Intelligent Transportation Systems Planning Research Articles

Stakeholder Preferences in Advanced Public Transportation System Planning

Transportation planning in general and planning for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in particular are notable both for multiple goals and for multiple constituencies. In response to complex policy environments such as this, multicriteria decision analysis often was utilized to assist in the evaluation of alternative investments or policy directions. This approach is extended here to assess stakeholder valuation of broad goals of an ITS planning process, the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) operational field test in the metropolitan Detroit area Two levels of goals were considered: broad system-wide goals (e.g, energy savings, interagency coordination, congestion reduction) and specific service characteristics, such as advance reservations, scheduling, and reliability. Using a modified Analytical Hierarchy Process, implicit preference weights for transportation planning goals were derived, and inter- and intra-group comparisons were made. Overall, there was less variation between groups in preferences than might be expected, indicating a fair degree of common ground in desired outcomes of transit planning. The ability to provide for the trips that people request, referring both to the accommodation of trips and the match between requested and scheduled times, were important goals across various stakeholder groups. Similarly, the provision of reliable service was generally valued highly. Information provision appears to be a lower priority. Thus, to the extent that automatic scheduling and dispatch assists improved scheduling trip reservation, and routing it is likely to meet stakeholders ‘preferences.The study characterizes the various groups ‘preferences for transit service along a continuum ranging from “expansive “ to “incremental.” The expansive vision seeks to develop new forms of service for transit and paratransit customers better, while under the incremental view, consolidation of and improvements to existing service are a higher priority. The expansive position appears most clearly among citizens ‘groups, social service agencies, and business people. The business community is particularly interested in expansion of the hours of service, presumably to facilitate travel by customers or employees during evenings and weekends. The more incremental view is held by transportation professionals and SMART employees who are aware of the constraints under which they work.

Parametric Evaluation of Internet of Things Applications to Freight Transportation Using Model-Based Systems Engineering

The intended purpose of an intelligent transportation systems (ITS) project is to automate operations through device-to-device connectivity. These devices generally represent stakeholder’s endpoints and expose interfaces to automated operations. Current trends in communication allow more applications and devices to perform functions traditionally allocated to the transportation ITS infrastructure. This connected environment of industrial internet of things presents design challenges because of the diversity of stakeholders, interfaces, and the messages among them. This may require new ways in which ITS planning can handle the scale and complexity of these highly connected systems. This work focuses on the modeling of the architecture of a freight-focused ITS application, including maritime ports. The proposed model integrates stakeholders, behaviors, and messages using the Systems Modeling Language (SysML). The key contribution of this work is to demonstrate the creation of an executable SysML model for an ITS application without sacrificing the typical Systems Engineering Management Plan artifacts (e.g., requirements traceability matrices and interface control documents). At the same time, the proposed model provides a re-usable pattern to support parametric analysis of candidate architectures with respect to any measure of effectiveness. This allows establishing a single source of architecture definition and having multiple architecture specializations depending on the measure of effectiveness being evaluated. Recommendations for implementation and integration with existing ITS tools are provided.

Intelligent Transportation System Planning in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

This paper mainly studies the planning of intelligent transportation system in the era of artificial intelligence. The research content mainly includes: intelligent transportation system implementation mechanism, system application and empirical research. The research conclusion is as follows: First of all, the implementation mechanism and system application of China's intelligent transportation system are constantly improving in both technology and process. Second, Yunnan is the province with the highest public satisfaction of intelligent transportation system. Finally, relevant departments should strengthen the main role of construction, improve the traffic information platform, strengthen data management and enhance technological innovation, and strive to make China's intelligent transportation system development in the forefront of the world.

INTEGRATING MASTER PLANNING FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT ON THE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN VIETNAM

Purpose of the study: Intelligent Transport System (ITS) is being developed, researched, and built to solve traffic congestion in recent years. Many studies and seminars were organized but the results were still limited and fragmented. To build a smart city with intelligent transport system always starts from the planning work.
 Methodology: Methods of aggregating and statistical data from the Ministry of Transport to ITS and the overall planning of urban transport; Review and propose optimal solutions for integrated urban planning of ITS.
 Main Findings: The role of urban transportation and the current status of ITS development planning in urban planning in Vietnam. On that basis, it is necessary to integrate existing master plans into an urban development master plan that covers socio-economic development planning, land use, and urban construction. It is based on the planning of smart and modern urban transport development.
 Applications of this study: The paper proposes content to integrate ITS planning in urban planning in 4 steps to ensure sustainability and updates.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: The paper presents an overview of ITS system and ITS planning and its relation to urban planning in which, in addition to the traditional planning content, some new contents of ITS planning need to be integrated to meet for building and managing the city in a new age. This study is to affirm the need for integrating urban development master plans based on intelligent transportation system planning.

Report Notes Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned from ITS Applications

This article describes a report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in which data collected by the DOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) offers a look at the benefits, costs, and lessons learned from ITS The report, an update to the 2003 report, expands the earlier versions by including summaries of the lessons learned from various ITS planning, deployment, operation, maintenance, and evaluation experiences. The report also examines the benefits and costs of different components comprising intelligent infrastructure. This includes technologies such as arterial management systems, freeway and incident management systems, and electronic payment systems. The report also describes a system developed by the authors in which a rating is assigned to a technology based on the findings in the ITS Benefits Database. By using the ratings derived from case studies in the Database, readers may be able to assess the applicability of a particular technology before pursuing actual implementation.

Book Review: Fundamentals of Intelligent Transportation Systems Planning

Book Review: Fundamentals of Intelligent Transportation Systems Planning

Breakeven Analysis for Statewide Intelligent Transportation System Project Identification and Assessment

The use of breakeven analysis as a tool to assess the benefits of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) at the system level in systemwide sketch planning is discussed. The breakeven analysis was developed on the basis of the SCRITS (SCReening for ITS) spreadsheet template and used data from Madison, Wisconsin, as a case study and provided considerable in sight into the magnitude of the potential benefits of different ITS programs. The analysis can help identify critical performance variables in the assessment of ITS benefits. Breakeven analysis coupled with sensitivity analysis can be used to identify and assess ITS projects for deployment in the ITS planning and programming process with limited data. It can be used to screen, prioritize, and select ITS projects among different ITS options. It can also be used to compare ITS projects in different geographic locations on the basis of different traffic data and breakeven points. The method is also useful in the identification of data needed for detailed ITS project assessments and evaluations. Such data should include before-and-after studies of ITS deployments as well as refined cost data and traffic flow estimates. The case study identified the breakeven points of several ITS deployment options, including ramp metering, traveler information systems, emergency response systems, and commercial vehicle operations under a variety of scenarios. These results can be used to identify and operate ITS projects so that they are likely to have the greatest payoff from their deployment.

Use of the National Architecture to Develop an Intelligent Transportation Systems Strategic Plan: Case Study for a Medium-Sized Area

A case study of use of the national architecture to develop an intelligent transportation system (ITS) strategic deployment plan for Chittenden County, Vermont, an area with a population of 140,000, is presented. Because the study was conducted after a mature version of the national architecture had been completed, every effort was made to take full advantage of the national architecture documents in developing the plan. This helped reduce significantly the amount of effort needed to complete the plan, while ensuring the interoperability of the systems to be deployed. In developing the plan, the most recent version of the ITS planning process, which is based on the “market package” concept, was followed. A quantitative, systematic procedure was used to screen and prioritize the market packages. A regional ITS architecture was then developed, and the selected packages were developed into a list of recommended projects for the region. The study clearly demonstrates the value of the national architecture. The architecture provided guidance in formulating an ITS vision for the region, formed the basis on which ITS packages were selected, and dramatically reduced the amount of effort needed to develop the regional architecture. The architecture’s market packages are shown to be applicable to medium-sized areas; however, they need to be implemented at a smaller scale than in larger metropolitan areas.

Intelligent Transportation Systems Planning in a Medium-Sized, Relatively Uncongested Urban Area

The Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) completed an early deployment study for the Des Moines, Iowa, metropolitan area in late 1997. The purpose of the study was to develop a strategic plan for intelligent transpotation systems (ITS) deployment and to provide initiative for the development of an ITS infrastructure. When FHWA sponsored the Des Moines metropolitan area’s early deployment study, Des Moines was the smallest metropolitan area to undertake such a study. Therefore, there were no similarly sized urban areas from which to draw examples. Furthermore, although the metropolitan area and traffic volumes are growing, congestion is not seen as a significant problem in Des Moines. As a result of minimal traffic congestion, there was and is some skepticism among the transportation stakeholders in the need for ITSs. The development of an ITS infrastructure is seen as even more problematic when the capital requirements for ITS must compete with the capital requirements of other, traditional transportation improvements. Despite the initial skepticism regarding the need for ITS and the ability to afford ITS, Des Moines-area transportation stakeholders have become very supportive of the initiatives identified in the plan. The generation of support for an ITS was developed through two galvanizing issues. The first was a focus on the safety benefits of an ITS as opposed to congestion reduction benefits. The second was to focus on the use of an ITS to mitigate the impacts of the reconstruction of I-235. I-235 cuts across Des Moines, running through the north side of the central business district, and has been the single most important factor in forging commuting and development patterns in the Des Moines area. As a result, arterial streets that parallel I-235 will be greatly affected by the diversion of traffic from I-235, which is likely to occur during reconstruction. An ITS’s ability to manage traffic under dynamic conditions provided an incentive for transportation stakeholders to rally behind the ITS strategic plan. The process used to develop the plan and review the plan’s recommendations is discussed. One of the issues that the plan attempts to address is the identification of technology appropriate for an urban area the size of Des Moines.

PLANiTS: Structuring and Supporting the Intelligent Transportation Systems Planning Process

PLANiTS (Planning and Analysis Integration for Intelligent Transportation Systems) is a process-based computer system that supports a series of mutually interdependent steps progressing toward developing and programming transportation improvement projects. It is a tool that translates problems and goals to performance measures, examines possible competing and complementary transportation improvement actions, systematically evaluates the impacts of actions using models and knowledge, and supports human interactions between stakeholders. The PLANiTS methodology is nonincremental because it integrates existing knowledge about transportation with analysis using models with deliberation and issue resolution. To link planning and modeling, PLANiTS has a policy base that contains contemporary performance measures, an action base containing conventional and Intelligent Transportation Systems actions, a methods base that facilitates modeling, a case that has qualitative and quantitative information about historical cases, and a set of computer-based communications tools. This comprehensive methodology will likely expedite the implementation of intelligent technologies by systematically examining their trade-offs with more conventional transportation improvement actions. PLANiTS’s structure, functionality, and application are described. Transportation improvement projects are represented as planning vectors in PLANiTS. A vector permits users to examine the effects of chosen transportation actions in terms of performance measures within an environment. Users must specify the actions, performance measures, and the environment, each in terms of their spatial, temporal, and user dimensions. Then they can analyze the planning vector with models and case-based reasoning. During the process of planning vector specification and analysis, stakeholders at different locations can communicate by sending and receiving messages and sharing the planning vector. Users at different locations can examine and review the results and iterate in an open and deliberative planning environment. Overall, PLANiTS facilitates transportation planning processes by combining analysis and deliberation.

Managing Incidents on Urban Arterial Roadways

Limiting the impact on traffic of nonrecurring events such as crashes, traffic stops, or disabled vehicles through effective incident management should be one objective for emergency response professionals. Moreover, such management is an integral part of Intelligent Transportation Systems planning. The Arterial Incident Management Study, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation and conducted by Northwestern University, examined the impact and management of arterial street incidents to determine what steps could be taken to improve the handling of such events. Several approaches were used to accomplish this, including (a) analysis of incident data from police and fire agencies, (b) debriefings of responders about specific incidents, (c) observation and videotaping of incidents, and (d) an incident management simulation workshop involving police, fire, emergency medicine, tow operator, public works, insurance, and media professionals who have responsibilities for incident management. A series of incidents were simulated in a workshop and consensus was sought on specific and general management tactics. This paper describes study methods and summarizes the important issues and recommendations to improve incident management. Among the key needs identified are (a) response in a manner and with adequate resources to minimize the time an incident affects a scene, (b) rapid removal of vehicles and debris, (c) effective traffic control at and around the incident, (d) communication with motorists who may be affected by long-duration incidents, and (e) advanced, intra- and interagency planning for incident management. Recommended changes include education of drivers and professionals, legislation, communications, use of new technologies for communications and data collection, and advanced planning and coordination of on-site procedures, responsibilities, and priorities.

A multiattribute analysis of goals for intelligent transportation system planning

Transportation planning in general, and planning for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in particular, are notable both for multiple goals and for multiple constituencies. In response to this policy environment, multicriteria decision analysis has often been utilized to evaluate alternative transportation investments. This approach is extended here to assess stakeholder valuation of broad goals of an ITS planning process, the FAST-TRAC operational field test in Oakland County, a suburban region of metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. Representatives of stakeholder groups, ranging from emergency response firm employees to city managers to environmental groups, were interviewed. Using a modified Analytical Hierarchy Process, implicit preference weights for transportation planning goals were derived, and inter- and intragroup comparisons made. Overall, collision reduction emerged as a dominant goal accounting for nearly 35% of the overall valuation of all goals. In contrast, travel time reduction and energy/environmental impacts each accounted for about 20% of the total valuation. Stakeholder group affiliation appeared to affect transportation system preferences most strongly with regard to environmental preferences and reduction in commercial travel time; with regard to other goals, individual interests seemed to dominate those of the ostensible stakeholder group. In an environment such as that of ITS, in which policy goals are diverse and potentially conflicting, the methodologies presented here can aid in policy and system design by gauging the relative preferences of strongly interested individuals and groups. While the specific findings presented here are not generalizable to other regions, they underscore the relative importance of a range of ITS goals apart from simple reductions in travel times.