ITS: The forefront of transportation planning
ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) continues to be at the forefront of transportation planning as MVRPC proceeds with the Region's Early Deployment Plan. The plan focuses on making the transportation system more efficient and responsive to drivers by using technological improvements instead of making major road capacity expansions.
To maintain and build upon the region's strong ITS foundation, the Miami Valley Region ITS stakeholders initiated the development of the Miami Valley ITS Regional Architecture in 2003. Simply put, the regional architecture defines the framework on which to build the ITS system. It functionally defines what the pieces of the system are and the information that is exchanged between them. A regional architecture is required by both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to qualify ITS projects for federal funding after April 2005.
Even with planned construction projects over the next 20 years, the Miami Valley region will continue to face congestion and suffer problems on key highway corridors. Since the region is home to two major interstates with high passenger and freight volumes, the impact of this congestion will reach far beyond the borders of the region and even the state. The Dayton/Springfield Freeway Management System would combine technological and operational solutions to reduce congestion. It also enhances existing incident and traffic management activities on these freeways and provides timely and accurate traveler information to motorists.
An important feature of ITS is Incident Management which concentrates on assisting disabled vehicles and quickly moving them from the roadways. One important initiative for incident management in Ohio is the ODOT Quick Clear Program. In cooperation with the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management (MCOEM), MVRPC has engaged our regional partners in a discussion regarding traffic incident management on Dayton area interstates and interstate look-alikes (i.e. US 35 & SR 4).
Key to the Miami Valley's ITS Early Deployment Plan is a variety of projects designed to better use the Region's transportation system through ITS technologies and solutions. Published in 1999, the ITS brochure focuses on Advanced Traffic Signal Control Systems implemented on many roadway segments in the Miami Valley. An area of major importance, these systems improve day-to-day traffic flow in major regional corridors and can be coordinated to efficiently control traffic associated with special events.