The FHWA hopes to counter the "standards cost too much" barrier that may be preventing some agencies and others in the ITS community from considering a standards-based project design. NTCIP Coordinator Bruce Schopp said, "By the end of calendar 2005, we're expecting to have 26 of the standards available as Adobe PDF files on the NTCIP Web site."

How do I get the standards?

To get the no-cost copies of the NTCIP standards, go to the www.ntcip.org Library >> Document Links table, and click on one of the "PDF shopping carts" to start your registration. Then, registered users can download a copy of the Adobe PDF file for each standard they want.  Users should save each file to their own computer. Registered users have 24 hours to download the PDF file to the same computer IP address where the request was started.  Users should follow the instructions in the customer agreement for duplicating and printing the standards. By registering, users will receive announcements when each standard is updated or revised.

What are the other details?

The "no-cost" standard download feature requires a separate, new registration -- which is different from the Committee Work Area FTP sign-in, and different from the Forum Web conference log-in. The document download registration collects user information, but now uses a secure site. The customer agreement allows the NTCIP PDF files to be used for personal, noncommercial, and intra-organizational purposes only. Users may make one more electronic copy of the file, and may print or copy two paper copies. For other use or further redistribution of the PDF files, users should contact NEMA at ntcip@nema.org. The NTCIP standards that are jointly approved and published are still for sale in hardcopy form, from either Global Engineering Documents, http://global.ihs.com, or the ITE Bookstore, http://www.ite.org/bookstore/index.asp.

As other NTCIP standards reach joint approval status and are edited for publishing, Adobe PDF files for each of those new standards will be added to the no-cost download feature on the NTCIP Web site. Then they will also each be available for 12 months.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) represents the state departments of transportation in Washington, D.C. The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) is an international individual member educational and scientific association, and is one of the largest and fastest-growing multimodal professional transportation organizations in the world.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) is the leading trade association in the United States representing the interests of electroindustry manufacturers. Founded in 1926, its 400 member companies manufacture products used in the generation, transmission and distribution, control, and end-use of electricity.

Since 1996, AASHTO, ITE, and NEMA have co-sponsored the development of the NTCIP family of data dictionary and communication protocol standards, with funding and support for ITS standards from the U.S.DOT's FHWA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:  Bruce Schopp, NTCIP Coordinator, NEMA, bru_schopp@nema.org, voice (703) 841-3231