New technologies, termed Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), provide a means to acquire a better knowledge of the transport network and to implement every available means to optimise network operations, traffic management and services available to customers. These technologies thus become an integrated element of the concept of network operations facilitating the improved efficiency of the transportation system.
ITS can maintain or expand the level of service to road users by increasing throughput (measured in terms of the number of people, or number of vehicles, or amount of goods moved per unit time). ITS can also support management of infrastructure at times of extreme events (for example flooding, extreme storms), by providing high-performance real-time information to operators and users. (See ITS Applications and Services)
From the perspective of road owners and operators many ITS products and services improve efficiency by optimising the use of existing facilities and s-of-way. With these improvements, requirements for mobility and commerce can be met and the need to construct new or expanded facilities can be reduced. ITS provides a tool kit for transport network managers to use for increasing efficiency; improving safety; encouraging alternative modes and assisting with the management of roadway maintenance and construction. (See Benefits of ITS)
The formal evaluation of benefits from ITS applied to network operations is a specialist area. Many results, articles and discussion papers can be obtained through the International Benefits, Evaluation and Costs Group (See IBEC), from the European Evaluation Expert group and for North America at the USDOT ITS Benefits web site. The Deming wheel principle of continual improvement applies (PDCA cycle). (See Evaluation)
The major functions of ITS applications in Road Network Operations are:
Timely warning of unsafe road conditions and congestion reduces the occurrence of accidents and collisions. Incidents such as crashes and vehicle breakdowns as well as impassable/ unsafe road conditions are estimated to cause up to 60% of annual roadway congestion in some congested networks. The traffic congestion that results from these incidents can lead to additional crashes and cause delayed response to emergency situations. According to one study, for every minute an incident remains on the roadway, it causes an additional five minutes of delay after the incident is cleared. Other solutions include better road works planning, lane restrictions, bad weather and road conditions alerts, and automatic braking systems. (See Traffic Management Strategies, Driver Support, Travel Information Systems and Traveller Services)
ITS and related technologies have been widely accepted by both the public authorities and the private sector as a way to achieving the goal of sustainable mobility – while at the same time improving quality of life. For example:
There are significant supply-side benefits of ITS in highways management. Improvements in the infrastructure affect directly each vehicle/driver using the roads. Lane management has been one of the outstanding successes of ITS. This includes HOV lanes, reversible flow lanes, variable speed limits and enforcement systems.These systems maximise the use of the infrastructure available, saving or postponing the very large costs of expanding the networks. (See Advanced Systems and Traffic Management)
While cost reduction is of interest to all road users, the associated benefits of ITS are most tangible to the operators of vehicle fleets and highway infrastructure. Productivity benefits have been assessed from the perspectives of fleet managers, transit authorities, and toll agencies. ITS options for fleet operations include Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) using sophisticated logistics software and communications between the dispatcher and the driver. Each individual intervention appears marginal, but the overall effect in journey time reliability and time savings can make the difference between hitting a Just-in-Time delivery slot and missing it. (See Passenger Transport Operations and Freight & Delivery Operations)
International regulations impose restrictions on the collection, storage, processing and dissemination of data relating to individuals and their behaviour. Individual national legislation is based on these principles. As information relating to movement of individuals is used in ITS applications these regulations impose obligations on network operators. (See Privacy)
The need for total anonymity is seldom a strong requirement from users; nevertheless most users do require the protection of their privacy by the operator.
The privacy of the user is maintained if the following conditions are met:
In the context of traffic management, privacy is the need for travellers to be able to move freely without any other person being able to find out the time and place of travel. The privacy issue is different for private cars and for commercial vehicles and it is perceived very differently in different countries and cultures.
In general:
The privacy rules are the key to success or failure as illustrated by the following:
The network operators who gather and use “confidential” data must ensure that the data is automatically rendered anonymous whenever possible. Encryption at source is required and data should be destroyed immediately after use. (See Data Ownership and Sharing)
To date the liabilities in traffic operations have been relatively clear cut:
With the advent of new cooperative ITS applications the border becomes fuzzier, because some applications are based on systems that have an in-vehicle as well as a road-side component and they function only if both components are working. As long as the functions are not relevant for safety (for example Traffic and Traveller Information and Electronic Fee Collection systems), the liability issues are minimal.
It is totally different if in-vehicle driver assistance systems are introduced that include roadside components, for example:
Network operators cannot take over the liability for the functioning of the in-vehicle components because they have no control over their correct functioning, operation and maintenance. (See Driver Support and Liability)
From the network operators standpoint there are only two possibilities to cope with this situation:
New technologies for traffic management often increase the risks for the operator. Network operators must assess these risks and provide the necessary counter-measures.
Among the possible risks are:
Security measures taken by the network operators must include:
(See Security of ITS)