Nationwide, United States
A Literature and Best Practices Scan: ITS Data Management and Archiving
Summary Information
To manage and operate ITS technologies to exceed customer expectations, data is needed on the structure, status, use and behavior of the entire transportation system. With the advent of Archived Data User Service (ADUS), the National ITS Architecture officially embraced the concept of saving (retaining and archiving) real-time, operational data for other non-real-time applications, such as transportation planning, safety analyses, and research. There are three major aspects to fulfilling data needs:
- Understanding what data is needed by the full range of stakeholders;
- Creating/maintaining the mechanisms to gather/ store the data; and
- Providing convenient, timely and affordable access to the data.
In May 2002 a report was performed for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that overviews the current data collection and management environment for improved data archiving. The report provides examples of who can profit from data, what types of data they would like and what benefits can accrue if these users obtain the quality of data they seek.
- A 1998 study, which used information gathered from more than 60 organizations that had implemented data warehousing, found that data warehousing generated an average return on investment (ROI) of 401 percent over three years (1).