It's so much easier to say letters than the full name of something and it allows you to look as if you're in the know on the subject the letters represent. It's sort of like a "business suit" type saying something like: At AIG the CFO was pinged by the IRS on the company's IRA plan and COBRA OPS. In this case, however, this old traffic engineer with his signs and paint does know something about the letters ITS and CTAA. Although unaware of each other's occurrence, these two separate events are very much connected.

I'll start with the first letter-set, Intelligent Transportation Systems. This is a program that promotes the use of advanced systems and technology to enhance efficiency and safety for all forms of land-based transportation.

On Tuesday, the Maryland chapter of ITS America held its annual information display of services and technologies at the State Senate Office Building. The purpose of this yearly pilgrimage of engineers and vendors is to keep Maryland's ITS statewide program needs and funding on politicians' radar.

Many of you reading this are using some form of personal ITS technology making your everyday life a little easier, two examples being GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) and E-ZPass.

ITS isn't just for vehicles on highways; transit operations can be enhanced considerably through ITS technologies such as fare collection systems, real-time bus tracking, smart transit passenger shelters that monitor safety and announce next bus arrival time, and traffic control signal systems that can prioritize bus operations in traffic flow at critical periods.

Dynamic route guidance signs and traffic information along with parking operations, parking space availability and automated garage fee collection systems also are part of the ITS toolbox.

The second letter-set pertains to the Community Transportation Association of America. CTAA's main purpose in life is to promote mobility and good transit service and one of the ways it does this is by donating the knowledge, data and services of professionals and transit operators all over the country who have "been there done that" covering topics such as types of equipment, maintenance, routing, marketing and (ta-da!) using transit focused ITS technologies to enhance performance. (See, I told you the two events were connected.)

On Wednesday, Mayor Josh Cohen made a very important, but unheralded, announcement to the press: the Community Transportation Association of America would be partnering with the City of Annapolis to develop strategies and methodologies to enhance all aspects of transit services for the citizens of Annapolis.

This effort, which will be in effect for all of 2010, will utilize the best practices from transit systems across the nation to enhance existing bus operations in concert with current plans for optimizing service.

The result will be a system that serves a much broader base of our city's residents, costs less to operate, is convenient, easy to use, on time and interconnects with all modes of mobility to permit Annapolis to have a true transportation system.

How much is this going to cost, you might ask? I love this answer. Nothing! This is because CTAA is a partnership of transit agencies nationwide with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA for those still stuck on letters). This is not just another study rather a wheels-on-the-ground process that will lead to exploiting the right funding and the right programs specific to our city's needs.

The focus and measure of success is implementation not pretty charts, graphs and flowery words in a binder. The truth is Annapolis is receiving approximately $300,000 worth of consulting expertise of the highest order from CTAA for free. Couple that with ITS technologies that not only save money but help generate revenue and you have what I call a real winner.

I'm getting goose bumps; you've got to love it when things come together. Now where's my can of paint?