Use the National ITS Architecture's User Services and User Service Objectives to reduce the effort required for planning and streamline the process of developing a regional ITS vision.

National experience developing regional ITS visions.

Date Posted
09/16/2005
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Identifier
2005-L00088

Best Practices of Rural and Statewide ITS Strategic Planning

Summary Information

This document distills best practices in preparation of rural and statewide ITS deployment plans from 12 in-depth case studies and 18 sites surveyed by written questionnaire. The ultimate goal is to identify factors that should be considered by agencies undertaking such planning projects. The report also documents the benefits of this planning so that these benefits can encourage future ITS strategic planning efforts nationwide.

This document addresses institutional rather than technical issues with emphasis on the complex decision-making process required for ITS strategic planning. This process includes agency interactions, processes and procedures, organizational structures, and the level of institutional involvement.

  • The document uses the case studies/surveys to summarize the following aspects of deployment, and lays out guidance highlights (lessons learned) addressing many of these items:
  • The ITS strategic planning process, including regional ITS architectures
  • Goals and objectives of creating an ITS strategic plan
  • Effective stakeholder participation
  • Best practices for outreach, education, and marketing
  • Funding opportunities and sources, including public/private partnerships
  • Operations, maintenance, and management considerations
  • Costs of planning
  • Potential benefits


The case studies themselves appear in appendices.

This document, along with the Rural Toolbox (FHWA-OP-01-030), forms the rural ITS best practices series.

Lessons Learned

Use the National ITS Architecture's "User Services" and "User Service Objectives" to reduce the effort required for planning and streamline the process of developing a regional ITS vision.



By using the National ITS Architecture's "User Services" and "User Service Objectives", planners can reduce their efforts and streamline the process of developing their ITS vision. It is recommended that workshops and focus groups be conducted to develop goals and objectives for the ITS program that map to the identified needs. It is also useful for the goals and objectives to be associated with short-, medium-, and long-term solutions and cross-referenced to individual user services and user service bundles (categorized by Rural and Urban categories).



The ITS user services objectives should be defined on a regional basis. They should address specific objectives, meet customer needs, and target solutions to specific problems.



These actions can increase the efficiency of the planning process.

Goal Areas
System Engineering Elements

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