This document is the final report from the Transportation Research Board's (TRB's) review of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Standards Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). Responding to USDOT's request in 1999, TRB appointed a committee to review the ITS Standards Program and critique the program's strategy for introducing ITS standards. This report concludes the second phase of that review. USDOT's ITS Standards Program, formally initiated in 1996, has supported a variety of standards development and deployment activities. Many of these activities have relied on an existing institutional framework provided by standards development organizations (SDOs). USDOT has supported development efforts for more than 90 specific standards since the ITS Standards Program's inception. The TRB committee appointed to conduct the review of the ITS Standards Program presumes that the program will continue or be reauthorized in a modified form. As ITS development and deployment are still in an early stage, it would be premature, in the committee's view, to make definitive judgments about the program's success or failure in speeding adoption of ITS applications. The committee believes that the ITS Standards Program's objectives have been appropriate, its overall strategy has been reasonable, and its execution so far has made credible contributions to achieving congressional mandates set out in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The committee believes that improvements in the ITS Standards Program can be made to enhance future program effectiveness and concludes its Phase 2 study with seven specific recommendations, which are presented in chapter 4 of this report.
Samenvatting