Decision Support System for Planning Traffic Operations Assets

Abstract

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) assets provide the opportunity to improve the efficacy of the current transportation infrastructure. However, transportation agencies face continuous challenges in planning and managing ITS assets. The focus of this research is on improving the planning of traffic-signal control technology as an important ITS subsystem. To this end, this research presents a decision support system (DSS) for evaluation of controller software assets. The proposed DSS consists of four components, namely knowledge, model, dialog, and database management. The core of the DSS is a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process methodology, relying on expert-knowledge acquisition. The proposed DSS is implemented on a case study for the Virginia Department of Transportation. The results indicate that the experts and the integrated DSS play a major role in obtaining a precise and consistent evaluation of signal controller software alternatives. Moreover, the developed decision support methodology is transferable among agencies. Finally, the proposed DSS provides a framework for further development of evaluation methods for other ITS assets.