Use of the National Architecture to Develop an Intelligent Transportation Systems Strategic Plan: Case Study for a Medium-Sized Area

A case study of use of the national architecture to develop an intelligent transportation system (ITS) strategic deployment plan for Chittenden County, Vermont, an area with a population of 140,000, is presented. Because the study was conducted after a mature version of the national architecture had been completed, every effort was made to take full advantage of the national architecture documents in developing the plan. This helped reduce significantly the amount of effort needed to complete the plan, while ensuring the interoperability of the systems to be deployed. In developing the plan, the most recent version of the ITS planning process, which is based on the “market package” concept, was followed. A quantitative, systematic procedure was used to screen and prioritize the market packages. A regional ITS architecture was then developed, and the selected packages were developed into a list of recommended projects for the region. The study clearly demonstrates the value of the national architecture. The architecture provided guidance in formulating an ITS vision for the region, formed the basis on which ITS packages were selected, and dramatically reduced the amount of effort needed to develop the regional architecture. The architecture’s market packages are shown to be applicable to medium-sized areas; however, they need to be implemented at a smaller scale than in larger metropolitan areas.