Why ITS Projects Should be Small, Local and Private

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Why ITS Projects Should be Small, Local and Private

Stein Weissenberger, CA PATH

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:As with any new technology, implementation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) requires the acquisition of new technical knowledge and the development of new supporting institutions. Multi-disciplinary studies of technology development show that these institutions and knowledge can only be achieved through intimate and idiosyncratic processes of learning by doing and using. The resulting "embodied knowledge" cannot be readily acquired or communicated through distant, anonymous agents. Hence, in order to produce and capture useful knowledge, early ITS projects should be local, small, and focused on realistic goals. At the same time, because of the complexity of ITS systems, their planning, deployment and operations should be executed through intimately cooperating networks of individuals and organizations that support knowledge acquisition and diffusion. Private industry should be used wherever possible, especially to perform tasks for which they are best qualified; they should be looked upon as a sources of skills rather than as a source of funding. Early on, it is important to do something, even if limited in scope; it will be much less useful (both to satisfy local needs and to further the development of ITS) to attempt grandiose projects, even if funding is successfully obtained from distant agencies. At the early stage, it is more important to build (and depend on) networks of experienced experts and operators than it is to try to build large interconnected networks of ITS implementations.

Following general "laws" of technology development, as services and products mature they become more useful, standardized, less expensive, and easier to operate, maintain, and interconnect. Local projects and services can then be replicated, adapted, and joined together into larger systems.

The following are highlights of specific findings:

ITS projects need to match local requirements and markets. Successful projects are therefore likely to have distinctly local flavors, as exemplified by cases such as the cities of Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Jose. The value of these projects also tends to be more transparent to users and operators, obviating the need for difficult and often problematical benefit-cost analysis for their justification. A large set of similar projects performed in many different localities will also be more capable of extrapolation to new, specific settings because of the great variety of local conditions across the country.
Costs of coordination and interoperability (among technologies, services, and agencies) need to be realistically assessed and weighed against corresponding benefits. Localized services should be mastered before adding linkages. Whenever possible, coordination should be facilitated through evolutionary paths, rather than by attempting to implement massive, single-shot, top-down designs.
Public policy should emphasize the early development of supporting institutional networks and their coevolution with technology implementation. Prompt development of these learning networks is more important than the development of ambitious ITS plans or the premature deployment of complex operational ITS networks. The key is to help agents work autonomously to build deployments with minimum dependence on central planning and control.
ITS is a "complex" or "assembled" technology, involving the integration of many sub-systems, specific technologies, and institutions, and with critical knowledge distributed over many individuals and organizations. Learning networks and learning by doing and using are particularly critical ingredients for the deployment of such systems, and so it is especially important to facilitate them in the early development of project portfolios.
Many aspects of early ITS deployment involve incremental innovation, while some longer-term ITS technologies require more radical innovation. Early small projects will contribute to the development of learning networks that can support a broad range of future innovation processes, both incremental and radical, as they are called for.
For ITS functions that require incremental, evolutionary innovation, a high degree of integration is necessary among research, developmental, and operational activities. For those functions that require radical innovation, such as highway automation, a greater degree of early independence of the R&D functions from operational ones is important.
Privatization of ITS service provision should be facilitated. Public agencies should be permitted and encouraged to develop and test alternative mechanisms for involving private companies. Public-private learning networks will also be assisted by this process, as they will by any actions that focuses on doing and using.
In public/private partnerships, each party should take on the tasks that best fit its existing core capabilities and missions. Public agencies should not attempt to take on technical or managerial tasks for which they are unprepared (manage complex systems developments, provide high-quality, tailored customer services), nor should they expect private companies to behave in ways for which they are unsuited (take high financial risks, understand the public planning, programming, and regulatory processes). By exploiting complementary and core strengths, much more effective partnerships can be formed.
ITS operating performance should be much more carefully and universally measured, based on objective criteria and procedures. This data will be valuable for operations management as well as for regional planning. The availability of such data will also make meaningful strategic benchmarking possible, to facilitate practical long-term planning. Regional, multi-partner testbeds (such as the Southern California Testbed) are ideal mechanisms for developing such measurements and measurement systems.
The California State Route 91 Variable-Toll Express Lane Facility is an exemplar for the principal assertions of this study. A privately financed and operated toll road exclusively employing electronic toll collection, this project is distinctly small (approximately ten miles of four-lanes) and predominately private. Of special note is the nature of the private-public partnership involved, where each party (the private partners and Caltrans) has taken on tasks that perfectly match their core capabilities. Best of all, the facility has attracted large use and the partners are thereby gaining valuable information about their market and technology, laying groundwork for subsequent expansions and duplication.

Full Report: UCB-ITS-PRR-98-23 (544K PDF File)

Contact author: weissenberger@llnl.gov