The U.S. Department of Transportation Releases an Update Report on the State of the Nation's Intelligent Transportation Systems Deployment

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has published its annual report highlighting our nation's progress in advancing intelligent transportation systems (ITS): ITS Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned: 2018 Update Report. This report presents information on the benefits, costs, and lessons learned regarding ITS planning, deployment, and operations obtained from the most recent evaluation data.

ITS provide a proven set of strategies for advancing transportation safety, mobility, and environmental sustainability by integrating communication and information technology applications into the management and operation of the transportation system across all modes. The ITS Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned report provides a collection of fact sheets presenting information on the performance of deployed ITS. This 2018 update report includes 10 new or revised fact sheets relative to the 2017 update report.

The report is based on the ITS Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned databases, known collectively as the Knowledge Resource Databases. The databases were developed by the USDOT ITS Joint Program Office's Evaluation program to support informed decision-making regarding ITS investments by tracking the effectiveness of deployed ITS. The Knowledge Resource Databases  contain over 20 years of summaries of the benefits, costs, and lessons learned of specific ITS implementations, drawn from trusted sources such as ITS evaluation studies, research syntheses, handbooks, journal articles, and conference papers.

An important recent addition to the Knowledge Resource Databases is the inclusion of benefit, cost, and lessons learned summaries for the Connected Vehicle program. These new entries are searchable via a dedicated search button on the ITS Knowledge Resource Databases home page.

Over the last year, the most recent additions to the ITS Knowledge Resource Databases indicate the following evaluation highlights:

  • The new wave of crash-prevention and safety strategies includes the integration of vehicle and infrastructure safety systems and implementation of connected vehicle technologies for safety applications. (Connected Vehicle - Safety)
  • Crash statistics show that lane departure warning systems have reduced all relevant crashes by 11 percent, and all relevant injury crashes by 21 percent, controlling for driver demographics. (Benefit ID 2017-01175)
  • In a pilot test, bus drivers using in-vehicle collision avoidance warning systems were involved in 72 percent fewer near-miss events than a control group where the warning feature was turned off. (Benefit ID 2017-01198)
  • In one study, 23 percent of pedestrians reported that a crosswalk transit vehicle turn warning system help them avoid a collision with a bus. (Benefit ID 2015-01001)
  • Truck platooning works by creating a close, constant coupling between platooning vehicles, providing fuel benefits for both the lead and following trucks. In a USDOT-sponsored field test, the net fuel savings for a three-truck platoon was measured to be between 5.2 and 7.8 percent. (Benefit ID 2018-01246)

Access the ITS Knowledge Resource Databases at: www.itskrs.its.dot.gov.