Lesson
Prepare traveler information Web sites for high usage under emergency or disaster conditions.
Experience from the nation's top traffic and transit information Web sites.
6/1/2006
New York City,New York,United States; San Antonio,Texas,United States; Atlanta,Georgia,United States
Background (Show)
Lesson Learned
- Prepare traveler information Web sites to accommodate high volume of users. Successful Web sites can attract millions of hits, especially when there is an event that causes problems with the transportation system. As an extreme example, after the September 11, 2001 emergency situation in New York City, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Web site usage went to 10,000,000 hits per day in the immediate aftermath, as the site became the regional Web site of choice. There are a variety of technical approaches to keep the site available and working well during peak usage.
- Develop a condensed site for peak time usage. The San Antonio District of Texas Department of Transportation's TransGuide Web site received more than 118 million hits in 2003. The system used to slow down during major weather problems because of the heavy use. To respond to technical constraints and enable more people to use the system during peaks, the Texas DOT developed a condensed site for use at those times. Condensed sites take less space, so more people can get the information.
- Add faster servers and increased bandwidth. The Georgia Department of Transportation added faster servers and increased bandwidth to handle the large volumes of users.
Countries
Systems Engineering
Show the V
None defined
Focus Areas
Major Initiatives > Mobility Services for All Americans
Major Initiatives > Integrated Corridor Management Systems
Major Initiatives > Nationwide Surface Transportation Weather Observing and Forecasting System - Clarus
Major Initiatives > Emergency Transportation Operations
Other Program Activities > Real Time Traveler Information
Other Program Activities > Rural ITS Deployment
Goal Areas
Keywords
None defined
Lesson Comments
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