FRAMEWORK FOR THE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (ITS) EVALUATION ITS INTEGRATION ACTIVITIES

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) represent a significant opportunity to improve the efficiency and safety of the surface transportation system. ITS includes technologies to support information processing, communications, surveillance and control, and more; typically performing these functions more quickly, efficiently, and reliably or providing a function that was not previously performed. A critical aspect of ITS which provides much of its capability is the integration of individual technologies or components of the ITS infrastructure to form a unified transportation management system. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the experiences of the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT's) South Texas Regional Advanced Transportation Information System (STRATIS) - a recently developed traffic management center (TMC) in the Laredo District - in integrating existing field equipment including closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, loop detectors/video identification vehicle detection systems (VIVDS), dynamic message signs (DMS), highway advisory radio (HAR), and train monitoring systems.