Intelligent Transportation Systems: Development of Transportation Information Management System for a Small Urban Community

by Barrett, Daniel J.

The Jefferson Area Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Study proposed several initiatives for Jefferson Area. The first in a series of four projects is the design and development of a Transportation Information Center (TIC). The central purpose of the TIC will be to enhance the transportation system be providing a service that collects, compiles and distributes transportation information. The availability of this information benefits many groups of people, including commuters, University of Virginia Students, Parents, and alumni, and tourists. It also provides the groundwork for the other ITS projects. Intelligent Transportation Systems attempt to use computers and communications technology to improve complex transportation systems, making them safer and more efficient. Most of the current systems in place are in large cities, where traffic is a major problem and large amounts of money are available to develop and maintain them. The challenge in designing the TIC in Albemarle County, therefore, was to determine how to design this center with a limited budget. The design of the center’s information management system required several steps. The first steps concentrated on the design of the center as a whole. They included the problem definition, goal development, functional requirement analysis, and the preliminary designs of the information collection and distribution systems. Once we completed these steps, we designed the information management system by determining alternative methods, evaluating the methods and choosing the optimal solution. The final design of the center is a robust design that has a lot of room for expansion. With it, we met the requirements we set out to and did it all within budget. iii Preface Abstract ii iii