Intelligent Transportation System Model For A City

Abstract

Increasing traffic congestion coupled with improved technology, funding constraints, and increasing environmental consciousness has provided an impetus to develop cost effective systems aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the transportation system. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) include a wide range of diverse technologies, including information processing, communications, control, and electronics.

ITS have evolved with applications, including collision warning systems, ramp meters, advanced signal control systems, transit and emergency vehicle management systems, and others. The goals of ITS deployments include improving traveler safety, traveler mobility and system efficiency; increasing the productivity of transportation providers; and conserving energy while protecting the environment. The strain on the transportation system as a whole is thus eased through the application of modern information technology and communications. Some technologies provide more cost effective benefits than others, and as technology evolves, the choices to deployers are bound to improve. These technologies are often combined into a single integrated system, providing benefits that exceed the benefits of any single technology (Proper and Maccubbin, 2000).

ITS aims to improve the safety and efficiency of the transportation system. ITS systems themselves offer opportunities for new methods of evaluation and continuing assessment. As an indication of the degree of commitment to ITS in the U.S., during the last decade, federal, state, and local governments have appropriated billions of dollars for ITS programs. In 1998, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) provided more than $1.2 billion in funding to support ITS through 2003. Of that, $603 million was targeted toward research and development. Another $679 million was intended for deployment of ITS projects (Sundeen, 2002). Further, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) estimates that more than $209 billion will be spent on ITS programs by 2011.