Intelligent Transportation Systems and Sustainable Communities: Findings of a National Study

The 1990s may well be remembered as the decade in which the idea of sustainability took hold in government, business, academia, and popular culture. In the United States, concerns with sustainability have entered policy discussions at various levels of government and sectors of the economy. The application of the sustainability paradigm to transportation has coincided with the advent of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). ITS—the application of advanced technologies (e.g., computers, communications, advanced sensors) to the surface transportation system—is a major new advanced transportation technology initiative that has become a highly touted prospect for improving the nation’s surface transportation system. ITS could have significant effects on the nation’s environment, economy, and society, and this has prompted widespread research and speculation on the range of potential ITS impacts. It has also brought ITS into the sustainability debate, and controversy exists over whether ITS will facilitate or undermine efforts to promote sustainable communities. A series of conceptual and applied exercises being done at the national level, as well as within Minnesota, on the implications of the sustainability paradigm on ITS are described. After the policy context surrounding ITS is introduced, key dimensions of the sustainability concept, particularly sustainable development and sustainable communities, are examined. The concept of sustainable communities is linked to transportation and ITS. In conclusion, findings on how ITS and other information technologies might promote sustainable communities are given, with special attention to the context of Minnesota’s ITS program.