Regional ITS Architecture Update
What is ITS?
Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are the integrated application of various technologies and management strategies to provide traveler information to increase the safety and efficiency of the surface transportation system.
Why do we need ITS?
The Indianapolis Regional ITS Architecture is intended to promote continued improvements in the movement of goods and people throughout the region through the implementation of ITS strategies, technologies, and projects. Most importantly, the deployment of these ITS strategies, technologies, and infrastructure will help to make the metropolitan Indianapolis transportation system safer, better coordinated, and more efficient. In addition, by taking a cooperative multi-agency approach, the MPO and partner agencies will be able to better integrate ITS related efforts beyond their boundaries, pool funds, and deploy ITS technologies and projects that benefit not only the Indianapolis region, but the entire State of Indiana.
The ITS Architecture update process is now complete. The final updated architecture and associated documents are now available.
The updated ITS Architecture is comprised of the following:
- ITS Architecture Website — An easy to use, publicly-accessible site containing all subcomponents of the ITS architecture, including stakeholders, inventory of elements, services, roles & responsibilities, interfaces, standards, agreements, projects, and additional resources
- ITS Architecture Document — Static document version of the architecture containing the same content as the website
- TSMO Applicability Report — A high-level assessment of TSMO strategic plans and their potential applicability for our region
- Architecture Use and Maintenance Manual — Guidance for IMPO staff on how & when the architecture should be used and maintained
- Architecture Update Report — A summary of the update process
- Architecture Stakeholder Review Form — Form for stakeholders to provide feedback on the ITS architecture
- Architecture Change Request Form — Form to submit specific project additions or changes for regular review by the ITS Working Group
The Regional ITS Architecture Update will review and revise the Indianapolis Regional ITS Architecture content to reflect a framework of existing capabilities and status of ITS in the region, and the planned systems and services expected to be deployed in the next 10 years. Stakeholder engagement, transportation plans, and consultant team domain knowledge will be key sources of data to inform the architecture revisions to be made. In addition, the updated architecture will provide perspective guiding recommendations for Transportation Systems Management and Operations strategies applicability in Central Indiana.
Progress Summary
Project activities were initiated in March 2023. On May 4, 2023, a stakeholder workshop was conducted to educate stakeholders about ITS architecture concepts and the update process to be followed for the project. Stakeholders were engaged in discussions to identify transportation system needs that could be addressed with ITS and gather stakeholder inputs to inform the architecture update.
As of early July 2023, the ITS Architecture update activities are building to a draft update of the Indianapolis Regional ITS Architecture that will be posted to a project website to facilitate stakeholder review and gather information for further refinement. The project website makes available the architecture content in a hyperlinked format to facilitate stakeholder exploration and review.
During this construction period, stakeholders were encouraged to access the site and explore the architecture content. The initial content update was completed at the end of June 2023. A virtual review of the ITS Architecture content and website was conducted on July 11, 2023, to familiarize stakeholders with the site and initiate the 3-week stakeholder review process to capture comments and stakeholder inputs on the draft update. Following the stakeholder review and receipt of comments, the architecture was revised and delivered to the IMPO.
An ITS training workshop was held on October 26th for key stakeholders and IMPO staff. The first half of the workshop covered the ways in which ITS plays an important role in regional transportation planning and how ITS solutions are key in solving issues of performance, capacity, communication, and safety. The second half of the workshop saw participants gain familiarity with navigating and using the website as well as receive hands-on training with the RAD-IT software program.
When accessing the site (https://its.indympo.org/) for the first time, go to the Stakeholders tab and look for your organization in the list of stakeholders. Click on your organization’s name in the list and you will be presented with further details that are currently part of the architecture, including a list of the ITS-related systems your organization owns/operates. From that point, you can explore further content by clicking on the linked items on the page you are viewing.
If you have comments or inputs to provide, a Stakeholder Review Form is available on the website under the Resources tab. Please follow the instructions on the form to submit it. The form has further details about what to look for on the ITS website.