Intelligent transportation system as evaluation tool in a regional demand modeling environment: Implementation in Florida standard urban transportation model structure

A number of tools have been developed to support the evaluation of intelligent transportation system (ITS) alternatives. However, the methodologies and some associated parameters in these tools were developed and selected before widespread deployments of ITSs. Significant experience gained with ITS in recent years warrants a new assessment of the evaluation methodologies and parameters of these systems. There are also advantages to incorporating the evaluation of ITS deployments as part of existing regional demand forecasting modeling environments rather than using external tools to perform this functionality. This paper discusses the development and implementation of a tool and methodologies to estimate the benefits and costs of these systems as part of a travel demand forecasting modeling environment. It also presents an application of the developed tool to evaluate two of the most widely deployed types of ITS: incident management and advanced traveler information systems. Case study results indicate that the methodologies developed in this study can be used to assess ITS deployments.