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Costs Database Help

Welcome to the ITS Costs Database! We've made several changes that should help you more easily access information on the benefits and costs of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).

This page should assist you in finding what you are looking for, but if you continue to have trouble, please feel free to contact us. Read on for an introduction to the site or click on a link below to look for help more specifically related to what interests you.

• Site Navigation
• Costs Data
• Search Help

Site Navigation

This website offers two types of navigation schemes. The navigation "tabs" located directly below the top image allow you to access data in the five ITS decision-making resources: Applications Overview, Benefits Database, Costs Database, Deployment Statistics, and Lessons Learned Knowledge Resource.

The navigation links to the left allow you to browse through the information in the ITS Costs Database. Each of the links is described below.

Costs Data

This website contains two types of costs data:

• unit costs - the cost associated with an individual ITS element
• system costs - the costs of multiple ITS elements, the total cost of an ITS project, or portion of an ITS project.

The difference in the two types is the level of aggregation. The organization of the two data types differ as well. The unit costs data are structured based on the cost elements in the ITS National Architecture Cost Analysis and ITS Deployment Analysis System (IDAS) equipment list. IDAS is an ITS planning and cost/benefit tool. The system costs data are structured based on a classification of ITS applications and location - similar to the structure of benefits data.

Unit costs are available in two formats:

• unadjusted - capital and O&M costs data presented in its original value along with the dollar year of the cost values
• adjusted - capital and O&M costs data presented in 2005 dollars.

For each unit cost element, capital and operating and maintenance (O&M) costs are provided typically as a range to capture the lows and highs from various data sources. Capital costs are the cost expended for one-time, non-recurring purchases. Examples include costs of equipment, system design, and development of integration software. O&M costs, often referred to as recurring costs, are the costs that are incurred on an ongoing basis. Typical examples include utilities for a traffic operations center, wireline or wireless monthly fees, and labor costs. A "Notes" field provides a brief narrative describing the unit cost element and its components.

"Unadjusted Costs" links you to 22 ITS subsystems. ITS elements are located in the subsystem in which they physically reside. For example, video cameras are deployed at the roadside for the purposes of surveillance and detection. Unit cost data for video cameras is found in the Roadside Detection (RS-D) subsystem.

"Adjusted Costs" also links you to the 22 ITS subsystems. The only difference in the information provided via this link and the "Unadjusted Costs" link is the cost values are presented in 2005 dollars. The dollar year the costs data were adjusted from is provided.

"Indexes" links you to information about the indexes used to adjust cost values to 2005 dollars. The index number corresponds to the index used to adjust the cost data. The index is representative of the ITS element. For example, the first element in Roadside Detection, Inductive Loop Surveillance on Corridor, is tagged with Index 2. Index 2 is WPU1178 and is applied to elements that contain electronic components. The capital cost range is an adjusted value and was adjusted from 2001 (see column labeled "Adjusted From Date"). The O&M costs are 2005 values obtained in Noblis' analysis (as such, no adjustment needed).

"Download Excel" is the link to the Excel spreadsheet version of the unit costs data. The file consists of four (4) worksheets: unadjusted cost spreadsheet, indexes used in adjusting cost values, adjusted cost spreadsheet, and reference notes (similar to the information on this web page).

"Download PDF" is the link to the PDF formatted version of the unit costs data and contains the same information as the Excel file.

"Data Sources" links you to a listing of the direct and indirect data sources of unit costs data.

Unit costs data are useful in developing project cost estimates during the planning process. You are encouraged to find local/regional data sources and current vendor data to perform a more detailed cost estimate. Unit cost data are updated annually to coincide with final publication of indexes.

Estimates developed from the unit cost data can be compared with similar system costs summaries.

System costs summaries are examples of ITS projects that have been deployed and include the cost of the deployment. Summaries provide additional background on the context of the ITS project, project cost data, and links to the source documentation (when available). A breakout of components and costs is provided for most summaries. The parenthetical date following the system cost information represents the year of the cost data, when known.

"Application" links you to the classification of ITS applications. This ITS classification (categorization) structure is depicted in the taxonomy chart. The taxonomy consists of 13 Intelligent Infrastucture applications and three Intelligent Vehicle applications. Each of the 16 applications is further divided. By scanning the sub-application areas, you can choose which system cost summaries may contain information related to your area(s) of interest. Also, links to related costs data are provided.

"State" links you to a listing of all the states for which we have a system costs summary. Select a state to view all of the system cost summaries pertaining to that state. System cost summaries are listed by headline which provides you with brief information on the type of ITS technology deployed, cost, and location.

"Country" links you to a listing of all countires for which we have a system cost summary. Select a country to view all of the system cost summaries for that country. System cost summaries are listed by headline which provides you with brief information on the type of ITS technology deployed, cost, and location.

Several other links provide access to additional information in this website.

"What's New" provides details of the last unit costs update and the 10 most recent system cost summaries added to the costs database.

"Available Documents" is a link to downloadable cost-related documents and reports related to the costs website.

"Links" is a hyper-linked list of related websites.

Search Help

Located at the upper left of each page in this Web site, the search box enables you to quickly access both benefits and costs information related to particular interests you may have. An important element of the search capability is the selection field that allows you to search the "benefits" data, "costs" data, or "all." Selecting "all" allows you to search for both benefits and costs information related to the keywords you enter. Use the "Search" button to submit your search.

In addition to simple word searches, you can use query operators to refine your search.

The following table presents the query operators you can use and describes how each operator will enhance your search.

Last Modified: 07/30/2007