The Cost for Stage 2 Implementation of a Next Generation Adaptive Traffic Management System was Estimated to be $14,788,590 in El Paso County.

Adaptive Traffic Management System Cost Data for 48 Intersections Across El Paso County.

Made Public Date
08/27/2025
Identifier
2025-SC00577

The City of Colorado Springs has leveraged U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) SMART Grant funding to launch Stage 1 of a next-generation adaptive traffic management system from August 2023-February 2025. Stage 1 advances the first-generation system by integrating new perception dimensions enabled by sensor hardware including radar, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and video analytics as well as a “digital twin” of intersection operations. Stage 1 focused on developing and field-testing these advanced technologies at two intersections. Stage 2 will expand deployment to 48 intersections along two key corridors, extending these benefits citywide and across El Paso County. The Stage 2 cost estimate of $14.8 million includes consulting fees and research partnerships with universities, national labs, as well as engineering firms. These upfront investments cover knowledge transfer, software development, system modeling, and research support while the remaining costs focus on hardware infrastructure deployment. The costs detailed below reflect an estimate of the scale of Stage 2 deployment needs, these costs have been refined and updated throughout Stage 1.

Table 1. Estimated Cost of At-Scale Implementation (Stage 2)

Stage 2 Activities Cost/Unit # of Units Total Cost 
Iowa State University (ISU) N/A N/A $852,000 
University of Alabama (UA) N/A N/A $471,000 
University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC) N/A N/A $550,000 
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) N/A N/A $3,600,000 
Olsson N/A N/A $3,800,000 
Cyber Services N/A N/A $450,000 
Publication & Documentation N/A N/A $550,000 
Public Engagement N/A N/A $300,000 
Installation $14,000  48 $672,000 
Servers, Workstations, Interconnectivity N/A N/A $30,000 
Cellular Interconnect $4,000  12 $48,000 
Auxiliary Cabinet $1,000  48 $48,000 
Radar Perception System (sensor + hub) $24,000  48 $1,152,000 
LiDAR Perception System (sensor + hub) $25,000  7 $175,000 
Video Perception System (sensor + hub) $45,000  4 $180,000 
Connected Vehicle (in-vehicle + cloud service) $7,000  20 $140,000 
Advanced Transportation Controllers $3,000  48 $144,000 
Firewalls & Communication System for Intersections N/A N/A $610,000 
Enclosures, Cabling, Misc. Inst. Hardware $750  48 $36,000 
Software Licenses & Service Fees $12,000  3 $36,000 
Weather Station Equipment & Service $21,500  5 $107,500 
Total Direct Cost $13,951,500 
Contingency (6 %) $837,090 
Total Project Cost $14,788,590 

Perception-Based Adaptive Traffic Management and Data Sharing

Perception-Based Adaptive Traffic Management and Data Sharing
Source Publication Date
06/23/2025
Author
Frisbie, Todd; Daniel Sines; Zoami Sosa; Christopher Day; Stanley Young, Alex Hainen; Faizan Mir; and Rimple Sandhu
Publisher
Prepared by the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Program for the City of Colorado Springs and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory