2004 Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Projects Book, Online Version

Section Nine: Architecture, Standards, and National Compatibility Planning : Introduction

National ITS Architecture Program. In July 1996, the Architecture Team completed development of the National ITS Architecture. This effort provided the supporting analysis, implementation strategy, and detailed requirements essential to accelerate the ITS standards development process. The National ITS Architecture, in conjunction with the developed standards, is supplying the transportation and communications framework necessary for a nationally compatible intelligent transportation system.

The architecture program has responded to stakeholder needs articulated in user services. It has identified interfaces between the system components, recommended the message sets and data that would be exchanged and that would need standards development, and has provided an implementation strategy for use by public and private sector transportation planners in developing their unique ITS systems. A thirty-third user service, disaster response and evacuation, was integrated into the National ITS Architecture in October 2003. Other areas under consideration for enhancement or as a new user service include safety, additional transportation security, intermodal freight, weather, and emergency/incident management. Thus, the National ITS Architecture will continue to be updated and maintained based on evolving ITS standards, deployment experiences, and stakeholder consensus for additional user services.

The overall program focus continues to be ITS deployment support with architecture consistency emerging in a significant role. An initiative begun in 1999 was the design of two levels of workshops to support regions and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in the development of their regional and project architectures. Nearly sixty of these workshops were conducted around the country through 2001 using the Turbo Architecture software tool. In 2001, the Regional ITS Architecture Guidance Document was developed for distribution to the FHWA Resource Centers and Divisions, state DOTs, and MPOs. Process workshops, using the guidance document as a basic reference, were developed to replace the two levels of workshops that ended in CY 2001. Seventeen workshops with 42 regions participating were conducted in 2002 and 2003. An abbreviated one-day seminar has been developed to accommodate regions facing time constraints and will be offered in 2004. The Federal Rule/Policy regarding the National ITS Architecture and Standards is expected to cause an increased interest in the seminars and workshops as the April 2005 deadline approaches. These workshops and seminars, and their subsequent architectures, should foster standardization and compatibility between projects and regions.

A continuing architecture effort has been the support of the standards development organizations (SDOs). The ITS Architecture Team has continued to work with them to facilitate the effort to accelerate the development, approval, and testing of national ITS standards.

Following more than 120 presentations by the Architecture Team to more than 2500 persons throughout the country, both the Architecture Training course and the Turbo Architecture course continue to be offered, currently under the auspices of the FHWA National Highway Institute. Educational and technical assistance is being provided to public and private sector organizations by the ITS Architecture Team in support of the overall ITS planning and deployment process. Understanding the broad foundation provided by the National ITS Architecture is leading to an acceleration of ITS deployment nationwide, bringing us closer to the vision set by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. Momentum for the implementation was addressed in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and will continue with the next transportation authorization legislation whose enactment is anticipated in early CY 2004.

Projects described in this section include regional architectures being developed under the TEA-21 ITS Deployment Program.

ITS Standards Program. The ITS Standards Program is accelerating the development and promoting the widespread deployment of integrated ITS systems though robust, non-proprietary standards. Together with standards development organizations (SDOs) and other ITS stakeholders, the ITS Standards Program encompasses standards development, testing, outreach and education, technical assistance. Information on the standards program and on the standards can be found on the Standards Web Site, www.its-standards.net.

• Standards Development. The U.S. DOT is committed to the accelerated development of ITS standards in cooperation with existing SDOs who develop open ITS standards through a consensus-based volunteer process. Currently, activities are underway leading to the development of about 100 ITS standards that address communications interfaces in the National ITS Architecture. As the National ITS Architecture continues to expand beyond recently incorporated areas such as highway-rail intersections and the archived data user service into proposed areas such as emergency services, the need for additional ITS standards will be assessed.
  
• Standards Testing. A comprehensive program to test ITS standards that are emerging from the standards development process began in 1999. The primary purposes of the ITS standards testing program are to investigate the operation, correctness, and completeness of the standards and to “prove” the standards in realistic settings. As an important measure to encourage acceptance and use of ITS standards, testing will provide timely and meaningful information on standards readiness to the ITS community. Testing includes experience-based testing by early deployers and more formal engineering-based testing. The testing program will leverage ongoing and planned ITS field deployments.
  
• Standards Outreach and Education. To promote the awareness and use of ITS standards, the ITS Standards Program includes a multi-faceted outreach and education program for public-and private-sector stakeholders involved in ITS deployment. The program includes non-technical outreach, technical outreach, and training and education.

Non-technical outreach is aimed at communicating the rationale and benefits for using ITS standards to transportation stakeholders. Technical outreach educates the community on the content of standards, the status of their availability, the application of specific standards, and issues related to standards implementation. Outreach products, most of which are on the Standards Web Site, include resource materials, such as fact sheets and user guides, to assist users with standards-related deployments. Case studies and reports on “lessons learned” are being developed and disseminated to provide essential information needed by stakeholders and to build confidence in the standards.

Instructional training on ITS standards is being conducted through updated courses, new courses, workshops, and other formats, as appropriate. A variety of short courses and workshops on standards in general and on specific standards topics are available through the U.S. DOT Professional Capacity Building Program and through workshops provided by the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Recently, procurement specification writing workshops have been developed and presented across the Nation. Available training opportunities, grouped by subject category, as well as course content, registration information, and additional information, are provided on the Standards Web Site.

- Standards Deployment Assistance. To assist state and local public-sector transportation agencies with ITS standards-related deployments, the U.S. DOT is providing technical support, including in-depth assistance with the detailed mechanics of the standards. Standards experts can provide assistance in areas directly related to standards implementation, such as system planning, design, procurement, installation, and product and system acceptance. Technical assistance may be obtained through the FHWA ITS specialists assigned to Division Offices and Resource Centers, as well as through the ITS Standards Field Support Team. An additional valuable deployment support product is the deployment contacts database accessible on the Standards Web Site.

The ITS Standards Program is a multi-year program.

Regional ITS Architectures. The rule making process addressing the requirements for ITS projects to conform to the National ITS Architecture and Standards culminated in January 2001 with a rule requiring the development of regional ITS architectures. Regional ITS architectures help guide the integration of ITS components, and ensure that all are compatible with one another and with future ITS projects. Several ITS Integration Program projects initiated in FYs 1999 through 2003 are proposed regional ITS architectures.