Full ITS deployment in Seattle projects personal travel time reductions of 3.7 percent for drivers and 24 percent for transit users.

The projected results of full ITS deployment in a large metropolitan area.

Date Posted

02/09/2016

Seattle, Washington, United States

Seattle, Washington,

United States

Identifier

2015-B01027

Benefits and Costs of Full Operations and ITS Deployment: A 2003 Simulation for Seattle

Summary Information

The Federal Highway Administration initiated a study to explore the benefits and costs of fully deploying operational strategies and integrating ITS in the large metropolitan area of Seattle. The strategies included in Seattle's Full Operations and ITS Deployment Scenario were identified by consulting with local agencies to identify the overall ITS program planned through the next 25 years. The benefits are contingent on complete deployment of the full operations and ITS deployment scenario. The selected strategies are listed in the following table.

Category	Strategy
Arterial Traffic Management Systems	Central Control Signal Coordination
Emergency Vehicle Signal Preemption
Transit Vehicle Signal Priority
Freeway Management Systems	Central Control Ramping Metering
Transit Management	Fixed-Route Automated Scheduling and Automatic Vehicle Location
Fixed-Route Security Systems
Electronic Transit Fare Payment
Incident Management Systems	Incident Detection, Verification, Response, and Management
Emergency Management Systems	Emergency Vehicle Control Service
Telemedicine
Emergency Vehicle AVL
Traveler Information	Phone- and Web-Based Traveler Information System
Kiosk-Based Traveler Information
Highway Advisory Radio
Dynamic Message Signs
Crash Prevention and Safety	Railroad Crossing Monitoring Systems
Commercial Vehicle Operations	Weigh-in-Motion and Safety Information Exchange
Combination Screening and Clearance
Supporting Deployment	Traffic Management Center
Transit Management Center
Emergency Management
Information Service Provider Center
Closed Circuit TV and Loop Detectors

Benefits

Personal travel times reduced by an average of more than 120,000 hours daily in the Seattle area with full implementation of operations and ITS strategies.
The average daily reduction of 3.7 percent amounts to an average of more than eight hours saved per resident in the area annually.
The results of full deployment were found to be more effective reducing travel times during congested periods.
Travel times in the afternoon commute period were reduced by 6.1 percent versus a reduction of 0.5 percent during the less congested, non-commute period.
Additionally, transit riders are expected to experience greater travel time improvements, averaging more than six minutes per trip during the afternoon commute, an approximate 24 percent decrease in their average trip time.