The Puget Sound region includes the four-county area surrounding Seattle, Washington. The region is comprised of over 70 suburban communities that are facing increased traffic demand from increased employment and population growth. Several of these communities are deploying Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), to improve traffic conditions with new traffic signal control systems, additional roadway surveillance, and enhanced information dissemination. Due to the different needs of each type of city, the ITS planning process varies to include conducting needs assessments, creating citywide ITS and communications conceptual plans, selecting new traffic signal control systems, and building traffic operation centers. This presentation will compare the ITS planning processes and approaches taken with the suburban cities of Renton and Redmond to illustrate the unique requirements of the mid-sized suburban cities.
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