Full ITS deployment in the Seattle area projected to result in 8 percent fewer fatal crashes, and 3 percent fewer injury and property damage only crashes annually.

The projected results of full ITS deployment in a large metropolitan area.

Date Posted
02/09/2016
Identifier
2015-B01030
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Benefits and Costs of Full Operations and ITS Deployment: A 2003 Simulation for Seattle

Summary Information

The Federal Highway Administration initiated a study to explore the benefits and costs of fully deploying operational strategies and integrating ITS in the large metropolitan area of Seattle. The strategies included in Seattle's Full Operations and ITS Deployment Scenario were identified by consulting with local agencies to identify the overall ITS program planned through the next 25 years. The benefits are contingent on complete deployment of the full operations and ITS deployment scenario. The selected strategies are listed in the following table.

 

Category Strategy
Arterial Traffic Management Systems Central Control Signal Coordination
Emergency Vehicle Signal Preemption
Transit Vehicle Signal Priority
Freeway Management Systems Central Control Ramping Metering
Transit Management Fixed-Route Automated Scheduling and Automatic Vehicle Location
Fixed-Route Security Systems
Electronic Transit Fare Payment
Incident Management Systems Incident Detection, Verification, Response, and Management
Emergency Management Systems Emergency Vehicle Control Service
Telemedicine
Emergency Vehicle AVL
Traveler Information Phone- and Web-Based Traveler Information System
Kiosk-Based Traveler Information
Highway Advisory Radio
Dynamic Message Signs
Crash Prevention and Safety Railroad Crossing Monitoring Systems
Commercial Vehicle Operations Weigh-in-Motion and Safety Information Exchange
Combination Screening and Clearance
Supporting Deployment Traffic Management Center
Transit Management Center
Emergency Management
Information Service Provider Center
Closed Circuit TV and Loop Detectors

Benefits

  • By lessening congestion and smoothing traffic flows, the ITS deployment resulted in the elimination of more than seven crashes per day in the Seattle area.
  • The deployment of incident and emergency management systems, which minimize response time to crashes, also led to a reduction in the severity of crashes.
  • Overall, fatal crashes decreased by more than 8 percent, while injury and property damage crashes were reduced by approximately 3 percent. In the course of a year, this safety improvement would result in the avoidance of approximately 20 fatal crashes, 770 injury crashes, and 1,050 property damage crashes in the Seattle area.
Goal Areas
Deployment Locations