Chapter 15 ADVANCED TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DATA

With the implementation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for system management purposes, there is now the ability to extract archived data that can be used to evaluate the implementation of new operational strategies. In recognition of the need to provide feedback to decision-makers, efforts are underway to provide rigorous documentation of ITS benefits and costs. The objective of this paper is to describe how Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) data are being used to contribute toward these evaluations. Case examples are described in the areas of freeway management, incident management, arterial management, and transit management. Building a complete ITS system requires collaboration in time, funding, and institutional arrangements. ITS components that are integrated can result in synergistic effects when considered as an entire system. It is shown that in some cases it is possible to build upon national level statistics describing ITS benefits by using data collected from the systems themselves. It is hoped that further efforts to integrate transportation planning with evaluation methodologies will incorporate the necessary empirical results from a wide variety of studies. In this way, better databases can be developed, and heightened accountability will be more pervasive in the evaluation of ITS improvements.