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Welcome to the homepage for the Regional Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Architectures for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Commonwealth, through the Executive Office of Transportation, Office of Transportation Planning, has developed these Regional ITS Architectures with extensive input from Guidance Committees consisting of agencies and organizations involved in transportation throughout Massachusetts. The efforts of these Guidance Committees and other transportation stakeholders involved in the process have resulted in four Regional ITS Architectures, each one representing a vision for integrated and coordinated deployment of ITS.
Intelligent Transportation Systems are applications of advanced technology in the field of transportation, with the goals of increasing operational efficiency and capacity, improving safety, reducing environmental costs, and enhancing personal mobility. Successful ITS deployment requires an approach to planning, implementation, and operations that emphasizes collaboration between relevant entities and compatibility of individual systems. At the core of this process is an architecture that guides the coordination and integration of individual ITS deployment projects.
This website is designed to assist planners of ITS projects in reviewing their projects in relation to the appropriate Regional ITS Architecture. While the architectures serve as useful tools throughout the project development process, the guidance on this website focuses on the initial review during the project planning stages.
For the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, four Regional ITS Architectures have been developed, covering the following regions:
The development of these architectures was a multi-year, collaborative effort by numerous agencies and organizations across the Commonwealth. An overview of this effort and its outcome is provided in an Executive Summary. For an explanation of the Architecture Development Process, click here.
The Regional ITS Architectures are valuable tools for planners and operators of the Commonwealth’s transportation system. Each architecture provides a framework for planning and implementing ITS in regions across the Commonwealth. They also serve as a guide for how agencies can work together to improve interagency coordination, to increase efficiency while reducing costs, and to provide better services to the traveling public.
In addition, the Regional ITS Architectures provide the basis for satisfying federal requirements for ITS projects funded with highway trust funds (including the mass transit fund). These regulations require that such projects be consistent with the appropriate Regional ITS Architecture(s). Therefore, it is vital that project proponents use the architecture as a guideline during project development, just as FHWA and FTA will be using the architecture when reviewing the project. The following links provide further details on these federal requirements: