Location expression standards for ITS: Testing the LRMS Cross Street Profile

Location can be expressed in a number of ways: coordinates, street addresses, landmark references, linear references, grid references, etc. The Cross Streets Profile is part of a location messaging specification developed for use in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). It describes a location essentially in terms of street names. This paper presents an evaluation of the Cross Streets Profile based upon lab and field tests using commercial street network databases in the County of Santa Barbara. Results vary widely, depending upon database quality which in turn is dependent on geography (major streets vs minor streets, rural vs urban). Success rates can be improved with intelligent algorithms. Future directions to improve the quality of location messaging are discussed.