Lesson
Develop a unified approach for a statewide intelligent transportation systems (ITS) deployment policy.
A New Jersey Department of Transportation experience with ITS operations and maintenance in Transportation Operations Centers (TOCs).
January 2005
New Jersey,United States; Colorado,United States; New York City,New York,United States
Background (Show)
Lesson Learned
A deployment policy, if implemented while ITS deployments are still evolving in the state and region, will result in substantial benefits that include enhanced regional interoperability, uniformity in implementation, and efficiency improvements, as well as better coordination among transportation agencies. Ways in which state DOTs can develop a unified approach to creating an ITS deployment policy are as follows:
- Develop a state DOT TOC Concept of Operations Plan. This guiding document will include ITS strategic plan elements and a migration strategy that aligns with funding priorities. It will articulate the agency’s vision, goals, and objectives; identify high-level roles and responsibilities; and delineate practices and procedures to be followed by the TOC in daily operations. It also will allow the agency to further develop ITS projects and allocate funding. Typical ITS initiatives addressed in a statewide ITS plan will include ITS architecture, TOC operations, incident management, highway service patrol, traffic control systems, freeway systems, and traveler information.
- Develop a state DOT TOC Operations Manual. This is the main document that operators and traffic engineers refer to during the course of daily TOC operations. It typically covers TOC operations but also maintenance procedures, coordination and communication requirements, and contacts within and outside of the agency. The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has developed an annotated outline of a TOC Operations Manual, based on national consensus, which serves as a checklist for the current recommended practice requirements.
- Develop a statewide policy on fiber optic and wireless technologies for ITS deployments. Such a policy is needed for DOTs to address two critical aspects of ITS network integration. First, it will provide necessary bandwidth and full connectivity necessary to support ITS devices, and second, it will allow interoperability of different communications technologies without interference from each other.
- The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has a policy on a wireless communications shared resource agreement with a local provider and has formed public/private partnership arrangements to meet such ITS needs.
- The City of New York has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) from private ventures to implement a citywide wireless network using a city-owned operating band frequency of 4.9 GHz for fire and police departments, traffic signal control systems, public safety, and emergency management applications. If successful, such arrangements with the private sector will provide public agencies with ready access to the latest technologies.
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Lesson ID: 2007-00356
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