Lessons from the ICM Implementation Guide.
Nationwide, United States
Integrated Corridor Management: Implementation Guide and Lessons Learned
Summary Information
The Integrated Corridor Management: Implementation Guide and Lessons Learned document is intended for use by adopters of integrated corridor management (ICM) approaches and strategies to address congestion and travel time reliability issues within specific travel corridors. It introduces the topic of ICM and identifies the type of information system, known as the integrated corridor management system (ICMS), used to support transportation network managers and operators in applying ICM.
The U.S. DOT partnered with eight transportation agencies in large metropolitan areas, referred to as "Pioneer Sites," to research effective means of implementing ICM approaches in their major travel corridors. The guide discusses lessons learned that arose during the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT’s) research initiative.
After the preliminary design review has been completed and the high-level design and system requirements have been approved, the component level detailed design can begin. At this point system requirements can be allocated to physical components (hardware, software, mechanical devices, or even manual processes). After the allocation process is complete, detailed design can commence. For example, software systems engineers will develop software architectures and requirements for coders to develop project software; hardware engineers will specify the hardware design to run the software; mechanical devices will be designed to perform system functions; or manual processes will be outlined and designed to perform system functions. Additionally, it may be determined that existing commercial software could be used to perform system functions. Stakeholders should analyze these individual design possibilities to determine which are feasible, which provide the best performance, and which would be the most cost effective methods of system implementation. These types of analyses are typically referred to as trade-off analyses.
The following lessons learned should be applied to the detailed design phase of an ICM program.
- Update design documents as necessary. Design documents should be updated when the design is altered or more detail is added due to prototype, variances, and additional work orders. A working copy of the design document should be modified and available to stakeholders.
- Complete design review before proceeding to other review phases. Milestones should be taken seriously and successful completion should be a prerequisite for proceeding to the next review phase.
- Use communication standards. Use of the NTCIP communications standard was key to enabling integration of central software and field equipment from different manufacturers, and in providing options to purchase future field equipment from different manufacturers.
- Provide detailed documentation. Well documented software allowed other system integrators to upgrade the system.
