The Florida Department of Transportation's Statewide Specification and Approval of Dynamic Message Signs

The Florida Department of Transportation was among the first in the nation to develop and implement statewide specifications for dynamic message signs (DMS) and other intelligent transportation systems (ITS) devices. This paper describes experiences and benefits achieved through statewide specification development and product approval, include statewide cost and labor savings, improvements in the consistency and uniformity of project designs, establishment of statewide purchasing agreements with competitive pricing that can be used by other agencies, improvements in the consistency and repeatability of product approvals, and improvements in DMS product performance and quality.