An idea whose time has come

The implementation of the Integrated Network of Transportation Information (INTI), part of ITS America's 10-Year National ITS Program Plan is long overdue. An idea whose wheels have just begun turning, INTI (as it is being referred to now, expect a new name and acronym soon) is off to an auspicious start following a recent workshop in Houston.

According to attendees, the mood following the workshop remains quite positive within the industry as the TM+E offices have been besieged with requests for more coverage on the latest affairs involving INTI. Certainly, the ITS America Annual Meeting, May 19-22 in Minneapolis, will be the hub of even more buzz surrounding INTI as the "ITS Connecting the Country: Creating an Integrated Network of Transportation Information" megasession planned for Wednesday, May 21, is sure to attract industry's top thinkers.

Not only is INTI a groundbreaking effort in terms of what it can do technologically to improve the infrastructure, INTI is the industry's chance to make up for the lack of ITS publicity it faces on Capitol Hill. According to a conversation I had last year with FHWA Administrator Mary Peters, one of the problems ITS faces on Capitol Hill is a lack of notoriety, despite past efforts to dispel that reputation. As part of the INTI efforts, one of the key goals of INTI is to solve this identity crisis. In turn, these same methods should trickle down to the public who need to become familiar with this initiative as well.

With transportation security now on the nation's minds, ITS-related applications have incurred a mainstream identity. Unfortunately, this identity parallels that of the Big Brother "invasion of privacy" theory.

One way to solve this problem is to publicize the effect ITS has on transportation security.

Would the public be willing to sacrifice privacy (to a certain, respectable degree) for better security and safety on the nation's infrastructure? For peace of mind, most certainly.

Of course, this is quite a large-scale project that has been addressed. The question, as always: Who is going to pay for all of this?

Funding already is being addressed (see Highlights) and efforts are being undertaken to change the way of thinking in light of funding initiatives that have been implemented in the past.

What does INTI have to do with you? Everything. Everyone in the industry talks about the future of transportation; what needs to be changed, implemented, enhanced, designed and engineered differently. INTI offers this opportunity, and it is starting to take shape. The time to talk the talk is now. The real test comes when the industry is forced to walk the walk.