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Database Help
Welcome to the ITS Benefits and Unit Costs Database! We've made several changes that should help you more easily access information on the benefits and costs of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).
This page should assist you in finding what your looking for, but if you continue to have trouble, please feel free to contact us. Read on for an introduction to the site or click on a link below to look for help more specifically related to what interests you.
This website consists of two major areas: information regarding ITS benefits, and that regarding the unit costs of individual ITS elements. From anywhere in the site, you can access the entry page for each of these sections by using the blue "Benefits Data" and "Cost Data" buttons in the upper left corner of the screen. You can search the site, or the benefits or cost data, using the search form directly below these buttons. Other links are consistently available along the navigation bar at the top of the screen. Further information about the use of the Benefits and Unit Costs sections of the site follows.
The benefits database includes summaries of various reports documenting the impact of ITS on the surface transportation system. The links on the left of the screen provide you with several different ways to access these summaries.
“View by Component” allows you to access the summaries classified by categories defined by the various application areas of ITS. These categories are depicted in the taxonomy chart and listed in the “View by Component” area of the site. They begin with a division of the summaries into those applications intended for the infrastructure of the transportation system and those applied to vehicles.
Other links available on the Benefits pages are “View by Measure”, which allows you to view the reports in the database sorted by the performance measures included in the evaluation described. The “View by State” and “View by Country” links allow you to view reports grouped by the location of the evaluated implementation.
The “Integration” link provides access to the benefits summaries sorted by a series of integration links which describe the types of interactions that may occur between various elements of ITS, typically in metropolitan areas.
“What’s New” reveals a list of the most recently posted document summaries in the database sorted by the date of posting. Finally, the “Data Needs” section provides access to a portion of the site discussing the determination of the areas of ITS in need of further evaluation.
The unit costs database consists of cost estimates for a set of ITS elements. The links on the left of the screen provide you with several different ways to access this cost information.
“Background Information” explains the structure of the costs database and its relationship to the National ITS Architecture and ITS Deployment Analysis System (IDAS). This section also includes definitions of the types of cost data found in the database.
“View Unit Costs” allows you to access the on-line version of the costs database. The costs database consists of twenty-one subsystems with elements listed under each subsystem. Elements of the costs database are organized based on physical location. For example, ITS devices that detect activity at the roadside are listed under the Roadside Detection (RS-D) subsystem. The systems that receive and process information detected by roadside equipment are listed under the Traffic Management Center (TMC) subsystem. Users are advised to peruse the entire database to gain a better understanding of the layout and content.
The “Download Excel” and “Download PDF” links allow you to download either the Excel or PDF versions of the database to your computer.
“What’s New” identifies the latest revisions to the costs database. Changes made to cost ranges, as well as elements added to the costs database are included.
“Data Sources” contains a chronological listing of direct and indirect sources used to establish and revise the cost data. Established cost data are revised only when new sources become available and the description of the cost elements in the new source is a close match to that already in the costs database. If, when new sources of cost data become available and are analyzed for inclusion in the costs database, the descriptions of cost elements do not coincide with those in the costs database, or not enough information is provided, then the source is not used and the cost element(s) are not revised. New elements are added when warranted, based on data gathered from deployment experience.
“What’s Planned” reveals potential new sources of cost data and the date of the next scheduled costs database update.
Located at the upper left of each page in this website, the search form enables you to quickly access both benefits and costs information related to particular interests you may have. An important element of the search capability is the selection field that allows you to search the "benefits" data, "costs" data, or "all". Selecting "all" allows you to search all pages on this site, including both benefits summaries and cost database entries, for information related to keywords you enter. Use the "Find it!" button to submit your search.
The search engine itself is similar to many other searches available on the Internet. Simply type specific words or text you are looking for and the search looks for any reference to the text you provided. To search for exact phrases, simply type the phrase in the search field. Using "and" between terms you enter (e.g., enter "vehicle and signal" without quotes), will return records that include all terms. Using "or" in the search field will return records that contain at least one of the terms.
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