Resources

On this page, you will find presentations, training material, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Video Tutorial: How to Access DEP API Documentation and Data Dictionaries

What the RM3P DEP Is:

The RM3P Data Exchange Platform is intended to satisfy a specific set of criteria for data exchange, as listed below.

  • It is designed to be an expandable data ingestion system.
  • It is designed to be an automated data consolidation and storage system.
  • It is designed to incorporate a powerful API for real-time and near real-time data provision.
  • It is designed to be the core data exchange platform supporting all other RM3P systems.

What the RM3P DEP Isn’t:

The RM3P Data Exchange Platform is not intended to satisfy every scenario or possible use case. Please note below what DEP is not, and potential alternatives for each scenario.

  • It is not an analytical tool. Instead, try RITIS Analytics Tools or upcoming AI-DSS analytical capabilities for operators.
  • It is not designed for mega project download. Instead, try RITIS Event Query Tool, Detector Tools & PDA Massive Data Downloader.
  • It is not designed for users to open files using common MS Office suites such as Excel. Instead, developers need to understand the DEP API and how to integrate it with their existing software. Coding knowledge is required.
  • It is not a document storage system. But, there are documents available that explain the data.
  • Not all data is available to all. Some data has license constraints or sharing limitations based on the data source owners’ instructions.

What is the DEP API registration process for an existing RITIS user? There doesn’t seem to be an option for this purpose at ritis.org/register.

Existing RITIS users have to read and agree to relevant terms and conditions on the DEP API reference page to access data that they do not currently have access to from RITIS.

Is there any sort of a reporting system within the overall RM3P program that will capture the impact of data on travelers’ decision-making? In other words, is there a way to determine whether RM3P was successful in positively/proactively modifying travel choices?

There is an independent performance evaluation, led by VDOT’s Transportation Research Council, on the RM3P program as a whole to assess the net effect of the entire RM3P program and on individual projects and their effect on travel in both the Northern Virginia and Metropolitan Fredericksburg areas (where applicable). Data sources for this evaluation are not limited to what DEP offers. DEP captures required evaluation metrics on DEP and a dashboard GUI for the evaluators’ use. Three other project development vendors will also provide relevant data for the evaluators’ use while the evaluators will also collect additional data.

What is the expected latency for probe vehicle data in DEP?

INRIX probe data is refreshed once every minute. DEP receives and pushes this data directly to the output APIs without adding additional latency.

Where is the user agreement located to allow sharing of the CCTV feeds with outside entities?

To access the CCTV streams through DEP API, please send an email with your organization name, contact information, and description of expected use of the video feeds to 511_videosubscription@iteris.com. Iteris, on behalf of VDOT, will respond with more information and appropriate user agreements. Once you’ve received approval for access, please forward the approval email to dep-support@ritis.org. Note: VDOT users are prohibited from recording the streams.

Where is the use agreement located to allow sharing of INRIX probe vehicle data with outside entities?

To access INRIX speed and travel time data, please contact Simona Babiceanu (VDOT) at simona.babiceanu@vdot.virginia.gov and request approval to access INRIX data in DEP. Non-VDOT users will be asked to provide use case and sign Eastern Transportation Coalition VPP Secondary Data Use Agreement. Once you’ve received approval for access, please forward the approval email to dep-support@ritis.org.

Does device status include the dynamic message sign (DMS) messages? If so, would this enable the variable speed limit (VSL) posting to be included?

Yes, device status endpoint includes DMS messages. If VSL posting messages are shared by the source system (VDOT’s ATMS, Transurban, Cintra, etc.) then yes, they would be included in the API output.

Can you please explain the differences between various detector data DEP API endpoints?

There are three (3) real-time detector sources and four (4) different detector data endpoints in the DEP API. They provide various capabilities that allow data consumers to either get isolated data sets or relevant combinations of data. There are 3 real-time detector data sources:

  • OpenTMS Detectors – detector data used by VDOT’s Advanced Transportation Management System for real-time monitoring and management of Interstates such as I-66 (excluding Express Lanes outside the beltway), I-495 (including Express Lanes data pass through OpenTMS), I-395 (including Express Lanes data pass through OpenTMS), and I-95 (including Express Lanes data pass through OpenTMS).
  • Transurban Detectors – detector data used by Transurban’s Advanced Transportation Management System for real-time monitoring and management of Express Lanes on I-494, I-395, and I-95.
  • VDOT Wavetronix – detector data produced by VDOT’s vendor, Wavetronix, used by VDOT’s offline estimation of annual traffic counts.

The API endpoints are defined as follows:

  • [vdot] = OpenTMS Detectors – Transurban Detectors (being passed through OpenTMS)
    • The goal of this endpoint is to provide access to only VDOT owned detectors captured by OpenTMS ATMS.
  • [vdot_wavetronix] = VDOT detectors provided directly from VDOT’s Wavetronix server.
    • The goal of this endpoint is to provide access to only VDOT owned contracted Wavetronix detectors.
  • [vdot_transurban] = Transurban detectors on I-495, I-395, and I-95 express lanes directly from Transurban, not pass through from VDOT OpenTMS
    • The goal of this endpoint is to provide access to Transurban owned detectors on I-495, I-395, and I-95 express lanes.
  • [vdot_rm3p] = [vdot] + [vdot_wavetronix]
    • The goal of this endpoint is to provide access to all VDOT owned detectors which is the recommended endpoint for RM3P applications.

This structure allows data consumers to get either full VDOT-owned detector data set, specific subset of VDOT-owned detectors, Transurban detectors, or a combination of all available detector data sets.

Is VDOT detector data ATMS or TMS?

Both.

To clarify the terminology:

  • The VDOT ATMS is called “OpenTMS” and is developed by Q-Free. OpenTMS pulls data from field detectors (also known as “Traffic Sensor Stations,” TSS) from various detector vendors.
  • The VDOT continuous count program is called Traffic Monitoring System (TMS) and it consists of two types of detector data: non-intrusive radar-based detectors (vendor: Wavetronix) and in-pavement sensors (one of the vendors is Q-Free).

Does RWIS include archived data, and if so for how long?

The DEP has archived RWIS data going back to roughly 2004. At present, the DEP API provides real-time and limited historical RWIS data. However, any large historical requests are better served as separate data export requests.

How many RWIS sites are available in Northern Virginia?

There are 308 RWIS sites in Virginia, of which 45 are in Northern Virginia.

Does DEP contain Transurban and Cintra toll data?

Transurban near real-time toll data on I-95/395/495 Express Lanes and VDOT toll data on I-66 inside the Beltway are available in DEP. Cintra toll data on I-66 outside the Beltway is not available in DEP at this time, but that may change in the future.

Does DEP have Hampton Roads gate data from ATMS?

Yes. The DEP receives gate controller data provided by OpenTMS, which covers the Hampton Roads region. There are five gate controllers reported by OpenTMS in that region.

Basemap data and segmentation are continuously updated (new TMC and XD segments created, old ones retired, etc.). How does the API map speed data to a specific version?

There are two ways to obtain INRIX speed and travel time data:

  1. DEP Real-Time Data Endpoint
  2. Probe Data Analytics (PDA) API

DEP Real-Time Data Endpoint

This endpoint provides the latest available data snapshot, which is based on the latest available TMC or XD metadata.

Probe Data Analytics (PDA) API

This set of endpoints contains historical INRIX speed and travel time data and therefore may be impacted by changes in the basemap. At present, the PDA API only provides TMC-based historical data. This means that the API does not provide historical XD data, which is more prone to changes than TMC-based data. TMC-based historical requests are based on the latest TMC basemap version and return requested data that is available for that basemap version.

Does bikeshare data in DEP provide detailed bike usage such as trip length, OD, etc.?

The Capital Bikeshare data follows the General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS) and currently it only includes the basic station and bike information. There is no detailed trip or origin-destination data available.

Can incident data from different sources (OpenTMS, Waze, etc.) be combined in one output?

Yes, incident data from different sources can be returned as a single output. A user just needs to specify each desired source in the request and the resulting response will include data from all sources in the request.

Does the DEP provide a set of “generic” links that can be used to conflate all data sources?

No. Custom data conflation is out of scope of the DEP. The DEP consumes data from multiple sources and provides it in a consistent format for downstream users to consume. However, downstream consumers may have varied use cases for data and conflating data to “generic” links may not be desired.

Does the DEP provide OpenStreetMap data?

No. The OpenStreetMap data is open data and available directly from OpenStreetMap.

If I have a RITIS API key, do I need a separate DEP API key?

No. If you have RITIS API key, you may use the same key to access DEP.

What is the expected performance if a user attempts to download ALL data? For example, all available Waze data?

The DEP API is primarily intended to supply real-time data and limited historical data to support key use cases. However, DEP also contains many historical data records that can be made available through ad-hoc data export requests to VDOT DEP Project Manager.