Executive Summary

This document presents the case study and lessons learned resulting from the examination of the events, challenges, and factors that affected the deployment of the Great Lakes Intelligent Transportation Systems (GLITS) Program Airport ITS Integration and the Road Infrastructure Management System (RIMS) projects in Wayne County, Michigan.

Background

In 2001, the United States (U.S.) Congress earmarked funds for selected projects that supported improvements in: transportation efficiency; promoting safety; increasing traffic flow; reducing emissions of air pollutants; improving traveler information; enhancing alternative transportation modes; building on existing ITS; enhancing integration; and promoting tourism.

A small number of Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 earmarked projects were selected for national evaluation as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) ITS Integration Program. The purpose of the national ITS evaluation program is to investigate the impacts of ITS across the country and to provide insights into the potential strengths and weaknesses of the overall national integration program. Each evaluation is intended to provide information on the benefits and lessons learned of the project to potentially assist other agencies across the Nation who may be considering similar deployments.

The GLITS program in the Detroit, Michigan metropolitan area was among the projects selected for national evaluation. The FY 2001 GLITS program consists of six major projects designed to integrate current ITS functionality and to deploy additional ITS functionality. Two of the six projects within GLITS, the Wayne County RIMS and the Detroit Airport ITS Integration, were the focus of the national evaluation under the direction and partial funding by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) ITS Joint Program Office (JPO).

The GLITS Airport ITS Integration project is a multi-phased effort that will include the deployment of ITS field devices and a traffic management center (TMC) to optimize traffic flow in and out of the airport, as well as to optimize airport landside traffic flow to terminals and short-term parking facilities. The goals of the Airport ITS Integration project are to improve the internal circulation and access needs of airport patrons and integrate the roads and freeways surrounding the airport to ensure efficient airport traffic patterns.

The RIMS Project is intended to demonstrate how geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to build a national intermodal transportation system for the 21st century.¹ This project is being carried out in support of the "National Spatial Data Infrastructure" initiative promulgated by the USDOT. The RIMS project will integrate information currently gathered and stored in 400 existing databases by various divisions within the Wayne County Department of Public Services (DPS) into one seamless system. Using a Web-based interactive program, DPS and the traveling public can gain access to road conditions, construction project detours, and the real-time locations of DPS maintenance and snow and removal crews. As one of the most important aspects of Wayne County operations, the RIMS is a management system for planning, designing, building, operating, and maintaining the County's roadway infrastructure. The RIMS is needed to improve the integration between these services. The goals of RIMS are to utilize modern communications technologies to improve public safety and modernize transportation services within DPS and improve coordination between the DPS, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), and local units of government within the County.

Evaluation Overview

To investigate the extent to which the project goals are met and to document best practices in deploying and operating such systems, the USDOT contracted with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to conduct an independent evaluation of the GLITS projects.

Originally, the GLITS project evaluation was intended to be a system impact study to measure or confirm the expected safety, mobility, and customer satisfaction impacts. An evaluation approach was developed for each project based on the anticipated project's performance goals. Pre-deployment (baseline) data was collected for the Airport ITS Integration project but not the RIMS project. Baseline data was collected at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport for the Airport ITS Integration project evaluation. Traffic count data were manually collected for non-peak and peak traffic days at three locations on October 22-23, 2003, and November 26, 2003 in support of traveler mobility analyses. Air passenger counts for a 15-month period from October 2002 through December 2003 were collected to describe the number of scheduled passengers, air taxi (commuter) passengers, and charter passengers. Parking lot transactions for a 2-year period from February 2002 through February 2004 from the Smith/Berry and McNamara Terminals also were collected and analyzed. Finally, the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Authority, Division of Public Safety, provided crash data from State of Michigan Traffic Crash Reports for all vehicle crashes occurring on the airport roadways and parking areas from February 2002 through January 2004, which also was collected and analyzed. Results of these analyses are presented in appendices A through D of this report.

Due to the numerous unforeseen events resulting in deployment delays for both the Airport ITS Integration and RIMS projects, the evaluation was modified into a case study investigation of key events and the development of lessons learned based on the stakeholders' experiences. The case study and lessons learned activities included the following tasks:

Interviews conducted with the GLITS management team.
Data collection of supporting information.
Development of lessons learned.
Development of a final Case Study Report.
Presentation of findings and conclusions to USDOT.

History of Key Events

Key events that affected the deployment of the Airport ITS Integration and RIMS projects were identified using information obtained from interviews with the GLITS management team; Michigan Legislative session archives; news articles; press releases; archives of Evaluation Team briefings and monthly reports to USDOT; and information derived from the Wayne County and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) Websites.

For the Airport ITS Integration project, two events had a significant impact on the deployment: 1) the formation of an independent airport authority, and 2) a change in leadership. A third event, construction of a new north terminal at the DTW, affected the evaluation effort in terms of the usability of the baseline data which had been collected.

The impact of the creation of a separate independent airport authority complicated the allocation of funding for the Airport ITS project. Since the airport was an independent authority and no longer part of Wayne County, the County had no legal rights or authority at the airport. Michigan State law required that the agency receiving the GLITS and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds, which are highway funds, were programmed with the understanding that they would be used for ITS at the airport, needed to be an eligible Government county, city, or village agency (per the requirements of Act 51 of Public Acts of 1951) to administer the highway funds.

As a result, the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA, the independent authority) and Wayne County experienced a funding dilemma, which resulted in the deployment languishing until both agencies came to an agreement that:

Wayne County will administer the project.
Wayne County will release the CMAQ funds for the Airport ITS project.

The second event, the election of a new Wayne County Executive, resulted in a change in the senior project management for the airport project. In 2003, a new Wayne County Executive was elected and project leadership positions at Wayne County Roads Division changed. The new management had new priorities, such as managing a budget deficit. As a result, the GLITS Airport ITS project lost much of the early deployment momentum and priority, which also likely contributed to delays in the deployment schedule.

The third event, the beginning of construction of a new north terminal at DTW in 2005, affected the evaluation effort in terms of the baseline data which had been collected. The North Terminal Redevelopment (NTR) project had a significant impact on the usability of baseline traffic count and crash data collected in 2002 and 2003. The usability of baseline traffic count and crash data collected was called into question because of changes to the airport roadways that were made to accommodate NTR construction activity.

For the RIMS project, three events substantially slowed the project's deployment: 1) Changes in Wayne County leadership and transfer of project; 2) vendor selection and a formal protest by non-selected vendor; and 3) vendor negotiations to adjust cost and Statement of Work (SOW).

The first event began in the fall of 2002 when a new Wayne County Executive was elected and took office in early 2003. Also occurring in early 2003, the RIMS project was transferred from the DPS to the Department of Technology (WCDT). After the transfer, a review of the RIMS project was conducted to integrate the project elements with other WCDT plans. In addition, the RIMS project received a new project manager at WCDT. The leadership change (in conjunction with other factors such as organizational changes and internal reviews) appears to have contributed to the project falling behind the original schedule. This sequence of events also slowed progress in developing the Request for Proposal (RFP) necessary to procure vendor services.

Vendor selection and the formal protest by a non-selected vendor also delayed the deployment. By the end of 2003, it was anticipated that a contract would be awarded in early 2004; however, two unexpected events resulted in additional delays. First, a longer-than-expected vendor selection period slowed down project progress. Second, a formal protest lodged by a non-selected bidder effectively halted all progress and prevented any negotiations to finalize vendor contracts.

In early 2004, the longer-than-expected vendor selection period was due to the complexity of the RIMS application. The RIMS application needed multiple vendors to integrate the nearly 400 independent Wayne County databases. As a result, the award was delayed as the RIMS team identified the best combination of bidders to accomplish the range of tasks required in the RFP. In the summer of 2004, a team of vendors were chosen to perform different elements of the contract tasks. During this time it was anticipated that a project kick-off meeting would move to September 2004. However, the official kickoff of the design effort was moved to the first week of January 2005 due to the formal protest by one of the non-selected vendors.

The third event, negotiations between Wayne County and the selected vendors to adjust cost elements and the SOW, also compounded the delay. The negotiations and final approval of contracts, which began in January 2005, took substantially longer than expected. The vendor contracts were finalized in 2006, and the RIMS project was finally re-started in December 2006.

Lessons Learned

Since its inception in 2001, the GLITS project management team for the Airport ITS Integration and RIMS projects has encountered a variety of situations that have challenged the projects' development. In an effort to better understand the events, issues, and factors that have influenced the GLITS deployment and share this knowledge so others may learn from the experiences, interviews were conducted with the GLITS project management team. In addition, supporting information was collected to investigate, identify, and examine information that might be useful in describing the events and factors. From the resulting information, a series of lessons learned were developed in a format compatible with other lessons currently residing on the ITS Lessons Learned Knowledge Resource Website.

Three primary lessons were developed based on the GLITS project management experiences from 2002 through early 2007, and are identified as follows.

Lesson 1: Develop a project champion succession plan within participating organizations to avoid orphaning a project and facilitate project progression.

The following leadership- and staffing-related insights are based on the discussions with the GLITS management team:

Develop a succession plan that anticipates changes in the political environment if changes may adversely affect the project. The election of a new Wayne County Executive in 2003 resulted in a change of project management at the Wayne County Roads Division. The new management had new priorities, such as managing a budget deficit. As a result, the GLITS Airport ITS project lost much of the early deployment momentum and priority. Given that changes in the political environment are likely to occur during election years, projects benefiting from politically appointed champions should consider building public support and organizational structures that will foster continued support for the project.
Build relationships with organizations that can help identify candidates to fill personnel vacancies before the project is adversely affected. The contributions of key personnel are as important to a successful project as project champions and senior management. Similarly, the loss of key personnel can be just as detrimental to a project as the loss of a project champion or senior manager. Consequently, project managers need to identify and cultivate relationships with other organizations, which may be helpful in identifying qualified candidates to fill personnel vacancies.
Prepare for staffing changes and reorganizations that can disrupt project progress. Whereas changes in the political leadership are likely to occur during election years, staffing changes and organizational changes may occur with little notice and can disrupt project progress. For example, prior to the spring of 2002, the DTW was managed by Wayne County. However, in April 2002, the Wayne County Airport Authority became a separate agency responsible for the management and operation of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. The Wayne County Airport Authority also had the power to plan, promote, extend, maintain, acquire, purchase, construct, improve, repair, enlarge, and operate the airport. As a result, the Wayne County Airport Authority wanted to control the funding for the GLITS Airport ITS Integration project. However, the creation of the Wayne County Airport Authority was not foreseen at the time the 2001 Earmark funding was granted. Consequently, the Wayne County Airport Authority's formation resulted in funding issues because it was not allowed under Federal regulations to control and distribute the highway funds.

Lesson 2: Delays in finalizing funding arrangements can lead to delays in executing contracts.

The following funding-related suggestions are based on the GLITS project management team experiences:

Explore alternative funding arrangements when changes within stakeholder organizations complicate funding arrangements. Inter-agency funding arrangements can lead to delays in awarding/executing project contracts. When the Wayne County Airport Authority became an independent entity and was no longer part of Wayne County, the County had no legal rights or authority at DTW. Since GLITS and CMAQ funds, which were programmed with the understanding that they would be used for ITS at DTW, are actually highway funds, under Michigan State law, the agency receiving the funds needed to be an eligible Government county, city, or village agency (per the requirements of Act 51 of Public Acts of 1951) to administer the highway funds. Consequently, the Wayne County Airport Authority and Wayne County experienced a funding dilemma which resulted in the deployment languishing until both agencies came to an agreement on two elements that:
- Wayne County will administer the project.
- Wayne County will release the CMAQ funds for the Airport ITS Project.
Utilize clearly defined proposal evaluation criteria to determine procurement awards and reduce the likelihood of contractor protests. The WCDT intended to award two contracts for RIMS hardware. After soliciting for bids and reviewing the proposals, the agency decided on two vendors. However, a non-selected bidder contested the decision and WCDT was forced to delay the procurement while the Wayne County Purchasing Department, Human Relations Division, and Corporation Counsel Department reviewed the evaluation and selection process. The protest review took about 1 year to resolve. In addition to having a clearly defined set of proposal evaluation criteria, agencies should strive to ensure bidders understand the procurement process, especially the evaluation factors, their relative importance, and the scoring and selection process.
Funding requirements from ITS Earmarks can place unexpected burdens on the recipient agencies. The requirement to provide matching funds to receive the Earmark funding can sometimes cause funds to be diverted from other planned projects. Further, ITS Earmarks can be directed toward County or local agencies that have little or no expertise in building ITS projects or managing unanticipated ITS funds. Finally, Earmark funds for ITS projects may not be as high a priority for County or local agencies which are struggling to fund much needed other improvements (e.g., maintenance and repairs).

Lesson 3: Recognize that deployment delays can lead to a ripple effect of challenges that affect project deployment progress.

The following time-related suggestions are based on the GLITS Airport ITS Integration project experience:

Keep in mind that the longer a project takes to be deployed, the greater the likelihood the project will lose key personnel. In addition to leadership changes due to changes in the political environment, long delays can result in the loss of key personnel due to numerous other factors such as desire to change jobs, retirements, promotions, health considerations, etc.
Be cognizant that the longer a project takes to be deployed, the more likely stakeholder agencies could reorganize. Although probably less likely to occur than the loss of key personnel, the GLITS experience has shown that the reorganization of agencies can have a detrimental effect on the project deployment.
Realize that stumbling blocks that produce long delays can put a project in competition with other high-priority emerging projects. The long delay for the Airport ITS Integration project pushed the ITS-related deployment activities into the civil construction activities scheduled for building the new $418 million NTR project. As a result, the Airport ITS Integration project will be required to share the Wayne County Airport Authority staff and coordinate time resources to avoid conflicts with the construction activities?a responsibility that was not foreseen several years ago.

Conclusions

Although the national evaluation of the GLITS Airport ITS Integration and RIMS projects did not yield quantitative system impacts results, it has resulted in some important lessons that could be shared with stakeholders across the country who may be considering a similar deployment effort.

¹ The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) was enacted June 9, 1998, as Public Law 105-178. TEA-21 authorizes the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the 6-year period 1998-2002.

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