CIVE 650

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS)

Mid-Term Paper Component 2

NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE

COMPONENT 2: CASE STUDY GUIDE
COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

The following is an exercise that will allow you to explore the National ITS Architecture contents while
following a process that state and local planning organizations use as part of their ITS planning activities.
You will develop ITS architecture information to guide the deployment of ITS for a major university
event trip generator – a Saturday afternoon football game. Instructions about each of your tasks follow
the description below. You will develop a document (PowerPoint presentation) recording your findings
and answering the questions within the tasks.

YOUR ROLE

You are a new traffic engineer at the City’s department of transportation (City DOT). Your job
responsibilities to this point have included traffic studies, data collection, traffic signal timing, and
numerous other tasks. Your supervisor has been a City DOT engineer for 20 years and did all the same
type of work you are doing now. However, with recent technological advancements in the traffic and
transportation field, some new approaches to how the City manages its transportation system have
been introduced. While your supervisor understands the benefits of this approach, there is
apprehension about how it all works.

DESCRIPTION

A football game represents the biggest event that your City has to accommodate. There are typically six
to seven home games a year, each drawing close to 80,000 people into the City on game days. The
university campus is located in the middle of your City. However, its football stadium is located off-
campus, about two miles from the heart of campus.

In the past 15 years, traffic conditions on home game weekends have degraded each year. As the team
has improved under new leadership, attendance has grown which has steadily increased car traffic and
the tail-gating activities prior to and after game time. In turn, this has increased the congestion and
spread it over a longer period of time.

To capitalize on this new found vigor for the football program, the University made a commitment to
expand the stadium to accommodate an additional 15,000 seats. Thus, the record draw of alumni and
fans to the games is only expected to increase as the stadium is expanded for more seats.

Once it was decided to expand the stadium, the University commissioned a study to assess the current
and future demand being fueled by the record attendance. The study concluded that traffic conditions
will not improve unless new roadway access and traffic management features are put in place. The
roadway expansion is severely limited due to the unavailability of land for new roads around the
stadium; therefore, using traffic technology is imperative.

Since the stadium sits off-campus and is surrounded by City-maintained streets and traffic signals, the
University approached the City DOT engineer (and you) with their stadium expansion plans and
completed traffic impact study. The study recommended a plan be developed to handle traffic before,
during, and after the game on the campus grounds, the stadium grounds, the freeways, arterials, and
local streets that surround the stadium and used for ingress and egress. The study made it clear that an
overhaul of the existing City’s Traffic Management Center (TMC) would be needed in order to
implement and use any ITS devices.

As you are painfully aware, traffic leading to and away from the stadium is under the control of the City
Department of Transportation. Around the stadium, the City police department usually handles special
traffic control providing travelers with direction as they enter and exit the area. It was recommended

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

that traffic be directed by dynamic message signs at key locations to reduce police activities and to
provide game day information, e.g., recommended exits, parking direction, etc., to those approaching
the stadium via freeway. It was proposed that 6 portable dynamic message signs (DMS) be placed at key
locations along arterials approaching the stadium and 2 overhead DMS’s be installed on the freeway in
advance of the exits providing main access to the City and stadium. In addition, the study recommended
that the City TMC provide traveler information via radio, website, and a mobile app to inform travelers
of traffic conditions and provide routing based on current traffic conditions. Any new devices placed on
the freeway will require coordination with the State DOT.

The study also recommended the implementation of vehicle detection/surveillance devices at 10

intersections, on two main arterials (8 locations total), and at four locations on the freeway that would
feed traffic data to the upgraded City TMC, providing a clear picture for operators of the status of the
roadways.

In addition, to better coordinate incident response, the City police will have an officer located in the
City’s TMC on game days to better coordinate incident response. Video surveillance will be monitored
from the TMC center allowing the officer to assess incidents within view of the nearest camera and
directly dispatch response.

One of the findings in the study was the lack of information provided to motorists about parking.
Parking is available on the University campus, as well as, in City and public lots. Parking area locations
are ill-defined and occupancy levels unknown causing a lot of wasted travel and congestion. It was
recommended that parking information be disseminated using technology so the public will know the
locations of designated parking areas and the number of spaces available at each. Two major parking
areas were designated as test beds for parking occupancy detection.

Transit service provided by the City Transit Authority will receive traffic conditions at the existing Transit
Management Center. It was recommended that two special transit routes be provided on game days
and that flexibility be built into the system to best serve the riders. This would entail some type of
technology being implemented on 4 buses. Furthermore, the university operates 4 shuttle buses from
on-campus parking areas to the stadium. It was recommended that transit options be coordinated
between the City Transit Management Center and the existing University Shuttle Dispatch Center.

The university will make a sizeable investment in technology to accomplish this deployment. It will be
accomplished over a period of 3 years. The City, recognizing the importance of improving traffic
conditions on game days, has agreed to devote funds for these improvements out of their annual
transportation budget over the same 3-year period. The costs associated with each ITS component, the
subsequent TMC upgrades, the implementation and integration of the ITS technology, and the operation
and maintenance costs of the system, all need to be considered in order to determine how to phase the
project, i.e., based on your budget constraints each year, how will you stage your ITS technology
deployments. Therefore, an ITS architecture is needed to properly plan and coordinate each phase of
the deployment.

Table 1 provides a summary of the proposed ITS elements recommended for the project. It should be
noted that the existing TMC will need to be upgraded to accommodate the new ITS devices shown in
this table.

Table 1 Summary of Project ITS Elements

ITS DEVICE TYPE NUMBER OF DEVICES

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

Portable Dynamic Message Sign (DMS) 6 signs

Overhead DMS 2 signs

10 Intersections (40 cameras)

Vehicle Detection/Surveillance Cameras 2 arterials (8 cameras)
1 Freeway (4 cameras)

2 Parking Locations (one City-owned, one

Parking Detection Systems
University-owned)

4 City buses
Transit Technology Upgrade
4 University shuttles

Mobile App 1 app for motorists

The following is a summary list of the agencies (stakeholders) involved in the project.

 State Department of Transportation

 City Department of Transportation/TMC Operators
 City Transit Authority
 City Parking Department/City Parking Operators
 City Police Department
 University Department of Transportation
 University Transit Department
 University Parking Department
 University Police Department
 Road users

In the following tasks, you will begin the development of an ITS architecture and/or its major
components reflecting primary capabilities described above using the National ITS Architecture website,
the Baton Rouge Regional ITS Architecture plan and the Louisiana Statewide ITS Architecture plan as
guides.

Task 1: Subsystem Mapping – Take some time to explore the various components of the National ITS
Architecture at http://local.iteris.com/arc-it/html/architecture/architecture.html. To start with, review
the Physical View component and familiarize yourself with the “Layer 0: Classes and Primary
Interconnects” and the “ARC-IT Subsystem Diagram”. Subsystems, the primary components of the
physical architecture, are generic representations of systems. The first step in creating an ITS
architecture is to associate local systems with the subsystem(s) of the National Architecture (based upon
the best fit). Typically, one-to-one associations are desired but a system that performs varied functions
may have to be mapped to two or more subsystems.

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

Figure 1 ARC-IT Subsystem Diagram

Review information on the website as well as from the two ITS Architecture plans (Baton Rouge Regional
and Louisiana Statewide) to get acquainted with the definitions and scope of each subsystem. After
reviewing the information, complete the following tasks and record in Table 2:

 Using the project description above, identify the primary elements involved (listed in Table 2)
and characterize them as either existing or planned.

 Identify the organization (stakeholder) that owns and/or operates the system.

 Determine which systems (Layer 0) and accompanying subsystems best match the elements
you have identified from the project description and associate (i.e., map) the system to the
appropriate subsystem(s).

Table 2 ITS System Mapping

PROJECT ELEMENT STATUS ORGANIZATION SYSTEM SUBSYSTEM MAPPING

Existing  Center  Traffic Management

City Traffic Center
(& City DOT
Management Center  Transportation
planned)
Information Center
Dynamic message planned City DOT  Field  ITS Roadway

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

signs Equipment
Personal devices  Traveler  Personal Information
(radios, computers, Device
Existing Road users
tablets, cell phones,
etc.)
 Field  ITS Roadway
Vehicle detection Equipment
Planned City DOT
devices  Security Monitoring
Equipment
City Parking  Field  Parking Area
Department/City Equipment
Parking monitoring Parking
Planned Operators,
equipment
University Parking
Department

City Transit Existing City Transit  Center  Transit Management

Management (& Authority Center
Center planned)
City transit vehicle  Vehicle  Transit Vehicle OBE
City Transit
equipment (tracking, Planned (On-Board Equipment)
Authority
etc.)
Existing  Center  Traffic Management
University Shuttle University Transit
(& Center
Dispatch Center Department
planned)
Video surveillance  Field  ITS Roadway
Planned City DOT
cameras Equipment
City Police  Center  Emergency
City Police Dispatch Department  Support Management Center
Planned
System  Service Monitor
System

Finally, answer the following questions:

I. Do most of the systems needed for this Project map to only one subsystem or multiple?

Answer: For this specific project, systems are connected to multiple subsystem (already shown in the
table)

II. When a system maps to multiple subsystems in the architecture what might the technical and
institutional implications be for the project?

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

There might be technical as well as institutional implications while sub-system mapping. For example, to
provide information on dynamic message sign, we need to connect City Traffic Management Center with
the DMS (center-field connection). In this case, we might face technical issues such as network
configuration and co-ordination.

1. What additional subsystems do you think could be potentially useful to implement in the
future? Why? Provide your potential additional subsystems answers in Table 3. An example has
been provided for you.

Table 3 Potential Additional Subsystems

SUBSYSTEM POTENTIAL FUTURE USE
Archived Data System Assessment of operations and planning for
future.

Transportation Information Center To collect, process, store, and disseminate

transportation information to system
operators and the traveling public.

Field Maintenance Equipment To support maintenance of field subsystems

like ITS Payment Equipment, Parking
Management Systems, Traveler Support
Equipment, and Commercial Vehicle Check
Equipment where maintenance is not covered
by a more specific Service Package.

Map Update System To supports the provision of the map data that
are used directly by vehicles (e.g., roadway
and intersection geometry data sets), travelers
(e.g., navigable maps used for route guidance
and display maps used at traveler information
points) and system operators

Task 2: Service Packages Mapping – In the project description there are activities or (that is, activities to
be performed by the systems) identified which are needed for the project.

Explore the Service Packages in the National ITS Architecture (available on the Service Packages tab of
the National Architecture website. The service packages are grouped by area such as traffic
management, traveler information, etc. For the list of services in Table 4 involved in the project, identify
the relevant Service Package(s) for each service. (At this time only complete the second column of the
table. The third and fourth columns will be completed during Task 5 of the exercise.) A service for the
project may require more than one service package from the National ITS Architecture to accomplish it
fully. The first line has been completed for you as an example.

When the mapping is completed, answer the following questions:

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

I. Service packages identify subsystems that may potentially be involved in a service. Can you
name a subsystem included in the TM-08-Traffic Incident Management System service package
that was not identified in Task 1?

Answer: Border inspection subsystem included in the TM-08-Traffic Incident Management System
service package that was not identified in Task 1.

II. What do the service packages provide beyond the subsystem mapping you did in Task 1?

Answer: Service Packages are not intended to be tied to specific technologies, but of course depend on
the current technology and product market in order to actually be implemented. As transportation
needs evolve, technology advances, and new devices are developed, Service Packages may change and
new Service Packages may be defined.

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

Table 4 ITS Service Mapping

TO BE COMPLETED IN TASK 2 TO BE COMPLETED IN TASK 5
RELEVANT SERVICE
List SERVICE OF PROJECT PACKAGE(S) FROM NATIONAL OBJECTIVE(S) PERFORMANCE MEASURE
ITS ARCHITECTURE
1 Upgrade Existing City TMC  TM01 – Infrastructure-Based  Increase the percent of regional  % of regional
Traffic Surveillance transportation system monitored by transportation system
 TM03 – Traffic Signal Control the TMC for real-time performance. monitored by the TMC.
 Improve average travel time during  Average travel time
peak periods by X percent by year Y. during peak periods
(minutes).
7 Traveler information  TI03 - Dynamic Route  To promote regional road safety  A survey will be
provided by dynamic Guidance and awareness by providing performed to identify the
message signs travelers with information about % of drivers that can
 TM06- Traffic Information
Dissemination unique driving conditions, events, appropriately follow the
or alerts. signs shown on DMS.
8 Traveler information  PS10 - Wide-Area Alert  To disseminate of the entire  % of road users use the
provided via radio, spectrum of regional transportation mobile app and % of
website, and a mobile app  TI01 - Broadcast Traveler
Information information to travelers via radio, people logging into the
by traveler information website, and a mobile app. website.
system

2 Traffic data collection via  DM02 - Performance  To collect regional traffic data  To process a data stream
traffic detection devices Monitoring (AADT, Pedestrian and bicycle of x GB per day of widely
 DM01 - ITS Data Warehouse counts) by traffic detection devices. varying quality.

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

Table 4 ITS Service Mapping

TO BE COMPLETED IN TASK 2 TO BE COMPLETED IN TASK 5
RELEVANT SERVICE
List SERVICE OF PROJECT PACKAGE(S) FROM NATIONAL OBJECTIVE(S) PERFORMANCE MEASURE
ITS ARCHITECTURE
3 Parking Occupancy  PM01 - Parking Space To provide concrete information  % of users purchased the
Information Management about parking availability by parking allotment by
determining the capacity of each ticket vending machine.
parking area.
6 Dissemination of parking  PM02 - Smart Park and Ride  To provide information to the  A survey will be
information including System travelers about parking availability, performed to identify the
parking availability charges, or alerts. % of drivers that can
appropriately follow the
parking information.
9 Flexible transit service PT03 - Dynamic Transit  To have a flexible transit service  A survey will be
(based upon monitoring of Operations focused on the Transit Management performed to identify the
traffic conditions by Center's traffic monitoring. % of passengers that are
Transit Management PT08 - Transit Traveler
Information satisfied with the
Center) services.
4 Technology on buses  PT07 - Transit Passenger  To get real time location  On-time pick-ups to total
Counting (COVID-19 Protocol) coordinates of the bus and count pick-ups (on-time
 PT05 - Transit Security the number of passenger in bus so performance).
that passengers can make better  Complaints per 1,000
 PT04 - Transit Fare Collection travel decisions and also to make
Management passenger trips.
user friendly system to track
location and get the density of  Operating cost per
passengers in bus. passenger trip and mile.

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

Table 4 ITS Service Mapping

TO BE COMPLETED IN TASK 2 TO BE COMPLETED IN TASK 5
RELEVANT SERVICE
List SERVICE OF PROJECT PACKAGE(S) FROM NATIONAL OBJECTIVE(S) PERFORMANCE MEASURE
ITS ARCHITECTURE
5 Coordination of transit  PT01 Transit Vehicle Tracking  To co-ordinate transit options by  % of passenger chose
options by City and City and University Shuttle. between City and
University Shuttle  PT02: Transit Fixed-Route
Operations University shuttle.

10 Coordinated incident  TM08 - Traffic Incident  To co-ordinate incident response by  Mean time to detect
response by City Police Management System city police. (MTTD).
 PS05 - Vehicle Emergency  Mean time to
Response. acknowledge (MTTA).
 PS12 - Disaster Response and  Mean time to recovery
Recovery (MTTR).
 Mean time to contain
(MTTC).
To calculate MTTC, take
the sum of the hours
spent detecting,
acknowledging, and
resolving an alert, and
divide it by the number
of incidents.

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

Task 3: Define the Project – Services or groups of services are often all that is needed to develop a scope
for a project. The service packages may provide you with small projects that can be incrementally
deployed. The trick is to figure out what should be installed first.

I. What would be your rationale for phasing deployment of the project?

II. Prioritize the list of services in order for deployment (from earliest to last). Services can be
prioritized by defining the exact order in which the services will be deployed or, more
frequently, services are categorized in deployment timeframes (such as, short- term, mid-term
& long-term). Prioritization should reflect rationale provided in response to question 1.

III. How would you involve the many different agencies, institutions, and organizations
(stakeholders) in the project development?

The following is a summary list of the agencies (stakeholders) involved in the project.
• State Department of Transportation
• City Department of Transportation/TMC Operators
• City Transit Authority
• City Parking Department/City Parking Operators
• City Police Department
• University Department of Transportation
• University Transit Department
• University Parking Department
• University Police Department
• Road users

The goals and objectives of the project cannot be fully articulated without considering who will use,
maintain, and expand the system i.e., stakeholders. Stakeholders will be involved not only in the
development process but also in the planning, design, deployment, and operation process. We will
ensure that stakeholders are actively informed and engaged especially during the development of the
project. The project should meet the needs and requirements identified by stakeholders and defined in
the statewide and regional ITS Architecture. Communications and outreach effort include not only
stakeholder engagement but also media relations, online and print communications, social media, and
public meeting planning.

Task 4: Plan the Project – The project definition you have developed won’t become a reality unless
funds are available to implement it. The reality of transportation projects and especially ITS projects is
that their deployment often requires that the project be broken into smaller pieces based on the
functionality required over time dictated by the available funding. For this task, assume the following
funding plan:

 Year 1 - $450,000
 Year 2 - $350,000
 Year 3 - $250,000
Total = $1050,000

These funds represent the combination of funds allocated in the City’s transportation plan and
contributions from the University over the next 3 years. This funding can be used only for capital
improvements including ITS but is not to be used for operations or maintenance resources at the City.

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

You must assume that no more City staff can be added to operate the signal system that is currently in
place.

Given the information above, your task is to develop a cost sheet for Year 1. The cost sheet should list
the following items:

 The systems or ITS components you have determined should be implemented in Year 1 of the
project.

 The costs incurred by each component or system implemented in Year 1.

A key factor in this type of planning, especially when the project you are working on requires integration
of ITS components, is accommodating the functionality dependencies of the systems/components being
implemented. These dependencies should be evident in your plan in the way you phase the project
implementation in the first year of the project. (Obviously in the real world you would be required to
fiscally plan out all 3 years, but for purposes of this exercise, you need only to consider Year 1. Keep in
mind though, in order to determine the ITS components you need for Year 1, you still need to think
about the most logical way to phase in the ITS technology over three years.)

To assist you in developing a cost sheet, Table 5 has been provided listing common ITS components
along with their respective capital costs and operating and maintenance costs (just ignore the O&M
costs and use only the capital costs when creating your cost sheet, O&M costs will be addressed later in
this task). Note that the purpose of Table 5 is to provide a starting point and is not all-inclusive. There
may be other ITS components you need that are not listed here; use the ITS cost database at the link
given here to find costs for other components you may need.

Table 5 Common ITS Component Costs

CAPITAL COST O&M COST
ITS COMPONENT NOTES
($K) ($K/YEAR)
Dynamic Message
21 1.6 Per unit
Sign (portable)
Video Camera Sensor Two sensors, one in each direction
24 0.3
on Corridor of travel
Video Camera Sensor Four-way intersection, one camera
22 1
at Intersection each approach
CCTV Video Camera 16 2 Color video with PTZ
Signal Controller Upgrade signal controller at
12 0.4
Upgrade intersection
Installation of a new traffic signal
New Traffic Signal 92 2
with video detection
Upgrading the existing TMC to
TMC Upgrade 300 50
accommodate new ITS
GPS for Transit Automatic Vehicle Locator per
2 0.3
Vehicle Location transit vehicle
Parking Monitoring Includes detection and controllers
35 2
System for parking areas

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

Table 5 Common ITS Component Costs

CAPITAL COST O&M COST
ITS COMPONENT NOTES
($K) ($K/YEAR)
Costs pertaining to field work
Integration of ITS
100 2 associated with connecting new
Devices
devices to upgraded TMC

Note: For the purposes of this exercise, installation costs are assumed as part of the capital costs.

I. When you factored in the costs and funding constraints of the project, did it complicate the
project? How did you feel about being under funding constraints and having to engineer the
optimal solution?

Answer: We had to encounter a complicated scenario (funding constraints) while preparing budget for
our project. The total budget allocated for our project was limited to $1050K but the budget calculated
for our project is $1800K. To find out the optimal solution under the funding constraints, we gave a
second thought to some of our ITS components (development of mobile app, TMC upgrade). We went
through the website https://www.itskrs.its.dot.gov/ to know more about the cost required for these
elements implemented in Colorado, New Jersey etc. We found that cost varies according to different
condition and extend of the project. Therefore, cost can be reduced/minimized having a meeting with
stakeholders considering the extend of this specific project.

II. Were there options to implementation available given the funding constraints or was the plan
forced into a particular approach? If options were available, what was your thought process for
the path you chose?

Answer: We would like to consider all the required ITS elements for our project if option of flexible
budget were available (from $1050K to the required $1800K). Otherwise, under the funding constraints,
we have to rethink about some the elements of our project i.e., the plan forced into a particular
approach.

III. Look at the phasing deployment you developed in Task 3 for Question 1. If you had considered
the funding constraints from the beginning, would the project have turned out the way you
defined it? If not, what do you think would have been different?

Answer: Task 3: Question 1 --- What would be your rationale for phasing deployment of the project?

While phasing deployment of the project, we did not have proper idea about the budget/budget
constraints. Considering funding constraints from the beginning, the project would not turn out the way
we defined it. We would reconsider the quantity/quality of each ITS element or consider other
compliant ITS technologies at the deployment phase 3. For example: vehicle detection/surveillance
cameras could be purchased at lower cost/number of cameras can be reduced based on some data
analysis (AADT).

IV. In the cost table above, the Operation and Maintenance costs were listed but you were not
asked to include them in your Cost List. O&M costs are very important to consider in the real
world - what are these costs and why do they need to be considered?

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COMPONENT 2: NATIONAL ITS ARCHITECTURE EXERCISE

Answer: Generally, Operation and Maintenance (O&M) cost of a component is the cost associated with
operating and maintaining that component (calculated as annual amount). O&M costs are quite
important to consider because all of these ITS elements are mechanical & electrical in nature. Without
proper maintenance, these elements may be damaged or go out of service permanently.

Task 5: Project Evaluation – The challenge with deploying ITS projects is knowing that what was
deployed made a difference or solved the problem that prompted it in the first place.

For this task:

Describe how you would go about evaluating the project after it has been implemented. Expanding
the table in Task 2 above, outline an evaluation plan for the evaluation of this project. For the services
to be provided in the project, identify the objective to be accomplished by the service and the
performance measure(s) that are needed to confirm if the objective is met. The first line has been
completed for you as an example.

1. Based on your own driving experiences and how you determine how well or poorly a particular driving
trip went, is there particular information that is most valuable for the evaluation to be successful?

Answer: Based on our driving experience, the determinant factor to judge a trip as decent/mediocre
might be the travel time required to reach the destination. For successful evaluation, we can consider
Value of Travel Time Savings (VTTS) which refers to the benefits of faster travel that saves time.

2. Upon completion of the tasks for this exercise, go back to Tasks 1 and 2 and show why there is the
need to complete these tasks as part of the total project.

Answer:

Task 1: Subsystem Mapping

Task 2: Service Packages Mapping

Task 3: Define the Project

Task 4: Plan the Project

Task 5: Project Evaluation

Task 1 and 2 consists of subsystem mapping and service package mappings. Subsystem mapping was
accomplished to associate local systems with the subsystem(s) of the National Architecture (based upon
the best fit). Service package mappings helped us to explore the service packages in the National ITS
Architecture required for our project. Task 3,4 & 5 consists of definition, planning, and evaluation of our
project. All these steps are required to determine the relevance and level of achievement of project
objectives, development of effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. Project evaluations also
feed lessons learned into the decision-making process of the project stakeholders.

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