Development of the Maryland Statewide ITS Architecture began in 1999. Oversight for the effort was assigned to the Maryland ITS Working Group (MITS-WG), a committee formed under ITS Maryland – a state chapter within the national organization, ITS America. MITS-WG was tasked with managing development of a Statewide Architecture that would provide “an overall framework for ITS deployments at local and regional levels.” Through a plethora of inputs from Stakeholder agencies, and corresponding outreach activities, the 2001 Baseline ITS Architecture was developed. The Baseline Architecture was subsequently used to plan specific center-to-center interfaces, such as between CHART and Montgomery County’s Advanced Transportation Management System (ATMS). It was also used to assess project-level conformity for such initiatives as the Maryland State Police Mobile Command Bus.
In preparing the 2001 Baseline, a “generic” approach was employed to identify interconnects and Architecture flows for general types of centers and systems. This generic approach minimized the size of the Architecture in terms of interconnects and information flows, and helped make it easier to comprehend and use the Architecture.
In late 2004, MDSHA determined that the update and publication of its Statewide ITS Architecture was desirable. Significantly, Federal rulemaking actions required completion of Regional ITS Architectures by April 2005, and MDSHA realized that the 2001 Baseline did not address all the requirements of the Federal rule. Since preparation of the Baseline, new user services also had been added to the National ITS Architecture, which were not reflected in the original compilation. Additionally, in 2004-2005, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) began updating its own Regional ITS Architecture. This Architecture covered the Metropolitan Washington area, including a portion of Maryland. The importance of ensuring that the Maryland and MWCOG Architectures were complementary and compatible was understood and appreciated. Finally, the 2001 Baseline had never been published in the form of a final report and was accessible to ITS Stakeholders in limited form only.
In early 2005, MDSHA enlisted Kaspch TrafficCom (formerly Telvent Farradyne) to assist with the update of the Architecture. An ITS Architecture Advisory Panel (IAAP), comprised of knowledgeable representatives from MDSHA, CHART, UMD-CATT, and FHWA, was appointed to guide and monitor the update process. Upon its appointment, the IAAP made several key decisions, as follows:
- The Region would be defined as the entire State of Maryland for purposes of updating the ITS Architecture. In other words, ITS activity across the State would be represented using a single Architecture.
- The updated Maryland Statewide ITS Architecture (MD Architecture) would utilize a hybrid approach to defining Architectural Elements. A combination of “generic” and “specific” Elements would be used to depict pertinent relationships. The use of specific Elements would be expanded in future updates to the Architecture.
- Naming conventions common to both the Maryland and MWCOG Architectures would be employed in order to ensure consistency and compatibility. This would require coordination and careful review between the Maryland and MWCOG efforts.
- One such Element was identified as MATOC/RITIS (Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination/Regional Integrated Transportation Information System), and would support cross-jurisdictional information-exchange activities in the National Capital Region (NCR). Although the system did not yet exist, the planning process had progressed to the point that MATOC/RITIS could be expected to be an important feature in future transportation operations activities in Maryland and the NCR.
The 2005 update to the MD Architecture was completed in March 2005. The update produced the first Statewide Architecture within Maryland that was fully compliant with USDOT ITS Architecture requirements.
The MD ITS Architecture was formally validated by stakeholders in 2009. Information updates were gathered from stakeholders through a variety of forums (e.g., ITS Project Conformity Package submittals, updates from ITS architectures from surrounding regions and states) including a series of stakeholder validation sessions. At these sessions, stakeholders reviewed a “Strawman” Architecture for completeness and accuracy, and corrected errors and deficiencies.
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) refer to a cluster of technologies and operational enhancements that are applied to roadways, and work together to optimize traffic flow and maintain safety for roadway users. Examples of ITS technologies include:
- Advanced signal systems.
- In-vehicle signing.
- Dynamic message signs.
- Highway advisory radio.
- Automatic vehicle location systems.
- Electronic payment systems.
When effectively implemented, ITS technologies and procedures are frequently able to optimize the operations efficiency of the existing transportation infrastructure. The deployment of these technologies can help to: (1) maximize mobility, (2) manage capacity, (3) minimize and control congestion, (4) improve safety, (5) support enhanced security, and (6) communicate information and advisories to travelers.
An ITS Architecture is the framework that: (1) identifies the ITS subsystems, and (2) defines the interconnections and informational flows among those subsystems.
A Statewide ITS Architecture refers to a specific architectural framework that shares common ITS technologies, institutions, needs, and interests across a single, interlinked geographic area, which can be used to facilitate planning of future ITS projects.
The State of Maryland is bordered by Washington, D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia to the south, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east. The State consists of 23 counties and Baltimore City. Maryland has two major metropolitan areas: Baltimore and the outlying regions of Washington, D.C. in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.
The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is comprised of six (6) Transportation Business Units (TBUs). These are the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), which oversees transit services; Maryland Port Administration (MPA), which manages the Port of Baltimore; Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA), which maintains the roadways; Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), which furnishes driver and vehicle services; Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA), which owns and operates Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Martin State Airport, and the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) that manages the toll facilities throughout the State, including several highways, bridges and tunnels.
In addition, MDSHA administers its operations, including construction, engineering, traffic, and maintenance across seven districts.
Developing, maintaining, and utilizing a Statewide ITS Architecture offers a range of significant benefits. These benefits include the following:
- Enables ITS project planning and deployment to occur across the State in an organized and coordinated manner. It offers a framework for Stakeholders in the State to systematically identify and evaluate prospective solutions and enhancements that may satisfy transportation needs in the State. Thus, Stakeholders across the State may use the Architecture to plan their ITS projects to support statewide goals and priorities. This includes the identification of Stakeholder facilities that share information, and the type of information being shared, which, in turn, can be used to define potential project needs and coordination. Moreover, utilization of the Statewide Architecture also helps to ensure consistency among state, regional, and local planning processes.
- Promotes ITS interoperability across State jurisdictions. The Architecture reveals to Stakeholders the key interrelationships presently established in the State and those planned for the future. These interrelationship requirements identify those areas where operational or technology bridges to multiple agencies are needed. In this way, the Architecture helps to anticipate and plan for the integration of requirements between state, regional, and local systems. Significantly, the Architecture promotes adherence to consistent and uniform standards across the State. By its very nature, it also ensures consistency in documentation of ITS Elements.
- Establishes institutional mechanisms that promote the development and deployment of ITS projects. The Architecture compels the State to set up forums for the discussion of statewide transportation requirements. These forums, in turn, encourage the building of relationships among transportation professionals and Stakeholders across the State – these professionals are thereby given opportunities to understand the needs, issues, constraints, etc., of other transportation sectors. As the statewide dialogue expands, institutional barriers tend to crumble and the integration of disparate goals, concepts, approaches, and solutions is increasingly possible. With this institutional integration comes the sharing of technologies and information, so that innovative, statewide thinking becomes a guiding principle in transportation planning as new, synergistic relationships take hold.
- Encourages efficient investment. As prospective new ITS projects are identified in the State, they can be documented in the Statewide ITS Architecture and their interrelationships with existing and planned components assessed. This lessens the probability that a particular project will result in a “dead-end” investment. That is, using the Architecture, a project will use the ITS standards of the National ITS Architecture commonly used throughout the State, and be congruent and complimentary to the characteristics of existing and planned projects. It also helps planners to identify and invest in projects capable of addressing multiple needs, such as automated vehicle location (AVL) systems, that can both improve on-road performance and inform customers of status conditions. In general, the Architecture offers statewide Stakeholders a basis for prioritizing ITS projects and making sound investment choices.
- Satisfies the Federal mandate. The FHWA mandate required that Statewide ITS Architectures be completed by April 2005, in order for Stakeholders in the State to continue using Federal funds for the development and deployment of ITS projects. To this end, the development, maintenance, and declaration of Statewide ITS Architectures are necessary for continued access to Federal funds for ITS deployment.
Developing and adopting a Statewide ITS Architecture sets the stage for statewide strategizing, prioritizing, and deploying of specific ITS projects.
