Benefits

• How is the ITS Benefits Database organized?

  ITS benefits are presented in a number of classification schemes capturing various topics of interest of transportation professionals.

  Each database entry is categorized to the ITS Taxonomy based on the type of ITS evaluated. This organization scheme provides insight to the project managers, planners, and designers considering deployment of or assuming responsibility for a particular ITS application. This will allow, for example, a manager or planner seeking to improve transit system operations to search for example outcomes for the variety of ITS improvements intended to improve transit management (e.g., automatic vehicle location, transit signal priority, electronic fare payment).

  Each benefit entry is also categorized by the ITS goal areas affected by the system. Browsing by goal area is helpful to executives, researchers, and planners, interested in learning more about successful approaches to maximizing benefits in key ITS goal areas ranging from safety to customer satisfaction. This categorization enables refined searching for experiences with ITS that, for example, improve safety through freeway management applications.

  Database entries are also organized by the geographic location when available. Entries are categorized by the country or U.S. state where the subject ITS technology was deployed or analyzed.

• What is an ITS Benefits Database entry?

  ITS Benefits entries are short summaries of ITS evaluations and their findings that measure the effect of ITS on transportation system operations.

  A typical entry includes three elements:

  • Project / System Background
  • Evaluation Methodology
  • Findings

  Each entry begins with a brief description of the studied ITS application and project context. The summaries then describe the evaluation methodology used in the study (e.g., survey strategies, data collection periods, and simulation techniques used). Finally, each entry recounts the findings of the evaluation (e.g., gallons of fuel saved, hours of delay eliminated, or reduction in the percentage of crashes).

• How can I search the ITS Benefits Database?

  The ITS Deployment Evaluation website including the benefits entries can be searched by entering a keyword in the search box on the homepage. This search will return all content on the website that contains the keyword.

  From the Benefit page, the benefits entries can be searched using the following filters:

  • The Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT) categorization by service package. 
  • U.S. DOT goal area (safety, mobility, efficiency, productivity, equity and accessibility, energy and environmental impacts, and customer satisfaction) 
  • Connected Vehicle category
  • Geographic location
  • Benefit type (Modeled, Deployed, Field Test)

  These filters can be combined with a keyword to further refine the search results.

• What are the sources for ITS Benefits Database entries?

  ITS Benefits Database entries are drawn primarily from publicly available sources such as ITS evaluation studies, research syntheses, journal articles and conference papers. The U.S. DOT National Transportation Library, state and local agency reports, Transportation Research Board’s Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS), and conference proceedings are major sources for the documents reviewed for collection of benefits information. Correspondence with evaluators or additional web-based project content occasionally supplements information provided in these written documents. Each database entry provides links to relevant source documentation available online.

• Can I see ITS Benefit Database entries on a map?

  The ITS Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned Map provides a visual display of the locations of ITS benefits, costs, and lessons learned entries on a map. This fully searchable feature allows users to see where ITS technologies have been successfully deployed and evaluated in their state, city, region, or around the world.

  For benefit entries, the map feature provides:

  • Locations of benefit entries with a link to the original, publicly available source for the evaluation report.
  • Capability to search by keyword, date posted, technology, goal area, and result type (modeled vs. deployed).
  • Links to the Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT) taxonomy type of the benefit.
  • A search filter for connected vehicle technology deployments.
• How many entries does the ITS Benefits Database include?

  The database contains over 1,700 unique benefit entries.

• How often is the ITS Benefits Database updated?

  System cost summaries and sample unit costs are added to the costs database as new sources become available. Unlike the cost element ranges, which are updated periodically, new system cost summaries are added to the costs database as they are completed. Cost element ranges are updated periodically to coincide with final publication of indexes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• How can I contribute data to the ITS Benefits Database?

  Users are encouraged to submit sources for consideration for inclusion in the Benefits database. To contribute project data, click on Contact Us. All contributions are reviewed by an analyst before content is added to the database.