The Advanced Traffic Management System field is a primary subfield within the Intelligent Transportation System domain. The ATMS view is a top-down management perspective that integrates technology primarily to improve the flow of vehicle traffic and improve safety. Real-time traffic data from cameras, speed sensors, etc. flows into a Transportation Management Center where it is integrated and processed, and may result in actions taken with the goal of improving traffic flow. The National ITS Architecture defines the following primary goals and metrics for ITS:
In 1956, the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act initiated a 35-year $114 billion program that designed and constructed the Interstate highway system. This hugely successful program was mostly complete by 1991, and the era of build-out was over. In the mid to late 1980s transportation officials from Federal and State governments, the private sector, and universities began a series of informal meetings discussing the future of transportation. This included meetings held by the California Department of Transportation in October 1986 to discuss technology applied to future advanced highways. In June 1988 in Washington, DC, the group formalized its structure and chose the name Mobility 2000. In 1990, Mobility 2000 morphed into ITS America, the main ITS advocacy and policy group in the US. The initial name of ITS America was IVHS America and was changed in 1994 to reflect a broader intermodal perspective. The 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act was the first post-build-out transportation act. It initiated a new approach focused on efficiency, intelligence, and intermodalism. It had a primary goal of providing “the foundation for the nation to compete in the global economy”. This new mixture of infrastructure and technology was identified as an Intelligent Transportation System and was the centerpiece of the 1991 ISTEA act. ITS is loosely defined as “the application of computers, communications, and sensor technology to surface transportation”. Subsequent surface transportation bills have continued ITS funding and development. In 2005 the SAFETEA-LU surface transportation spending bill was signed into law.
