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Programs >> Strategic Early Deployment Plan
The Strategic Early Deployment Plan (SEDP) provides a blueprint for the use of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to improve travel in and around northeastern Illinois.
The Transportation Challenge in Northeastern Illinois
Northeastern Illinois is the third largest urban area in the U.S. and faces significant transportation challenges, including:
Worsening congestion
Transportation delays
Increased impacts of incidents
Declining transit use
Travelers with limited information
Air quality concerns
Limited funding and resources
Why an SEDP for ITS?
Regional transportation agencies see a significant benefit in ITS. When developed properly, ITS can reduce rush hour congestion and delays, speed drivers through toll plazas, save lives through faster emergency response times, give travelers choices through information, and help transit systems work better and safer. All of this, while helping to reduce the environmental impacts of transportation.
For ITS systems to work more efficiently, they must evolve from stand-alone systems into comprehensive, integrated systems. This means more physical connections, more cooperation between agencies and more coordination between operators. Effective deployment of ITS must be a partnership between public agencies, the private sector and the users of the transportation system.
Laying the Groundwork
The Illinois Department of Transportation has been a leader in the deployment of technology for transportation management since the 1960s. More recently, other regional agencies have developed their own initiatives, such as the Tollway’s I-PASS electronic toll collection system, CDOT’s Advantage 21 program, and RTA’s transit initiatives such as Traveler Information System, CTA’s Bus Service Management System and Pace’s Intelligent Bus System. Even more opportunities for the future of ITS in northeastern Illinois lie in the integration of existing and future deployments.
The Plan
To realize these benefits and to ensure ITS integration occurs in future systems, the SEDP identifies a focused approach to further the region’s ITS initiatives. To implement this vision, the SEDP adopted a regional framework, known as the Gateway, allowing disparate systems to work together. Projects are identified in four specific areas:
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Core infrastructure - Basic system elements not currently in place such as variable message signs, fiber optic communications network, closed circuit television, parking management systems, intelligent bus systems and paratransit management systems.
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Sub-regional hubs - Key centers in the regional Gateway architecture such as a transit hub, a tollway hub and CDOT and county hubs.
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Integrated operations - Taking advantage of integrating systems for more effective operations such as expansion of the Cicero Smart Corridor, interagency signal coordination, integrated corridors, advance transit signaling, regional transit signal priority and arterial incident management.
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Information management - The dissemination and archiving of ITS data for use by travelers and others which includes active transit signing, regional kiosks and travel information archives.
Click here to download the complete Strategic Early Deployment Plan (PDF) 5.83 MB
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