STATUS OF ITS EARLY DEPLOYMENT PLANNING AND OTHER ITS DEPLOYMENT INITIATIVES OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

The application of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies offers great promise for improving the safety, mobility, and productivity of our national transportation system users. In recognition of the benefits of deploying ITS that have already been realized, the FHWA has provided grants to state and local transportation agencies and MPOs to conduct planning studies to develop multi-year ITS strategic deployment plans in metropolitan areas and along intercity corridors. Grants have been provided to four metropolitan areas within FHWA Region 7: St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha/Council Bluffs, and Des Moines. This paper compares the four Region 7 studies in terms of the general characteristics of the metropolitan areas, the methods used to conduct the studies, and the recommendations of the completed studies.