“The continuing revolution that drives the transportation field includes a set of tools that facilitates a connected, integrated, and automated transportation system that is information-intensive to better serve the interests of users and be responsive to the needs of travelers and system operators” (USDOT ITS Strategic Plan, 2015-2019).
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) combine advanced data collection and analysis tools with leading-edge communication and control technologies in transportation infrastructure and vehicles to improve roadway safety, reduce traffic congestion, enhance the driver experience, and minimize the impact transportation has on our environment. ITS offers transportation authorities a broad range of interconnected technologies that make possible many new and highly interactive services that include everything from delivering trip data to mobile devices to providing real-time roadway incident management to supporting connected and autonomous vehicles. Today more than ever, ITS has become the foundation for transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) of the nation’s vast network of highway infrastructure.
To attract, equip, and prepare the ITS workforce of tomorrow, the NNTW is creating new ways to introduce ITS and TSMO careers to a broader student audience and to expand the availability of ITS academic curriculum and other resources within high schools, community colleges, and universities. Working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation and its ITS Capacity Building Program (ITS PCB), our joint mission is to “prepare a dynamically knowledgeable community of transportation industry professionals for a connected and automated transportation system … and to connect ITS practitioners and decision makers with researchers, educators and trainers, and peers to advance the state of ITS practice.”
ITS Professional Capacity Building
The ITS PCB program was launched in 1996 with the recognition that transforming the transportation infrastructure through ITS would require a different set of occupational competencies than previously expected and a workforce that is prepared to quickly adopt and successfully deploy new technologies. Such a workforce would need to be:
- Aware of new technologies and research results.
- Knowledgeable about procurement and specifications.
- Skilled in incorporating new technologies into existing systems.
- Trained to oversee the implementation process from a system’s perspective.
- Capable of putting ITS technologies into use.
Since its inception, the ITS PCB program has successfully advanced knowledge and awareness of ITS through training, technical assistance, and outreach to ITS practitioners and decision makers, and has worked with educators to expand the pool and knowledge of future ITS professionals. ITS is a rapidly growing and vast interdisciplinary field that offers students a wide range of interesting career opportunities, starting with hands-on technical positions in electronics, coding, and cyber-security that led up to those requiring more advanced degrees in engineering, IT/computing, and data science.
To help students, faculty, and career guidance professionals better connect with ITS as a career option and navigate the opportunities it presents, the USDOT’s ITS PCB program has contracted with the NNTW centers to:
- Engaging Faculty to determine what ITS classroom products and resources should be prioritized for development and deployment;
- Provide faculty with learning opportunities on current developments in ITS, and best practices for teaching ITS;
- Building specific classroom exercises and modules so that ITS concepts can be introduced into a wide variety of disciplines and levels;
- Connect USDOT resources (data sets, tools, subject matter experts) to teaching and learning opportunities;
- Showcase Career Pathways to ITS Careers;
- Create opportunities for introducing ITS into STEM programs in middle and high schools.
Additional resources for students and faculty are available for download on the ITS PCB website including:
- ITS in Middle, High School Lesson Plans
- ITS in Higher Education
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- ITS Academic Workshops
- Academic Case Studies
- Talking Technology and Transportation in Education (T3e) Webinars
- Student ITS Competitions