[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 245 (Tuesday, December 22, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70836-70841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33800]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration
[FHWA Docket FHWA-98-4790]


Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century; Intelligent 
Transportation Systems (ITS) Standards; Proposed Criteria and Draft 
List of Critical ITS Standards

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed selection criteria and draft list of 
critical standards; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice invites comments relating to the legislative 
requirement to identify a list of critical standards that ensure 
national interoperability in the implementation of intelligent 
transportation system (ITS) technologies as provided in section 5206(c) 
of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), Pub. L. 
105-178, 112 stat. 107, 456. Actions are currently underway by the U.S. 
DOT and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS 
America), and advisory organization to the U.S. DOT, to identify 
objective criteria by which critical standards are to be identified. 
The approach being taken to develop this list of critical standards 
involves a three-step process; whereby the U.S. DOT will disseminate 
the proposed set of criteria and draft list of standards through a 
number of forums, conduct outreach to the public and private 
stakeholder community, and evaluate comments and recommendations from 
the ITS America and the public. The U.S. DOT will prepare the final 
report outlining the critical standards and present it to the Congress 
by June 1, 1999.
    Based upon the currently proposed selection criteria, a draft list 
of critical standards is also identified in this document. Although not 
prescribed by law, the identification of critical ITS standards is 
viewed as an ongoing process and therefore, the U.S. DOT may identify 
additional ITS standards as critical through subsequent actions on an 
as necessary basis, but no more than annually.

DATES: Comments on the proposed selection criteria and resulting list 
of critical ITS standards must be received on or before January 21, 
1999.

ADDRESSES: Your signed, written comments must refer to the docket 
number appearing at the top of this document, and be submitted to the 
Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL-401, Federal Highway 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. All 
comments received will be available for examination at the above 
address between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays. Those desiring notification of receipt of comments 
must include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or postcard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For the ITS standards program: Mr. 
Mike Schagrin, ITS Joint Program Office, HVH-1, (202) 366-2180. For 
legal issues: Ms. Jodi George, Office of the Chief Counsel, HCC-32, 
(202) 366-1346; Federal Highway Administration, 400 Seventh Street, 
SW., Washington, DC

[[Page 70837]]

20590. For ITS America: Mr. Roy Courtney, ITS America, Suite 800, 400 
Virginia Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20024 (202) 484-4847.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded from the 
Government Printing Office's Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202) 
512-1661. Internet users may reach the Federal Register's home page at: 
http://www.nara.gov/fedreg and the Government Printing Office's 
database at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara.
    Internet users can access all comments received by the U.S. DOT 
Dockets, Room PL-401 by using the universal resource locator (URL): 
http://dms.dot.gov. Please follow the online instructions for more 
information and help. The paper ``TEA-21 Critical Standards: Proposed 
Criteria and List of Critical Standards'' is available at the U.S. 
DOT's ITS home page at http://www.its.dot.gov.

Background

    A primary goal of the ITS Standards Program, as indicated under 
section 5206 of TEA-21, is to promote and ensure interoperability in 
the implementation of intelligent transportation system technologies. A 
number of standards are especially critical to ensuring national ITS 
interoperability or enabling the development of other standards. 
Actions to establish critical standards are required by TEA-21. 
Specifically, section 5206(b) of TEA-21 requires the Secretary of 
Transportation (Secretary) ``not later than June 1, 1999'' to ``submit 
a report [to the Congress] identifying which [ITS] standards are 
critical to ensuring national interoperability or critical to the 
development of other standards and specifying the status of the 
development of each standard identified.''
    In responding to this requirement, the U.S. DOT has developed a 
discussion paper that contains proposed criteria for identifying 
critical ITS standards, along with a draft list of standards. The paper 
``TEA-21 Critical Standards: Proposed Criteria and List of Critical 
Standards'' reflects preliminary discussions with members of the 
standards community and the ITS America. Key points from the paper and 
a list of proposed critical standards are included in this notice. The 
list of ITS standards from which critical standards will be selected is 
posted on the U.S. DOT ITS Joint Program Office's home page in text or 
may be obtained by contacting Mike Schagrin as listed above in the 
caption FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Conformity Requirements is Not a Subject of This Notice

    In addition to the requirement for identifying critical standards, 
section 5206(e)(1) of TEA-21 requires the Secretary to ``ensure that 
intelligent transportation system projects * * * conform to the 
national architecture, applicable standards or provisional standards, 
and protocols * * *'' This TEA-21 conformity requirement is distinct 
and apart from the requirement to develop critical standards. Whereas 
only some ITS standards may be identified as critical, all ITS 
standards are subject to the conformity requirement. The conformity 
requirement is not a subject of this notice.

Requirement for Critical Standards List and Interim Standards Where 
Necessary

    The U.S. DOT views the identification of ``critical'' standards as 
one of its top priorities. A number of ITS standards are especially 
critical for ensuring national ITS interoperability, and as noted 
above, the U.S. DOT is currently taking action to identify them. Under 
section 5206(a)(3) of TEA-21, the U.S. DOT is sponsoring the 
accelerated development of many ITS standards through the use of 
recognized standards development organizations (SDOs). It is clear that 
the Congress recognized the value in using an industry driven standards 
development process, but possibly feared this mechanism could take too 
long to be useful in the face of rapid deployment, and/or that U.S. DOT 
had very little leverage to resolve development activity that resulted 
in deadlock. The strategy devised by the Congress to deal with this 
concern was to signal industry that it had until January 2001 to come 
to agreement on its own, on critical standards, or the Congress would 
require the U.S. DOT to set the standards for industry. We believe this 
requirement will be effective in both expediting the standards 
development process and motivating otherwise deadlocked interests to 
find solutions before the Secretary must impose them.
    Recognizing that not all standards are critical to national 
interoperability, the Congress is directing the Secretary to identify 
which standards would be targeted for intervention if the deadline in 
the TEA-21 is not met. The approach being taken by the U.S. DOT to 
develop this list of critical standards involves a three-step process 
as follows:
    1. The U.S. DOT develops a proposed set of criteria to be used to 
select critical standards, required for national interoperability and 
the development of other standards. The criteria and the resulting list 
of ``critical'' standards will be disseminated through a number of 
forums, including this notice.
    2. The ITS America convenes an advisory group representing 
interested stakeholders from the public and private sectors and 
conducts a workshop to provide an evaluation of U.S. DOT's proposed 
approach and its recommendations for both the criteria and the 
resulting list of standards. These recommendations are to be provided 
to the U.S. DOT by February 1999.
    3. Taking into consideration the comments and recommendations 
received, the U.S. DOT will prepare the final report outlining the 
critical standards and present to the Congress by June 1, 1999.
    Based on the standards development activity to date, it is 
anticipated that most critical standards will be completed well before 
the January 2001 deadline. Where a stalemate exists however, the 
Secretary is required to select a provisional standard. For those 
standards well along in the process, the Secretary has the option of 
waiving the provisional standard requirement, as allowed under section 
5206(d) of TEA-21. At any time, the Secretary is also allowed to 
withdraw a waiver. Notice of any waiver granted, or withdrawn, by the 
Secretary will be published in the Federal Register, as required by 
TEA-21. In all other respects, the U.S. DOT intends to treat critical 
standards in the same manner as other (i.e., ``non-critical'') ITS 
standards.

Proposed Criteria and List of Critical Standards

    Criteria for identifying critical ITS standards have been developed 
by the U.S. DOT based on detailed consideration of the statutory 
notions of ``criticality'' reflected in TEA-21 (i.e., standards that 
are `'critical to ensuring national interoperability'' or ``critical to 
the development of other standards''). For simplicity, such critical 
standards are referred to as ``national standards'' and ``foundation 
standards,'' respectively. These concepts are further defined below in 
the effort to establish objective criteria that logically and 
unambiguously lead to selection of critical standards.
    National standards are those ITS standards that ensure ``national 
interoperability.'' Whereas there may be other desirable national 
attributes or outcomes in addition to interoperability, such as economy 
of scale and the

[[Page 70838]]

resultant lower product costs or creation of a competitive marketplace 
with multiple choices for users, TEA-21 bases ``critical'' standards 
solely on national interoperability. In reality, few ITS services 
require standardized national-level interoperability. In other words, 
there are services that do not justify a single national hardware or 
software standard or, otherwise, require a direct interface to a system 
that is not buffered, translated, or interpreted.
    Considering the various systems and interfaces of an ITS, those 
requiring national interoperability appear most related to the mobile 
element (e.g., automobile; truck; personal communications device). 
Unlike in fixed systems, the hardware and software of mobile systems 
cannot easily be adaptable to communicate with different fixed systems 
as the mobile unit travels. Using this somewhat bottom-up strategy and 
considering the practicalities related to mobile operation, ITS and 
interfaces that require interoperability on a national level are for 
services that are vehicle-oriented and services that are accessed using 
personal communications systems.
    In considering the requirement for national interoperability for 
mobile systems, only the communications interface between the vehicle 
and the infrastructure is important. Such things as the vehicular 
components may, or may not, be standardized; they are only required to 
support a standardized communications interface to the roadside. To 
illustrate this criterion of national (i.e., critical) standards, 
examples of mobile user-services might include:
    1. Private automobiles, through the use of in-vehicle systems, 
maintaining the capability of obtaining traveler information as it 
travels across the nation.
    2. Commercial vehicles electronically send identification 
information that results in proper payment of tolls, recording of 
taxes, and relaying of inspection information in any State.
    Foundation standards are necessary for the development of other 
standards. However, simply defining ``foundation standards'' as 
standards that apply to the development of other standards is not 
sufficiently precise for defining critical standards. For example, an 
existing ``family of standards'' (e.g., NTCIP--National Transportation 
Communications for ITS Protocol) uses a single ``overview'' standard 
that underpins the remaining standards in the family. However, such 
overview standards are simply one piece in the framework of standards 
for a particular service. Within the framework or family of standards, 
all standards are important and essentially critical; they are all 
needed to provide the complete service.
    Standards that are of greater applicable importance to the 
development of other standards include such things as ``data dictionary 
templates'' (that provide the basic structure for designing the various 
data dictionaries) and ``location referencing standards'' (that are an 
integral part of the content portion of many application message 
lists). These types of standards are used by, and are essential for, 
other standards--across multiple ITS application areas. The foundation 
standard criterion therefore lends itself to the identification of 
critical foundation standards as those standards that are essential to 
the development of other standards, across multiple ITS application 
areas.

List of Proposed Critical Standards

    By applying the criteria outlined above to ITS standards currently 
under development, the U.S. DOT has identified a proposed list of 
standards as critical, for the purposes of seeking public input. The 
following table lists the standards that meet the proposed criteria for 
criticality as ``national'' or ``foundation'' standards. The list is 
ordered alphabetically by title. The table gives the name of each 
standard, the objectives of the development project, the name of the 
lead standards development organization,\1\ which critical criterion 
the standard meets, the specific reason the standard is critical, and 
the current status \2\ of the standard.
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    \1\ Standards Development Organizations. AASHTO is the American 
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, ASTM is 
the American Society for Testing and Materials, IEEE is the 
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, ITE is the 
Institute of Transportation Engineers, NRSC is the National Radio 
Systems Committee, and SAE is the Society of Automotive Engineers.
    \2\ Standards whose status is ``draft'' are under pre-ballot 
review by the standards committees of the standards development 
organizations. ``In ballot'' standards are currently being balloted 
by the standards committees, or have passed committee ballot and are 
being balloted at another level within the standards development 
organizations. ``Approved'' standards passed ballot in their 
respective standards development organizations and are awaiting 
further approval and/or publication of the standard.

                                                           Proposed List of Critical Standards
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       Title of standard            Project objective           Lead SDO           Type of criticality             Rationale                Status
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Advanced Traveler Information    Develop a minimum set    SAE                  National...................  Enables service          In ballot.
 System (ATIS) Data Dictionary    of medium-independent                                                      providers with
 [SAE J2353].                     data elements needed                                                       conforming products to
                                  by potential                                                               provide travel
                                  information service                                                        information to mobile
                                  providers to deploy                                                        users throughout the
                                  ATIS services, and                                                         Nation.
                                  provide the basis for
                                  future
                                  interoperability of
                                  ATIS devices.
Advanced Traveler Information    Provide a basic message  SAE                  National...................  Enables service          In ballot.
 System (ATIS) Message Set [SAE   set using the data                                                         providers with
 J2354].                          elements from J2353                                                        conforming products to
                                  needed by potential                                                        provide travel
                                  information service                                                        information to mobile
                                  providers to deploy                                                        users throughout the
                                  ATIS services, and                                                         Nation.
                                  provide the basis for
                                  future
                                  interoperability of
                                  ATIS devices.

[[Page 70839]]

 
ATIS Message Structure for High  Develop a general        SAE                  National...................  Allows mobile users      In ballot.
 Speed FM Subcarrier [SAE         framework allowing                                                         with conforming
 J2369].                          cooperative                                                                products to access
                                  transmission of ATIS                                                       traveler information
                                  data via FM Subcarrier.                                                    services uniformly
                                                                                                             throughout the Nation.
                                 Create a preliminary
                                  coding and message
                                  structure for link
                                  travel time and
                                  network support
                                  functions for
                                  deployment of the
                                  standard modulation
                                  selected to meet ITS
                                  requirements.
                                 Establish efforts to
                                  develop additional
                                  messages beyond link
                                  travel times, e.g.,
                                  transit schedules.
ATMS Data Dictionary (TMDD)--    Develop functional-      ITE                  Foundation.................  ATMS data dictionary is  In ballot.
 Sections 1 and 2 (Links/Nodes/   level data dictionary                                                      used by traveler
 Events) [TM 1.01].               for Advanced Traffic                                                       information systems
                                  Management Systems.                                                        that provide services
                                  Section 1 describes                                                        to mobile users
                                  and standardizes                                                           throughout the Nation.
                                  roadway links and                                                          Provides location
                                  nodes in accordance                                                        referencing and
                                  with location                                                              roadway basis for
                                  referring message                                                          other sections of the
                                  standard. Section 2                                                        TMDD. Used by traveler
                                  includes data elements                                                     information systems to
                                  for incidents and                                                          describe roadway.
                                  traffic disruptive
                                  roadway events.
ATMS Data Dictionary (TMDD)--    Develop funcional-level  ITE                  Foundation.................  ATMS data dictionary is  In ballot.
 Sections 3 and 4 (DMS/Video/     data dictionary for                                                        used by traveler
 Control/Etc.) [TM 1.02].         Advanced Traffic                                                           information systems
                                  Management Systems.                                                        that provide services
                                  Section 3 includes                                                         to mobile users
                                  data elements for                                                          throughout the Nation.
                                  traffic control,
                                  traffic detectors,
                                  actuated signal
                                  controllers, traffic
                                  modeling, vehicle
                                  probes, and ramp
                                  metering data. Section
                                  4 includes data
                                  elements for dynamic
                                  message signs, video
                                  and camera control,
                                  parking management,
                                  and weather stations.
 High Speed Subcarrier (HSSC)    Develop a high speed FM  NRSC                 National...................  Allows traveler          Draft.
 Layer 1.                         subcarrier signaling                                                       information system
                                  system for wide-area                                                       messages to be
                                  data transfer for                                                          broadcast to the
                                  multiple applications,                                                     traveler (i.e.,
                                  including traffic data                                                     vehicle) nationally.
                                  for travelers and
                                  vehicles.
Information Service Provider-    A standard location      SAE                  National, Foundation.......  Assures consistency in   In ballot.
 Vehicle Location Referencing     referencing format for                                                     location referencing
 Standard [SAE J1746].            information service                                                        and uniform processing
                                  provider to vehicle                                                        for mobile users
                                  and vehicle to                                                             nationally; may
                                  information service                                                        interface with
                                  provider. This                                                             international
                                  standard will reflect                                                      standards.
                                  the cross-streets
                                  profile of the current
                                  location referencing
                                  message set document.
Message Sets for DSRC,           Develop a standard for   IEEE                 National...................  Provides message sets    In ballot.
 Electronic Toll and Traffic      exchanging DSRC                                                            for other ITS user
 Management and Commercial        information in                                                             services, such as
 Vehicle Operations [IEEE         bidirectional message                                                      electronic toll and
 P1455].                          transmissions and                                                          traffic management and
                                  device control,                                                            commercial vehicle
                                  interfacing with, but                                                      operations.
                                  independent of the
                                  ASTM DSRC standards.

[[Page 70840]]

 
                                 Develop an extensible
                                  interface to other
                                  DSRC areas, such as
                                  electronic toll and
                                  traffic management and
                                  commercial vehicle
                                  operations.
Message Sets for Incident        To standardize the form  IEEE                 National...................  Assures consistency in   Draft.
 Management: Emergency            and content of the                                                         communications to
 Management System to Traffic     incident management                                                        mobile users
 Management System and            messages sets for                                                          throughout the Nation;
 Emergency Telephone System (or   emergency management                                                       allows incident
 911) [IEEE P1512].               systems (EMS) to                                                           management messages to
                                  traffic management                                                         be shared among
                                  systems (TMS) and from                                                     different ITS systems.
                                  emergency management
                                  systems to the
                                  emergency telephone
                                  system (ETS) or (E911).
National Transportation          Address real time peer-  AASHTO               National...................  Assures data exchange    Draft.
 Communications for ITS           to-peer exchange                                                           among traffic centers,
 Protocol (NTCIP) Profile for     (including some remote                                                     emergency management
 Center-to-Center                 control/command                                                            centers, traveler
 Communications-CORBA.            capability) between                                                        information systems,
                                  transportation                                                             and transit management
                                  management centers and                                                     centers.
                                  systems such as
                                  traffic operations
                                  centers, transit
                                  operations centers,
                                  emergency management
                                  centers, and traveler
                                  information systems
                                  using Common Object
                                  Request Broker
                                  Architecture.
National Transportation          Address real time peer-  AASHTO               National...................  Assures data exchange    Draft.
 Communications for ITS           to-peer exchange                                                           among traffic centers,
 Protocol (NTCIP) Profile for     (including some remote                                                     emergency management
 Center-to-Center                 control/command                                                            centers, traveler
 Communications-DATEX-ASN.        capability) between                                                        information systems,
                                  transportation                                                             and transit management
                                  management centers and                                                     centers.
                                  systems such as
                                  traffic operations
                                  centers, transit
                                  operations centers,
                                  emergency management
                                  centers, and traveler
                                  information system
                                  using a predefined
                                  message transfer
                                  approach.
NTCIP--Global Object             Identify and define      AASHTO               Foundation.................  Assures that all         Published.
 Definitions [TS 3.4].            those object                                                               objects (values and
                                  definitions that may                                                       functions) are
                                  be supported by                                                            consistent in other
                                  multiple device types,                                                     NTCIP standards and in
                                  such as actuated                                                           transit communications
                                  signal controllers and                                                     interface profiles
                                  variable message signs.                                                    (TCIP) standards.
NTCIP--Simple Transportation     Specify a set of rules   AASHTO               National...................  Assures uniform          Approved.
 Management Framework [TS 3.2].   and protocols for                                                          information exchange
                                  organizing, describing                                                     among transportation
                                  and exchanging                                                             management
                                  transportation                                                             applications and
                                  management information                                                     equipment that sends
                                  between transportation                                                     or receives the
                                  management                                                                 information.
                                  applications and
                                  transportation
                                  equipment such that
                                  they interoperate.
On-Board Land Vehicle Mayday     Develop a common         SAE                  National...................  Provides message and     In ballot.
 Reporting Interface [SAE         specification which                                                        information between
 J2313].                          prescribes various                                                         emergency management
                                  protocol methods                                                           centers and mobile
                                  enabling vendors with                                                      users nationally.
                                  different
                                  communication methods
                                  to speak with response
                                  agencies in a standard
                                  format.

[[Page 70841]]

 
                                 Address message content
                                  for national
                                  consistency.
Standard for Data Dictionaries   Specify a common set of  IEEE                 Foundationl................  Sets requirements for    In ballot.
 for Intelligent Transportation   meta entities and meta                                                     the attributes to be
 Systems [IEEE P1489].            attributes for ITS                                                         used by all ITS data
                                  data dictionaries, as                                                      dictionaries for
                                  well as associated                                                         unambiguous data
                                  conventions and                                                            transfer.
                                  schemas, that enable
                                  describing,
                                  standardizing, and
                                  managing all ITS data.
                                  The consistent use of
                                  common structures and
                                  associated conventions
                                  and schemas, data and
                                  information can be
                                  unambiguously
                                  exchanged among
                                  various ITS functional
                                  subsystems through
                                  their specific
                                  application systems.
Standard Specification on        Develop a specification  ASTM                 National...................  Allows DSRC systems to   In ballot.
 Dedicates Short-Range            for the protocol (data                                                     communicate between
 Communications (DSRC) Data       link) communications                                                       roadsides and vehicles
 Link Layer [ASTM2].              for DSRC. Support both                                                     nationally.
                                  active and backsetter
                                  transponders.
Dedicated Short-range            Develop a specification  ASTM                 National...................  Allows DSRC systems to   In ballot.
 Communications (DSRC) Physical   for the radio                                                              communicate between
 Layer--902-928 MHz [ASTMI].      frequency                                                                  roadsides and vehicles
                                  characteristics                                                            nationally.
                                  (physical layer) for
                                  DSRC operation in the
                                  range of 902 to 928
                                  MHz. Support both
                                  active and backscatter
                                  transponders.
Template for ITS Message Sets    Develop a standard for   IEE                  Foundation.................  Describes the structure  Draft.
 [IEEE P1488].                    an ITS Message Set                                                         and content of message
                                  Template.                                                                  sets for exchange
                                                                                                             between traffic
                                                                                                             centers, emergency
                                                                                                             management centers and
                                                                                                             traveler information
                                                                                                             systems in a
                                                                                                             consistent and uniform
                                                                                                             manner.
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(Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; sec. 5206(c), Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat, 
107, 456 (1998); 49 CFR 1.48)

    Issued on: December 16, 1998.
Kenneth R. Wykle,
Federal Highway Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-33800 Filed 12-21-98; 8:45 am]
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