Road Network Operations
& Intelligent Transport Systems
A guide for practitioners!
Road Network Operations
& Intelligent Transport Systems
A guide for practitioners!
Most transport modes are experiencing rising congestion and this directly affects the economies of many nations. Relief for road congestion is an issue all over the world.
Road Network Operations (RNO) concern the methods at the disposal of road authorities and highway infrastructure operators that contribute to safer and more efficient travel for road users and for society as a whole. This includes techniques such as traffic incident detection, incident management, traffic control (urban and inter-urban), traveller information (pre-trip and on-trip), public transport priorities, electronic payment and travel demand management techniques.
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) concern a wide range of services that use information and communications technology that can improve transportation and mobility.
The range of ITS tools and services for road transport are explained here, together with the ways they can be deployed. There are also case studies of practical examples of ITS good practice from around the world.
ITS has become a core discipline in Road Network Operations, varying from country to country in levels of take-up and local applicability. This website offers guidance on the effective use of ITS in Road Network Operations based on practical experience in many countries.
This website is divided into nine themes. Each theme is made up of topics that describe the technical, institutional and practical issues covered.
They are clustered into four groups as shown below:
This brown horizontal toolbar appears at the top of each page (below the banner). The four groups are shown again in the blue zone at the bottom of the page, with a list of the themes that belong to each group.
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The nine main themes are grouped under four main headings:
Each of the nine themes has a top-level page that outlines the scope of the information provided with options to drill down to detailed topics that are shown in a side menu and listed as "Other Pages" at the bottom of the page.
Click on any of the menu items on the left of the page – this will reveal the topics that are associated with the theme. For example:
You will see a clickable list of “Other Pages” above the blue zone – this repeats the side menu of topics for your convenience.
The website is illustrated with case studies, videos, reference sources and external links. These are shown in the display boxes that appear below the list of “Other Pages”. There are blue clickable links to these resources in the text where they are relevant.
The drop down menu of “Tools” in the top menu provides access to two information pages. You can use the “Search” box alongside "Tools" to enter your search term – either a key word or a phrase in double quote marks.
In the footer of every page there are links to website support, the site map, credits and acknowledgements.
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While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this website, the World Road Association cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.
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Please notify the Association of any errors that require correction (mailing and email addresses below).
This version of the website is in English. It is also available in Spanish, and soon in French. You can switch from one language to another by links included in the header on each page.
World Road Association (PIARC/AIPCR)
La Grande Arche
Paroi Sud - 5th Floor
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FRANCE
email: info@piarc.org
Main website: http://www.piarc.org/en/
Road Network Operations cover all traffic monitoring, traffic management and road user support activities.
Intelligent Transport Systems is a generic term for the integrated application of communications, control and information processing technologies to the transportation system.
Monitoring performs a key function in gathering prevailing road network information and providing support for Road Network Operations activities.
Ground transport is essential to every country’s economic and social well-being.
Network operations have to include ways to manage and control traffic on the network, rather than forever playing catch-up with traffic demand.
Moving people and freight seamlessly is at the heart of efficient transport services and operations.
Road Network Operations require an appreciation of how the different systems that ITS uses can be made to work together in a harmonised way.
Planning is a continuous process of project scoping, evaluation, detailed specification, implementation through to full deployment and operation.
This theme considers the relevance of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) to developing countries and countries with economies in transition.