Take advantage of FHWA's investment in the National ITS Architecture, training, and technical assistance to minimize the effort required to develop a Regional ITS Architecture.

National experience developing Regional ITS Architectures.

Date Posted
09/16/2005
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Identifier
2005-L00093

Best Practices of Rural and Statewide ITS Strategic Planning

Summary Information

This document distills best practices in preparation of rural and statewide ITS deployment plans from 12 in-depth case studies and 18 sites surveyed by written questionnaire. The ultimate goal is to identify factors that should be considered by agencies undertaking such planning projects. The report also documents the benefits of this planning so that these benefits can encourage future ITS strategic planning efforts nationwide.

This document addresses institutional rather than technical issues with emphasis on the complex decision-making process required for ITS strategic planning. This process includes agency interactions, processes and procedures, organizational structures, and the level of institutional involvement.

  • The document uses the case studies/surveys to summarize the following aspects of deployment, and lays out guidance highlights (lessons learned) addressing many of these items:
  • The ITS strategic planning process, including regional ITS architectures
  • Goals and objectives of creating an ITS strategic plan
  • Effective stakeholder participation
  • Best practices for outreach, education, and marketing
  • Funding opportunities and sources, including public/private partnerships
  • Operations, maintenance, and management considerations
  • Costs of planning
  • Potential benefits


The case studies themselves appear in appendices.

This document, along with the Rural Toolbox (FHWA-OP-01-030), forms the rural ITS best practices series.

Lessons Learned

Take advantage of FHWA's investment in the National ITS Architecture, training, and technical assistance to minimize the effort required to develop a Regional ITS Architecture.



When defining the ITS regional framework and architecture, the planners should take advantage of FHWA's investment in the National ITS Architecture, supported training, and technical assistance to minimize the work effort and streamline the decision-making process. The planners should schedule/conduct workshops to educate

stakeholders on the National ITS Architecture (and its components) and the Regional ITS Architecture (and its deliverables).



When developing the Regional ITS Architecture, stakeholders should consider undertaking the

following tasks:

 

  • Map existing systems and connections to the National ITS Architecture

 

  • Group selected Market Packages into subsystems and map to the National ITS Architecture
  • Identify and classify connectivity between subsystems
  • Review individual Market Package Architecture Flows and tailor to the region/state
  • Tailor connections between subsystems to reflect actual agency relationships (i.e., Organizational Architecture)
  • Identify appropriate ITS Standards and status of development activities



Regional ITS Architecture deliverables should be agreed-upon prior to project initiation and specifically identified through agency MOUs and/or consultant contract/SOW. The Regional ITS Architecture for a large geographic area needs to be developed at a level of detail appropriate for the budget, and the understanding that further deployment efforts may be needed to enhance the base architecture.



These actions improve the efficiency of development of the Regional ITS Architecture.

Goal Areas

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