Summary
Four landmark national policies helped strengthen the ITS movement in the U.S:
- CAAA in 1990, (congestion related issues)
- ADA, also in 1990, (accessibility related issues)
- ISTEA in 1991, (funding opportunities)
- TEA-21 (funding opportunities)
The Mobility 2000 group is widely credited with rejuvenating the ITS movement in the United States.
ITS America serves as the national advisory body.
The European and Japanese equivalents of ITS America are ERTICO and VERTIS, respectively. All three organizations are founding members of the ITS World Congress.
Most ITS deployment activities can be categorized under the seven user service bundles and their associated 31 user services, replacing the original 6 program category areas whose functions overlap.
AVL (Automatic vehicle location) involves integrated use of GPS (Global Positioning System) and GIS (Geographical Information Systems), technologies which facilitate real-time tracking; AVI (automatic vehicle identification) involves the use of sensor technology to permit real-time identification of vehicles and freight.
The national ITS architecture provides the framework for deploying specific components of the user services based on a set of national standards and protocols. NTCIP and TCIP are the two major national ITS communication standards. Key issues in ITS deployment include tort liability, privacy invasion, funding, systems integration, education and training needs, inter-jurisdictional cooperation, meeting the travel needs of the elderly, the physically challenged, and the minority population.
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