Knowledge Resources

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) conducted a study to explore the potential benefits and costs of fully deploying ITS operational strategies in large, medium, and small metropolitan areas. ITS deployment and operations were modeled for Seattle, Cincinnati, and Tucson, respectively. The strategies developed for Seattle and Cincinnati were based on 2003 traffic conditions while those for Tucson were based on traffic conditions forecast for 2025. The analysis considered a 25 year period, and the annual costs to implement, operate, and maintain each system were adjusted to 2003 dollars. This summary report presents the costs of the Tucson ITS full deployment scenario.

ITS Strategies

Extracted from Table 1 in the source report, the details of the ITS strategies for the Tucson full-deployment scenario are presented below.

Strategy		Deployment	Coverage
Arterial Traffic Management Systems	Central Control Signal Coordination	600 intersections	100% of major intersections
			100% of major arterials and parkway miles
	Emergency Vehicle Signal Preemption	600 intersections	100% of major intersections 96% of major arterials and parkway miles
		1,030 emergency vehicles	100% of emergency vehicles
	Transit Vehicle Signal Priority	115 intersections	9 of 37 routes served (24% routes)
		80 transit vehicles	29% of fixed-route transit vehicles
	Highway Advisory Radio	1 transceivers	100% of arterial miles covered
	Dynamic Message Signs	30 locations	100% of arterial incident management corridors and roadways subject to major flood
Freeway Management Systems	Central Control Ramping Metering	70 on-ramps	73% of on-ramps
	Highway Advisory Radio	1 transceiver	100% of freeway miles
	Dynamic Message Signs	9 locations	100% of freeway miles
Transit Management Systems	Fixed Route Automated Scheduling and Automatic Vehicle Location	2,260 transit vehicles	100% fixed-route transit vehicles
	Fixed Route Security Systems	275 transit vehicles	100%fixed–route transit vehicles
		5 transit stations
Incident Management System	Incident Detection, Verification, Response, and Management	20 freeway service patrol vehicles	100% of freeway miles: 15% of parkway and major arterial miles (110 of 721 miles)
Emergency Management Systems	Emergency Vehicle Control Service	1,340 emergency vehicles	100% of emergency vehicles
	Emergency Vehicle AVL	1,340 emergency vehicles	100% of emergency vehicles
	Telemedicine	130 ambulances	100% ambulances
Electronic Payment Systems	Electronic Transit Fare Payment	270 transit vehicles	100% of fixed-route transit vehicles
Traveler Information	Telephone– and Web–Based Traveler Information System	Region-wide	40% market penetration
	Kiosk–Based Traveler Information	5 kiosks	100% of transit transfer stations
Crash Prevention and Safety	Railroad Crossing Monitoring Systems	4 rail crossings	5% of major arterial at–grade rail crossings
Commercial Vehicle Operations	Weigh–in–Motion and Safety Information Exchange	1 check stations	N/A
	Combination Screening and Clearance–Credentials and Safety	1 check stations	N/A
		53,000 equipped commercial vehicles	40% market penetration
Supporting Deployments	Traffic Management Center	One	100% of region
	Transit Management Center	One	100% of region
	Emergency Management	One	100% of region
	Information Service Provider Center	One	100% of region
	Traffic Surveillance—Closed Circuit Television	950 locations	100% of freeway parkway, and major arterial miles
	Traffic Surveillance—Loop Detectors	1,200 locations	100% of freeway 96% of parkway and major arterial miles 100% controlled signals

System Costs

The table below, extracted from the source report (Table 3), shows the annual average life–cycle costs required to implement, operate, and maintain the ITS strategies identified above. The estimated annual cost was $72.1 million for the full ITS deployment and operations in the Tucson metropolitan area.

ITS Deployment Strategies	Cost (Millions in 2003 Dollars)	Percentage of Total Costs
Arterial management systems	$3.9	5.5%
Freeway management systems	$2.6	3.6%
Transit management systems	$1.8	2.6%
Incident management systems	$4.5	6.2%
Emergency management systems	$2.1	2.9%
Electronic payment systems	$1.1	1.0%
Traveler information	$2.1	2.9%
Crash prevention and safety	$0.2	0.3%
Commercial vehicle operations	$20.3	28.1%
Supporting deployments	$35.5	46.4%
Total costs	$72.1	100.0%
Private sector costs	$19.8	27.4%
Public sector costs	$52.3	72.6%

The public sector was expected to fund 72.6 percent of the ITS strategies and the private sector 27.4 percent. The private sector funds were to be used to equip the commercial trucks to enable automated screening and clearance of the trucks at check stations.

One of the strategies identified was emergency management systems. Deployment data included the number of emergency vehicles and ambulances equipped with control service, automated vehicle location (AVL), and telemedicine. At full deployment, 1340 emergency vehicles and 130 ambulances were estimated to be equipped with ITS devices. The annualized life-cycle costs of emergency management systems for Tucson were estimated at $2.1 million.