§ 511.311 - Real-time information program establishment.

§ 511.311 Real-time information program establishment.

(a) Requirement. States shall establish real-time information programs that are consistent with the parameters defined under § 511.309. The real-time information program shall be established to take advantage of the existing traffic and travel condition monitoring capabilities, and build upon them where applicable. The real-time information program shall include traffic and travel condition information for, as a minimum, all the Interstate highways operated by the State. In addition, the real-time information program shall complement current transportation performance reporting systems by making it easier to gather or enhance required information.

(b) Data quality. States shall develop the methods by which data quality can be ensured to the data consumers. The criteria for defining the validity of traffic and travel conditions made available from real-time information programs shall be established by the States in collaboration with their partners for establishing the programs. States shall receive FHWA's concurrence that the selected methods provide reasonable checks of the quality of the information made available by the real-time information program. In requesting FHWA's concurrence, the State shall demonstrate to FHWA how the selected methods gauge the accuracy and availability of the real-time information and the remedial actions if the information quality falls below the levels described in § 511.309(a)(5) and § 511.309(a)(6).

(c) Participation. The establishment, or the enhancement, of a real-time information program should include participation from the following agencies: Highway agencies; public safety agencies (e.g., police, fire, emergency/medical); transit operators; and other operating agencies necessary to sustain mobility through the region and/or the metropolitan area. Nothing in this subpart is intended to alter the existing relationships among State, regional, and local agencies.

(d) Update of Regional ITS Architecture. All States and regions that have created a Regional ITS Architecture in accordance with Section 940 in Title 23 CFR shall evaluate their Regional ITS Architectures to determine whether the Regional ITS Architectures explicitly address real-time highway and transit information needs and the methods needed to meet such needs. Traffic and travel conditions monitoring needs for all Interstate system highways shall be considered. If necessary, the Regional ITS Architectures shall be updated to address coverage, monitoring systems, data fusion and archiving, and accessibility to highway and transit information for other States and for value added information product providers. The Regional ITS Architecture shall feature the components and functionality of the real-time information program.

(e) Effective date. Establishment of the real-time information program for traffic and travel conditions on the Interstate system highways shall be completed no later than November 8, 2014.