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On
April 8, 2001, the FHWA issued Rule 940 entitled Intelligent Transportation
System (ITS) Architecture and Standards and concurrently, FTA issued a
policy entitled National ITS Architecture Policy on Transit Projects.
The intent of the Rule and Policy is to require procedures for implementing
sections of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)
requiring ITS projects to conform to the National ITS Architecture (NITSA)
and standards.
The Rule requires
that agencies develop a regional architecture based on the NITSA that
reflects the local needs, issues, problems, and objectives for implementation
and is consistent with the transportation planning process for statewide
and metropolitan planning practice. Each region has four years to adopt
a regional architecture that includes:
- a description of the region; identification of participating
agencies and other stakeholders; an operational concept; any agreements required
for implementation; system functional requirements; interface requirements; identification of ITS standards;
and
- a sequence of projects
required for implementation.
In addition, any project that
moves into design is required to follow a systems engineering analysis
that is commensurate with the project scope. A project is defined as an
ITS project or program that will receive federal-aid. If the project moves
into design prior to the completion of a regional architecture, a project
architecture is required to support the system engineering analysis. The
system engineering approach shall include at a minimum:
- identification of portions
of the regional architecture being implemented; identification of participating
agencies roles and responsibilities; requirements definition; analysis of alternate system
configurations and technology options to meet requirements; procurement options; identification of applicable
standards and testing procedures;
- procedures and resources
necessary for operations and management of the system.
FDOT has developed
Florida's
Rule 940 Draft Statewide Implementation Strategy (Strategy)
that provides an overview of Federal Rule 940 and ITS architecture
and standards requirements, as they relate to ITS projects and regional
ITS architecture development in Florida. It describes the relationship
between Florida's
Statewide ITS Architecture & Standards and regional ITS architectures
in Florida, and presents recommended strategies for the implementation
of Federal Rule 940 as prescribed in Florida's Rule 940 Draft
Statewide Implementation Strategy.
The Strategy was developed
by the Rule
940 Working Group comprised of FDOT and Metropolitan Planning Organization
(MPO) representatives from across the state. In developing the Strategy,
the Rule 940 Working Group defined agency roles and responsibilities in
the development, maintenance, update, and application of regional ITS
architectures in Florida. They also identified the impacts of Federal
Rule 940 on transportation planning and recommended a process for
integrating the regional ITS architecture into long-range transportation
plans. FDOT has plans to convert the Strategy into Departmental guidelines in accordance with the standard
operating system procedures. The guidelines will be used as a reference
in the next update of Florida's ITS Strategic Plan and the MPO
Program Management Manual.
The following
are resources to assist in learning more about Rule 940 and the integration
of ITS in the planning process:
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