Moderate
This information could be of interest to a malicious individual who is attempting to determine the best way to accomplish a crime. As such it would be best to not make it easily accessible. If this is compromised, it could send unnecessary maintenance workers, or suggest actions that are incorrect for the true situation. This information is important, but if it is not reported there are other safety systems that should prevent related incidents. The impact of any rail/road intersection is particularly high, but in this case a MODERATE rating can be justified by the alternative mechanisms.
Traffic Management Center Rail Operations Center rail crossing advisories Moderate Moderate Moderate
May contain sensitive information about the highway-rail intersection area. If intercepted by a third party, could be used to embarras the relevant stakeholders, or as contributing information toward target selection (if for example a piece of monitoring equipment was listed as non-functional). This will trigger maintenance activity, so it must be correct or such activities will not be properly scheduled and resources suboptimally assgned. If unavailable or modified, may negatively contribute to mobility and safety. This will trigger maintenance activity, so it must be correct or such activities will not be properly scheduled and resources suboptimally assgned. If unavailable or modified, may negatively contribute to mobility and safety.
Traffic Management Center Transportation Information Center road network conditions Low Moderate Moderate
No harm should come from seeing this data, as it is eventually intended for public consumption. While accuracy of this data is important for decision making purposes, applications should be able to corroborate the data in many instances. Thus MODERATE generally. Depends on the application; if mobility decisions that affect large numbers of travelers are made based on this data, then it is MODERATE. In more modest circumstances, it may be LOW.

Standards

The following table lists the standards associated with physical objects in this service package. For standards related to interfaces, see the specific information flow triple pages.

Name Title Physical Object
ITE ATC ITS Cabinet Intelligent Transportation System Standard Specification for Roadside Cabinets ITS Roadway Equipment
NEMA TS 8 Cyber and Physical Security Cyber and Physical Security for Intelligent Transportation Systems ITS Roadway Equipment
Traffic Management Center




System Requirements

System Requirement Need
001 The system shall collect road condition information for freeways, arterials, and secondary roads that are used as freight routes. 02 Traveler Information needs access to timely and accurate rail and intermodal crossing status data.
002 The system shall collect, store and process multimodal transportation service information (for example, from ferry, rail and airline operators), including current ferry and rail schedule and airport status information and transfer points. 02 Traveler Information needs access to timely and accurate rail and intermodal crossing status data.
003 The system shall accept collect highway-rail intersection (HRI) advisory or alert data from rail operations centers. 01 Traffic Operations need to be able to receive from Rail Operations train schedules, maintenance schedules, and any other forecast events that will result in highway-rail intersection (HRI) closures, in order to develop forecasts of HRI closure times and durations that may be used in advanced traffic control strategies or to enhance the quality of traveler information.
004 The system shall implement control plans to coordinate signalized intersections around highway-rail intersections (HRI), under control of center personnel, based on data from sensors and surveillance monitoring traffic conditions, incidents, equipment fau 01 Traffic Operations need to be able to receive from Rail Operations train schedules, maintenance schedules, and any other forecast events that will result in highway-rail intersection (HRI) closures, in order to develop forecasts of HRI closure times and durations that may be used in advanced traffic control strategies or to enhance the quality of traveler information.
005 The system shall accept train schedules, maintenance schedules, and any other forecast events that will result in highway-rail intersection (HRI) closures data from rail operations centers. 01 Traffic Operations need to be able to receive from Rail Operations train schedules, maintenance schedules, and any other forecast events that will result in highway-rail intersection (HRI) closures, in order to develop forecasts of HRI closure times and durations that may be used in advanced traffic control strategies or to enhance the quality of traveler information.