Use in Long Range Transportation Planning

This page provides a guide for using a regional ITS architecture as part of long-range transportation planning. Due to regional and local variations in the practice of transportation planning, this guide represents a wide range of options available to each state, region, or agency rather than a single recommendation. There is no need to fundamentally change the planning processes in the region to use the architecture. The regional ITS architecture is a tool that can be used to support planning for ITS within the context of existing transportation planning processes. Local stakeholders must decide how best to incorporate the regional ITS architecture and the products produced during its development into their transportation planning process.

The goal of the planning process is to make quality, informed decisions pertaining to the investment of public funds for regional transportation systems and services. Using the regional ITS architecture to support these planning activities is an important step in the mainstreaming of ITS into the traditional decision-making of planners and other transportation professionals. As shown in the section on Architecture Update, transportation plans and programs are important inputs to the development of a regional ITS architecture. Once an architecture is complete, it can feed detailed ITS-specific information back into the planning process.

Adapted from "An Objectives-Driven, Performance-Based Approach to Planning for Operations" from FHWA's Advancing Metropolitan Planning for Operations: The Building Blocks of a Model Transportation Plan Incorporating Operations - A Desk Reference, (FHWA-HOP-10-027, https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/), the figure below shows the key steps in the transportation planning process for Federal-aid projects. This process is focused on Management and Operations, which are the aspects of planning that most relate to ITS systems and ITS deployments. These steps will be elaborated on in following sections.

An Objectives-Driven, Performance-Based Approach to Planning for Operations

The transportation planning process is driven by a regional vision and set of goals. These drive transportation improvement strategies that are a mix of capital improvements and operational improvements. The planning organizations evaluate and prioritize the various strategies, and the resulting output is a document called the Long-Range Transportation Plan (or sometimes Metropolitan Transportation Plan or Statewide Transportation Plan). This plan is the key output of long-range planning. The Long-Range Transportation Plan feeds the Programming function which produces the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Once a project is programmed then project development can begin   All of these steps occur with a variety of critical factors and inputs as shown in the figure. While this process is for Federal-aid funded projects, typically agency planning follows similar steps.

Select the steps in the objectives-driven, performance-based approach to planning for operations (in the diagram above) to explore sample planning outputs and their connection to the ITS Architecture.

Architecture & Long Range Planning

How can a Regional ITS Architecture support the long-range transportation planning process?  In the following basic ways that will be expanded upon below:

-         The services described in the Regional ITS Architecture can be related to the operational objectives or operational strategies that can be used to improve the transportation system to meet the region's vision and goals.

-         The definition of an integrated transportation system described by the Regional ITS Architecture can support the operations and management element of the transportation plan.

-         The process of developing and maintaining a Regional ITS Architecture can help to enhance the linkage between operations and planning through closer involvement of a wider array of stakeholders from both of these areas of transportation.

One of the first steps in using a regional ITS architecture to support transportation planning is to determine the regional ITS architecture(s) that apply to the planning area. In most cases, there is a single architecture that corresponds to the state or metropolitan planning area and the choice is obvious. In a few areas around the country, more than one regional ITS architecture may apply. Where more than one architecture applies, it is important to understand the relationship between each architecture and the transportation planning process, which should be included in the architecture use section of each regional ITS architecture. See Architecture Scope for more information on defining architecture scope.

Goals, Objectives, and Strategies

The planning process usually begins with a regional vision and goals. These goals are often very high-level statements such as "preserve the multimodal transportation system" or "enhance public safety and security", which happen to be two of the six goals in the California Transportation Plan 2040.

Operational Strategies to Support Regional Goals and Objectives

These high-level goals are then further defined as objectives, recommendations, or strategies. As shown in the figure above, some of the strategies involve operational or capital improvements. ITS is typically focused on Operations solutions. These operations solutions include asset or access management, traffic signal timing, congestion mitigation, corridor management, emergency traffic operations, incident and freeway management, freight operations, traveler information, road weather solutions, tolling and road pricing programs, demand management, and work zone management.

The Regional ITS Architecture can provide an array of potential operational improvements through the services that are defined in it.

As an example, the following recommendation (supporting the goal of preserving the transportation system) is contained in the California Transportation Plan 2040:

Use research, technology, innovative techniques, and new materials to extend the life of the multimodal system, and to monitor defects so they can be addressed cost-effectively without risk to public safety. Utilize and install new operational strategies and technologies to optimize system capacity.

This recommendation can be addressed by several of the services contained in the California statewide ITS architecture, including work zone management, traffic information dissemination, broadcast traveler information, travel demand management, and interactive traveler information. Additional examples of strategies with their roots in the Regional ITS Architecture can be found in other LRPs and overall this represents one way for the Regional ITS Architecture to be used in the planning process.

Strategies that have traditional transportation technology projects as their primary solution may add ITS elements or services as a part of the overall strategy solution. For example, to reduce congestion, a corridor is planned for widening. This project could also include incorporation of ITS elements and services to better manage the upgraded corridor.

The selection of services to support strategies will be simplified for the planning organization if the Regional ITS Architecture has the Regional Goals, Objectives, and Strategies component that provides mapping from these planning attributes to the more detailed services of the architecture.

Once transportation planners select a set of strategies, they use a variety of tools to evaluate the various strategies for transportation improvement. One aspect of the evaluation of strategies is to understand their impact on the transportation network. This may be done via collection of transportation data and the development of performance measures relating to the network. The Regional ITS architecture can provide an overview of the current data collection or performance monitoring capabilities of the region (through the Data Management services defined in the architecture). Through the projects defined in the architecture, plans for expansion of data collection capabilities are also defined. Review of this information in the architecture by planners can highlight these data collection or performance monitoring capabilities, pointing the planners to possible sources of data or performance monitoring that might assist them in the evaluation of the strategies.

As an example of the connection between projects and planning, the Minnesota Statewide ITS Architecture has a detailed mapping within the description of each project to the transportation plan objectives, as well as to the Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) objectives.

Project Initiative from Minnesota Statewide Architecture

In this example from the Minnesota Statewide ITS Architecture (2018 update, available at https://www.dot.state.mn.us/its/projects/2016-2020/itsarchitecture.html) each project or, in this case, initiative, lists various information about that project including the description, costs, ties back to the architecture, and as shown here, ties to the Needs and ITS Objectives that had been previously identified. Here we see that this initiative for the "Real-Time Integration of Arrow Board Messages into Traveler Information Systems" is tied to objectives to support things like reducing the total vehicle hours of delay caused by work zones. Each project or initiative is also related to a TSMO Goal or one or more TSMO Objectives.

Long Range Plan

In the traditional transportation planning process, the Long-Range Plan is the output product of the process for long-range planning. Across the country, this plan is called various names including Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) or just Long-Range Plan (LRP). In this discussion it will be referred to as the "Long-Range Plan", "The Plan", or LRP.

The Plan documents the policy direction for the region and describes how transportation projects and programs will be implemented over a 20-year (or longer) period. It must be updated periodically by each state and metropolitan area. The Long-Range Plan is the expression of a state or metropolitan area's long-range approach to constructing, operating, and maintaining the multimodal transportation system. It is the policy forum for balancing transportation investments among modes, geographic areas, and institutions.

The requirements for metropolitan transportation planning are defined in Title 23 U.S.C. Sec. 134. In that federal code, seven planning factors are defined. One of the key ones, in the context of the regional ITS architecture is to "promote efficient system management and operation". The recent transportation bill, MAP-21, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (P.L. 112-141) added the following words to the portion of Section 134 which describes what needs to be included in a transportation Plan: "Operational and management strategies to improve the performance of existing transportation facilities to relieve vehicular congestion and maximize the safety and mobility of people and goods." One of the key purposes of a Regional ITS Architecture is to provide a technical plan for improving integration of elements of the transportation system in order to address operational and management strategies as defined in the transportation plan.

A second Section of the Code, 135, applies to statewide planning and in this section the following similar requirement has been added: "The statewide transportation plan and the transportation improvement program developed for each State shall provide for the development and integrated management and operation of transportation systems and facilities."

Due to these revised requirements, operations and management will be considered in all both metropolitan and statewide transportation plans as they are revised in the future. Many existing plans already have explicit sections relating to operations and management. An example of this type of inclusion is taken from the 2040 Metro Vision Regional Transportation Plan (for the Denver metropolitan region): Under the System Management and Operational Improvements element they have the following: "System management and operations improvements and actions are largely supported and enabled by intelligent transportation systems (ITS) – technology tools and systems that facilitate and implement desired operations and processes." This makes a direct connection between the plan and the ITS systems being deployed. In other plans the direct connection is provided by defining strategies that specifically address technology. For example, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) Regional Transportation Plan includes the following strategy: "Use technology to improve transportation operations"

Some transportation plans make explicit reference to the Regional ITS Architecture. For example, the NJTPA plan mentioned above includes the following investment guideline: "Invest in technological improvements in accordance with the region's Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) architecture." Some other plans include directly executive summary information from the region's architecture as part of the plan. The level at which each region connects their transportation plan to the region's architecture is a regional choice, but the following actions taken during the update of the regional ITS architecture can facilitate the connection between these two planning activities:

1.     Creating an executive summary, including graphics that present the integration opportunities identified in the architecture in an accessible way. These can be included directly or in part into the transportation plan in support of the section of the plan which deal with operations and management.

2.     Make sure that the regional goals, strategies, and objectives are tied to the regional ITS architecture (as described in the architecture component discussion on Goals, Strategies, and Objectives). This will facilitate the connection between components of the architecture (e.g. services) and the planning attributes around which the transportation plan is focused.

3.     Consider formally adopting the Regional ITS architecture, which can have several benefits. Formal adoption adds credibility to the Regional ITS Architecture, allowing planners to use aspects of the architecture with the knowledge that the region has agreed to the architecture. Formal adoption also encourages additional rigor in the architecture maintenance process. There may be situations where this suggestion will not be practical due to institutional complexities or due to the ITS architecture having a distinctly different (e.g. larger) geographic scope than the regional planning organization.

4.     Ensure that transportation planners are included in the stakeholder discussions for all updates of the architecture. Having planners and operations staff work together on the updates will help the planners understand the range of regional operations and management efforts planned and will lead to the planners having a better knowledge of how to find information relevant to them in the architecture outputs.

Transportation Planning Factors

Under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century of 1998 (TEA-21), Congress showed support for metropolitan and statewide transportation planning by emphasizing seven distinct planning factors that metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and states should consider when developing their plans. In 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), added emphasis in two areas: security and the environment. Transportation security was made a stand-alone factor, increasing the total number of factors to eight and signaling an increase in importance from prior legislation. The factor relating to the environment was also expanded, to promote consistency of the long-range transportation plan with planned growth and development. The most recent authorization, Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) added two planning factors for: 1) System resiliency and reliability, and 2) Travel and tourism.

Per the legislation, the planning factors must be considered in the implementation of projects and strategies and services. A representative set of goals that have one to one correspondence with the planning factors are also included in the table.

Planning Factors to Goals

Architecture Use

Intelligent transportation systems support each of the planning factors to some degree. Factor F, which focuses on integration and connectivity of the transportation system, is of particular interest since integration is a principal motivation for a regional ITS architecture. Using and maintaining a regional ITS architecture is a key tool for achieving this planning factor. The other factors are addressed by specific ITS services that achieve the identified benefits. Select the goals associated with each planning factor to see the objectives, performance measures, and service packages that support each planning factor.

Regional Goals

Transportation planning and investment decisions are based on the public's desired outcomes for the transportation system. Transportation planning begins with a set of broad goals that reflect the desired outcomes and the transportation vision for the region. The goals identified in the table below are representative of the goals that are included in metropolitan and statewide transportation plans. As shown in the table, the representative goals included in the Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT) are closely tied to the planning factors required by 23 CFR 450 . Select any of the goals to traverse to more specific objectives that support the goals, performance measures that can be used to measure the progress towards the objectives, and ultimately the service packages in ARC-IT that support each objective.

Goals to Planning Factors

Each goal above is linked to a set of Objectives which are, in turn, tied to associated performance measures and service packages. Consult the ARC-IT website to see these connections.

Architecture Use

The regional ITS architecture must be consistent with the goals established in the relevant transportation plan(s) to facilitate use of the architecture in transportation planning. When this connection is established, the regional ITS architecture can help regions realize their goals by defining the integrated framework for ITS components that support the goals. If your regional ITS architecture does not include this connection, the links between the representative goals and ARC-IT defined in this planning view may be used as a starting point.

Objectives

Each of the goals in a metropolitan or statewide transportation plan is supported by one or more 'objectives' that define what needs to occur to accomplish the goals. The objectives define what a region plans to achieve and help to determine the strategies and investments that will be included in the transportation plan. In practice, objectives range from high-level regional statements down to Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound (SMART) objectives. A range of objectives are included in the Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT), gathered from a variety of references and recent transportation plans, that reflect the spectrum of objectives that are used in current practice. Select an objective to identify its source, associated performance measures, and the service packages in ARC-IT that support the objective.

Architecture Use

Like the goals, the transportation objectives of the region should be a driving input for the regional ITS architecture. By connecting the objectives with the architecture, transportation planners can easily identify the portion of the integrated regional transportation system that supports each objective. Conversely, ITS architectures and strategic plans can help planning organizations define operations objectives that reflect data that is available and the expertise of operations staff. The RAD-IT Planning Tab can be used to connect your region's objectives with your regional ITS architecture. If your regional ITS architecture does not include this connection, the links between the objectives and ARC-IT defined in this planning view may be used as a starting point.

The objectives have been mapped to associated performance measures and service packages. Consult the ARC-IT website to see these connections.

Planning for Operations (including TSM&O)

Starting with MAP-21, the FHWA and FTA increased their emphasis on "the use of an objectives-driven, performance-based approach to planning for operations as an effective way to integrate operations into planning and programming."

From the FHWA web page on Integrating Operations into Planning and Programming:

This approach focuses on both short-term and long-term system performance, using established system performance measures rather than simply focusing on implementation of projects as a measure of success. It can be applied to both metropolitan and statewide transportation planning processes. The approach emphasizes consensus and collaboration across modes and jurisdictions and between planners and operators to help ensure that regional transportation investment decisions reflect the consideration of available strategies and approaches to meet a region's transportation goals and objectives.

An objectives-driven, performance-based approach to planning for operations is based on the concept that "what gets measured gets managed." Investments are made with a focus on their contribution to meeting regionally agreed-upon objectives. By implementing this approach, resources are allocated more effectively to meet performance objectives, resulting in improved transportation system performance.

The key output that regions are currently creating to describe the integration of Planning and Operations is a Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Plan. TSMO is defined in MAP-21 SECTION 1103 (a) (30) (A) as "An integrated set of strategies to optimize the performance of existing infrastructure through the implementation of multimodal and intermodal, cross-jurisdictional systems, services, and projects designed to preserve capacity and improve security, safety, and reliability of the transportation system."

A TSMO plan considers the integration of planning and operations through three elements:

-         Strategic – such as the business case for TSMO, vision and program mission, goals and performance objectives

-         Programmatic – such as leadership and organizational structure, staffing and workforce needs, business processes

-         Tactical – such as TSMO projects and services, implementation policies

A TSMO plan describes a set of strategies that revolve around these three elements. The connection with ITS is through the tactical element, which can define operational improvements that can maintain and even restore the performance of the existing transportation system before extra capacity is needed.

FHWA has developed a set of example strategies to address the tactical element that strongly embrace ITS services. The example strategies include:

-         Work Zone Management

-         Traffic Incident Management

-         Special Event Management

-         Road Weather Management

-         Transit Management

-         Freight Management

-         Traffic Signal Coordination

-         Traveler Information

-         Ramp Management

-         Congestion Pricing

-         Active Transportation and Demand Management

-         Integrated Corridor Management

-         Access Management (this may not involve ITS but may involve Operations)

-         Improved Bicycle and Pedestrian Crossings

-         Connected and Automated Vehicle Deployment

The Regional ITS Architecture can provide relevant inputs to the development of a TSMO plan. The primary goal of a Regional ITS Architecture is to create a plan focused on regional integration to improve the safety and efficiency of the transportation system. The definition of ITS projects and ITS services in the architecture can be used as a basis for strategies defined in the TSMO plan.

ITS Projects define not only short-range efforts, but also medium and long-range projects. The architecture addresses projects for a wide range of stakeholders, consistent with the TSMO goal of creating a set of projects that are "multimodal and intermodal with cross-jurisdictional systems, services, and projects".

ITS Strategic Plans

An ITS Strategic Plan (sometimes known as an ITS Strategic Assessment, ITS Deployment Plan, etc.) is a guide for implementation of ITS in a region. These plans may be developed in conjunction with a regional ITS architecture update, or may be the product of separate efforts. In the former case, the ITS Strategic Plan may be one of several documents produced during the architecture update. In some cases, the regional ITS architecture is just a part of a larger effort and the architecture may represent a portion of the overall ITS Strategic Plan documentation. In more recent examples where the ITS Strategic Plan was created via a separate effort, the regional ITS architecture used to guide development of the plan and is referenced in the plan. The figure below shows that in whatever form or relationship exists between the architecture and the ITS strategic plan, these efforts can be used to support both the LRP and the Transportation Improvement Program which is covered in page on Architecture Use in Programming/Budgeting.

ITS Architecture and ITS Strategic Plans

Why have regions created ITS Strategic Plans?  There is no Federal requirement for an ITS Strategic Plan, but many regions have found this a useful way to define their ITS needs and identify what capabilities to best meet the needs and provide this as input to the formal planning process. Regions have used this plan as a bridge between the regional ITS architecture and the strategies and project transportation planning process. In some ways an architecture is detailed but compared to a Strategic Plan and the documents of the planning process it is not – as it doesn't usually define location-specific projects.

Often the ITS Strategic Plan includes several of the architecture outputs. The most common architecture outputs contained in the plans are the Project Sequencing and the List of Agreements.

What distinguishes these plans is that they usually contain details and data that go beyond the architecture components. For instance, a strategic plan may define where the ITS services will be deployed so specific projects can be identified.

Some of the typical components that are often included in ITS Strategic Plans include:

-         ITS Vision: This short statement of why the region is deploying ITS can serve as a tie-in to the larger transportation vision that is articulated in the Long-Range Plan.

-         Needs, Goals, and Objectives addressed by ITS: Defining the needs, goals, or objectives (or in some areas policies) that ITS will address provides a direct connection to the needs, goals, or objectives that are the basis of the Long-Range Plan. Tying the ITS deployments to larger transportation issues of the region is an excellent way to inject ITS projects into the regional planning process.

-         Strategies for ITS deployment: Transportation planning tends to articulate "strategies" for regional transportation. The Regional ITS Architecture as described in the previous sections tends to have specific elements, services, information exchanges and projects as its outputs. What is missing in the usual list of architecture outputs is a strategy for how and where (what locations) ITS will be deployed over time. Many regions add this to their ITS Strategic Plans.

-         Funding considerations: Funding sources and funding requirements for ITS deployments may be considered. In order to make these funding assessments, some deployment considerations must be evaluated. Issues of funding system operations and maintenance are especially important to ITS deployments, and consideration of this topic may be included.

-         Detailed project definitions: The regional ITS architecture may identify general regional projects that are then defined with additional specificity in the strategic plan. For example, a single general surveillance project for a metropolitan area may be split into several phased projects that add instrumentation to different parts of the metropolitan area over time. The location-specific projects may be defined so they are coordinated with other planned capital improvements or simply to stage the implementation so the highest-priority locations are instrumented first as funds become available. The more detailed location-specific project definitions are required to support accurate cost estimates.

-         Gaps in planned projects: The Regional ITS Architecture suggests elements, services, and information exchanges that will be implemented over the timeframe selected for the architecture. The projects listed in the architecture invariably implement only a subset of the parts of the architecture. Identification of the "gaps" between the project list and the architecture, along with a prioritization of the gaps can result in a very useful understanding of where additional projects might be needed to address needs.

-         Benefits Analysis: Since transportation projects are ultimately "scored" with some factoring of cost/benefit as the projects move to the programming stage, having a discussion of the benefits that accrue from ITS projects can assist in understanding the benefit part of the cost/ benefit equation for these projects. This discussion of cost/ benefits could be a part of the Project Sequencing output or a part of a Strategic Plan, depending on the approach taken by the region.

-         Communications Plan: The architecture focuses on transportation services, but the supporting communications infrastructure to support these services is critical to the successful implementation of ITS projects. Consequently, some regions will create communications plans as part of their strategic plans to identify the issues, strategies, and regional solutions surrounding this important aspect of ITS deployments.

The common thread in the topics given above is the desire to better connect ITS deployments (as described in the regional ITS architecture) to the transportation planning process (as described by the LRP). The Strategic Plan focuses on Management and Operations strategies (because that is the primary focus of ITS services), which are a required aspect of the LRP.

Regions should consider the content and organization of their LRP and develop an explicit connection between the goals, objectives, or policies of the LRP and the regional ITS architecture. This may involve going beyond the basic architecture content to include one or more of the topics listed above but it will allow a clearer connection between the architecture and the planning process.

Whether this takes the form of a separate ITS Strategic Plan or is contained in architecture documentation is entirely at the discretion of the region. One reason to encourage in inclusion of a Strategic Plan is the ability to identify and discuss the locations for deployment of the ITS services and strategies across the region.