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 Seattle ITS full deployment scenario.

ITS Strategies

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

Strategy		Deployment	Coverage
Arterial Traffic Management Systems	Central Control Signal Coordination	2,760 intersections	100% of urban intersections
	Emergency Vehicle Signal Preemption	2,760 intersections	100% of urban intersections
		1,030 emergency vehicles	100% of emergency vehicles
	Transit Vehicle Signal Priority	830 intersections	30% of urban intersections
		2,260 transit vehicles	100% of fixed-route transit vehicles
	Highway Advisory Radio	6 transceivers	4% of arterial miles covered
	Dynamic Message Signs	30 locations	Located on the approach to all major automobile ferry terminals
Freeway Management Systems	Central Control Ramping Metering	165 on-ramps	65% of on-ramps
	Highway Advisory Radio	13 transceiver	70% of freeway miles
	Dynamic Message Signs	85 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	2,260 transit vehicles	100%fixed–route transit vehicles
		40 transit stations	100% of major transit transfer stations and park-and-ride locations
Incident Management System	Incident Detection, Verification, Response, and Management	32 freeway service patrol vehicles	100% of freeway and expressway miles
Emergency Management Systems	Emergency Vehicle Control Service	1,030 emergency vehicles	100% of emergency vehicles
	Emergency Vehicle AVL	1,030 emergency vehicles	100% of emergency vehicles
	Telemedicine	100 ambulances	100% ambulances
Electronic Payment Systems	Electronic Transit Fare Payment	2,260 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	20 kiosks	100% of major transit transfer stations
Crash Prevention and Safety	Railroad Crossing Monitoring Systems	12 rail crossings	5% of major arterial at–grade rail crossings
Commercial Vehicle Operations	Weigh–in–Motion and Safety Information Exchange	2 check stations	100% of check stations
	Combination Screening and Clearance–Credentials and Safety	2 check stations	100% of check stations
		60,000 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	1,520 locations	100% of freeway, expressway, and urban arterial miles
	Traffic Surveillance—Loop Detectors	3,270 locations	100% of freeway and expressway miles 100% controlled signals

Systems Costs

The table below, extracted from the source report (Table 4), shows the annual average life–cycle costs required to implement, operate, and maintain the ITS strategies identified above. The estimated annual cost was $132.1 million for the full ITS deployment and operations in the Seattle metropolitan area.

ITS Deployment Strategies	Annualized Life-cycle cost (Millions in 2003 Dollars)	Percentage of total costs
Arterial management systems	$12.1	9.1%
Freeway management systems	$7.0	5.3%
Transit management systems	$8.9	6.8%
Incident management systems	$7.7	5.9%
Emergency management systems	$1.8	1.4%
Electronic payment systems	$5.9	4.4%
Traveler information	$2.4	1.8%
Crash prevention and safety	$0.5	0.4%
Commercial vehicle operations	$23.0	17.4%
Supporting deployments	$62.9	47.6%
Total costs	$132.1	100.0%
Private sector costs	$22.4	17.0%
Public sector costs	$109.7	83.0%

The public sector was expected to fund 83 percent of the ITS strategies and the private sector 17 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, and telemedicine. At full deployment, 1030 emergency vehicles and 100 ambulances were estimated to be equipped with ITS devices. The annualized life-cycle costs of emergency management systems for Seattle were estimated at $1.8 million.