Consideration of a regional approach to the operations and maintenance of arterial traffic operations and management systems.

In follow-up to the "Metropolitan Arterial ITS Deployment Plan (August 2000)", the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has initiated a feasibility study to examine the concept of a regional operations and maintenance program for arterial control and traffic management systems. The objectives of this effort were to: (1) gauge the level of interest/acceptance among regional stakeholders (i.e. city and county transportation agencies and Mn/DOT operations and maintenance staff) and document issues of concern; (2) evaluate organizational models of other regional programs; and, as deemed worthwhile by stakeholders, put forth a strategy for developing a regional traffic control operations and maintenance program. This paper outlines the methodology, findings and recommendations of this effort.