Taking full advantage of technological advancement means ensuring systems continue to work for you. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are meant to save time, resources, and lives. Too many different, disparate parts, though and it’s easy to imagine a bloated system standing in its own way. Streamlining allows a community’s systems to support and enhance each other instead, a valuable goal for any transportation agency. This article describes INDOT’s success in doing just that, from installation to operation.

The system in question uses cellular routers and a cloud-based networking management platform. The benefits are wide-reaching, and largely attributable to ITS Director Randy Myers. His API (Application Programming Interface) reduced router configurations from a potentially three-week project to a day’s work. Systems pull information more quickly, increasing, among other things, location accuracy when responding to an incident. A monitoring tool signals technicians when a device might require a repair. The cellular routers being used apply to traffic signals, DMS (dynamic message signs), traffic cameras, and more. The article contains more information on the specific tools being used. INDOT may be a resource for agencies interested in learning from their successes.

Implementing ITS brings great benefits to a community, and those benefits are best realized when implementation is as smart as the devices in question. A system which communicates with itself and with workers will reduce delays and complexity. Think carefully on how your systems are set up and if they are meeting their full potential.