Regional ITS Architecture and Systems Engineering

A regional intelligent transportation systems (ITS) architecture is defined as "A specific, tailored framework for ensuring institutional agreement and technical integration for the implementation of ITS projects or groups of projects in a particular region. It functionally defines what pieces of the system are linked to others and what information is exchanged between them."^[1]

Most of the regional ITS architecture is devoted to showing all of the existing and planned operational transportation systems in a region and how they will fit together. From a planning perspective, the regional ITS architecture should support the region's objectives and also support the specific needs of transportation planning agencies. It should show how data is collected, archived, and processed to support transportation planning and performance monitoring. The strength of the regional ITS architecture process is its development of an integrated view of the regional transportation system based on a set of identified services or strategies. This complements the planning for operations approach, where the focus is on defining the most effective strategies for a region based on high-level goals and operational objectives. By connecting the two processes, one combines the strong basis for selecting strategies in planning for operations with the strength of the architecture development process in defining an integrated framework based on selected services.

Many regions have developed an ITS strategic plan (sometimes called an ITS deployment plan) as a companion to the regional ITS architecture. These plans include the detailed strategies that directly support the statewide or metropolitan transportation plan. They provide a bridge between the integration-oriented architecture and the planning-oriented metropolitan transportation plan or statewide long-range transportation plan.

Systems engineering is an organized approach to developing and implementing a system. The approach can be applied when developing any type of system. Systems Engineering It focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem."^[1] It is crucial to use the systems engineering approach in designing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) infrastructure so that the technology effectively supports the management and operation of the transportation system. A systems engineering analysis is required for all Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) projects using Federal funds according to the Final Rule on Architecture and Standards Conformity. The ITS Architecture Implementation Program identifies minimum systems engineering practices that must be included in the project implementation phase. Additional resources are provided below for the planning, implementation, and operations of ITS projects.