The "Pan-American Seminar and Workshop on the Interface between Automobile Traffic Networks under Dynamic Traffic Assignment and Bus Rapid Transit Systems", organized by CoHemis for UPR-Mayaguez and its Department of Civil Engineering was held on March 20-22, 2003 at the Caribe Hilton Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), with the collaboration of the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority. Since its objective was to foster linkages between both disciplines mentioned in the event's title, and these topics have been developed in different Americas, the sponsors provided funds for inviting researchers, engineers, system operators and decision-makers from both continents. Several interesting benefits from DTA-BRT linkages were identified during the two full days of sessions.

The metropolitan areas of the Americas are continuously looking for efficient and effective ideas to improve the mobility of their citizens. One of these ideas, pioneered in Curitiba, Brazil, is Bus Rapid Transit, a system of buses moving on exclusive highway lanes and tendered by passenger stations. BRT has been operating for years in various cities of South America, and it has proved able to deliver a level of service only slightly below heavy rail transit at a fraction of the cost. In addition, BRT causes minimum social and economic disruptions in the construction phase, which is also very much shorter, and increases the benefits provided by the existing infrastructure resources. Several cities around the world, guided by the FTA in the case of the United States, are adopting the idea.

The development and implementation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS-mainly information technologies for drivers) have led to the development of new modeling tools for the prediction and evaluation of alternatives that take into account the dynamics of transportation systems. These tools are known as Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA), and they can help ITS subsystems to reduce congestion while improving productivity, safety and the environment. However, most existing DTA models are limited to the dynamics of automobile traffic in urban highway systems, and do not integrate information on BRT and other transit strategies.

Several benefits of BRT-DTA linkages were identified in the workshops. If DTA-type models are adapted to BRT, and real-time traffic information and corresponding DTA projections are fed to BRT operators, then the latter can foresee changes in demand and have an adequate and efficient number of vehicles in service without having to react to congestion-induced delays. On the other hand, if BRT information is fed to DTA traffic models, then intermodal effects and alternatives can improve traffic management as well as the overall effectiveness of ITS on urban transportation. The more time it takes to develop such linkages, the longer will urban transportation be delayed in improving mobility and efficiency in metropolitan areas. Operating independently, BRT and automobile traffic using ITS strategies modeled under DTA would be competing with each other.

The stated objectives of the event were to assess the respective state-of-the-art and the state-of-the-practice and suggest research priorities in the integration of BRT and DTA-based automobile traffic systems in the Americas. It brought together leading researchers and practitioners from north and south to exchange ideas and information and to join efforts concerning the integration of BRT and other transit systems with automobile traffic networks under DTA and other ITS systems. The participants came from: Brazil, United States, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Dominican Republic, United Kingdom, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

The seminar-workshop was organized by: Dr. Didier Valdés-Díaz, UPRM-Civil Engineering, Scientific Director; Dr. Luis F. Pumarada-O'Neill, Organizer; and Mrs. Ileana Rodriguez, Coordinator of the CoHemis Center. Local attendees included graduate and undergraduate transportation students, as well as agency officials and transit experts. The opening ceremony featured Dr. Fernando Fagundo, Secretary of Transportation and Public Works, and Dr. Jack Allison, Executive Director of the Highway and Transportation Authority. A group of transportation students under the supervision of Dr. Didier Valdés are working on the seminar's proceedings. For more information one may inquire at dvaldes@ce.uprm.edu and visit the event's home page, ece.uprm.edu/cohemis/brt/, which includes some of the presentations, photos and other information.

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