Traffic control aims to manage and control the movement of traffic on roads to optimise the use of existing road capacity. ITS applications include:

• urban traffic control that is demand-responsive and may incorporate transport policy elements – such as public transport prioritisation or queue management
• adaptive signal control systems along arterial roads that adjust signal timings to current traffic conditions – such as those caused by special events or incidents
• freeway control systems that use ramp metering and lane control techniques to smooth traffic flow
• integration of highways and network signal systems for the purpose of corridor or “area-wide” optimisation of traffic flow

The implementation of effective traffic control strategies requires timely and accurate traffic information. The better the data, the more effective the control strategies that can be implemented. Information is gathered from various sources – such as detector loops in the road pavement, roadside and overhead sensors and analysis of digital camera images. The data can be combined and used to decide upon the best (or optimal) course of action for managing traffic on the network. (See Traffic Control)

Traffic control is one of the most basic building blocks of an intelligent road transport system, since it requires detection, control, communications and support systems – that are fundamental to the operation of several other ITS services. Traffic control and traffic operations centres (TCCs and TOCs), responsible for these functions, now exist all over the world. (See Traffic Control Centres)

ITS plays a significant role in improving incident management, particularly on highways, motorways and other high speed roads. This is because it uses vehicle sensors (such as inductive, buried, loops, radar and CCTV cameras), data processing and communications technologies to quickly detect and verify an incident. Sophisticated decision support systems then help traffic managers to decide how to best respond to any given incident. Using ITS in this way can improve safety and network efficiency, saving lives and money. (See Traffic Incidents)

One of the application areas where ITS has achieved great success is in the area of electronic payment. Among the prime examples of electronic payment are Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems such as the EZPass System in the USA or the European Electronic Toll Service. These systems allow drivers to pay road tolls without stopping or slowing down their travel speed – minimising delays and improving air quality in the vicinity of toll plazas.

ETC systems can take various forms such as:

• a mainline toll plaza with payment at the barrier;
• an open highway collection system where tolls are collected at main-line speeds;
• a closed system where tolls are charged based on entry and exit locations.

These systems can impose different tolls for different classes of vehicles, and can provide for the automatic enforcement of violations. Other examples include integrated payment systems – designed to allow a traveller to pay for different services (for example driving on a toll road, paying for parking, paying for transit) using the same medium or device (See Electronic Payment).

ITS can be applied to implement strategies aimed at increasing the frequency of Multiple-Occupancy Vehicles (MOVs) and promoting the use of High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes (HOVs). ITS can help make the operation of HOV lanes more effective and adaptive to changing traffic conditions – by adjusting vehicle occupancy requirements at different times of day, based upon current traffic and congestion levels. ITS also can help implement congestion pricing strategies – where toll charges are adjusted to influence demand. For example, tolls can be increased during peak hours in urban areas or in the vicinity of environmentally sensitive tourist attractions in rural areas. (See Demand Management)

ITS can be applied to better manage the allocation and price of parking spaces. This helps improve the travel experience of drivers by providing real-time information on spaces in parking lots. ITS-based parking information systems can be integrated with city-wide traffic management and control – to minimise parking search times and optimise traffic management overall. Electronic toll tags can also be used as a means of controlling access to a controlled parking area. (See Access Control)

ITS can help improve the environmental sustainability of road transport. Some ITS applications use environmental sensors to collect information about exhaust emissions from vehicles at a certain location, or over a wide area. The information can then be used to intelligently divert traffic away from areas where air quality has fallen below an acceptable threshold – or by not letting vehicles access these environmentally sensitive areas. The information can also provide valuable input to the development of air quality improvement strategies – and to alert vehicles’ operators if their vehicles are not compliant with adopted emissions standards. ITS can also be used to manage congestion and reduce delay – which has beneficial impacts on emissions and air quality. (See Driver Support)

The purpose of a highway-rail intersection ITS application, is to provide improved warning and safety control devices where a railway (railroad) crosses a road or highway at a level crossing (an “at-grade” crossing). On the approach roads to the crossing, any signalised intersections can be connected to the control and warning devices at the highway-rail intersection (HRI), so that signals can be coordinated to manage queuing and divert traffic. The technology can also monitor the “health” of HRI equipment – and report any detected malfunctioning. (See Enforcement)

ITS system and service applications have an important role to play in emergency situations:

• emergency notification and personal security applications;
• emergency vehicle management;

Emergency notification and personal security applications include systems that:

• allow a driver to initiate a distress call in the event of an incident (emergency and a non-emergency such as mechanical breakdown);
• enable the vehicle itself to automatically notify emergency management services (EMS) personnel in the case of a collision.

The European eCall and American OnStar systems are good examples:

• eCall: http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/ecall-all-new-cars-april-2018;
• OnStar: https://www.onstar.com/web/portal/home?g=1).

Emergency vehicle management focuses on applications intended to reduce the time from the receipt of an emergency notification to the arrival of the emergency vehicle at the scene of the incident. This is accomplished through:

• optimal emergency fleet management – to identify the locations of emergency vehicles in real-time and dispatch the vehicles that can reach the scene of the incident most quickly;
• dynamic route guidance – to guide the emergency vehicle to the fastest route to the incident scene or a suitable hospital;
• signal priority or pre-emption – to give priority to trams and buses. (See Emergency Response)

The goal of pre-trip travel information is to provide travellers with information about the status of the transport network before they begin their trip. The information provided can be limited to road or multimodal transport – and can include:

• real-time flow conditions (average traffic speeds or point-to-point travel times)
• road incidents and suggested alternative routes
• scheduled road construction and special events
• transit routes, schedules, fares and transfers
• park-and-ride facilities, locations and availability

In the early years of ITS, travellers were able to access this information at home or work (via a computer or a telephone system) and at places generating traffic (for example, a shopping mall – via a touch-screen kiosk). Nowadays, with the proliferation of smart phones and mobile devices connected to the internet, travellers can access travel information anytime, anywhere. More advanced versions of these systems can provide users with predictive travel conditions, as well as help with trip planning. (See Pre-trip Information)

En-Route driver information is aimed at providing drivers with travel-related information after they start their trip – during the journey. Traditionally, this has been achieved by means of Variable Message Signs (VMS), radio broadcasts and Highway Advisory Radio (HAR). More recently with the widespread introduction of smart phones and mobile devices – and with the interest in developing Connected Vehicles – more effective means are available to provide travel information and to personalise it for the traveller specific to the journey and locations.

The development of Connected Vehicles that will be able to communicate with the infrastructure as well as with other vehicles, will allow greater opportunity for the delivery of advisory and warning messages to drivers (for example, warning motorists of unsafe conditions such as sharp curves, wet pavements, icy conditions – and alerting motorists if they exceed the safe speed limit and alerting drivers to unsafe weather conditions.) (See En-route Information and Driver Support)

The widespread use of GPS navigation devices provides drivers with detailed turn-by-turn instructions on how to get to their destinations. These directions traditionally relied on static information – for example historic travel times for different road segments, held in a navigation database. More sophisticated guidance systems are dynamic – with directions responding to changing traffic conditions based on real-time information about traffic speeds and incident locations. The digital maps that support these device need to be kept up-to-date – for example, by downloading updates on new road links and traffic restrictions.

Route guidance is now widely available through in-vehicle systems, portable devices and smartphone handsets. The benefits include reduced travel delays arising from navigational errors and lower stress levels for drivers, especially when driving in an unfamiliar area. Problems can arise for local communities when a product – intended for the general motorist – is used by drivers of large or heavy vehicles and the recommended route is a road unsuitable for those vehicles. (See Navigation and Positioning)

Ride-matching and reservation is aimed at encouraging carpooling by providing real-time matching of the preferences and demands of users with providers – and by serving as a clearinghouse for financial transactions. A traveller can call a service centre and provide it with information about the desired trip origin, destination, and time. In return, the traveller will receive feedback on a number of ridesharing options from which to choose. (See Ride Sharing / Matching)

Traveller service information is intended to provide travellers with “yellow-pages” information. This may include information on the location of services such as food, lodging, gas stations, hospitals, police stations – as well as information on the location of points of tourist attractions. Examples of these applications are already included in many GPS navigation devices and smart phone apps. (See Location Based Services)

Public transport management applications use advanced communications and information systems to collect data to improve the:

• operation of the vehicles and facilities
• planning and scheduling of services
• management of personnel

Real-time data collected from vehicle tracking and location systems can be used to ensure schedule adherence – and to implement corrective actions when a particular vehicle is running behind schedule. Real-time information applications can also help facilitate passengers’ transfers at connecting stations. Off-line, the data collected can be analysed and used to revise schedules, to better plan routes, to satisfy contract reporting requirements, and to improve customer information systems. (See Operations & Fleet Management)

En-route information applications are intended to provide public transport travellers with information after their trips have started. Among the key pieces of information which are typically provided are:

• information on expected arrival times of transit vehicles
• transfers and connections
• ride-share opportunities

Various information dissemination devices could be used including signs and kiosks at bus stops, internet websites that can be accessed via smart phones and mobile devices, and various types of smart phone apps. (See Information Dissemination)

Personalised Public Transport (PPT) is based on the idea of using flexibly-routed vehicles to offer more convenient services to travellers – in some cases door-to-door. There are two main types of PPT:

• flexibly-routed operations – in which fixed-route buses are allowed to deviate from their main route to pick-up or drop-off passengers
• random route operations – which operate with variable-routing based upon the pattern of service requests received

Ideally, this type of application will offer journey reservations – and vehicle assignment and scheduling to be developed in real-time. (See Dynamic Routing / Scheduling)

Video: Good News tests: Kutsuplus service – personalised public transport

Public transport security ITS applications are aimed at improving the security of public transport users, operators and support staff. This can be achieved by integrating vehicle location technologies and monitoring systems to provide a warning and response system to deal with security-related incidents. For example, transport stations and terminals, parking lots, bus stops and the inside of transport vehicles can be monitored with CCTV with image processing for surveillance – so that an alarm is triggered, either manually or automatically, by an “at-risk” event. Critical infrastructure, such as bridges, tunnels, rail track, can also monitored in this way as part of a public transport security strategy. (See Network Security)

Electronic clearance is designed to allow compliant commercial vehicles to continue past checkpoints at mainline speeds. As a vehicle approaches a checkpoint, communications between the vehicle and the inspection station take place – often by means of a dedicated short-range wireless link – allowing the authorities to check relevant information, such as the vehicle’s credentials, weight, safety status and cargo. This system allows enforcement personnel to select potentially unsafe vehicles for inspection, while permitting safe vehicles to bypass the commercial vehicle checkpoint. (See Credential Checking)

As a complement to commercial vehicle electronic clearance, automated roadside safety inspection ITS applications use automated inspection capabilities to facilitate safety checks with greater speed and accuracy during a safety inspection at a vehicle inspection site. This helps reduce the amount of time spent by the vehicle examiners inspecting vehicles, whilst also providing more reliable data on the safety status of the vehicle. (See Safety Information Exchange)

Among the many ITS automotive engineering applications are systems that monitor the safety condition of a vehicle and cargo as well as the driver – without the need for the vehicle to slow down. The monitoring capabilities may include:

• sensing the condition of critical vehicle components, including brakes, tyres and lights
• sensing shifts in the cargo while the vehicle is in motion
• monitoring the time-on-task of drivers
• monitoring the drivers’ alertness level

Safety warnings are provided to drivers and can be made available to vehicle fleet managers or controllers and to roadside enforcement personnel. (See Safety)

ITS applications can smooth the administrative processes required of commercial fleet operators by government or regulatory bodies. They may allow the automatic purchase of credentials (such as a port permit or other selective access toll) and include automated reporting of mileage and fuel use. This saves the operator time and money. (See Enforcement)

ITS has a part to play in the response to incidents involving hazardous materials (HAZMAT). Law enforcement and HAZMAT response personnel can be provided with timely, accurate information on cargo contents at the scene of an accident – so they know exactly how to handle the materials involved in an appropriate way. Emergency responders can be provided with access to this information – either through remote access to the relevant databases, or, in real-time, through the use of readers that communicate with the HAZMAT vehicle’s on-board transponder. (See Emergency Response)

ITS applications provide real-time communications between drivers, dispatchers and intermodal transport providers for the purposes of vehicle location identification, dispatching, and tracking – to help optimise freight operations and vehicle utilisation. (See Operations & Fleet Management)

The automotive industry has been working on a variety of collision avoidance systems that are either already in production or close to market. (See Warning and Control) These systems include:

Rear-End Collision Avoidance

These systems monitor the separation distance between vehicles and warn drivers when sensors detect another vehicle that may be dangerously close. If the driver does not react appropriately, automatic vehicle control actions may be initiated. Examples of these systems are already installed in the vehicles of some automotive manufacturers, such as Mercedes and Volvo.

Advanced Emergency Braking

Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) detect the possibility of a collision with the vehicle ahead and warn the driver – using visual, audio or tactile feedback. If the driver takes no action, the system automatically applies the vehicle's brakes. At lower speeds AEBS acts to prevent a crash – at higher speeds it will reduce the severity.

Adaptive Cruise Control

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) tracks the vehicle in front, and automatically maintains a desired minimum distance (or time headway) from that vehicle. So long as this minimum distance is maintained, the vehicle will travel at the set speed. If the separation distance falls below this minimum value, the ACC system adjusts the vehicle’s speed to regain the minimum headway (in time or distance).

Reversing Collision Warning and Control

These systems detect slow moving or stationary objects and pedestrians that are in the path of a vehicle that is reversing – and warn the driver accordingly. Detecting these objects requires the use of relatively short-range sensors on-board the vehicles, such as a rear-view camera. Examples of these systems can be found fitted to many of today’s vehicle models.

Lane Departure Avoidance

Lane departure systems aim to help drivers avoid accidents that could result when a vehicle leaves its own travel lane and strays into the path of a vehicle in another lane. This is achieved by warning drivers and/or assuming temporary control of an at-risk vehicle. Among the most well-known of these systems are:

• Lane Change/Blind Spot Situation – Display, Collision Warning and Control, which provide drivers with information about the presence of vehicles in their blind spots, warns them of potentially dangerous lane change manoeuvres, and may assume temporary control of the vehicle’s steering and braking to avoid collisions;
• Lane/Road Departure Warning and Control, which assist in keeping a vehicle in its proper lane – typically using vehicle-based technologies (such as video image processing and optical/infrared scanning).

Intersection Collision Avoidance

ITS technology has been tested in applications that will avoid, or to decrease the severity of, collisions at intersections. These systems track the position and status of vehicles within a defined area on approach to an intersection through the use of vehicle-to-vehicle communications and/or vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. If a potentially dangerous situation is detected that is likely to lead to a collision warning messages are delivered to the driver – for example, in cases where a vehicle fails to stop at a red light or attempts to make a turning manoeuvre in the absence of an adequate gap.

Vision Enhancement for Collision Avoidance

ITS applications have been developed to help eliminate and/or reduce the severity of accidents that result from poor visibility – such as night driving, heavy rain or foggy conditions. These systems include in-vehicle sensors that can capture images of the driving environment and display them graphically to the driver, for example through a head-up display. One example that illustrates the concept is the Driver Assistance System for Snowploughs developed by the University of Minnesota http://www.lrrb.org/media/reports/200313.pdf).

The goal of safety readiness ITS applications is to eliminate and/or reduce the number of collisions caused by impaired drivers (though tiredness, alcohol or drugs), a failure of vehicles’ components, or any degraded infrastructure conditions that could affect the safety of the vehicle. Systems are available that monitor the performance of the driver – and either warn or assume temporary control of the vehicle if a driver’s performance is impaired. Other systems monitor the performance of critical components of a vehicle (such as the braking system), and warn drivers of their imminent failure. There are also systems that can monitor the roadway and provide warnings to the driver of unsafe conditions – such as loss of tire traction on wet or icy road surfaces. (See Policing/Enforcement and Warning Systems)

Pre-crash restraint ITS applications anticipate an imminent collision and activate the appropriate passenger safety systems prior to the actual impact. For example, sensors are available to detect the rapid closing of distance between the vehicle and an obstacle. On detection, the system attempts to reduce the danger of the impact of the collision by settings restraints to absorb or dissipate the force of the impact – such as triggering an airbag. (See Partially Automated Driving)

A long-term goal of vehicle safety systems is a fully automated highway-vehicle system (AHVS) – where specially equipped vehicles travel, under fully automated control, along dedicated highway lanes – or where a self-driving vehicle pilots itself through mixed traffic. The AHVS concept has the potential to significantly improve the safety, as well as the efficiency, of highway travel by reducing the number and severity of crashes, decreasing congestion, and reducing vehicle emissions and fuel consumption. (See Automated Highways and New Applications)

The safety risks associated with AHVS operations need to be analysed carefully so that the risk of mal-function is minimised. Many automotive manufacturers are currently involved in significant research and demonstration projects aimed at making autonomous (or self-driving) cars, a reality. A number of countries are preparing to test the readiness of driverless cars. Nissan, for example, has promised the production of autonomous cars by 2020 – and Google has sponsored the development of a self-driving car. Initiatives from public and private enterprises may help accelerate the deployment of self-driving cars. An example is here: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/08/27/nissan-promising-autonomous-car-production-by-2020/ (See Warning & Control)

Video: A Ride in the Google Self Driving Car

ITS technologies can be used to keep track of maintenance and construction vehicles such as snow ploughs – so that operators can monitor whether required tasks are being carried out as planned. ITS can also be used to monitor the condition of maintenance and construction vehicles – using on-board sensors to alert users of any required maintenance or repair activities. (See On-board Monitoring and Telematics)

Using Road Weather Information Stations (RWIS) and other similar environmental sensors (whether fixed location or on-board maintenance vehicles), ITS can help collect accurate, localised information about the weather – including road surface conditions. ITS can also help in the processing of the data and in disseminating information to the public. Information from RWIS can help detect hazardous conditions – such as icy roads, high winds, dense fog – and to plan, more effectively, winter maintenance operations and optimise resource allocations. (See Weather Monitoring)

Winter maintenance operations can be supported by systems that monitor and track routes for snow ploughs and grit spreaders – to determine the correct roadway treatment needed. This will be based on current and predicted weather information and information collected from environmental sensors. (See Weatther Management)

ITS can play a key role in helping improve the safety of work zones and construction sites on highways – as well as better manage the flow of traffic through the work zone. Information collected from permanent and temporary ITS monitoring facilities can be used to better control traffic and to provide advisory and warning messages to drivers – for example through dynamic message signs (DMS). The traffic information collected from the work zone can also be shared with traffic operations centres and to support traveller information systems. (See Work Zones)

ITS technologies can be used to monitor the condition of critical infrastructure such as bridges and road tunnels. Information from fixed sensors as well as vehicle-based sensors play a part. One recent idea is to use information from probe vehicles – about their vertical acceleration – to determine the pavement surface condition and detect different types of distress, such as potholes or surface roughness. (See Probe Vehicle Measurements)

Stakeholders can be categorised into primary and secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders are distinguished by the level and nature of their involvement:

• level of involvement – those with direct responsibilities in managing, operating and maintaining the system will be primary stakeholder. Others – with a lesser impact on the business practices and usage of a system – will be secondary stakeholders
• nature of involvement - service providers, service users and customers are always primary stakeholders:
  • private sector service providers include automobile manufacturers and their suppliers, commercial vehicle operators, private transport companies and value-added service providers
  • public sector service providers include government departments of transport, regional planning organisations, public transport planning agencies, local government and enforcement agencies
  • users or customer groups include drivers, passengers, pedestrians and customers receiving shipments

For example, in deliveries and commercial vehicle operations, the vehicle owners and delivery services providers and their customers are the primary stakeholders for ITS services to customers. Enforcement bodies such as the police and vehicle examiners are primary stakeholders in relation to weights and permits regulations and enforcement. From the public policy perspective local communities will also have an interest, albeit a secondary one unless there is public concern about the potential impact of operations.

Both primary and secondary stakeholders have roles in the planning, development, operations and maintenance of ITS projects. All stakeholders with a potential interest in the project must be identified and engaged – from planning to operations and maintenance stage of a project. Their input and participation is necessary for the successful realisation of an ITS project.

It is important to be aware of, and sensitive to, possible issues at all times – in what may be an evolving situation, as an ITS project develops. Secondary stakeholders can introduce issues which must be recognised and dealt with. Generally it is better to uncover interests and issues early on in the planning stages – so that proper adjustments can be made. An effective communication strategy with stakeholders provides the opportunity to develop contingency options.

ITS investments usually need political and public support. Public agencies must communicate the anticipated benefits of the ITS deployment in terms that policy makers and the public can understand. In the early stages of ITS deployment, a careful assessment of risk is essential covering the technology, market perspective, political and public acceptability. Some aspects may require a regulatory framework to ensure public safety, interoperability and rules for procurement – and where necessary an enforcement policy (such as speed control.) (See Contracts)

A priority for ITS is to consult the widest possible range of interests and to build local partnerships to achieve consensus on objectives and scope of investments in ITS – and joint problem-solving. Stakeholders are impacted by any failure or success of an ITS project. This means there is a need to develop an all-inclusive process to identify and engage all stakeholders from the start of the planning phase of ITS projects. This may lead to the involvement of new stakeholders, such as financial institutions, retailers, broadcasters, telecommunications providers and value-added service providers. Each stakeholder will have their own distinct business practices and goals – and should take ownership of their roles and responsibilities in any ITS project at each stage of the project.

There is often a role for an ‘ITS champion’ to take the initiative, drive forward consultation and keep all partners and stakeholders on board.

A total system approach to ITS deployment means paying attention to both technical concepts and institutional measures needed to integrate key technologies to deliver effective user services.

Successful ITS operations are enabled by a regulatory and institutional framework that is fit for purpose – with cooperative agreements between stakeholders that define clearly each party’s role and responsibilities. An equitable cooperative agreement between stakeholders – guided by suitable risk distribution, cost sharing and revenue or benefit sharing – may solve some of the regulatory and institutional challenges. (See Interagency Working)

A self-contained ‘silo’ mentality within an organisation may frustrate the development of ITS services. A lack of attention to end-user needs and requirements and poor management and project control in a primary stakeholder organisation – may also undermine the planned ITS deployment and incur excessive cost. Deficiencies such as these, may make the ITS service economically unfeasible.

A cooperative agreement can take the form of a ‘Concept of Operations’ – where each stakeholder’s roles and responsibilities are described and each party agrees on the allocation of operational roles and responsibilities.

The agreement should be based on appropriate risk distribution, cost sharing and revenue or benefit sharing – according to the role and level of involvement of each stakeholder. This must be developed at the planning stage of an ITS project and may have an important place in defining any ITS architecture. (See How to Create and ITS Architecture?)

By way of example, the table below summarises a Concept of Operations that was developed for Bloomington/Monroe County in Indiana USA, as a part of the county’s regional ITS architecture. Stakeholders are mapped to different transport services and each stakeholder’s roles and responsibilities are specified.

The leading stakeholders in an ITS deployment may parallel those involved in a construction project: the client, professional consultants, products and service suppliers, contractors and specialist subcontractors:

• the client can be a public authority or private operator – or, often, a multi-agency grouping under a lead agency
• ITS professionals who advise on, and manage, an ITS deployment – are typically drawn from the disciplines of civil, electrical or transport engineering and transport planning. Their specifications define project needs and anticipated costs, and guide the developers and suppliers – including computer software and hardware, detectors and sensors, communications networks, cameras and infrastructure equipment, fixed and portable devices
• system integrators may be needed for complex ITS projects – especially when the component systems must operate together reliably

Transport professionals who are responsible for launching ITS at project or programme level, may be unfamiliar with certain aspects of a deployment – either technical or institutional. (See ITS Technologies and Strategic Planning)

Private sector involvement is generally motivated by the opportunity to generate revenue and/or make a profit. Commercial businesses must be able to generate a profit through their activities to survive in a competitive market place. The continuing development of technology and advances in user needs and expectations means that the potential for new products and services is always there. The private sector can provide these new products and services, as and when time demands. Increasingly, the public sector is looking to the private sector, for the investment in ITS infrastructure and the delivery of certain ITS services – such as providing travel data. The private sector business case will largely depend on risk assessment of several factors. (See Formulating a Programme)

It is likely that the private sector will wish to develop market opportunities for new service needs arising from public sector investments in ITS. For example, a company might make use of traffic data (advisory and predictive) collected by public agencies to develop customised, real time travel information as a value added service for its customers. Arrangements of this kind – if they are exclusive to one provider – can become problematic unless they have been awarded on the basis of fair and open competition.

Private investment in road infrastructure and traffic services is growing as many public agencies struggle to meet increased travel demand within limited budgets. For example, toll roads and traffic control centres are often implemented through a partnership contract or franchise (See Contracts and Toll Collection). Private sector participation offers new opportunities and challenges to the transport industry.

The challenge in a public private partnership lies in how to achieve a balance between the policies and objectives of public agencies – while satisfying the business goals of private companies. To achieve a successful public private partnership, various issues need to be addressed:

• defining and agreeing the roles and responsibilities of the public and private sector in each phase of the life cycle of the project
• sharing the development and operational risks
• ensuring that both benefit from the partnership
• cost sharing
• private sector interest in the transport service
• public sector support for the private sector’s business case

In preparation for negotiations with private industry, public agencies need to determine their requirements – which may be encapsulated in an ITS regional architecture. By defining requirements before entering into a resource sharing agreement the stakeholders will be in a stronger position to conduct the negotiations.

Motivating factors for public private partnerships in ITS include:

• the opportunities that ITS offers as a market for the development of new products and services by the private sector – based on access to publicly owned data (open data) and permission to install equipment on the road network (See Open Data)
• mobilising private sector investment in ITS deployments – which would otherwise be a challenge for public sector budgets to meet.

Examples of viable partnerships which benefit both sectors include:

• a cellular phone company that provides telecommunications support to public agencies for their ITS infrastructure connections – in the expectation of business growth from road users (such as travellers) accessing traveller information services through their wireless mobile devices
• a public agency that gives permission to telecommunications companies to construct cellular communication towers or install fibre optic cables on publicly-owned land alongside a highway – in return for in-kind ITS programme-related hardware, software and services up to an agreed value

ITS Architecture plays an important part in Road Network Operations. The ITS architecture is a primary element in ITS planning. Two types of ITS architecture are typically defined:

• a high level architecture (which can be either a Framework or Model Architecture), often for publicly funded ITS deployments in a national, regional or local area
• a low level architecture (project-level) for specific ITS deployments, such as a Regional Traffic Control Centre

A high level ITS architecture provides the framework for the deployment of ITS across a wide geographical area with multiple jurisdictions and different stakeholders participating in common or inter-dependant operations. The architecture specifies how the various ITS components interact with each other to address the transport problems. It provides the basis for planning, designing, deploying, maintaining and integrating systems to realise transport objectives.

An ITS architecture does not specify the ITS scheme design in detail. Nor does it require a particular design approach. Instead it does the important job of specifying the performance criteria that the system components must satisfy – and defines a general framework from which several alternative designs or design options may be developed. These distinct designs will conform to the common ITS architecture. (See What is ITS Architecture?)

An ITS architecture should define the following:

• functions: that describe what the ITS system has to do to meet the user requirements – such as “collecting traffic data” or “providing incident information”
• physical entities: the locations where ITS functions are to be performed – such as a traffic management centre or traffic signal controllers
• interfaces and information flows: the interfaces showing data exchange connectivity (existing or proposed) and the information flows between physical entities. For example, an interface between a traffic management system and roadway traffic detectors might be two-way:
  • in one direction, speed data flows from the traffic detectors to the traffic management system
  • in the opposite direction, a sensor control command flows from the traffic management centre to the traffic detectors

Maximum benefit from ITS requires interoperability and interchangeability of systems between regions and within a region. Interoperability refers to the condition where different types of systems can interface with each other to meet the system’s functional requirements. Multiple brands of a device on the same communications channel is an example of interchangeability. One of the primary goals of ITS is to integrate a variety of previously independent systems to minimize redundancy and maximize efficiency – so adhering to ITS and other industry standards will satisfy the interoperability and interchangeability requirements and support future efficient system expansion. Legislative requirements to comply with industry and ITS standards in any ITS project will support interoperability, interchangeability and future cost-effective expandability of the system. (See ITS Standards)

Technology is changing at a rapid pace and this trend is expected to continue indefinitely. ITS builds on technology-based services – and the pace of technological change is an important consideration in planning and deployment. Three issues must be addressed when considering changes in technology for any ITS applications. These are: upgrade, legacy systems and systems integration.

Upgrade

With technology changing rapidly, even during the course of an ITS project, it is important to anticipate the possibility of system upgrades. Newer technologies can improve the performance of an already deployed system – and may require a decision on whether to upgrade the system or replace it. Where it is possible to look ahead, work planning and design should allow for the possibility of upgrades so they can be accommodated efficiently and without technical complexity. A possible disadvantage is that system upgrades may require highly skilled professionals to operate and manage the new systems in the future.

Legacy Systems

As new systems and upgrades come on line, they must be integrated with earlier “legacy” systems. The challenge lies in making the new systems interoperable. ITS architecture can show where and how established legacy systems will need to interface with new systems to deliver the desired (integrated) system functionalities and performance. A field evaluation plan for testing the interoperability between a legacy system and new systems will provide the basis for testing the integrated system after deployment.

Systems Integration

Systems integration is about how different systems are connected together so that they can perform the desired tasks in an optimal way. ITS requires different types of hardware and software (which may come from different manufacturers and be implemented at different times) to be integrated to satisfy user requirements.

Problems – that can pose a significant challenge to systems integration – technically and because of the cost, are:

• using hardware and software that are unique to one supplier
• system interfaces that do not follow industry and ITS standards

Adhering to established industry and ITS standards and the use of open architecture will support future cost-effective systems integration.

A system-wide outlook at the inception of a project will help develop a deployment plan that supports a cost-effective implementation strategy:

• an ITS architecture that takes account of user needs regionally and nationally will support cost-effective project development locally, even when the projects take place at different points in the timeline. This is because the entire system, with its subcomponents and interdependencies, are considered at the outset of each project

If the design provides for interchangeability of components it will encourage competition and allow scope for future improvements in cost, design, functionality and safety (See ITS Architecture):

• ITS technologies provide multiple options to address particular user needs or requirements. Availability of many options for the same set of requirements (for example electronic tolling equipment) may promote different products in different regions that are not compatible or interoperable with each other. A common architecture and a set of standards that have evolved from a common architecture can solve the problem of interoperability

ITS architecture can show where standard interfaces will bring significant benefits:

• it does not assume the use of specific ITS technologies or components. It should instead, be generic, to allow freedom for system developers to design what they see as optimum solutions – meeting appropriate standards and accommodating the interfaces needed for interoperability and likely future extensions

ITS architecture shows how different stakeholders are connected with one another through data exchange:

• ITS architecture helps to identify institutional interdependence that can assist in reaching regional goals. It can serve as a guide on how different agencies can share the same ITS infrastructure to achieve their own institutional objectives

The existence of an ITS architecture can assist in integrating systems coming on-line in different phases:

• it is not possible to meet all user requirements at any one time, with one project. ITS projects are usually completed in phases

ITS architecture can support security services related to disaster response and evacuation, freight and commercial vehicles, hazardous materials, rail, transit and transport infrastructure:

• in addition to supporting transport services, ITS architecture can contribute to regional and national security