The U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) ITS research program focuses on intelligent vehicles, intelligent infrastructure and the creation of an intelligent transportation system through integration with and between these two components. The Federal ITS program supports the overall advancement of ITS through investments in major research initiatives, exploratory studies and a deployment support program. Increasingly, the Federal investments are directed at targets of opportunity – major initiatives – that have the potential for significant payoff in improving safety, mobility and productivity.

ITS Strategic Research Plan, 2010-2014

On December 8, 2009, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) released the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Strategic Research Plan, 2010-2014. This plan defines the strategic direction for the USDOT's ITS research program for the next five years and is designed to achieve a vision of a national, multi-modal surface transportation system that features a connected transportation environment among vehicles, the infrastructure and passengers’ portable devices. This connected environment will leverage technology to maximize safety, mobility and environmental performance.

Federal ITS Research Initiatives

At the core of Federal ITS research is connected vehicle research – a multimodal initiative that aims to enable safe, interoperable networked wireless communications among vehicles, the infrastructure, and passengers’ personal communications devices. This research leverages the potentially transformative capabilities of wireless technology to make surface transportation safer, smarter and greener. USDOT research supports the development and testing of connected vehicle technologies and applications to determine their potential benefits and costs. If successfully deployed, this smart communications between vehicles, and between vehicles and infrastructure, will ultimately enhance the safety, mobility and quality of life of all Americans, while helping to reduce the environmental impact of surface transportation.

The research into connected vehicle technologies and applications are intended to address key transportation issues:

• Safety: There are over 5.8 million crashes per year on U.S. roadways, resulting in 37,000 deaths annually. These crashes have a direct economic cost of $230.6 billion and are the leading cause of death for ages four to 34. Connected vehicle safety applications, using vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications technology based on Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), are designed to increase drivers' situational awareness and reduce or eliminate crashes by advising or warning drivers of dangerous situations.
• Mobility: Traffic congestion is an $87.2 billion annual drain on the U.S. economy, with 4.2 billion hours and 2.8 billion gallons of fuel spent sitting in traffic, the equivalent of one work week and three weeks worth of gas every year. Connected vehicle , using V2I capabilities and anonymous information from passengers’ wireless devices relayed through DSRC and other wireless transmission media, has the potential to provide transportation agencies with dramatically improved quality and quantity of real-time traffic, transit and parking data, making it easier to manage transportation systems for maximum efficiency and minimum congestion. Connected Vehicle could also enable travelers to change their route, time and mode of travel, based on up-to-the-minute conditions, to avoid traffic jams.
• Environment: Tailpipe emissions from vehicles are the single largest human-made source of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxides (NOx) and methane. Vehicles that are stationary, idling and traveling in a stop-and-go pattern due to congestion emit more than those traveling in free flow conditions. Connected vehicle environmental research is designed to provide data that transportation managers can use to better understand the potential environmental impacts of transportation management decisions made in real time.

The connected vehicle research outlines the following multi-year research activities:

• Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communications for Safety: This research will investigate key questions such as are vehicle based safety applications using V2V communications effective and do they have benefits. Research is designed to determine whether regulatory action by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is warranted to speed the adoption of these safety capabilities. The FY2010 investment will be up to $11.5 million.
• Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) Communications for Safety: This research will investigate similar questions about V2I communications, with an initial focus on applications based on the relay of traffic signal phase and timing information to vehicles. The purpose is to accelerate the next generation of safety applications through widespread adoption of V2I communications. The FY2010 investment will be up to $9.3 million.
• Real-Time Data Capture and Management: This research will assess what traffic, transit and freight data are available today from various sources, and consider how to integrate data from vehicles acting as "probes" in the system. The goal is to accelerate the adoption of transportation management systems that can be operated in the safest, most efficient and most environmentally friendly way possible. The FY2010 investment will be up to $1.995 million.
• Dynamic Mobility Applications: This research will examine what technologies can help people and goods effortlessly transfer from one mode of travel (car, bus, truck, train, etc.) or route to another for the fastest and most environmentally friendly trip. The research seeks to make cross-modal travel truly possible for people and goods, and enable agencies and companies to manage their systems in light of the fact that people and goods will be changing modes often. The FY2010 investment will be up to $8 million.
• Road Weather Management: This research will consider how vehicle-based data on current weather conditions can be used by travelers and transportation agencies to enable decision-making that takes current weather conditions and future weather forecasts into account. The FY2010 investment will be up to $4.6 million.
• Applications for the Environment: Real-Time Information Synthesis (AERIS): This research will explore how anonymous data from tailpipe emissions can be combined with other environmental data. The goal is to enable transportation managers to manage the transportation network while accounting for environmental impact. The FY2010 investment will be up to $1.93 million.

The 2010-2014 ITS Research Strategic Plan will also direct research into these other areas:

• Human Factors: Additional technology in vehicles may have the potential to overload drivers and increase safety risks. This research will examine the extra burden that in-vehicle devices may put on drivers, with the goal of minimizing or eliminating distraction risks. The FY2010 investment will be up to $3.525 million.
• Mode-Specific Research: This research program includes active traffic management, international border crossing, roadside infrastructure, commercial vehicles, electronic payment and maritime applications. The FY2010 investment will be up to $6.35 million.
• Exploratory Research: This research program includes safety research for rail, technology scanning, and a solicitation for new research ideas. The FY2010 investment will be up to $2.5 million.
• Cross-Cutting Activities: This program includes architecture, standards, professional capacity building, technology transfer, and evaluation. The FY2010 investment is up to $14.1 million.

These current Federal ITS research programs capitalized off successful research initiatives initiated in 2004:

Congestion Initiative: The Congestion Initiative program encouraged metropolitan areas to implement the use of four complementary and synergistic strategies that contribute to the relief of urban congestion: Tolling, Transit, Telecommuting, and Technology.

Next Generation 9-1-1: The NG9-1-1 Initiative focused on the research required to produce a design for a next-generation 9-1-1 system capable of voice, data, and video transmission from different types of communication devices into Public Safety Answering Point (PSAPs) and on to emergency responder networks.

Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance Systems: CICAS was a four-year program partnership between the USDOT, automobile manufacturers and State and local departments of transportation to develop vehicle-infrastructure cooperative systems that address intersection crash problems related to stop sign violations, traffic signal violations, stop sign movements and unprotected signalized left turn movements.

Integrated Vehicle Based Safety Systems: Through the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) Initiative, the U.S. DOT established a partnership with the automotive and commercial vehicle industries to develop and field test an integrated safety system on light vehicles and commercial trucks.

Integrated Corridor Management Systems: Through the Integrated Corridor Management Systems initiative, the USDOT provided guidance to assist agencies manage the transportation as a system—rather than the more traditional approach of managing individual assets. Agencies learned how to manage their corridor as an integrated asset in order to improve travel time reliability and predictability, help manage congestion and empower travelers through better information and more choices.

Clarus: The Clarus Initiative explored ways to integrate a wide variety of weather observing, forecasting, and data management systems, combined with robust and continuous data quality checking, into systems that could deliver timely, accurate, and reliable weather and road condition information.

Emergency Transportation Operations: The ETO Initiative was a collective effort among Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA). This collaborative effort encompassed six functional areas: public access to emergency services, enhanced information sharing, evacuation management and operations, transportation operations during biohazard situations, preparedness and response, and planned special events.

Mobility Services for All Americans: Many Americans have difficulty accessing some of their basic needs because they must rely on transportation services provided for seniors, persons with disabilities and the economically disadvantaged which are often fragmented, unreliable and inefficiently operated. Lack of coordination is leading obstacle to meeting the mobility needs of the people who need the services most. The goal of the Mobility Services for All Americans (MSAA) initiative was to improve transportation services and simplify access to employment, healthcare, education and other community activities by means of ITS technology.

Electronic Freight Management: The Electronic Freight Management (EFM) initiative applied Web technologies that improved data and message transmissions between supply chain partners. It promoted and evaluated innovative e-business concepts, enabling process coordination and information sharing for supply chain freight partners through public-private collaboration.

Rural Safety: The goal of the Rural Safety Innovation Program was to improve rural road safety by assisting rural communities in addressing highway safety problems, heightening awareness and interest in rural safety issues, and promoting the benefits of rural safety countermeasures that could reduce rural crashes and fatalities.

Organization of the Federal ITS Program

The Federal ITS Program is led by a corporate-style board of directors – the ITS Management Council – that develops and directs Federal ITS policy and ensures the effectiveness of the ITS program.  Council members include:

• The Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy
• The Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy and Intermodalism
• USDOT's Chief Information Officer
• Administrators of the:
  • o Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
  • Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
  • Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
  • Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)
  • Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
  • Maritime Administration (MARAD).

In May 2006, the RITA Administrator became chair of the ITS Management Council, giving the RITA Administrator responsibility for the strategic direction and management oversight of USDOT’s ITS program. In November 2006, this leadership and policy-making authority were further delineated in a signed memorandum of understanding between FHWA and RITA.

Advising the ITS Management Council is the ITS Strategic Planning Group. Membership is generally at the Associate Administrator and office director level, and is chaired by the ITS program manager.

The ITS program manager leads the ITS Joint Program Office (JPO), which is comprised of program managers and coordinators of the USDOT's multimodal ITS initiatives. In addition, individual staff members manage deployment support functions, such as Web site development and maintenance, outreach, program evaluation, training and the architecture and standards programs.

The ITS Joint Program Office is administratively located in FHWA and, under the policy direction of RITA, has Department-wide authority in coordinating the ITS program and initiatives among FHWA, FMCSA, NHTSA, FRA, FTA and MARAD.

A Brief History of the Federal ITS Program

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) established a Federal program to research, develop, and operationally test Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and to promote their implementation. The program was designed to facilitate deployment of technology to enhance the efficiency, safety, and convenience of surface transportation, resulting in improved access, saved lives and time, and increased productivity.

The program began as a three pronged effort that fostered the development of ITS through (1) basic research and development, (2) operational tests that served as the bridge between basic research and full deployment, and (3) various deployment support activities that facilitated the implementation of integrated ITS technologies.

ISTEA originally authorized $659 million for fiscal years 1992-1997 with additional funds appropriated for a total of approximately $1.2 billion. The Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) authorized a similar amount ($1.3 billion) through fiscal year 2003. In 2005, the Congress enacted the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which ended the ITS Deployment Program at the close of fiscal year 2005, but continued ITS research at $110 million annually through fiscal year 2009. In addition to authorized ITS funding, ITS projects are eligible for regular Federal-aid highway funding.

The ITS program carries out its goals through research and development, operational testing, technology transfer, training and technical guidance in the areas of intelligent vehicles, advanced traffic and transit management, commercial vehicle operations, public safety, traveler information, and intermodal freight.

Fact Sheet

• Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program Overview