THE CHICAGO ITS STRATEGIC PLAN

The Chicago Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Strategic Plan is an outgrowth of the city's 1997 ADVANTAGE 21 initiative. The Chicago Department of Transportation's (CDOT) Bureau of Traffic spearheaded the plan involving several city agencies: the Mayor's Office, the Department of Aviation and the Office of Emergency Communications, among others. The ADVANTAGE 21 Committee directed the development and integration of ITS into the city transportation system through a consultant contract. The plan places city needs and wants in the context of both regional and national programs, spells out projects and identifies implementation priorities. A $77-88 mil program has been defined, focused on Advanced Transportation Management Systems, but also including Electronic Toll Collection, Advanced Traveler Information Systems and Advanced Public Transportation Systems. This paper summarizes plan development, projects and recommended implementation steps. The entire Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee (GCM) Corridor, a 16-county area comprising over 10 million people, is one of the original priority corridors for ITS in this country. The GCM Corridor Program Plan (1) sets the stage for a variety of activities. In addition, the Northeastern Illinois Strategic Early Deployment Plan (SEDP; 2) focuses on the six-county Chicago MPO area, identifying 60 ITS projects at a cost of $136 million. That document makes the basic point that the Chicago area has a wealth of legacy and developing ITS equipment and projects, such that much of local ITS planning must concentrate on integration and interoperability. In this context, the City of Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) completed an ITS Strategic Plan via a consultant contract with Parsons. The overall goal was to lay out an overall approach and plan for developing and integrating ITS into the city transportation system, serving needs and maximizing performance for several years to come. The plan relates city ITS needs and desires to the regional and national programs, and spells out key steps and priorities for implementation.