TMS Operations

Who does TMS Operations advocate for?

1. Public Safety (Coordinator: TMS Ops)

   • Chain Control Notifications

   • Road Closures Notifications

   • Burn Area Notifications

   • Flood Area Notifications

   • Emergency Notifications

2. Connecting Underserved Communities (Coordinator: TMS Ops)

   • Improve communications and security

3. TMC Operators (Coordinator: TMS Ops)

   • Incident Management

4. District Traffic Management (DTM)

   • We need more CMS for effective traffic management in the D3 area to notify motorists of the planned lane closures, detours and emergency lane closures. It is the most effective ways to let motorists know either in advanced of the major planned closures ahead that will have huge traffic impact, or unplanned lane closures due to emergency situations. Without CMS we cannot communicate to drivers on the road. Currently in some area, we just don’t have enough CMS to notify motorists about the detour or closures ahead so they can make adjustment and divert from the traffic congestion.  (Coordinator: eric.yeung@dot.ca.gov)

5. Freeway Operations (Ramp Meters, ICM, and HOT)

   • Optimize SHS Traffic Flow

6. Maintenance Electrical (Coordinator: gurdeep.sidhu@dot.ca.gov)

   • Maintenance Vehicle Pullouts

   • Robust TMS Systems

Lead Engineers Assigned to Monitor Lifecycle and Normal Operations (TRAC Status Page)

1. Ramp Meter - Alex Yu (alexander.yu@dot.ca.gov)

2. CMS - Wendy Bell (wendy.bell@dot.ca.gov)

3. RWIS - Tajinder Nagra

4. EMS, VMS, Flashing Beacon, Q-Warn Detection - Emira Mahboob and Uyen Do-Tran

5. HAR - Uyen Do-Tran, Wendy Bell, Jared Sun

6. CCTV - Shobhita Rajashekar

7. Census - Raji, Eron, Elfred

8. Traffic Signal - Tony Diaz Unit

9. Detection - Dong Lin

10. UPS - Tajinder Nagra and Andrew Chang

11. Fiber HUB - William Meeker and Alex Yu

12. Adj Lighting - Andrew Chang (Andrew.Chang@dot.ca.gov)

The SHSMP talks about the lifecycle of a wide variety of asset classes, including lighting on page 125 (5-48): https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/asset-management/documents/2023-shsmp-final-a11y.pdf

The TMS Asset Management Guide has the lifecycle of all individual TMS elements and classifies “power systems” as secondary components of TMS elements, meaning they can be replaced when the element is in “poor” condition due to lifecycle or chronic status: https://traffic.onramp.dot.ca.gov/downloads/traffic/files/sys-mgmt/tms/dashboard/asset-mgmt/tms-am-guide-032024.pdf

Official Traffic Operations TMS Operations Team Signature Example

Please use the following format and contents for your Caltrans Outlook email, Caltrans Webmail email and phone signatures. 

You are welcome to add additional information and use other color schemes you desire but please have at the minimum the following information and in the prescribed order. Please fill in the missing information with your professional information. 

<Your Signature>

<Your Professional Position Title>

Office  Address:

ATTN: < Your Name for Shipping Parcels>

TMS Operations

3165 Gold Valley Drive

Rancho Cordova , CA 95742

Office #: <Your Office Number>

Field #: <Your Mobile Number>

Office E-mail: <Your Caltrans Email Address>

TMC 24-Hr Maintenance #: 916-859-7900

TMC Electrical Field Website: www.electricalsystems.org

TMC Electrical Repair or New Element Request Form:

https://www.electricalsystems.org/home#h.nxnj4el7ggi7

TMS Repair Status: Status Link

TMC Project List: 

https://www.electricalsystems.org/home/projectsconstruction#h.8c9a2aamvdfw

TEC Tips

For EE Workshop Training (If you are traveling, please use the following charge information for travel cost and NOT for staff time):

Unit = Your unit number

Project = Your overhead account

Phase = N

Reporting Code = G101801

Object = 001 In-State Travel Expenses (Business Expenses, Parking, Rental Car, Rental Car Fuel, Taxi, bus shuttle, Rail (Amtrak), Passenger tolls or expenses on ferries, buses, rail, etc.)

= 010 In-State Private Automobile Mileage, Private Aircraft Miles, and Cost Comparison (In-Lieu)

= 020 In-State Per Diem (Lodging, Meals, and Incidentals)

Amount= $###.##

FY= 23/24

Activity= F80

Permit Project Resources

Chapter 500 Permit Guidlines

FAQ?

1. What is the difference between a CMS and VMS?

CMS and VMS have different use cases and form factor. The CMS is larger and used exclusively by TMC Operators for incident management, District Traffic Management personnel and HQ. They are actively controlled displaying various TMC messages depending on the road way conditions. On the other hand, a VMS is used where a EMS is deployed and when there is a TMC need to upgrade the EMS to a VMS. An EMS is used for very specific purpose like HAR, High Wind, Stopped Traffic Ahead, Queue Warning Systems, any business use case where the message is temporary and the messaging is specific for that use case of Safety and Public Information. Some instances a VMS is used instead of an EMS is when there is an infrequent need for TMS Ops to display a non-critical and low importance message to the public. However, during these TMS Ops messages, when the traffic and environmental event occurs, the TMS Ops message will be overridden automatically giving priority to the EMS/VMS message. This type of message priority is not present in the CMS because the CMS must display any message that the TMC Operator deems necessary for the traffic conditions. 

2. Are there any concerns about the adjustable lighting “dimming” feature?  (…Do we want to dim lighting in areas that we are trying to illuminate?)

The Adjustable Lighting is a TMC device that does not replace any formal Caltrans Lighting Standard. Adjustable Lighting is currently in pilot phase and does not replace and should not be used where ever Standard Caltrans Lighting is required to be used. Adjustable Lighting should only be used on either HM90 and HM60 poles only as a TMC included device to serve the needs of TMC and maintenance, no other pole is designed to test this lighting feature. Because this is a TMC Sole Source Device, the dimming feature is not a concern and would be used to adjust the lighting intensity on an as-needed basis. The Adjustable Lighting is centrally controlled by TMC and should be considered as a safety device attached to a pole.