Excessive speed is a major factor in motor vehicle accidents and thus, is an important focus of highway enforcement efforts.  Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) systems combine radar with cameras to enforce speeding laws.  A vehicle that is speeding is detected by radar, which triggers a camera to take a photograph or digitally records the license plate number, and the driver is issued a citation, usually through the mail.  ASE provides a cost-effective method to improve speed enforcement and allows police officers to focus on other enforcement priorities.

Changeable Message Signs (CMS), also called dynamic or variable message signs, are programmable signs used on highways nationwide to give drivers real-time information such as traffic updates, roadwork warnings, Amber Alerts, destination arrival estimates, parking information, and other traffic and safety related information. CMS allow motorists to take immediate action in response to information—to slow down or change routes, for example—leading to safer driving conditions and less congestion.

Wi-Fi, or wireless Internet, may be available in the future at roadside rest stops operated by Caltrans. Wi-Fi would provide travelers with access to information to not only make their trips safer and more efficient, but would also give them tourist information and details about local services. This information would be accessible via wireless Internet connections through laptops, cellular phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

California’s Innovative Corridors Initiative (ICI) was a multi-year project to test a new approach for accelerating the deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies, products and services along major California corridors.  ICI governmental partners included Caltrans, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the San Francisco Bay area, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, and the California Center for Innovative Transportation.

As part of their effort, ICI partners solicited proposals for ICI demonstration projects in conjunction with the ITS World Congress that was held in San Francisco in November 2005.  The purpose of these demonstration projects was to test and illustrate traveler services that could facilitate mobility (how people move or travel from place to place), convenience, and safety to travelers.