[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 18, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12874-12883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6738]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration


Advanced Rural Transportation Systems Strategic Plan; Request for 
Information

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Highway Administration is seeking comments from 
all sources (public, private, governmental, academia, professional 
groups, public interest groups, etc.) on the Strategic Plan for 
Advanced Rural Transportation Systems (ARTS) portion of the Intelligent 
Transportation Systems (ITS) Program. The ARTS Strategic Plan defines 
the vision, mission and goals from the Federal perspective for 
achieving the benefits of the ITS program in rural areas. This is not a 
request for proposals or an invitation for bids.

DATES: Your comments on this announcement should be submitted no later 
than April 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Your comment on these important issues are greatly 
appreciated, but responses will not be acknowledged. Responses should 
be mailed to FHWA, Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program 
Office, HVH-1, Rm 3400, Washington, DC 20590. However, E-mail responses 
are encouraged, and should be addressed to 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b9cbd8c0d4d6d7dd97cbdccadcd7dddccaf9dfd1ced897ddd6cd97ded6cf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6b190a120604050f45190e180e050f0e182b0d031c0a450f041f450c041d">[email protected]</span></a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ray Resendes, ITS Joint Program 
Office, (202)366-2182, Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 7:15 a.m. to 
4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: ITS uses advanced communications, computer 
and surveillance technologies to address surface transportation 
problems. When effectively deployed, ITS services can provide safer and 
more secure travel, improve traffic flow in congested areas, reduce the 
harmful environmental impacts of traffic congestion, and help travelers 
and businesses achieve improved levels of productivity. The national 
ITS program is being advanced as a partnership between the private 
sector, academia and all levels of State

[[Page 12875]]

and local government. A complete description of the ITS program is 
contained in the March 1995, National ITS Program Plan, developed 
jointly by the US DOT and ITS AMERICA. The National ITS Program Plan is 
available from ITS AMERICA, 400 Virginia Avenue SW., Suite 800, 
Washington, DC. 20024-2730, phone (202) 484-4847.
    This is a request for comment on the Strategic Plan for Advanced 
Rural Transportation Systems portion of the ITS program. The ARTS 
Strategic Plan defines the vision, mission and goals from the federal 
perspective for achieving the benefits of the ITS program in rural 
areas.

Advanced Rural Transportation Systems (ARTS) Strategic Plan

1. Executive Summary

    The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) created the 
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) to 
manage the ITS program. JPO is housed within the FHWA, but has liaisons 
with each modal Administration (except the Federal Aviation 
Administration) within the U.S. DOT. The JPO also receives policy 
guidance directly from the ITS Management Council which is chaired by 
the Deputy Secretary of Transportation. Although this document will be 
issued by the FHWA, that agency will hereinafter be referred to as the 
U.S. DOT in order to reflect the variant roles of each modal 
Administration in the ITS program.
    This Strategic Plan has been developed for the Advanced Rural 
Transportation Systems (ARTS) portion of the ITS Program. The plan 
focuses on the Federal Government's role in developing rural ITS 
options and prudently managing emerging ITS technologies within rural 
settings from conception to viable options for implementation. The 
Strategic Plan meets the needs of the US DOT by providing a basis for 
sound decision-making for program development, as well as being 
consistent with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 
(GPRA). Items in italics are references from, ``Strategic Planning, An 
Overview for Complying with GPRA,'' by Philip Blackerby.
    The plan also looks at the ARTS program's role in developing and 
fostering the application of ITS in rural areas over the next twelve 
years. It describes the program's vision, mission, goals, objectives, 
and measures. Because of the diversity of needs and varied settings in 
rural America, this plan also developed seven critical program areas 
(clusters) which provide areas of common interest and focus within the 
overall program. A companion program plan (which will be available in 
February 1997), sets the strategic priorities, and lays out the program 
projects by year for the next five years. Together, both plans provide 
the road map for the ARTS Program.

    Note: For Purposes of this report, rural America is defined as 
communities or areas with less than 50,000 residents.

2. Introduction

    The GPRA requires each Federal agency to prepare:
    (1) Strategic plans that define an agency's mission and long-term 
goals; (2) annual performance plans containing specific targets; and 
(3) annual reports comparing actual performance to the targets set in 
the annual performance plans.
    US DOT has already put forth significant efforts to assure that the 
overall ITS program is consistent with the GPRA, including the 
preparation of the ITS Strategic Plan and the development of a set of 
measures for evaluating the program's progress <SUP>1. While every 
element in the ITS program should respond to the overall goals and 
objectives provided in the overall ITS program, it is recognized that 
conditions and needs vary greatly across the United States and, as a 
result, the focus of the ITS program and its elements may vary from 
area to area. Accordingly, the ITS Architecture identified the 
following three separate scenarios to aid in thinking about and 
analyzing the different needs and required focus:
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    \1\  These ``Few Good Measures'' include measures to meet goals 
in the following categories: Time savings; Reductions in crashes; 
Reductions in fatalities; Increased throughput; Cost savings; and 
Improved customer satisfaction. (``Implementation of the National 
Intelligent Transportation System Program: 1996 Report to 
Congress'').
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    1. Urban;
    2. Inter-Urban;
    3. Rural.
    Each has its own set of needs, priorities and concerns. For 
example, the major initiative for urban areas focuses on the mitigation 
of congestion and improvement in traffic flow that ITS technologies can 
offer.
    On the other hand, the ARTS Program is concerned with travel within 
and through rural America. The conditions found in rural travel 
(including inter-urban travel through rural areas), the characteristics 
of the travelers, and the costs of maintaining the rural system all 
point to the need for a focused program for developing advanced 
technology solutions for transportation in rural America. Some of the 
attributes found in rural environments that make this need critical 
are:
    1. Mix of users (rural and urban travelers);
    2. Secondary roads with less frequent maintenance;
    3. Steep grades/blind corners/curves/few passing lanes;
    4. Large variance in travel speeds (frequent passing);
    5. Long distance travel;
    6. Fewer convenient detour options;
    7. Adverse road surface and weather conditions;
    8. Few navigational signs;
    9. Less existing infrastructure (per square mile);
    10. Light usage/large geographical areas impeding rapid emergency 
detection and response;
    11. More motor vehicle deaths with higher frequency of accidents/
vehicle mile traveled and more severe accidents than found in urban 
areas;
    12. Recreational travelers needing traveler information services;
    13. Limited or non-existent public transportation services;
    14. Many, often uncoordinated, providers of transportation services 
to meet health and human services needs; and
    15. Very dispersed systems with high unit costs for service 
delivery, maintenance, and operations.
    This document is the Strategic Plan for the US ARTS Program. It is 
important to note that this Strategic Plan represents the US DOT 
perspective on rural ITS, and the US DOT's roles and responsibilities 
for improving the rural transportation system through advanced 
technologies. In this role, the US DOT program will work to bring rural 
ITS technologies to maturity and examine institutional arrangements for 
their deployment, providing feasible options to rural areas. In this 
context, the role of the ARTS Program is not to provide long term 
operational funding to rural ITS systems (though Federal funds may be 
available from other programs). Rather, the role of the ARTS Program is 
to work in partnership with those responsible for the implementation of 
ITS in rural areas--States and local agencies, and the private sector--
to provide appropriate and sustainable (i.e., Can be operated using 
existing and projected funding and resources) ITS solutions to rural 
problems and needs. Consequently, others will need to develop their own 
plans to compliment and coincide with this one.
    The latter portion of this document identifies the goals and 
objectives that are the priority of the ARTS Program. It outlines the 
Federal role in advanced rural transportation systems and is

[[Page 12876]]

consistent with the guidelines provided by the GPRA.
    The companion ARTS Program Plan is also under development as 
described in the final section of this document. The program plan 
includes the setting of strategic priorities, another key follow up 
element in strategic planning, as well as specifying candidate projects 
by year to address the uncertainties and ultimately lead to the 
deployment of rural ITS.

3. Potential Barriers

    There are three potential barriers to the development and 
acceptance of the ARTS Strategic Plan. These are:
    1. Acceptance of the role of the US DOT and participation by others 
critical to the process;
    2. The focus of the Strategic Plan on the US DOT role in rural ITS 
in lieu of a ``National'' plan; and
    3. The degree of variability within the rural transportation 
system.
    The development and implementation of the Strategic Plan depends 
upon its acceptance by the key partners required for its 
implementation. Throughout the strategic planning process, a critical 
guidance has been provided from the field offices of the US DOT as well 
as representatives of State and local agencies directly responsible for 
implementing rural ITS in their areas and independent consultants. 
However, there may also be some dissatisfaction with the ARTS program's 
focus on finding the answers to what is not known about rural ITS 
through research, development, field tests, and targeted deployments at 
the expense of direct funding of deployment alone. This may become an 
issue during the comment period prior to the final version of the plan. 
Given this, it is important to emphasize that reducing the gaps in 
knowledge is the focus of the ARTS program. Funds for transit 
operations and other activities may still be provided through 
traditional Federal funding sources not part of the ARTS program.
    The second issue concerns the Strategic Plan's focus on the US 
DOT's roles and responsibilities, rather than the development of an all 
encompassing National Plan. As stated in the Introduction, the US DOT 
is only one partner in the ultimate development and implementation of a 
sustainable mix of ITS Services in rural America. Other participants 
include the State and local agencies and other providers of ITS, the 
private sector, and the public. A concerted effort was made to ensure 
that the ARTS Program incorporate the interests of all of the 
participants; however, the Strategic and Program Plans are still 
designed to reflect the US DOT role and activities in advanced rural 
transportation systems. Given the diverse nature of the participants 
and interests across rural America, it was not feasible to develop a 
``National'' plan encompassing the views, roles, and responsibilities 
of each participant. Development of a National rural ITS vision and 
plan may, however, be a worthy exercise to carry out in the future in 
coordination with ITS America's ARTS Committee and other organizations.
    The last issue is a more difficult problem to solve. The wide 
variety of needs found in rural settings across the US has made it 
difficult for participants to recognize similarities and agree to 
program goals, objectives, or program elements. For example, at first 
glance, people often perceive few similarities between the very 
disparate rural areas of Death Valley, The Upper Peninsula in Michigan, 
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, or Cape Cod. It was found, however, that many of 
the perceived differences are really associated with the differences in 
the mix of needs within each rural area. Thus, US DOT has spent 
substantial effort in developing a set of Critical Program Areas, or 
Clusters, to provide a common identifiable set of views of rural 
America, its needs, and how ITS can respond. These Critical Programs 
Areas have become key elements in developing the specific approaches 
for the rural ITS program described later, and in minimizing the debate 
and confusion over ``What is Rural?''

4. Vision and Mission

    The Vision statement describes a future that management envisions. 
It provides a description of what rural America will be like when the 
rural ITS program is fulfilled. The Mission describes the 
organization's purpose or changes that the organization intends to 
directly effect. These two statements provide the direction and purpose 
upon which the ARTS program is based.
Vision
    An enhanced quality of life for rural residents through safer, more 
secure, available and efficient movement of people and goods in rural 
America through the judicious application of advanced ITS technologies.
    Rural America accounts for a small and dispersed portion of our 
nation's population, yet it encompasses a significant portion of the 
transportation system. Rural areas account for 80 percent of the total 
US road mileage and 40 percent of the vehicle miles traveled, and they 
have a unique set of characteristics associated with the travel upon 
them and their operations and maintenance. Consequently, the rural 
traveler has a different set of priorities and needs than does his/her 
urban counterpart. These differences reflect the rural environment of 
long distances, relatively low traffic volumes, relatively rare traffic 
congestion, travelers unfamiliar with the surroundings, and rugged 
terrain in remote areas. Furthermore, rural characteristics that 
solicit ITS solutions include an over representation of fatal crashes 
(About 60 percent of traffic fatalities and 55 percent of work zone 
fatalities occur in rural areas), safety problems related to high 
speeds on non-interstate rural roads and increased response time for 
Emergency Medical Services. Many rural communities now have excellent 
all-weather road systems, but many rural residents remain isolated 
because of their inability to travel. Presently, 38 percent of the 
nation's rural residents live in areas without any public transit 
service and another 28 percent live in areas in which the level of 
transit service is negligible <SUP>2.
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    \2\ Compiled from Various tables in Highway Statistics 1994. 
Federal Highway Administration, October 1995.
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    The vision aims to improve the safety and security of the rural 
traveler, especially given the differences with the urban environment. 
Similarly, isolation is a factor that impacts both the transportation 
disadvantaged and the economic vitality of the communities in rural 
America; therefore, reducing isolation is important. Additionally, as 
resources continue to become more scarce, using advanced technologies 
to improve the efficiency and productivity of operating and maintaining 
transportation services is crucial, especially given the high costs 
associated with rural transportation operations and maintenance.
Mission
    To ensure the development and application of Advanced Rural 
Transportation Systems through research, demonstrations, evaluations, 
and the promotion of cost-effective technologies ready for 
implementation, and including the provision of training and technical 
assistance to transportation providers planning or implementing ITS 
technologies.
    The US DOT will work with a wide range of constituents to identify 
potential technological solutions to rural problems, and to study these 
potential solutions to determine cost-effective ways to implement them. 
As stated earlier, the role of the ARTS Program is to develop rural ITS 
options

[[Page 12877]]

and husband emerging ITS technologies within rural settings from 
conception to viable options for implementation. This effort will focus 
on developing the options for ITS in rural America and reducing the 
uncertainty surrounding their implementation. It includes examining 
technological, political/institutional, and planning issues. Note, that 
the program may entail research, field operations tests, or targeted 
model deployments designed to reduce the uncertainty associated with 
particular rural ITS services. The specific elements in the program 
will be described in the companion ARTS Program Plan.
    Initially they may be stand-alone subsystems, however in later 
years, these subsystems may be coordinated and integrated as necessary. 
Once these systems and subsystems are defined, the US DOT will assist 
others in the implementation of these solutions through a variety of 
outreach activities. Ultimately, these systems will be mainstreamed 
into participating agencies' long-range plans and capital improvement 
programs.

4. Values and Philosophies

    The Values describe things that are important to an organization 
that will impact how the Vision and Mission are fulfilled, and yet may 
not be directly addressed in their statements. These are the underlying 
principles of the organization. The Philosophy Statements either 
describe the underlying philosophy that governs the organization, or 
state management commitments describing the promises management may 
make to its customers, employees, or other stakeholders. It is the 
values and philosophies that provide the underlying assumptions upon 
which the program is built to meet the vision and mission.
Values
    Building upon the values each administration may have already 
defined, the values that are considered important to the organization 
in developing successful Advanced Rural Transportation Systems are:
    Equity--The improvements made via this program will be distributed 
in a fair and non-discriminatory manner;
    Decision making--Balanced and appropriate decisions should be made 
reflecting the issues and concerns of those impacted and considering 
all feasible alternatives (their costs, benefits, and outcomes);
    Collaboration--Achieving the vision requires many people from a 
variety of disciplines to work together. This value is at the heart of 
the US DOT staff, and has been clearly demonstrated through the cross-
cutting Rural Action Team; and
    Leadership--A strong and enthusiastic proponent is needed to lead 
the program.
Philosophies
    The following philosophies, or guiding principles, underlie the 
Strategic Plan for Advanced Rural Transportation Systems. Collectively, 
they provide the assumptions and foundation for the goals, objectives, 
and program elements.
    The Federal role for rural ITS is one of support and fostering the 
implementation of advanced ITS technologies in rural America by others. 
It is an enabling program designed to bring rural ITS technologies to 
maturity and explore institutional arrangements that provide feasible 
options to rural areas wanting to implement ITS.
    The ARTS must be sustainable.
    They must be developed through public/public and public/private 
partnering initiatives involving both the highway community and the 
public transportation community, business interests, etc. They must be 
seamlessly connected to the rest of ITS (i.e., urban, suburban-rural 
connectivity, and highway-transit-ridesharing connectivity) and also 
compatible with non-ITS facilities and systems and should employ 
innovative financing principles.

5. Goals and Strategic Objectives

    The Goals describe the general results or outcomes the organization 
intends to achieve. They are measurable but usually not measured. For 
each goal, strategic objectives are defined. Strategic Objectives are 
written statements that describe an intended outcome. Strategic 
Objectives clearly describe measurable targets of achievement.
    As opposed to the abstract nature of the vision and mission, the 
goals and strategic objectives are definable in real and measurable 
terms. The six characteristics of Strategic Objectives include: (1) An 
external focus, (2) measurable, (3) achievable, (4) clear, (5) 
comprehensive, and (6) supporting the mission and goal statements. 
Strategic objectives can also be defined for both outputs of the 
program and outcomes of the program. Outputs are the services and 
products that the program provides. Outcomes are measures of their 
impact in the rural environments.
    The goals for the ARTS Program and their strategic objectives are 
provided below.
    There are three types of objectives: Administrative outputs, 
program outputs and outcomes. The administrative output objectives 
describe measurable internal or administrative actions that the US DOT 
will take, hence they are not externally focused. Program output 
objectives measure the extent to which the US DOT has achieved its role 
as facilitator--including the extent to which others have been made 
aware of the solutions, and the extent to which these systems have been 
deployed. Outcome objectives are measures of the impact that the 
implementation of the rural ITS systems has on rural America. Outcomes 
capture the achievement of the overall goals. For example, developing 
and providing rural ITS awareness seminars would meet an administrative 
objective. Deploying a safety information system would be an 
achievement of a program output objective, and reducing the rate and 
frequency of crashes due to the implementation of this system would be 
an achievement of an outcome objective.
    The long-term outcome objectives are shown as part of this 
Strategic Plan. The administrative and program objectives are by 
necessity tied to the specific elements of the companion Program Plan. 
Therefore, they will be specified as part of that document.
Goals
    The goals of the Rural ARTS Program are closely tied to those of 
the overall ITS program. Priority is given to those goals that will 
meet the more critical needs of travelers and transporters of goods in 
rural areas. Consequently, the primary goals of the ARTS program are 
safety and efficient mobility, versus those of urban systems which are 
congestion relief and increased throughput. The five goals of the 
program are: (1) Safety and security; (2) mobility, convenience and 
comfort; (3) efficiency, economic vitality and productivity; and and 
environmental conservation.
    Safety and Security--Improve the safety and security of users of 
the rural transportation system.
    Improving safety and security are continually identified as 
critical goals for rural transportation and ITS. Rural crashes tend to 
be more severe, and have longer response times due to the long 
distances and isolated settings. The characteristics of rural crashes 
mirror the diverse nature of the system, having a wide variety of 
causal factors. In some cases, trip fatigue takes its toll, while in 
other cases poor visibility or unsafe road conditions lead to crashes. 
ITS can play a major role in reducing the rate and frequency of crashes 
through a wide variety of safety advisory systems. ITS can also help 
reduce the consequences

[[Page 12878]]

of the crashes once they occur by enabling emergency responders to 
reduce response time and provide improved care. Automatic vehicle 
location systems can expedite the response to emergency situations on 
board transit vehicles. ITS can also create a more secure rural 
transportation system by reducing the exposure to unsafe situations. 
This consists of systems that provide immediate assistance to travelers 
in rural areas that experience problems, such as, getting lost or 
having a car breakdown. In addition, law enforcement agencies can apply 
advanced technologies to meet their needs, including enhanced officer 
safety, improved dispatching, and simplified reporting.
Safety and Security Strategic Objectives.
    1. Reduce the frequency of crashes (via pre-crash warning systems);
    2. Reduce the rate of crashes (via pre-crash warning and advisory 
systems);
    3. Reduce the severity and fatality level per incident from current 
levels (via improved response time and care); and
    4. Reduce exposure to unsafe situations (e.g., getting lost, car 
breaking down, etc.) (via emergency notification system).
    Mobility and Convenience--Enhance personal mobility and 
accessibility to services, and enhance the convenience and comfort of 
all users of the transportation system.
    One of the major characteristics across all of rural America is 
isolation and the relatively fewer available transportation options. 
People should have access to transportation, especially to enable them 
to meet basic life needs such as getting health care or buying staples. 
This goal consists of reducing isolation by increasing accessibility to 
services. This is especially true given the aging of America, and the 
increasing likelihood that rural Americans will be older with 
additional transportation needs in the years ahead. In some cases, 
there may be opportunities to implement technologies that enable older 
drivers to extend the period that they are able to drive. For those 
unable to drive, this increase in accessibility consists of advanced 
rural transit systems. Another important aspect of this goal includes 
providing alternative means of transportation to tourists in areas that 
cannot accommodate a large number of vehicles. It also addresses the 
need for convenient and comfortable travel through the development of 
information systems that help people get the services they need (gas 
stations, lodging, restaurants, hospitals, etc.).
    The advances in communications and computing have created an 
alternative to transportation. Improving the ability of rural America 
to carry out their desired activities through telecommuting and remote 
computing is also an important aspect of enhancing mobility. Therefore, 
this goal must also address the evaluation and advancement of 
communications options for rural America as substitutes for desired 
travel. Examples of how transportation and ITS may help improve the 
connectivity of rural areas include: providing connectivity through 
sharing communications trunk lines used for ITS services; and making 
public right of ways available for communications link installation.
Mobility and Convenience Strategic Objectives
    1. Increase the percentage of population with available and 
convenient transportation services to meet its mobility needs;
    2. Improve access to services and tourist areas, and expand the 
availability of information about services; and
    3. Improve the communications connectivity of rural areas and the 
ability to trade off communications with desired travel.
    Efficiency--Increase operational efficiency and productivity of the 
transportation system, focusing on system providers.
    In rural America this goal addresses the needs of rural 
transportation system providers, enabling them to carry out their 
services in a safe, efficient and productive manner. To some extent, 
this is a shift from the metropolitan ITS program whose primary goal is 
to reduce congestion. The long distances and sparse network often make 
operations and maintenance very expensive on a cost per unit basis, and 
the seasonally harsh nature of the rural environment can put providers, 
such as snow plow and transit operators, at risk. Also, the manpower 
and equipment per road mile, or transit vehicle is often much higher 
than in urban settings. Finally, weekend or seasonal peaks in traffic, 
severe weather conditions, backups due to crashes, or road construction 
with limited alternate routing all create congestion problems. Thus, 
improving the safety, efficiency, and productivity of operations and 
maintenance activities of the transportation providers, meet critical 
needs, especially through the application of coordinated advanced wide-
area traffic management and traffic signal systems.
Efficiency Strategic Objectives
    1. Reduce congestion and delay (e.g., in work zones, at events and 
tourist areas, etc.);
    2. Improve incident management and response time;
    3. Improve vehicle routing and diversion (e.g. trip coordination, 
pre-trip route selection, en-route delay and road condition 
information, and en-route notification of detour options); and
    4. Improve operations and maintenance resource management and 
allocation.
    Economic Vitality and Productivity--Enhance economic productivity 
of individuals, businesses, and organizations.
    Many rural areas are economically depressed and their economic 
viability is limited by their isolation.<SUP>3 Rural ITS can improve 
their ability to compete by reducing their isolation, improving the 
efficiency of transportation services to businesses in the area, and 
letting the public know of their attributes. Likewise, tourist areas 
need to be able to provide information to their visitors and provide 
them mobility if they are to continue to attract visitors. The focus of 
rural ITS in meeting this goal is therefore, to keep rural areas viable 
and helping to provide the services needed to function competitively. 
Another aspect of this goal addresses the desires of small communities 
that want to maintain their communities as they are, and limit the 
amount of growth (e.g., Aspen, CO). The rural ITS program will identify 
opportunities to address their transportation needs, while also 
respecting their desire to control growth.
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    \3\ Understanding Rural America, Economic Research Service, US 
Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 710, 
Washington, DC, February 1995.
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    As discussed within the Mobility and Convenience Goal, isolation 
can also be reduced by improving the communications connectivity of an 
area. As rural areas become more connected, they become more viable 
areas for living and working. This goal, therefore, also addresses the 
evaluation and advancement of telecommuting from rural America as a 
means of reducing isolation and making the rural environment more 
livable.
Economic Vitality and Productivity Strategic Objectives
    1. Improve access to and from rural communities for travel, goods 
and services, and information;
    2. Improve knowledge of goods, services, and opportunities in rural 
communities (e.g. en-route information,

[[Page 12879]]

transportation service information, etc.); and
    3. Improve transportation and communication facilities in and 
around rural communities.
    Environmental Conservation--Reduce energy consumption and 
environmental costs and negative impacts.
    While rural areas may not have air quality problems of the same 
magnitude as urban areas, there are still areas where there is a need 
to maintain good air quality and address other environmental problems. 
Consequently, opportunities to reduce the number of single occupant 
vehicles, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and increase public 
transportation and ridesharing alternatives are essential. Many tourist 
attractions, such as National Parks, also suffer from the negative 
environmental impacts of large numbers of visitors. This goal includes 
opportunities to minimize the effects of large influxes of people into 
these sensitive areas. In addition, in rural areas there is a need to 
address the impacts of the transportation infrastructure, operations, 
and maintenance on the environment, including the reduction of impacts 
due to hazardous material spills, and the tracking of hazardous 
materials through the rural transportation system.
Environmental Conservation Strategic Objectives
    1. Reduce Single Occupant Vehicles;
    2. Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled;
    3. Improve hazardous material response (minimize environmental 
impacts); and
    4. Reduce emissions per trip.
External Factors Assessment
    External factors are key outside forces that may influence the 
success of the rural ITS program in achieving the above mission and 
goals; or have other impacts on the delivery of the program, and yet 
are outside the control of the agency.
    One set of external factors with a focus on changes in legislation 
and the environment in Washington, D.C. can have a profound effect on 
the delivery of a long-term program. Of particular interest are the 
current hearings concerning Intermodal Surface Transportation 
Efficiency Act and its re-authorization in the next year. If the major 
priorities or funding mechanisms change as a result of the new 
legislation, the strategic plan may have to be modified and updated 
accordingly.
    Likewise, shifts in the Federal and State Departments of 
Transportation roles and responsibilities may impact the fulfillment of 
the program. However, these shifts may not be due to specific changes 
in legislation, but can also be caused by changes in administration.
    Another important set of external factors are changes in the 
economy, fuel prices, or concerns of the nation brought about by unique 
events. Terrorist acts can raise the importance of security throughout 
the transportation system. Another energy crisis will impact the amount 
and type of rural travel.
    Equally important are watershed changes in technology that can 
totally change the costs and potential applications within the rural 
environment. Twenty years ago, no one could have predicted the rapid 
adoption of facsimile machines throughout the business world, or even 
the use of cellular phone technology that now makes many ITS 
applications possible. Significant developments of new communications 
systems by private industry, such as satellite communications networks, 
could greatly impact the cost-effectiveness of advanced rural 
transportation systems. Yet, the US DOT has little control over these 
types of developments.
    The last factor is the ability of local rural communities to adopt 
new technologies and systems. However, the rapid infusion of new 
technologies in rural settings is hampered in a number of ways. First, 
rural areas are often some of the most fiscally constrained in America. 
There are large resource requirements for maintaining the current 
systems, and little additional funds for implementing new systems over 
the miles of rural network. Likewise, the staff resources are often 
limited in rural environments with one person taking on the roles and 
responsibilities typically filled by many specialists in denser areas, 
or even whole departments. ``Mainstreaming'' the consideration and 
evaluation of ITS strategies into multimodal transportation planning 
processes is also important if transportation planners and decision 
makers are to understand the costs and benefits of implementing certain 
technologies, particularly in comparison with more traditional or 
conventional improvements. Staffs must have the time and energy to plan 
and adopt the new systems to their current environments.
    Recognizing these external factors and updating the strategic plan 
as conditions change over the life of the program will keep it aligned 
with the overall mission and goals described above.

7. Strategies

    A Strategy is an approach, or an implementation methodology, that 
will lead to achieving a specific objective. It includes a description 
of how the goals and objectives are to be achieved, including a 
description of the operational processes, skills and technology, and 
the human, capital, information, and other resources required to meet 
those goals and objectives.
    Achieving the strategic objectives of the program means recognizing 
the extremely diverse nature of the rural transportation system. 
Diversity is exhibited in the system's wide range of motorists, 
managers, maintenance staff, operators, road types, terrain, climates, 
jurisdictions, land use, and seasonal characteristics. These diverse 
characteristics translate into a wide variety of needs, problems, and 
opportunities for improvement. Consequently, the ARTS solutions, i.e., 
the application of advanced technologies to meet these disparate needs, 
problems and opportunities, must be diverse as well. The strategies to 
identify these solutions must also recognize this diversity.
    Given this diversity of the rural transportation system, and the 
wide breadth of the program (i.e., encompassing a large number of needs 
of a large number of users), the ARTS program has been organized into 
seven Critical Program Areas (CPA's). A major effort of the Rural 
Action Team during the development of the Strategic Plan, was the 
investigation of different cluster concepts and ways to find common 
areas of interest across rural America. It was found that while rural 
settings differ greatly (Jackson Hole, WY, vs. Death Valley, CA, vs. 
Cape Cod, MA), there was general agreement on the classes of needs that 
exist within each setting and the principal users of ITS. The clusters 
were therefore developed around major needs and service groupings. They 
are:
    1. Traveler Safety and Security;
    2. Emergency Services;
    3. Tourism and Traveler Information Services;
    4. Public Traveler Services and Public Mobility Services;
    5. Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance;
    6. Fleet Operations and Maintenance; and
    7. Commercial Vehicle Operations.
    The above division is the primary dimension for this cluster 
concept and focuses on identifiable needs and services categories. The 
Tourism and Traveler Information Services CPA, for example, refers to 
the needs and services that a visitor (both driver and passenger) 
unfamiliar with a rural area may require, as well as the Visitors and 
Tourism Bureaus, transit service

[[Page 12880]]

providers, information providers, etc., that provide the services to 
meet their needs. In a tourist resort area, this may be the main focus 
of the ITS program. In other areas, it may exist but plays a smaller 
role. Likewise, the Public Traveler and Public Mobility Services focus 
on reducing the isolation of the transportation disadvantaged and 
increasing the mobility for all of the public. Its constituents also 
include both the potential travelers and service providers. The 
maintenance and operations activities may also form their own divisions 
because of the costs of the provision of these services in rural areas. 
As ITS services are shown to reduce their costs, improve their 
efficiency, etc., these areas and the organizations responsible for 
them become natural constituents and advocates for the programs.
    The clusters are not necessarily mutually exclusive and will 
overlap in their deployment in a specific region or rural setting. For 
example, services developed around a ``safety information cluster'' may 
also exist in the same area with services developed to meet the 
mobility needs. Similarly, clusters are ``fuzzy'' and the boundary 
between two related clusters may be difficult to discern at times 
(infrastructure versus fleet operations and maintenance).
    Each rural area will have its own environmental conditions and 
constraints, frequency of needs, institutional settings, etc. These 
factors determine the importance and priority placed upon each cluster 
within an area, and the mix of ITS services that may be considered for 
implementation.
    The clusters provide common areas of understanding and focus and, 
thus, make the ARTS Plan implementation more manageable. The Program 
Plan describes the user services, functional requirements, and 
knowledge gaps that apply to each CPA. Aspects of a program element may 
address more than one CPA. Consequently, The activities associated with 
some CPA's may consist of a number of research and field test 
activities, while activities associated with another will focus on 
deployment.
    Though much needs to be done to determine exactly which projects 
will be initiated within each CPA, some generalizations can still be 
made. The research and field testing efforts that take place within 
this program will be building upon the wealth of knowledge and proven 
solutions that have been developed under other parts of the ITS 
program. It is not expected that the rural advanced technologies will 
be significantly different from their urban counterparts, rather the 
difference between the two will be characterized through the 
implementation methods. Consequently, the bulk of the program will 
probably not consist of basic research, but rather will focus on 
overcoming the rural barriers that hamper cost-effective 
implementation. While such a focus will ensure that the seamless 
connectivity between urban and rural systems is achieved, care must be 
taken to avoid attempts to fit urban solutions into rural problems.

Traveler Safety and Security

    The rates and severity of accidents have been repeatedly identified 
as one of the most serious problems associated with rural 
transportation. Accidents per-vehicle-mile traveled are higher than in 
urban areas, and tend to be more sever due to higher operating speeds. 
Once an accident occurs, the time to notify and respond are also on the 
average longer, and trauma centers are located further away. 
Consequently, improving safety and security has been identified as a 
key cluster or critical program area.
    The needs in this cluster center around improving the driver's 
ability to operate the vehicle in a safe and responsible way and in 
reducing the influence of other factors that may help cause an 
accident, such as, poor road conditions, visibility, etc. This cluster 
focuses on the prevention of accidents before they occur and in 
reducing the severity of the accident if it does take place.
    Another aspect of this cluster is increasing the security (both 
actual and perceived) of the traveler along his/her trip. Providers of 
transportation services have a responsibility to provide a safe and 
secure environment in which to travel. A traveler may be injured while 
traveling even though he/she has not been involved in a vehicular 
accident (i.e., a transit patron is assaulted while waiting for a 
vehicle, or someone using a rural rest stop is robbed). Thus, providing 
a secure environment through remote monitoring, silent alarms, etc., is 
an important ITS function within this cluster.
    Some of the advanced systems that may be explored and developed 
under this cluster are:
    1. Wide area information dissemination systems (via radio, 
computer, TV, etc.) both pre-trip and en-route of safety information, 
such as weather and road conditions;
    2. Site-specific safety advisories and warnings (e.g., the enhanced 
radar detector for hazard warning, visibility sensors, variable speed 
limits, collision avoidance, work zone detection/intrusion alarms, rail 
crossing alerts, shoulder detection, etc.) to alert motorists of 
imminent problems;
    3. Safety surveillance and monitoring (e.g., on transit vehicles 
(for malcontents and for ill riders), at park-and-ride lots, rest 
areas, etc.); and
    4. In-Vehicle monitoring and detection systems including such items 
as driver monitoring (alertness, status), vision enhancement, perimeter 
detection, shoulder detection, etc.

Emergency Services

    Once an incident (accident or emergency situation) occurs, there is 
a need for emergency services. These can be in the form of ambulances 
and medical care, police, fire, tow trucks, and other vehicle 
assistance, etc. The isolation of rural areas, extensive time from the 
incident to detection, and response once the incident is detected all 
contribute to notifications and response times much longer than found 
in denser areas, often of an hour or more. This leads to much more 
severe consequences than would occur with rapid response. Given an 
incident, the Emergency Management Team must be notified, a decision on 
how to address the emergency must be made, services dispatched and the 
location of the incident found and reached. In addition, the care 
givers are constantly having to make critical decisions about the type 
and extent of care to provide, both on the scene and at the hospital or 
trauma center.
    This cluster focuses on the ITS services required to provide this 
emergency assistance. It includes both the provision of communications, 
the management of the emergency services fleets, and the transmission 
of critical information to better prepare the care givers, both at the 
scene and in the hospital or trauma center. Assisting the emergency 
vehicle in reaching the incident through vehicle routing, 
identification, and warning systems, is also an important aspect. A 
large number of this cluster's needs also deals with the coordination 
of different services and the need to share the critical and 
appropriate information on the emergency as rapidly as possible in real 
time.
    Some of the advanced systems that may be explored and developed 
under this cluster are:
    1. Mayday systems to alert dispatchers of location and nature and 
extent of a problem (e.g., crash, breakdown, etc.); and
    2. Advanced dispatching and vehicle-based response systems (e.g., 
on emergency medical services & law enforcement vehicles, tow trucks, 
etc.) to get to the scene quickly, and provide

[[Page 12881]]

appropriate care (perhaps for the judicious enforcement of traffic laws 
as well).

Tourism and Traveler Information Services

    This cluster focuses on the needs of a visitor or traveler that is 
unfamiliar with the rural area they are in or traveling through. It 
includes both information services and the unique aspects of providing 
mobility services to tourists and resorts, since many times visitors 
have little choice of mode (no auto) and require special services. It 
addresses aspects of both the ``Mobility and Convenience'' and 
``Economic Vitality and Productivity'' goals for the ARTS program. 
Knowing where desired destinations are, how to get to them, and 
conditions along the way adds to the mobility and convenience of an 
area. Likewise, travelers must be aware of destinations before they can 
visit them and providing services to tourists and others unfamiliar 
with the rural surroundings enhances the economic vitality of the area.
    The needs and services that may be bundled in this cluster include 
such activities as electronic yellow pages, weather and condition 
forecasting, route advisory information, information dissemination in 
hotels, roadside, wide band radio, etc. Once in a resort area, tourists 
often are hindered due to lack of a vehicle, or knowledge of the area. 
Providing mobility through transit, paratransit, and Global Positioning 
Systems (for rental cars) may also be an important function. This 
cluster would also be of primary interest to the Tourism and Visitors 
Centers, Economic Development Bureaus, as well as the local service 
providers (departments of street and traffic, transit authorities, 
State Department of Transportation, and Park Agencies).
    Tourism may also be a concern in any rural setting during major 
events and festivals. At these events the traffic, local population, 
and transportation problems of the participants, local residents, and 
emergency services swell to many times their average levels. Event 
logistics, traffic and parking management, provision of emergency 
communications, etc., are crucial to the success of these events and 
yet must be temporary in nature, and in most cases understandable to 
volunteers.
    Some of the advanced systems that may be explored and developed 
under this cluster are:
    1. Information services (electronic yellow pages, route guidance, 
etc.) provided at fixed locations (e.g., in hotels, at rest areas, at 
modal transfer stations, etc.), and en-route;
    2. Mobility services (transit, paratransit, parking systems, etc.);
    3. Smart card payment/transaction systems for transit and tourist 
transactions; and
    4. Portable event management systems that include such services as 
traffic management, variable message signs, hotel and service 
availability and directions on how to reach services when they are 
available.

Public Traveler Services/Public Mobility Services

    Isolation and accessibility to key services are critical concerns 
to many rural inhabitants. Providing transit, paratransit, rural 
addressing, and other services associated with ability to make a 
desired trip fall within the Mobility Services cluster. As the nation 
ages, and becomes more transportation disadvantaged the need for 
Mobility Services and the safety net of accessibility will become more 
extreme. This is especially true for rural areas where neighbors are 
often miles apart, trip distances are long, and travel to common 
origins and destinations infrequent. All rural residents, visitors to 
tourist areas, and human service providers are constituents of this 
cluster.
    The first major need associated with this cluster is finding those 
who need services and providing the mobility safety net to them. 
Secondly, determining how to provide the services in an efficient and 
effective manner, since often those providing the service have very 
high operating expenses. This includes the sharing of information among 
providers which can be used to help optimize routing, coordinate 
delivery, and reduce fraud in claiming subsidies from service 
providers. Lastly, addressing the need for coordination and 
communication between the many providers of services that may be 
involved including transit agencies and social service providers. The 
cluster includes not only providing mobility to the travelers from 
their homes and origins and destinations, but also increasing the 
ability of people to reach them in provision of other services 
(nursing, meals on wheels, hospital out patient, etc.).
    Some of the advanced systems that may be explored and developed 
under this cluster are:
    1. Advanced transit, paratransit systems, etc., using AVL and 
improved dispatching (e.g., taking advantage of improved rural 
addressing (i.e., using Global Positioning Satellites), etc.);
    2. Smart card payment/transaction systems for rider payment and 
tracking (beat fraud); and
    3. Advanced ride sharing and ride matching systems.

Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance

    Due to the isolation, distances, and sheer amount of rural road 
miles the provision of infra-structure maintenance and operation 
services are both costly, and often inefficient. Low volumes on the 
roads make the detection of problems and conditions a concern. This 
cluster's focus is on improving the efficiency of the maintenance and 
operations activities for the transportation systems within rural 
areas. Improving and automating the highway pavement management 
systems, providing early detection and deployment of services to meet 
severe conditions (snow removal, salting, etc.), maintaining, 
operating, and linking local and statewide traffic operations centers, 
managing work zones are examples of the ITS elements that would fall in 
this cluster. It is closely related to the next cluster which focuses 
on the fleet operations in rural areas.
    The maintenance of roads and the road system for safe operation 
falls under the maintenance organization activities. Because of the 
nature of rural settings, the cost per mile, and simply knowing the 
condition of the system that is out there, is very high and often 
inefficient. This cluster would focus on the provision of services to 
help maintenance organizations perform their functions more efficiently 
and safely. Pavement management, and normal road condition detection to 
reduce the costs of tracking and planning the system upkeep is 
critical. Some of the other needs and services that fall within this 
cluster include: Management of road crews and work zone location; road 
striping systems; weather information systems, detection of road 
conditions; coordination of maintenance activities; and flood control 
and detection.
    Also general operations of the physical infrastructure has a set of 
needs that can be met by rural ITS. These include traffic management, 
traffic signal systems, tracking of use of the system, assisting in the 
safety and management of work zone areas, etc. This cluster would also 
focus on how the needs and desires of the operation managers of the 
road and other infrastructure systems can be provided for using ITS. 
Again, the overall focus would be to provide services to help reduce 
the costs of operations and maintenance activities and improve the 
performance and efficiency in rural settings.

[[Page 12882]]

    Some of the advanced systems that may be explored and developed 
under this cluster are:
    1. Appropriate traffic signal and traffic management systems for 
small urban areas, ultimately linked together (as well as with large 
metropolitan TMCs) as part of a statewide, distributed information 
system;
    2. Automated management systems (e.g., bridge, pavement, roadside 
hardware, etc.); and
    3. Advanced work zone management and traffic control.

Fleet Operations and Maintenance

    The cost of providing services for mobility and managing the fleets 
used in rural settings is often extremely high for the same reasons as 
found in the last cluster. The distances are long, and the ability to 
combine destinations and provide efficient routing often poor. The 
potential for ITS to improve the coordination of fleets, routing, and 
communications is especially high in rural areas.
    Fleet operations of both transit and other rural fleets has a 
different focus than infrastructure operations. The vehicles must be 
scheduled, routed, located, and maintained. Management of rural fleets 
takes on new significance due to the cost and low use per mile of 
operations. This cluster would focus on the coordination and provision 
of services for rural fleet operations and management. It includes 
services to transit operators and paratransit providers, as well as the 
fleets of maintenance and other areas. Vehicle location and routing, 
maintenance scheduling, rural addressing, coordination of services and 
billing between providers, etc. all would fall within this cluster.
    Some of the advanced systems that may be explored and developed 
under this cluster are:
    1. Advanced dispatching and routing systems (e.g., for snow plows, 
transit operators, etc.) (includes central processing systems and 
vehicle-based systems such as Automatic Vehicle Location);
    2. Advanced vehicle tracking systems (e.g., guidance for snow plow 
operators to track through dangerous areas covered in snow); and
    3. Fleet maintenance and management systems.

Commercial Vehicle Operations

    Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO) and ITS development and support 
is carried out through the parallel ITS CVO program under the direction 
of the FHWA Office of Motor Carriers. The Vision Statement for the ITS 
CVO program is stated as ``Assisted by technology, trucks and buses 
will move safely and freely throughout North America.'' It is a 
voluntary effort consisting of public and private organizations working 
together to improve highway safety and motor carrier productivity 
through the development and application of the CVO User Services 
(Commercial Vehicle Electronic Clearance, Automated Roadside Safety 
Inspections, On-board Safety Monitoring, Commercial Vehicle 
Administrative Processes, Hazardous Materials Incident Response, and 
Freight Mobility).
    Since many of the activities associated with commercial vehicle 
operations take place in rural environments there are a number of 
topics and services of mutual interest between the Rural and CVO ITS 
programs. The rural ITS program focuses on the overall ITS services and 
general users found throughout rural America which may impact, but not 
be tailored to, CVO operations. Many of these, such as, emergency 
response and Mayday systems, may fall into other clusters. The Rural 
CVO cluster's primary function would be to provide a CVO perspective to 
these other clusters to ensure that CVO needs and requirements are also 
considered in the development of the overall ITS applications. The 
Rural CVO cluster may also supplement the main CVO ITS Program in 
uniquely rural commercial operations such as services to agricultural 
harvesting and migration operations or small rural commercial 
activities.
    As stated, an important aspect of this cluster would be to ensure 
that systems designed to meet the other critical program areas also 
included the elements and perspectives of the commercial vehicle 
operators (collecting and tracking CVO specific data, monitoring and 
tracking specific vehicles, meeting unique CVO information needs, 
etc.). How can CVO operations take advantage of these clusters? Can CVO 
and general backbone systems be combined? What additional requirements 
are necessary to meet CVO needs? These are questions that may be 
addressed in fulfilling this aspect of the CVO cluster.
    Another major component of this cluster centers around the 
agricultural harvesting and roundups found in rural areas. The annual 
migration of the harvesting combines in the Midwest, the sugar beet 
harvest in Minnesota, the roundups in ranch and sheep country, etc. all 
require focused transportation activities in often a very narrow window 
of opportunity. People need to know the location of the combines. 
Logistics and the movement of the trucks in and out of the area is 
critical; The road maintenance organizations may have special 
requirements before and after the event. All of these concerns point to 
a unique set of needs possibly overlooked under the provision of normal 
day-to-day services.
    Some of the advanced systems that may be explored and developed 
under this cluster are:
    1. CVO-specific requirements/needs within the other critical 
program areas (e.g., rural addressing, logistics, vehicle and driver 
monitoring), vehicle location systems for alerts to other travelers as 
well as for other tracking needs, assistance for agricultural 
harvesting, collecting and tracking CVO specific information needs 
(e.g., CVO-enhanced weather advisories);
    2. Services to assist Agricultural Harvesting and Migration; and
    3. Other services in support of small rural commercial enterprises. 
On the road communications and paging, low cost vehicle location for 
employees in the field, etc., to help make rural commercial activities 
more viable and cost-effective.

8. Next Steps: The Program Plan

    This Strategic Plan for the ARTS program has described the vision, 
mission, objectives, and measures upon which the ARTS program is built. 
Because of the diversity of needs and settings in rural America, it 
also developed seven critical program areas, or clusters, which provide 
areas of common interest and focus within the overall program. The ARTS 
Program Plan has been defined using the Strategic Plan and its critical 
program areas as a foundation. Strategic Planning is also a continuing 
process. As the implementation of the program moves forward, a key 
element is the ongoing evaluation and adjustment of the plan to account 
for new knowledge gained by the early research, shifting priorities, 
etc. This ``Performance Feed Forward'' step of strategic planning will 
be carried out as part of each budget cycle.
    As stated, the ARTS Program Plan will be developed around the 
clusters, or critical program areas. The tasks associated with the 
development of the Program Plan are underway and include:
    1. Continue assessment and evaluation of current rural ITS 
projects;
    2. Determine what is known and not known for each cluster;
    3. Identify potential projects and costs associated with answering 
the unknowns within each cluster;

[[Page 12883]]

    4. Set strategic priorities within and between each cluster;
    5. Select projects (research, field operational tests, targeted 
model deployments) to reduce the unknowns within each cluster, meet the 
goals, objectives and strategic priorities, and stay within budget 
allocations for each fiscal year; and
    6. Evaluate progress and update both the Strategic Plan and Program 
Plan during each budget cycle (Performance Feed Forward).

(23 U.S.C. 315; 49 CFR 1.48)

    Issued on: March 7, 1997.
Jane F. Garvey,
Acting Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 97-6738 Filed 3-17-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P


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