ITS Florida’s 20th Anniversary

A History of ITS FloridaBy

Charles Wallace

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The “Birth” of ITS?• 1868 – the first gas-operated “traffic light”

installed outside the British Houses of Parliament• 1012 – the first red-green electric traffic signal

installed in Salt Lake City, inventor, Lester Green• 1917 – the first manually-operated intercon-

nected signals, also in Salt Lake City• 1922 – first automatic system in Houston

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The “Birth” of ITS (2)?• 1923 – the first patent

for a traffic signal by Garrett Morgan

• And so on …

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Early “True” ITS Deployments• 1960s – ramp meters in Chicago, Detroit,

Houston, and LA• 1960s – lane controls and CCTV in Detroit• 1963 – first completely computerized signal

system in Toronto

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Early “True” ITS Deployments, cont’d• Work on freeway management systems also

began in the 1960s:– Integrated corridor operation in Detroit– High occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in Los Angeles

and elsewhere• Traffic/transportation control centers in a

number of cities

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What To Call These New Technologies?• 1989: U.S.DOT, key industry, and academic

leaders saw the rapidly emerging technologies in the vehicle and traffic management and information systems as a potential “new era” in transportation.

• Mobility 2000 Conferences– San Antonio in February 1989– Dallas in March 1990

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Mobility 2000 Created the Alphabet Soup• ATMS – advanced traffic management systems• ADIS (later ATIS) – advanced driver/traveler

information systems• CVO – commercial vehicles operations• APTS – advanced public transportation

systems• IVHS – intelligent vehicle/highway systems

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IVHS America Incorporated in 1990American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Highway Users’ Foundation for Safety and

Mobility (HUFSAM) teamed up to create the Intelligent Vehicle/Highway Society of America,

or IVHS America.Changed to ITS America in 1994.

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The Race Was On• Folks in several states realized there should be

state-level counterparts• IVHSA initially opposed, seeing them as

competition• But, if IVHS was to be the “real deal” future of

transportation, it needed more local support

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How Did IVHS Florida Get Stated?• June 1991: University of Florida Transportation

Research Center (TRC) letter to Sec’y Ben Watts – no response

• April 1992: FDOT’s first formal policy on IVHS – consider IVHS in any major project

• The first major IVHS demonstration project, TravTek, was conducted in the Orlando area

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IVHS Florida Start 2May 19, 1992, an informal meeting of FDOT,

Frank Carlile (FDOT Assistant Secretary), FHWA Florida Division (Jim Skinner), Florida Section ITE

(Jack Freeman), University of South Florida (Mike Pietrzyk), and University of Florida (yours

truly) met at the 2nd IVHS America Annual Meeting in Newport Beach, California.

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IVHS Florida Start 3• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for

IVHS Florida (drafted by UF TRC)• Planned the first “IVHS Florida Forum” for

November 1992 (Mike Pietrzyk, USF)• Dr. James Costantino, Executive Director of

IVHS America, was the keynote speaker • MOU signed by Ben Watts November 10 – the

first formal “State Chapter”

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ITS Florida Goes National• Shortly after IVHSA changed to ITSA, IVHSFL

did likewise• We also became an official [“founding”]

charter-affiliated chapter of ITSA, got incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in Florida, and joined the ranks of real-world transportation associations

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ITS Florida Forums• Series of conferences:

– Nov. 1992 – the first, founding meeting in Orlando– Nov. 1995 – fourth Forum and Exhibition , co-sponsored

with FSITE, as were all future ones– Jun. 1997 – "Integrating ITS into Project Planning, Design,

and Operations" in Clearwater Beach– Jun. 1998 – "Building Public-Private Partnerships to Solve

Transportation Problems" in Daytona Beach– Jun. 1999“– Managing Your Transportation Investment with

ITS" in Naples

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• Replaced the “Florida Transportation Forum,” sponsored by FDOT, FHWA FL Division, FSITE, FTBA, ITSFL, and UF TRC

• A “millennium” event—all modes from highway to space

• 750 attendees, 115 exhibitors

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Other Transpos• 2002 – “Safety Under the Sun: Technology for Safe and

Secure Transportation,” Orlando (10th anniversary)• 2004 – “Border Wars – Building Bridges to Overcome

Barriers,” regional with Georgia in Jacksonville• 2006 – “Empowering Our Mobile Society,” Palm Harbor• 2008 – “ITS: Putting it all Together,” Orlando• 2010 – “ITS: Now More than Ever,” with Georgia in

Ponte Vedra Beach

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ITSFL Recognizes TMCs

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ITSFL Recognizes TMCs, cont’d• Cities/counties:

– Bay Co.– Gainesville– Martin Co.– Sarasota/Manatee Cos.– Tallahassee

• Georgia NaviGAtor – 10th

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We support ITSA and World Congresses

• We have supported every ITSA Annual Meeting, hosted 2002

• Hosted 1996 and 2011 WCs

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ITSFL Technology Transfer• Originally formed as “Team of Champions” in 1999

– Developed courses on CORBA, Fiber and Systems Engineering

– Offered a number of other courses, many thru UF TRC• Changed to Professional Capacity Building

Committee in early 2000s and now Continuing Education Committee– Technology Forums and training courses

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ITSFL Advisory Council• Official advisor to FDOT’s ITS Program• Advisory projects:

– ITS Performance Measures– Statewide ITS Architecture– TMC Co-Location (several RTMCs are joint centers)– Road Ranger Support

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ITSFL Awards from ITSA• Outstanding State Chapter:

– Winner in 2005 and 2011– Runner up in 2010 & 2012– Certificate of Excellence, Outreach & Advocacy in

2009– Certificate of Excellence, Organization &

Professional Development in 2008

ITS Florida has long been a model for other State Chapters to follow

Our partnership with FSITE has played a major role in our success

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