Application of System Selection Tool to Traffic Congestion in Metro Atlanta: A Case Study

Traffic and congestion is a problem in most major U.S. cities. The difference between traffic in Atlanta compared to New York or Los Angeles is the lack of proper planning and budget to meet the transportation demands of a continuously growing city. Over the past few decades, population and traffic congestion in Metro Atlanta has continuously been on the rise. The problem has been exacerbated with a dwindling budget to support current and future transportation projects and initiatives. The Georgia Department of Transportation must become open to additional ways to resolve this problem. This paper reviews the past, current and future transportation concerns, and analyzes several transportation alternatives based on Systems Engineering comparative analysis. We illustrates that the most effective and highly desirable solution to Metro Atlanta’s transportation problem is the development and implementation of a Specialized HOV lane. Past and recent survey data highlight the key selection criteria for the utilization of an alternate method of transportation. This paper is a case study to demonstrate the application of systems engineering tools and methodologies acquired in a systems engineering graduate program. Systems Engineering Methodology This study is an example of the application of the systems engineering methodology. The process as shown in Figure 1 is a generic process taught as part of the systems engineering graduate level curriculum. This helps students understand and embed the efficient processes and procedures into real world problems. Students are tasked to pick a few tools and use them to address a real life problem. The tools used in this study include requirements analysis, conformance, architecture development, and standards identification, use case analysis, analysis of alternatives and others. This process encourages learning the implementation of systems engineering in an educational environment. This technique of educating students not only helps them learn and retain the material, but it also helps address important issues. It provides a broad systems perspective to domain specific problems. Figure 1: Systems Engineering Process Problem Identification Identify / Gather Requirements Define SE