Local transit, transportation, and emergency services agencies are notoriously single-minded in mission and focus. Their institutional structure and organizational culture developed and exists to maintain autonomy of resources for implementing each agency's vision. New resources in the form of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) funding are now explicitly linked to these disparate agencies sharing a common vision for implementing evolving smart technologies. The two recent federal transportation funding authorizations, Intermodal Surface Transportation ISTEA and TEA 21, directed funding of individual programs and projects be focused through regional MPOs. The USDOT developed several benchmark requirements for ITS funding, created in the legislation, centered with MPOs. This paper explores the Sacramento region's collaborative efforts in meeting those benchmark planning requirements and the use of the requirements in implementing ITS. Rather than focusing on technical issues, the investigation focuses on the underlying institutional and organizational issues. These institutional and organizational issues often inhibit the required complex systems dictated by the ITS vision. Using concepts and investigative techniques from public policy and administration, the Sacramento ITS Regional Partnership's collaborative capacity is assessed. This paper tries to determine why Sacramento's ITS Regional Partnership is viewed as successful. First, the paper provides the context for the region in terms of place, time, mood, and other tangibles. Then the paper describes the theory and methodology for evaluation of the collaborative effort. The investigation preliminary results are discussed. Finally, preliminary insights to improve regional collaboration are presented. Complete results and detailed evaluation concepts are available from the author upon completion of the evaluation.
Abstract