Developing a Market-Sensitive Intelligent Transportation Systems Educational Program

Abstract

Results of research undertaken to evaluate the educational needs of the emerging field of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs) are presented, and whether course offerings in academic programs meet these needs is ascertained. A survey was conducted to determine needs for ITS education among public- and private-sector entities and to assess the perception of the academic sector on the type and level of ITS education to be offered. The results indicate that academic programs are aware of the educational needs of the private and public sectors in ITS and have been reacting to those needs. A traditional civil engineering curriculum is inadequate to educate engineers in ITS, thus the ITS educational program must be inter-(or cross-) disciplinary. Focus should be on the areas that are not traditionally part of civil engineering education such as communications, traffic surveillance, systems analysis, and social and institutional issues. The results are intended primarily to provide a guideline for universities to develop the content of an ITS program by identifying the type of program structure as well as the topics to be covered in the courses. A case study is presented of how such a program was implemented at the graduate level at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.