Assessing the Benefits and Costs of ITS

SLO Transit was chosen by Caltrans to demonstrate low-cost Advanced Public Transportation System (APTS) technologies designed specifically for small transit systems. Mobile data terminals with GPS locators were installed on all vehicles, with real-time bus location and emergency alarm data transmitted via radio modems using previously existing voice radios. Besides providing useful data for system planning, the real-time bus location data are used to advise drivers regarding schedule adherence and to generate messages regarding impending bus arrivals employing Smart Transit Signs at principal bus stops throughout town.

The project has demonstrated the feasibility and positive impacts of applying APTS technologies to enhance small transit operations. Indications to date are that both the operators and bus customers perceive significant benefits from the deployment of this new technology. Although these early impacts are gratifying, the full significance of deploying Smart Transit technologies in this operating environment will take additional time to understand completely, as the operator fully integrates its new capabilities into its standard operating and marketing procedures.

After considering the 10 different ITS component systems it is clear that each system cannot be deployed to stand alone in the overall transportation system. 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. Thus far, the quantification of ITS benefits has not been statistically sophisticated. Often, benefits are expressed as being “certain,” when this is far from the truth. For example, the measurement of any reduction in mean travel time as a result of an ITS deployment involves bias; thus any benefit should be expressed along with its associated variance. In addition, there is no guarantee that travel time reduction due to the installation of ramp metering in one city will result in similar benefits in another city—particularly if the nature of system integration and institutional cooperation is widely different. It is hoped that further efforts to integrate transportation planning with evaluation tools such as IDAS and microsimulation 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.

During the first decade of ITS testing and evaluation, the dominant paradigm was one of government-supported testing, demonstration, and limited deployment of ITS elements. Most deployments and subsequent findings credit ITS with playing a cost-effective role in achieving near-term transportation improvements. Yet ITS is seldom viewed as a core strategic element to future transportation systems. What is needed is a strategic approach that integrates supply, demand, and the power of information technology to manage the system both tactically and strategically. In the next generation, ITS must move toward a self-evaluating information system where the benefits of information are realized through a dynamic information market. In the future, is it not inconceivable to think that surface transportation information will become as important to travelers as, say, package location information is to couriers like Federal Express. In short, it is appropriate for our age to consider information about the infrastructure as important as the infrastructure itself.