Tucson, Arizona, United States
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) conducted a study to explore the potential benefits and costs of fully deploying ITS operational strategies in large, medium, and small metropolitan areas. ITS deployment and operations were modeled for Seattle, Cincinnati, and Tucson, respectively. The strategies developed for Seattle and Cincinnati were based on 2003 traffic conditions while those for Tucson were based on traffic conditions forecast for 2025. The analysis considered a 25 year period, and the annual costs to implement, operate, and maintain each system were adjusted to 2003 dollars. This summary report presents the costs of the Tucson ITS full deployment scenario.
ITS Strategies
Extracted from Table 1 in the source report, the details of the ITS strategies for the Tucson full-deployment scenario are presented below.
Strategy
|
Deployment
|
Coverage
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Arterial Traffic Management Systems | Central Control Signal Coordination | 600 intersections | 100% of major intersections |
100% of major arterials and parkway miles | |||
Emergency Vehicle Signal Preemption | 600 intersections | 100% of major intersections 96% of major arterials and parkway miles |
|
1,030 emergency vehicles | 100% of emergency vehicles | ||
Transit Vehicle Signal Priority | 115 intersections | 9 of 37 routes served (24% routes) | |
80 transit vehicles | 29% of fixed-route transit vehicles | ||
Highway Advisory Radio | 1 transceivers | 100% of arterial miles covered | |
Dynamic Message Signs | 30 locations | 100% of arterial incident management corridors and roadways subject to major flood |
|
Freeway Management Systems | Central Control Ramping Metering | 70 on-ramps | 73% of on-ramps |
Highway Advisory Radio | 1 transceiver | 100% of freeway miles | |
Dynamic Message Signs | 9 locations | 100% of freeway miles | |
Transit Management Systems | Fixed Route Automated Scheduling and Automatic Vehicle Location | 2,260 transit vehicles | 100% fixed-route transit vehicles |
Fixed Route Security Systems | 275 transit vehicles | 100%fixed–route transit vehicles | |
5 transit stations | |||
Incident Management System | Incident Detection, Verification, Response, and Management | 20 freeway service patrol vehicles | 100% of freeway miles: 15% of parkway and major arterial miles (110 of 721 miles) |
Emergency Management Systems | Emergency Vehicle Control Service | 1,340 emergency vehicles | 100% of emergency vehicles |
Emergency Vehicle AVL | 1,340 emergency vehicles | 100% of emergency vehicles | |
Telemedicine | 130 ambulances | 100% ambulances | |
Electronic Payment Systems | Electronic Transit Fare Payment | 270 transit vehicles | 100% of fixed-route transit vehicles |
Traveler Information | Telephone– and Web–Based Traveler Information System | Region-wide | 40% market penetration |
Kiosk–Based Traveler Information | 5 kiosks | 100% of transit transfer stations | |
Crash Prevention and Safety | Railroad Crossing Monitoring Systems | 4 rail crossings | 5% of major arterial at–grade rail crossings |
Commercial Vehicle Operations | Weigh–in–Motion and Safety Information Exchange | 1 check stations | N/A |
Combination Screening and Clearance–Credentials and Safety | 1 check stations | N/A | |
53,000 equipped commercial vehicles | 40% market penetration | ||
Supporting Deployments | Traffic Management Center | One | 100% of region |
Transit Management Center | One | 100% of region | |
Emergency Management | One | 100% of region | |
Information Service Provider Center | One | 100% of region | |
Traffic Surveillance—Closed Circuit Television | 950 locations | 100% of freeway parkway, and major arterial miles | |
Traffic Surveillance—Loop Detectors | 1,200 locations | 100% of freeway 96% of parkway and major arterial miles 100% controlled signals |
System Costs
The table below, extracted from the source report (Table 3), shows the annual average life–cycle costs required to implement, operate, and maintain the ITS strategies identified above. The estimated annual cost was $72.1 million for the full ITS deployment and operations in the Tucson metropolitan area.
ITS Deployment Strategies |
Cost
(Millions in 2003 Dollars) |
Percentage of
Total Costs |
---|---|---|
Arterial management systems |
$3.9
|
5.5%
|
Freeway management systems |
$2.6
|
3.6%
|
Transit management systems |
$1.8
|
2.6%
|
Incident management systems |
$4.5
|
6.2%
|
Emergency management systems |
$2.1
|
2.9%
|
Electronic payment systems |
$1.1
|
1.0%
|
Traveler information |
$2.1
|
2.9%
|
Crash prevention and safety |
$0.2
|
0.3%
|
Commercial vehicle operations |
$20.3
|
28.1%
|
Supporting deployments |
$35.5
|
46.4%
|
Total costs |
$72.1
|
100.0%
|
Private sector costs |
$19.8
|
27.4%
|
Public sector costs |
$52.3
|
72.6%
|
The public sector was expected to fund 72.6 percent of the ITS strategies and the private sector 27.4 percent. The private sector funds were to be used to equip the commercial trucks to enable automated screening and clearance of the trucks at check stations.
One of the strategies identified was emergency management systems. Deployment data included the number of emergency vehicles and ambulances equipped with control service, automated vehicle location (AVL), and telemedicine. At full deployment, 1340 emergency vehicles and 130 ambulances were estimated to be equipped with ITS devices. The annualized life-cycle costs of emergency management systems for Tucson were estimated at $2.1 million.