Transportation

InTellIgenT TransporTaTIon sysTems In The UnITed sTaTes
In contrast to Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, the United States lags world leaders in aggregate ITS de- ployment, particularly with regard to provision of real- time traffic information by government transportation agencies, progress on vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle integration, adoption of computer- ized traffic signals, and maximizing the effectiveness of its already-installed ITS systems. To be sure, the United States has pockets of strengths with regard to ITS in particular regions and applications, including

use of variable rate highway tolling, electronic toll col- lection, certain advanced traffic management systems such as ramp metering, and an active private sector market in telematics and travel information provision, but the United States is not quite at the vanguard of the most elite countries deploying ITS. Implementation of intelligent transportation systems in the United States varies immensely by state and region, thus tending to be sporadic, isolated, incremental, and, unlike Japan’s Smartway, not connected into a nationally integrated intelligent transportation system.
Implementation of ITS in the United States varies immensely by state and region, thus tending to be sporadic, isolated, and, unlike Japan’s Smartway, not connected into a nationally integrated intelligent transportation system.


This is not a reflection on the technology or the prom- ise of ITS, nor it is a reflection of the organizations at the state and federal levels responsible for ITS deploy- ment. Rather, as discussed subsequently, it is the result of a continued lack of adequate funding for ITS and the lack of the right organizational system to drive ITS in the United States, particularly the lack of a federally- led approach, as opposed to the “every state on its own approach” that has prevailed to date. Recognizing the need to reorganize and reanimate the United States’ approach to intelligent transportation systems, on Jan- uary 8, 2010, the Research and Innovative Technology Administration within the U.S. DOT unveiled a new “ITS Strategic Research Plan, 2010-2014.”¹¹⁴ The Plan charts an ITS research portfolio that will “continue ef- forts necessary for researching, prototyping, testing, evaluating, and transferring the next generation of ITS technology.”¹¹⁵ Moreover, it elucidates a framework for research questions regarding ITS technology, applica- tions, and policy that seeks to make, by 2014, an assess- ment of the feasibility, viability, and value of deploying fully integrated VII and V2V platforms such as Intel- liDrive. While this research work is important, and the creation of an ITS research plan for the United States marks a credible step forward, it is not enough. The
U.S. Department of Transportation needs to make a fundamental shift from a focus solely on ITS research to include a much greater focus on ITS deployment, and significantly accelerate the speed with which ITS technologies reach the U.S. traveling public.