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Most of us can feel the pain of
being stuck in traffic like that at the right. Toll-booth creep is
frustrating, slow, inefficient and bad for the environment.
With any luck, this scene will be as quaint as a covered wagon in
the near future. Intelligent Transportation Systems —ITS— are moving
out of their “gee whiz” mode and beginning to tackle, and solve, real
problems of access and community. This edition of Progress features the
key ingredient to truly smart transportation systems — smart leaders who
know how to use them for community outcomes.
ITS
started out as an answer without a question. The technology got ahead of
clear thinking about what we were trying to accomplish. Applications that
allowed people to commute bumper-to-bumper at 70 mph took precedence over
those telling you when the next bus would be at your stop.
That
has begun to change. Thanks to smart leaders, we are starting to ask the
right questions about ITS and its uses, and getting some significant
results. Norm Mineta, our new U.S. Secretary of Transportation was among
the first to understand that making real-time information available to
travelers would result in smarter — and more efficient — travel
choices. Mayor Walkup of Tucson was among the first to realize that if
“transportation initiatives prioritize mobility, safety, and
environmental quality, ITS can help us create more livable communities for
everyone.” Mayor Campbell of Atlanta uses ITS to help preserve
neighborhoods from the “spillover affect” of congestion — drivers
looking for surface street cut-throughs to avoid back-ups. And Ingemar
Lundin reports how one European city is using ITS, coupled with smart
vehicle design, to provide tram-level service with buses.
ITS
can even create entirely new travel options. Michael Replogle sees a day
when ITS allows us to buy “mobility services,” — transit passes for
regular commuting but use of a sports car if needed for a date. Michelle
Garland introduces car-sharing, a new, efficient choice for urban
travelers that helps improve air quality and decreases the need for
dedicated parking spaces. Tom Horan goes further — envisioning ITS
corridors for all sorts of uses, including e-stations to
bring small communities into the digital age.
Intelligent
Transportation Systems — like electronic voting machines — are neither
liberal nor conservative, Republican or Democrat. They are tools for
making smarter public and personal choices about transportation, and for
expanding those choices as well. Here are some good ideas from some pretty
smart people on how to make ITS work for your community. Share them with
your town and city leaders, and with your local transportation agencies.
It’s the smart thing to do.
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INSIDE
Advancing
ITS
Innovative
Technology Uses
in Tucson
Navigating
Gridlock
Tech
for Choice?
High-Tech
Transit
The
Future of ITS
A New
Goal for ITS
ITS
Proves Itself
Think
Tram!
CarSharing
e-Freight2
Campaign
Connection
Policy
Briefs
STPP
Announcements/
On-Line Resources
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Current Table
