To improve efficiency of the Watt Avenue corridor, a 4-6 lane divided arterial which crosses the American River in suburban Sacramento County, the county has undertaken a project to improve the overall mobility of the corridor. The project will incorporate improved traveler information and complete center-to-center communication between transit and traffic management centers. The improvements are focused in three primary areas: geometric, operational, and technology applications. Geometric improvements included turnout bays and intersection widening. Operational improvements include controller upgrade/replacement and traffic signal upgrade for transit priority system. Technology improvements include the transit priority system, upgraded communication and traveler information infrastructure (e.g., fiber optics, CCTV cameras), and information systems at transit stops. The total project is broken down into three stages which correspond with three consecutive years (2000 to 2002) of funding from the ITS Integration Program.

Stage one is complete and consisted of deployment of a transit priority system using type 2070 controllers for 20 intersections, priority emitters for 60 transit vehicles, 14 CCTV cameras, one weigh-in-motion station, four dynamic message signs (DMSs), and associated communication infrastructure. The fiber optic communication infrastructure connects the field devices with the County Traffic Operations Center (TOC) and the County TOC to the Caltrans/California Highway Patrol (CHP) Regional Transportation Management Center (RTMC). The cost to implement stage one is estimated at $1.5 million.

Stage two involves connecting the transit priority system into the proposed Regional Transit automated vehicle location (AVL)/automatic vehicle identification (AVI) system, deploying three Queue Jump locations, communication system enhancement, and deploying four additional CCTV cameras. The cost to implement stage two is estimated at $2.1 million.

Stage three involves a data and video sharing system with the Regional Transit, DMSs at the light rail transit (LRT) stations, dynamic messaging on transit vehicles, three Queue Jump locations, two Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) stations, completion of the communication system, and replacement of leased communication link. The cost to implement stage three is estimated at $3.2 million.