Sustainability

It is a fact: systems that are implemented but not properly maintained have more odds to fail. The same applies for deployments of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). ITS being such a “new" area within the transportation field requires a different approach for maintenance. ITS involves technologies that are not only constantly changing but also subject to extreme environmental conditions making maintenance unique and challenging. ITS maintenance is consuming more time and resources than originally expected, and budgeted, by many transportation agencies; mainly due to little or no previous experience to use as a baseline. Even through ITS started to be deployed more than 20 years ago under various acronyms (i.e., IVHS), maintenance has generally been kept “in-house” and few lessons learned experiences have been documented. Maintenance is not glamorous! The purpose of this paper is to share with the ITS community an experience obtained from over 3 years of maintenance of an ITS deployment including both legacy systems and system expansions.

TransCore

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, April 26 - 28, 2004 San Antonio, Texas

New technologies are bringing Automated Freight Systems (AFS), which aim to reduce congestion, mitigate environmental impacts and enhance public safety, to fruition. The financing and deployment issues of AFS differ from other Intelligent Transportation System applications. This paper briefly introduces major concepts of AFS, which include Automated Rail Systems (ARS), Automated Truck Systems (ATS) and Automated Pipeline Systems (APS).
. The financing strategies for these concepts are discussed, in which the government subsidies play an important role through the use of public-private partnership. Economies of scale and externalities of the current and new systems are discussed. In the discussion of the deployment of AFS, it is suggested that deployment schemes are highly correlated with financing strategies.

University of Minnesota Department of Civil Engineering

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, April 26 - 28, 2004 San Antonio, Texas

Environmental problems such as air pollution, noise and vibration caused by road traffic are crucial issues in Japan. ITS is expected to be one of the key components aiding the solution of these problems. The objective of this study is to develop an emission monitoring system that estimates NOx (nitrogen oxides), PM (particulate matter) and CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions on each road section using vehicle detectors. The study roads are Route 6 (a total length of 12km) , Route 8 (a total length of 10km) and Route 16 (a total length of 29km) in Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan, where 181 ultrasonic vehicle detectors are installed. First, a method to estimate vehicle emissions from running patterns was established by analyzing time-dependant emission data. This data was obtained through the use of a chassis dynamometer. Next, a method to estimate running patterns from the detector data was developed. Test-car runs were carried out in order to collect vehicle running patterns on 238 road sections of the study roads. In conjunction with the test-car runs, vehicle detector data for the time period that the test car passed under each detector was collected. The emissions generated on the study roads were
estimated using the detector data from March 19th, 2003. The results from the system include the road maps that indicate the emissions in each road section, and the time-space diagram of the emissions on the study roads. In order to examine the accuracy of the estimated results, calculated NOx emissions on Route 16 were compared to the NOx concentration that was observed alongside the same road. The results illustrated that the fluctuation patterns of estimated NOx emissions were similar to that of observed NOx concentration; although, some partial inconsistencies were presented. The developed system is useful to identify the problematic road sections and the time periods that exhaust emission was excessive. Therefore the system is expected to be a useful tool in the design of detailed traffic management scheme to alleviate environmental problems.

Traffic Division, National Research Institute of Police Science

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, April 26 - 28, 2004 San Antonio, Texas

ITS has great potential to minimize the impact of our expanding transportation system on the
environment. One of the tools to make ITS a reality is the development of ITS architectures to guide ITS planning and project development. The National ITS Architecture provides a
foundation for the development of ITS plans and projects and it has components that provide
insights into environmentally friendly ITS features. This paper will explore the features of the
National ITS Architecture that contribute the most to the planning and development of ITS that is environmentally friendly. The paper will draw attention to those Architecture features that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the use of non-renewable resources, and limit the impact of the transportation system on environmental resources such as land use and hazardous materials. The paper will also make suggestions promoting the use of these features by stakeholders in their ITS planning and deployment.

Iteris, Inc.

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition

Global warming, brought about increased greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, is a
significant threat to the planet. Transportation activities account for 28% of all GHG emissions
in the U. S. Recent climate change literature has focused on three primary strategies for reducing
GHG emissions from the surface transportation sector – improving the fuel economy of vehicles,
reducing the carbon content of the fuel used, and decreasing the amount of driving or Vehicles
Miles Traveled (VMT). This paper addresses a fourth strategy – improving the operational
efficiency of the surface transportation network through the implementation of transportation
systems management and operational (TSMO) strategies and the supporting ITS technologies.
The potential benefits of TSMO for reducing GHG emissions and adapting to climate change are
discussed along with several issues (e.g., need for models and analytical tools to estimate GHG
reductions, potential for latent demand resulting from improved roadway efficiency)

Iteris, Inc

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition