We are dedicated to improving the lives of Marylanders

CONSTANTLY IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION THROUGH THE USE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES

About Us

Intelligent Transportation Society of Maryland (ITSMD) is a non-profit association made up of public, private, and academic organizations that collaborate on improving transportation technology in the state. We focus on using information processing, communications, control, and electronics technologies to enhance transportation systems, which can save lives, time, and money.

This association is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Marylanders by constantly improving transportation through the use of advanced technologies. It serves as a forum for public, private, and academic organizations to collaborate and advance intelligent transportation technology in Maryland. ITSMD is a partnership that aims to increase the deployment of ITS technology and increase public understanding of the benefits of technology in transportation. Membership is open to anyone, and information about joining can be found on the membership page.

Vision

As the ITS Maryland organization has matured, and the Intelligent Transportation Systems industry has advanced, the chapter’s members have been agile, evolving the vision and mission to assure that ITS Maryland continues to be a relevant and valuable resource for Maryland’s ITS industry.

Although ITS Maryland prepared a Mission statement in 1995, the first official Vision statement appeared in the 1999 ITS Maryland Strategic Plan. It read:

“ITS Maryland will work with the public and private sectors to make Maryland the acknowledged leader in deploying a statewide intelligent transportation system that takes full advantage of appropriate technology to improve (1) the safety and convenience of travelers, (2) the efficiency of Maryland’s transportation system, and (3) our state and regional economies. As a result of ITS Maryland’s activities, the state’s intelligent transportation systems will be fully multi-modal, interoperable and integrated at the state, regional and local levels.”

This vision reflected the purpose of the State Chapter, its role in the continued development of ITS, and emphasized the work that the chapter had been supporting to encourage multi-modal solutions, and statewide system interoperability.

By 2014, ITS Maryland recognized the need to update their Strategic Plan as the industry began to define various ITS facets such as Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO), Integrated Corridor Management (ICM), Adaptive Traffic Control Systems (ATCS) and Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV). Rather than attempting to increase the complexity of the ITS Maryland Vision Statement to accommodate these new sub-disciplines, the 2014 Strategic Plan simplified the Chapter’s vision to read:

“Having a safe, secure, and efficient surface transportation system that uses technology to improve operations for the movement of people and freight in Maryland.”

The specifics of how to achieve this vision were captured in the new mission statement and strategic goals.

Mission

In 1995, as part of the development of the ITS Maryland by-laws, the founders of the chapter authored the organization’s first Mission Statement:

“To support the implementation of safe and efficient intelligent transportation systems in Maryland by providing a forum for education, coordination, and communication among all interested organizations.”

This Mission Statement defined the organization’s commitment to act as a resource for the members, facilitating information sharing and growing the community of ITS professionals in Maryland.

As the chapter began to more clearly define its role in supporting Maryland’s ITS industry, the need for a formal Strategic Plan, with an updated Mission and Vision became apparent. In 1999, ITS Maryland drafted its first strategic plan, with an updated mission:

“ITS Maryland’s mission is to support and promote the deployment of safe, efficient, integrated, and intermodal intelligent transportation systems in Maryland. This will be accomplished by providing a forum for coordination, communication, education, training, and outreach among all interested organizations in the State.”

This version of the mission highlighted the important role ITS Maryland played in fostering integrated and inter-modal ITS projects and programs and added a focus on providing training resources and outreach to actively promote the advancement of ITS services and technologies.

By 2014, the ITS industry was rapidly growing and evolving which prompted the leadership of ITS Maryland to update the chapter’s Strategic Plan. During this iteration of the plan, the Mission Statement became more defined:

“Support and promote the timely deployment and effective operation of integrated, inter-operable, and intermodal intelligent transportation systems at the state, regional, and local levels by being a forum to coordinate among members; sponsoring programs, events and research for education and training; communicating with stakeholders, neighboring chapters and agencies; allocating in a responsible manner available chapter resources; and awarding volunteer efforts.”

This Mission Statement specifically identified a number of functions of a fully mature professional association, that hadn’t been previously documented for the chapter. These functions included sponsoring programs, research, training, allocating chapter resources and awarding volunteer efforts.

As the ITS Industry continues to advance, ITS Maryland will continue to grow as a critical forum for exchanging information. Consequently, the chapter’s vision and mission will be further updated in future versions of the Strategic Plan.

Strategic Goals

The 2014 Strategic Plan was also the first time the chapter drafted specific and defined strategic goals. These goals address not only the role of ITS Maryland in facilitating information exchange, but also include a focus on ensuring the wellbeing of the organization, actively promoting the ITS industry, working cooperatively with partner organizations and fulfilling training and educations needs of the members.

Specifically, the 2014 Strategic Plan identified the following five goal areas:

Internal Membership Retention and Growth;
External Outreach and Awareness Raising;
Training and Education of Members and for Allied Professionals;
Partnering, Networking, Business Development, and Research on Technologies Supporting Transportation Operations; and
Facilitating Deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems in and throughout Maryland and adjoining jurisdictions.

History

THE MEETING OF MINDS

In 1995, a group of transportation professionals in Maryland formed an Intelligent Transportation Society to discuss the potential of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to address transportation challenges. The team consisted of representatives from various organizations, including the Department of Transportation, Universities, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, County governments, and Private Sector companies. They recognized that the successful implementation of ITS technologies would require a coordinated effort across the State involving contributions from the public, private, and academic sectors.

THE CORE MISSION

The core mission of the state chapter was to support the implementation of safe and efficient ITS in Maryland by providing a forum for education, coordination, and communication among all interested organizations. In late 1995, ITS Maryland was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and it has never received external funding. The organization has conducted hundreds of outreach and educational activities solely through member contributions, dues, and event registrations.

DEVELOPING A STATEWIDE ARCHITECTURE

The State Chapter played a key role in organizing early efforts to develop a Maryland Statewide ITS Architecture, which depicts the high-level interactions between transportation management systems, diagramming the interconnections and data communications needs for effective inter-agency interoperability. To promote education related to ITS technologies, the State Chapter also organized the annual Maryland Technology Showcase, held in Annapolis, which informs elected officials about the capabilities and newest technologies available in the Intelligent Transportation Systems industry.

COOPERATION, COORDINATION, AND COMMUNICATION

ITS Maryland has thrived based on the volunteer efforts of thousands of individuals. The organization has always served an important role in fostering cooperation, coordination, and communication among its members as well as with the larger transportation community. One of the first accomplishments of the organization was to establish an Annual meeting, which has been held every year starting with the first meeting in March 1996. These meetings provide professionals with networking opportunities to share information on pending projects, new technologies, funding opportunities, system requirements, and business issues. The meetings also provide an annual touchpoint for conducting the organizational business of the state chapter, such as elections.

ITS Maryland has also maintained a master contact list of ITS industry stakeholders, facilitated communication of news from the national level including announcements from USDOT and ITS America, acted as a regional host for several ITS America meetings held near Washington, D.C., and held numerous informational and networking events to strengthen the community of ITS professionals in the State.

ITS Maryland DEI Statement

Recognizing the inequities and barriers that exist in our transportation system today, ITS Maryland is committed to supporting the implementation of intelligent transportation technology and associated policies that promote safer, more affordable, equitable, and accessible transportation. ITS Maryland cultivates a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion by:

Prioritizing an inclusive space by broadening our outreach to ensure a diverse membership, including board and committee leadership and event speakers
Promoting scholarship opportunities; inclusive of all diverse backgrounds (all genders, races, ethnicities, ages, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, disabilities, etc.)
Committing to including DEI in our programming
Engaging with our local schools
Continually measuring and adjusting our DEI efforts