UPDATE Volume 1, Number 2 Articles - Winter Quarter 1997

Minnesota Guidestar Issues Nova Statewide Strategic Plan by Bill Gardner

 Minnesota Guidestar, the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s program for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), has released its’ strategic plan.  This “Nova” plan establishes the vision for ITS in Minnesota and calls for an aggressive, yet orderly deployment of ITS across the state.  These systems will bring important benefits to motorists as well as transportation system managers.  Nova also calls for the use of ITS to promote the goal of more sustainable communities in Minnesota. 

 The Nova Strategies Plan is the product of extensive grassroots planning.  The foundation of the plan was a two-day workshop held in Duluth in September 1996.  Over 150 representatives from private industry, the academic sector, the public sector collaborated to draft ideas for the plan.  The workshop allowed for extensive discussions about how to accelerate ITS deployment.  Perhaps the most critical outcome was the creation of a common vision for ITS - identifying how, what, and where ITS should be deployed in Minnesota.

 The Nova plan is based upon the concept of migration:

  • Migration of ITS concepts from research to operational testing to deployment.

  •   Migration geographically to additional sites, corridors, communities and regions in Minnesota.

  • Migration technologically to incorporate emerging technologies and to provide integration and inter-operability between systems.

  • Migration from the Twin Cities to other locations of selected Orion model deployment activities.

  • Migration over time to a statewide status once essential ITS infrastructure is in place. 

 Key elements of the plan include:

  • A vision and goals and objectives for ITS in Minnesota

  • Project concepts for deployment

  • A geographic framework for deployment

  • Year 2000/2005 staging

  • Research and field testing needed to support deployment

Key strategic issues

  • Financing options

  • Project development process

 The Nova plan sets forth a flexible, decentralized yet coordinated approach to ITS deployment.  Minnesota Guidestar will expand the role of local representatives in its future activities and seek extensive involvement of the private sector. 

 A team of consultants, led by SRF Consulting Group assisted Guidestar in conducting the workshop and developing the plan.  Other team members are: Castle Rock Consultants, Cambridge Systematics, and JMS Communications & Research.  For more information, contact Bob Works @ 296-2533. 

 

Hal Kasoff to speak at March 12th Forum - 

On November 1, 1996 Mr. Kasoff  became Executive Vice President of ITS America after serving twelve years as the Maryland State Highway Administrator.  He has a Civil Engineering Degree from the City University of New York and postgraduate transport studies at Northwestern University. Hal’s first transportation position was with the Federal Highway Administration. Details of his career and accomplishments are well documented in the November 1996 issue of ITS INTERNATIONAL, the journal of advanced transport infrastructure.