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1A corridor within the operating jurisdiction of your transportation agency has experienced a high accident rate. Funding has been made available for your agency to design, procure, and install closed circuit television (CCTV) to monitor the corridor. You have been assigned as the project manager. How will you procure the goods and services needed to successfully complete the project? Most likely, your agency is responsible for maintaining mobility and safety goals for a defined transportation network. (A transportation network is generally defined by state and local geo- graphic boundaries.) Traditionally, this goal has been accomplished by increasing capacity through the development of infrastructure. Throughout the years, the processes and procedures required to successfully facilitate infrastructure development have been institutionalized within your agency. In recent years, primarily due to land-use decisions and right-of-way restrictions, infrastructure development has been determined to no longer be the principal solution to address mobility issues. Transportation agencies, similar to yours, are beginning to reallocate resources to support infrastructure management and operations versus infrastructure develop- ment. This phenomenon has resulted in an institutional shift requiring the use of new processes and procedures (including innovative procurement processes and procedures) for improved management and operation. Federal legislation dating back to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 recognizes intelligent transportation systems (ITS) as a viable tool for improv- ing the management and operation of existing transportation network infrastructure. ITS is gen- erally defined as the application of advanced technologies (i.e., CCTV) to improve the efficiency and/or safety of a transportation system. The ITS functions are defined by the FHWA National ITS Architecture. The successful procurement of ITS is a challenging task for state and local transportation agen- cies. The procurement process must be flexible to accommodate the uncertainties of complex system acquisitions, but, at the same time, structured enough to ensure that the responsibilities of the participants are fully defined and their interests protected. This process should also ensure that the most qualified organizations are selected for the system implementation. Although you have several options for procuring your ITS project, some options are more appropriate than others. This guide presents a decision model that will help you identify the most appropriate procurement options. About This Guide
