ITS or "Intelligent Transportation Systems" is a broad range of diverse technologies which, when applied to our current transportation system, can help improve safety, reduce congestion, enhance mobility, minimize environmental impacts, save energy, and promote economic productivity. ITS technologies are varied and include information processing, communications, control and electronics. The challenges lie in the diversity of the technology, which is highly interdisciplinary, ranging from physics to psychology.
The future of ITS is promising. Yet, ITS itself is anything but futuristic. Already, real systems, products and services are at work throughout the country. Still, the wide-scale development and deployment of these technologies represent a true revolution in the way we, as a nation, think about transportation. Some examples of ITS products and services include the following:
Collect and transmit dynamic information on traffic conditions and transit schedules for travelers, whether they are at home, in the office or en route. Alerted to hazards and delays, they are able to change their plans to minimize inconvenience.
Expand the capacity of our highways by reducing the number of traffic incidents, clearing them more quickly when they occur, and rerouting traffic flow around them.
Improve the productivity of commercial, transit and public safety fleets by using automated tracking and dispatch systems, weigh-in-motion systems and automated inspection systems that speed vehicles through much of the red tape associated with intra and inter-state commerce.
Assist drivers in reaching a desired destination with navigational and safety systems such as collision avoidance systems; collisionnotification systems and driver assistance systems.
These are just a few of the potential products and services which ITS may provide. The complete list is lengthy and grows longer every day.
Congress has recognized the value of the ITS program by including large multi-million dollar ITS allocations in each of the U.S. Department of Transportation's surface transportation acts beginning with the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) as well as the National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act of 1997 (NEXTEA) and more recently the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003 (SAFETEA-LU). The US (and world) market for ITS products and services is expected to grow steadily with new technologies spurring almost daily advances.
