Sustainability

The growth of wireless technologies provides great promise for current and future ITS communications infrastructure deployments.  Knowing what technologies to deploy is critical to
the long-term success and cost of an ITS deployment.  Traditionally, ITS networks have been based on a mix of private or leased wired infrastructure that uses copper or fiber optic cabling. This paper discusses the high costs associated with this type of deployment and how wireless technologies could reduce some of these costs.  An overview of currently available wireless technologies that are most applicable to ITS designs is presented.  Significant design issues that must be considered are discussed, including security, system reliability, total cost of ownership, and interoperability and expandability.

Southwest Research Institute

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

One critical, but often neglected, element in the successful operation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is how they should be maintained after deployment. Failure to adequately maintain the ITS infrastructure may result in poor operations and may accelerate device replacement schedules, lessening the realizable benefits of ITS.

Recognizing this, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) partnered with the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University-Bozeman (WTI-MSU) to develop a long-range maintenance plan for ODOT’s existing and planned ITS infrastructure. The plan was initiated as a companion effort to the Oregon Intelligent Transportation Systems Strategic Plan: 1997-2017, which identified statewide ITS deployment technologies and practices over the next twenty years.

This paper summarizes the maintenance plan document, highlighting some of the major findings, along with lessons learned during the development of the plan.

Oregon Department of Transportation

Montana State University – Bozeman

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

The present National Dialogue on Transportation Operations provides a timely opportunity to consider the surface transportation system in its entirety, including but not limited to the role of information technology (e.g. ITS) in supporting effective system management. This paper aims to contribute to this discussion by drawing upon to related infrastructures—air traffic control and energy management—for lessons in devising policies (and underlying technologies) to calibrate supply and demand, thereby enhancing system efficiency. The paper first considers the steps taken by FAA to accommodate rising air demand through their slot allocation, and then considers federal legislative actions taken by US Congress to encourage a wider range of supply sources for the energy demand. While these examples are taken from the 1970’s because there is a track record on their impact, the current conditions relative to energy and air travel are also reviewed. Based on these infrastructure experiences, the case of surface transportation and ITS is then considered. Like energy and air, transportation is a complex infrastructure where with significant gaps between policies surrounding the provision of transportation supply and information signals (including price) provided to manage the demand. While special cases of integrated dynamic management have been proven successful (e.g. FETSIM, Los Angeles Olympics, ITS Model Deployment), from a national policy level, several gaps exist. Consequently, the paper concludes with a series of recommendations, including: establishing new institutional relationships, developing benchmarks on system performance, enhancing choice of travel options (supply), and an enhancing the role for private sector in information (ITS) provision.

Claremont Graduate University: School of Information Science

University of California, Berkeley: California PATH Headquarters

William Reany Associates

Presented at the 11th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida

To provide a sound transportation environment in terms of less congestion, safer traffic, less travel time, and cleaner air, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) play important roles in achieving those goals. ITS are the systems that apply information, telecommunication, and remote control devices on the operations of the existing transportation systems. Most of the current researches contend that the estimated social benefits (specifically for energy saving and pollution reduction purpose) to develop ITS are significant. However, these results need to be further verified since they focus only on the transportation sector itself. In the meantime, benefits on energy saving and pollution reduction may be partially estimated. One of the important characteristics of ITS development is that it generates direct / indirect effects on the related industry sectors. Therefore, the energy consumed and pollution generated by all industry sectors that support ITS development should be taken into considerations. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework by applying a general equilibrium input-output (I/O) model. Our proposed model intends to estimate the direct and indirect energy saving and pollution abatement impacts on various industry sectors for the development of ITS. The preliminary test results indicate that the development / deployment of ITS in Taiwan will generate net energy saving by –0.16% ~ 0.54%, and the reduction of vehicle emissions by –0.15% ~ 1.17%, under the assumption of 10~20% energy saving and pollution reduction on transportation service sectors. Our research results will be able to provide both the public and private sectors with valuable information in allocating their limited resources for the development and deployment of ITS.

Department of Transportation Management: Tamkang University

Department of Economics: National Dong Hwa University

Presented at the 11th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida

The automobile is the dominant travel mode throughout the U.S. (1), while transit accounts for less than four-percent of market share (2). Between these principal modes, niche markets exist for other transportation services, such as transit feeder shuttles and carsharing. Commuter-based carsharing, in which individuals share a fleet of vehicles linked to transit, could potentially fill and expand one such niche; complement existing services; and develop into an economically viable transportation alternative. While most transit shuttles rely heavily upon governmental support, carsharing has the potential to become commercially sustainable. In 1999, the first U.S. smart commuter-based carsharing program—CarLink—was launched in the East San Francisco Bay area. Positive program response led to the development of CarLink II—a larger, more in-depth exploration of the commuter model. Program differences include: an increase from 12 to 27 vehicles; a shift from one employer to many; a move from the Dublin/Pleasanton region to the South San Francisco Bay area; integration of seamless carsharing technologies; and an emphasis on economic viability. This paper includes a description of the CarLink field test results, from which CarLink II builds; an overview of the CarLink II pilot program; a discussion of the CarLink II research goals and study methodology; and an examination.

Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH), University of California, Berkeley

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida