CATT Lab receives $1.3 million Urban Area Security Initiative Grant from DHS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 10, 2009

CONTACT: Carly Keane 301.403.4601 or Michael L. Pack 301.405.0722

College Park, Md. – The Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory (CATT Lab), under the direction of Michael L. Pack, has received a $1.3 Million Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant, which was awarded by the Department of Homeland Security. This project aims to strengthen information sharing and collaboration capabilities within the national capital region by expanding upon the existing Regional Integrated Transportation Information System (RITIS). Local traffic management centers and transit agencies from Fairfax County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County will be integrated with RITIS. RITIS currently fuses and disseminates freeway traffic, incident, and weather information from the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Maryland Department of Transportation, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the Capital Wireless Information Net.

This integration effort led by the CATT Lab will include the addition of real-time signal system data, transit data, and incident data. RITIS will also incorporate data from select computer aided dispatch systems, which will help facilitate greater situational awareness, coordination and improve response time. Non-sensitive data will eventually become available to 511 systems and the media. As a result of this collaboration, the public will ultimately experience an increase in mobility during both normal operating conditions and during emergency or evacuations.

About the CATT Lab

The Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory (CATT Lab) in the A. James Clark School of Engineering Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, supports National, State, and local efforts to provide safe and efficient transportation systems through improved operations and management by means of research and development, technology implementation, training and education.

The CATT Lab is supported by an interdisciplinary staff of graduate and undergraduate student researchers, affiliated faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering, and a permanent team of ITS professionals. For more information about the CATT Lab visit www.cattlab.umd.edu.

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Published November 10, 2009