Feasibility Study of an Internet-Based GUI for Highway Capacity Software

In this proposal, the Viggen Project Team presents an elegant approach to developing a truly portable Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the Highway Capacity Software (HCS). Our approach is based on the emerging Internet-driven computing technology and will be totally platform-independent. The prototype will be developed using a programming language called Java and users will be able to execute the prototype software through Java-aware Internet browsers regardless of the type of computers they are using. With this approach, we will reach for the goal of "Write Once, Deploy Anywhere." We begin our proposal by providing a historical perspective of the FHWA's effort since the early '80s in providing software to traffic engineers using different computer systems. We identify all the issues related to the portability of the software and offered the Internet/Java solution. We then present our technical approach, staffing, and management plan. In addition to the prototype, we will develop as part of this study a component interface standard which will allow add-on components to be developed by third parties to extend functionality of the HCS.