ITS Architecture Training Courses and Workshops

"Turbo Architecture-Web-Based"
Course #: FHWA-NHI-137048

Course Overview

Turbo Architecture is an interactive software program that assists transportation planners and system integrators in the development of regional and project architectures. This Web-based training (WBT) provides ITS professionals with a hands-on experience using the Turbo software. Participants will work with simulated examples and practice exercises to create, maintain, and use regional and project ITS architectures.

At the end of the training, participants will be able to use the Turbo software to create and modify a regional or project architecture including providing a link to planning, entering stakeholders, entering inventory data, selecting ITS services, creating operational concepts, tailoring functional requirements, building and customizing interfaces, customizing standards mappings, entering agreements, creating outputs, and applying features to new projects.

Target Audience

The Turbo Architecture WBT is designed for ITS professionals employed by MPOs, transit agencies, municipalities, State DOTs, FHWA Division Offices, or consultants and system integrators who use and/or maintain an ITS architecture and are involved with ITS planning, deployment, and operations. The course design assumes that participants have general knowledge of ITS concepts and terminology, including National ITS Architecture terms, plus basic computer skills (manipulating windows, using directories, a web browser, etc.).

Course Goal and Outcomes

The goal of this course is to prepare ITS professionals to use the Turbo Architecture software to create Regional Architectures and Project Architectures. Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Recall training objective and delivery elements
• Verify the correct installation of Turbo
• Explain the use and importance of Turbo
• Explain Turbo's support of the ITS project life cycle

"ITS Architecture Use and Maintenance Workshop"
PDHs: 12

Workshop Overview

This two-day workshop will help you better understand how your own regional ITS architecture can be used in regional and statewide transportation planning and project development. You will also gain greater insight into the decisions and the process steps involved in maintaining your regional ITS architecture. ITS "champions" and key stakeholders from each region will participate, and each workshop will have two to four regions. This is not a training course, but rather an interactive workshop facilitated by the National ITS Architecture Team using interactive lectures, discussions, and group exercises. Participants should bring a copy of their regional ITS architecture to the workshop as it will be used throughout the workshop.

Target Audience

• Public sector professionals responsible for regional or statewide transportation planning, regional ITS architecture development and maintenance, as well as those planning, designing or generating specifications for ITS projects.
• Private sector consultants under contract to the public sector for developing or maintaining a regional ITS architecture, ITS planning, and project development.

Workshop Objectives

Discussion in each workshop will relate closely to the Regional ITS Architecture Guidance Document, focusing on the technical and institutional issues that may arise when regions and states use their ITS architecture and maintain it over time. Specific objectives include understanding:

• How the regional ITS architecture supports aspects of transportation planning
• ITS Strategic Plans and their potential role in support of long range planning
• Stakeholders and how to engage them using your ITS architecture
• How the architecture supports programming and budgeting of ITS projects
• How to use your architecture to identify potential ITS projects
• How the architecture relates to systems engineering
• How to use the architecture during project implementation
• Decisions and the process steps to follow to maintain the architecture.

"Systems Engineering for ITS Workshop"
PDHs: 16

Workshop Overview

This workshop will help you understand how systems engineering can be applied to your ITS project delivery process. The workshop will cover 1) the benefits of using systems engineering, 2) how to satisfy the Federal requirements for systems engineering as documented in Rule 940.11, and 3) how to apply systems engineering to your traditional project delivery processes. A combination of lectures, transportation examples, and exercises will be used to illustrate the basic concepts and introduce the topics. The workshop will culminate with a review that will focus on the useful application of systems engineering in your specific project delivery process.

This two day workshop includes two parts:

Systems Engineering Training - Learn about systems engineering, moving from general concepts to the specifics of how systems engineering is being used for actual transportation projects.

Process Improvement Review - The workshop participants apply what they have learned about systems engineering to their own project delivery process. The existing project delivery process and sample project deliverables are reviewed and discussed. Facilitators and participants will work together to develop a set of process improvement recommendations. As an optional meeting on the morning following the workshop, managers of the ITS agencies and organizations of the region can be invited for a presentation of the workshop recommendations.

This workshop uses the new Systems Engineering for Intelligent Transportation Systems Handbook as a primary reference. The workshop will provide the information you need to apply the general systems engineering guidance from the handbook to your own organization and project delivery process. Following the workshop, the workshop facilitators and FHWA will prepare a report for the participants that documents the workshop findings, including positive aspects of the current project delivery process and recommendations for improvement.

Target Audience

• Public sector professionals involved in ITS project delivery including project managers and transportation planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance professionals that participate in ITS project development.
• Private sector consultants under contract to the public sector to support ITS planning and project development.

No prior background in systems engineering is required.

Workshop Objectives

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Understand the systems engineering fundamentals
• Identify where in your current process systems engineering is already being performed
• Find opportunities where systems engineering will benefit your process
• Identify recommendations for process improvement

"Quick-Starting Your Regional ITS Architecture Update Workshop"
PDHs: 16

Workshop Overview

This two-day workshop is intended for regions that are contemplating an update to an older regional ITS architecture. The workshop begins with training in the National ITS Architecture and regional ITS architecture fundamentals. Building on this knowledge, participants learn how the architecture should be used in the region and develop a Concept of Use for their architecture in planning and project development. The workshop also familiarizes participants with their current architecture as they participate in a facilitated assessment of their current architecture.

Building on the concept of use and the assessment, workshop participants outline the architecture updates that are required, the architecture outputs that are needed to support the anticipated use, and a plan of action for creating the architecture update. Participants leave the workshop with a documented Concept of Use for their regional architecture, a comprehensive assessment of their current architecture, and a documented plan for their architecture update. This is not a training course, but rather an interactive workshop facilitated by the National ITS Architecture Team using interactive lectures, discussions, and group exercises.

Target Audience

• Public sector professionals responsible for regional or statewide transportation planning, regional ITS architecture development and maintenance, as well as those planning, designing or generating specifications for ITS projects.
• Private sector consultants under contract to the public sector for developing or maintaining a regional ITS architecture, ITS planning, and project development.
• No prior background in ITS architecture is required.

Workshop Objectives

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Document how your architecture will be used
• Understand your current architecture - its strengths and deficiencies
• Envision your updated architecture - improved content and better documentation
• Take with them a specific plan for your regional ITS architecture update

"Systems Engineering Training"
PDHs: 8

Course Overview

In this one-day course professionals learn about systems engineering, moving from general concepts to the specifics of how systems engineering is being used for actual transportation projects. An understanding of how systems engineering can be applied to their ITS project delivery process will be provided in the course. This course will cover the benefits of using systems engineering, and how to satisfy the Federal requirements for systems engineering as documented in Rule 940.11. The Systems Engineering for Intelligent Transportation Systems Handbook will be used as a primary reference for this course. Delivered in an interactive workshop format, the course will provide the information needed to apply the general systems engineering guidance from this handbook to the project delivery process. A combination of lectures, transportation examples, and exercises will be used to illustrate the basic concepts and introduce the topics.

Target Audience

• Public sector professionals involved in ITS project delivery including project managers and transportation planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance professionals that participate in ITS project development.
• Private sector consultants under contract to the public sector to support ITS planning and project development.
• No prior background in systems engineering is required.

Course Goal and Outcomes

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the systems engineering fundamentals
• Identify where in their current process systems engineering is already being performed
• Find opportunities where systems engineering will benefit their process

"Turbo Architecture Software Training"
PDHs: 8

Course Overview

"Turbo Architecture Software Training" provides training on the Turbo Architecture tool, which is a high-level, interactive software program to assist transportation planners and systems integrators in the development of regional and project architectures using the National Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Architecture as a starting point. The course prepares participants to immediately and confidently use Turbo to create a regional or project ITS architecture and to assist others who are doing so. This course is intended for public- and private-sector transportation professionals involved in ITS transportation planning and ITS deployment.

Delivered in an interactive workshop format, the course will develop an understanding of the terminology and concepts associated with using Turbo Architecture based on hands-on exercises with the tool and interactive lectures conducted by instructors experienced in using the tool. The two-day course is presented by qualified instructors using a Participant Workbook, the Turbo Architecture software, and supporting visual aids and exercises. All participants receive a copy of the Participant Workbook containing copies of all the presentation charts used in the course.

Target Audience

This course is intended for public- and private-sector transportation professionals involved in ITS transportation planning, deployment, and operations who will be using Turbo Architecture. They may be from organizations such as MPOs, transit agencies, municipalities, state DOTs, FHWA Division Offices, and consultants and system integrators. The course design assumes that participants have general knowledge of ITS concepts and terminology, including National ITS Architecture terms, plus basic computer skills (manipulating windows, using directories, a web browser, etc.).

Course Goal and Outcomes

The goal of this course is to prepare ITS professionals to use the Turbo Architecture software to create Regional Architectures and Project Architectures.

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

1. List the preparatory steps to assemble information needed to create a Regional Architecture or a Project Architecture.
2. Describe the steps in the process used by Turbo to create a Regional Architecture or Project Architecture.
3. Use Turbo to create and modify a simple Regional Architecture or Project Architecture, including:
1. Entering stakeholders
2. Entering inventory data
3. Selecting service packages / services
4. Entering operational concepts and functional requirements
5. "Building" and customizing interconnects and architecture flows
6. Customizing standards mappings
7. Entering agreements
8. Creating reports and diagrams
4. Describe how regional architectures and project architectures are related in Turbo
5. Describe in general terms how to add user-defined "extensions" to an Architecture