Eight percent to 25 percent improvements in travel time. Advanced traffic surveillance and signal control systems, such as timing traffic lights based on traffic volume, get the credit. 24 percent to 50 percent fewer crashes with freeway management systems, such as ramp metering where a stop light tells whether to proceed onto the interstate. Also, it's helped handle 8 percent to 22 percent more traffic moving at 13 percent to 48 percent faster speeds. 200 percent to 300 percent increase in toll lane capacity.
Drivers buy a pass so they can drive through toll booths.
The booth picks up a signal and charges the person's account. Experts are just working to fine-tune it, expand it and decide how to introduce it to the public. Ten years ago, ITS was seen as way to move more vehicles on a stretch of road, decrease fuel wasted in traffic jams and stimulate business. But ITS is evolving into a way to get traffic information to people who need it most and to improve road safety. Increasingly, technology will be geared toward getting people immediate information so they can make better driving decisions.