Volpe Center Year in Review 2008
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Freight Logistics and Transportation Systems
The Freight Logistics and Transportation Systems COI maintains awareness of changes in local, regional, national, and world freight and logistics transportation infrastructures, including consolidation of all elements of safety, security, economic, environmental stewardship, and energy issues. Technical expertise is provided to support the deployment of the next generation of global logistics and transportation systems.
Maritime Safety and Security Information System (MSSIS)
In September 2008, The Volpe Center's Global Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) team was awarded the prestigious 2008 Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation for its efforts in enhancing levels of safety and economic stability on the global seas. Harvard's Innovations in American Government Program is a significant force in recognizing and promoting excellence and creativity in the public sector. Through a highly competitive awards competition, the program highlights exemplary models of governments' innovative performance and serves as a catalyst for continued progress in addressing the Nation's most pressing public concerns.
In 2006, the Volpe Center, on behalf of the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet, initiated efforts to produce an MDA network known as the Maritime Safety and Security Information System (MSSIS). The unclassified, low-cost, shared network is now used to track the movements of vessels from around the world. This effort continued the Volpe Center's historical contributions to the development of MDA networks such as its groundbreaking work on the Panama Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
The original goal of MSSIS was to enhance maritime security in the European Command Area of Responsibility through a comprehensive situational awareness display of vessels equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS). Another critical goal was to foster cooperation among the United States and its allies by allowing active partnership in the network. By 2007, the system was already an overwhelming success, with 29 member nations agreeing to share AIS data over MSSIS. In 2008, the network expanded its coverage to include nations in the Arabian Gulf, Africa, and South America. The system currently tracks over 20,000 vessels in over 50 countries. MSSIS continues to be a valuable tool. It provides support for international military operations and exercises as well as search-and-rescue (SAR) missions. MSSIS has also opened new diplomatic avenues for the United States, resulting in a heightened international understanding of the need for increased MDA. Along with aiding traffic flow, MSSIS is essential for combating drug smuggling, human trafficking, piracy, and global terrorism.
Since its initial deployment, the Volpe Center has been critical to discussions on the benefits of global maritime domain awareness with countries across the globe. "This is the future. This is the thousand-ship navy, except there are no ships," said retired U.S. Navy Admiral Harry Ulrich. (Sponsored by DoD/U.S. Navy)
Enhancing the Performance of U.S. Global and Domestic Maritime Transportation
The Volpe Center's Marine Systems Team is expanding the applications of advanced marine technologies and systems analysis to achieve an efficient, safe, and environmentally sound marine transportation system that facilitates global commerce.
In two closely coordinated projects, the Volpe Center team is providing support to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) by (1) developing a benefit-cost analysis (BCA) model for estimating the value of NOAA's electronic navigation data and (2) conducting a risk-and-resiliency assessment of the U.S. Marine Transportation System (MTS), in support of a forthcoming report to Congress.
In the NOAA project, the Volpe Center is currently evaluating the impacts of the Agency's electronic navigation charts (ENCs) and real-time tide and current data on navigational safety and efficiency by measuring the way that ENCs facilitate efficient movement of domestic and international vessels while enabling them to avoid grounding, collisions, and spills. A graphic display of the depth and contour of the ocean floor, charts ships' precise positions as derived from GPS signals, and using real-time tidal currents and storm-surge forecasts, ENCs provide situational awareness to commercial vessel operators, boaters, and SAR officers. By triggering alarms that sound when a vessel is near a dangerous area, the MTS system enables mariners to avert catastrophic accidents, oil spills, and environmental damage. The BCA study is estimating the net benefits of NOAA technologies as stand-alone devices or integrated with other systems, such as Automatic Identification System (AIS), Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), and radar for providing domain awareness and promoting safe and efficient navigation.
In the USACE-funded MTS assessment project, the Volpe Center is examining system risks and vulnerabilities in tandem with the NOAA BCA study. Focusing on the deployment of proven technologies to mitigate MTS vulnerabilities, the Center has identified system attributes that make MTS adaptive, fault-tolerant, and resilient in the face of adverse events and disruptions. This project is anticipated to generate significant crossover synergies with the NOAA study and, potentially, systemwide transportation network benefits, by building on lessons learned from the deployment of the Volpe Center AIS in support of the Global Maritime Security System (GMSS).
The Volpe Center is also evaluating the application of NOAA navigational data for promoting domestic Short Sea Shipping cargo operations as an efficient and environmentally sound alternative to highway freight transportation. The Center developed the TransView T-32 prototype system, which is currently being tested in several locations, including the Columbia River and the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway. The system visualizes inland waterways, provides location information to vessels, and guides Federal dredging and waterway-capacity-management operations. It is hoped that further market penetration of these and other domestic Short Sea Shipping technologies and strategies will ultimately promote the DOT Marine Highway Initiative, designed to enhance energy efficiency, reduce highway congestion, and improve air quality. (Sponsored by DoD/U.S. Navy)
Regional and Multimodal Electronic Payment System (EPS) Convergence Study
Many innovations in transportation payment systems are being demonstrated and proposed throughout the United States, including partnerships between transit agencies and financial institutions, regional clearinghouses for transit and toll roads, dynamic pricing to reduce congestion, and application of electronic payment systems (EPS) for public and private parking. These are largely independent efforts; few, if any, involve multimodal applications. Further, as more payment options become available, there will be a need for objective information about the relative advantages of various approaches, and for guidance about how transportation agencies should proceed.
In the Regional and Multimodal Electronic Payment System Convergence Study, the Volpe Center will provide an independent description of emerging payment-system alternatives and explore opportunities for payment innovations and convergence in all modes of transportation. The primary focus of this study is to examine paths for using advanced-payment technologies in ways that will provide the traveling public with a more coordinated approach. Many forward-thinking projects are occurring outside the United States, and this study includes relevant international programs and best practices as well.
The study is sponsored by the I-95 Corridor Coalition, a consortiumofmember organizations from throughout the Interstate 95 Corridor whose mission is to work together to improve multimodal transportation services in the region through information sharing and coordinated management and operations.
The Coalition is made up of volunteer committees in specific program tracks. One of these committees, the EPS Program Track Committee, has the stated goal of fostering the implementation of interoperable, corridorwide, multimodal EPS. This Volpe Center project is focused on helping the Committee to achieve its goal by assisting in the development of a long-term vision for convergence of payment systems, improving ease of use of multimodal transportation services, and enhancing the ability to make travel-mode choices within the Corridor. Volpe Center staff is working closely with I-95 Corridor Coalition stakeholder organizations as well as national subject-matter experts in the private and public sectors, in diverse industries such as transportation, banking, regional politics, cellular communications, and the Internet.
The study will generate information on best practices in multimodal EPS systems with regard to critical issues that transportation agencies are likely to face, now and in the near term, such as congestion mitigation, use of external partnerships, standards design, and the need to develop a successful strategy to implement multimodal payment systems. It will be coordinated with U.S. DOT initiatives, including those of the U.S. DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) and other parts of U.S. DOT, as appropriate.
The Volpe Center is examining linkages between electronic payment applications and ITS applications such as traveler information systems, and is leveraging synergies with other key Center projects, such as SafeTrip-21.
The Center is proposing a second phase to the program, which will entail planning and facilitating a workshop to discuss EPS convergence issues and to develop a long-term vision for the I-95 Corridor. (Sponsored by I-95 Corridor Coalition)
Information Assurance/Web-Configuration Management (WebCM)
The Volpe Center manages the Information Assurance Program for the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ATO-W WebCM system, a major software application managed by the FAA Enterprise Configuration Management Program Office. The system helps to automate the National Airspace System (NAS) change-proposal process. It significantly reduces the time and cost for processing changes to FAA systems as well as for managing engineering drawings and other required technical documentation by providing accurate, timely configuration information to support business decision-making and operations.
The Volpe Center's Information Assurance Program provides project management and engineering services in support of the:
- Configuration Management Automation Program
- Information System Security
- Systems Development Life Cycle
- Baseline Management and NextGen Automation
The program requires close coordination with Systems Development Life Cycle operations and support personnel at the Program Management Office in Washington, DC; the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey; the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and various product and vendor sites.
The Volpe Center also performs certification and accreditation activities to determine and evaluate ongoing information-systems security-posture and risk criteria used by FAA to establish mitigation strategies.
On the basis of its technical expertise in comprehensive information systems security, information assurance, and network security practices, the Volpe Center enhances FAA organizational excellence and ensures that the intricate regulations surrounding information integrity are maintained across the enterprise. Working with various offices within FAA, the Center helps to impart technical knowledge and to implement sound processes and information-security best practices. It also helps to direct the efforts of technical contractors who provide critical resources to achieve the goals of FAA and its programs. (Sponsored by DOT/FAA)