Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

In the USA 44 percent of CO2 emissions arise from road traffic [1]. Traffic jams and slow traffic flow account for increasing fuel consumption of vehicles and therefore contribute to high emission levels of the transportation sector. Beside this inefficiencies in traffic systems result in losses of time and lead to higher general costs of transport. In the USA transportation is the second largest household expense, after accommodation costs [1].

To address these high costs and the environmental impact of transportation, methods to use the existing transportation facilities as efficient as possible are needed. Therefore Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are developed. This term describes ICT systems that improve traffic infrastructure in terms of utilization and safety, and enable vehicles to interact with the infrastructure and with each other [2]. As ITS are not only restricted to individual traffic, it is a general term describing management and control systems for every type of transportation systems, including road, rail and air traffic. The following goals of traffic management can be achieved by implementing ITS [3]:

• Safety in traffic systems, by variable information and warning systems. 
• Time and cost savings, due to reductions in traffic volume and optimization of travel routes. 
• Lowering the environmental, by enhanced traffic flow and positive discrimination of pub- lic transport. 
• Higher efficiency in mobility, because of optimized utilization of traffic systems. 

The basis of Intelligent Transportation Systems are networks of traffic sensors, which provide real-time traffic data. On the one hand, this data is used for operational traffic management [4], which includes short-term actions, like the operation of adaptive traffic lights and variable message signs, or the calculation of the current traffic situation for informational purposes. One example of an information platform about the current traffic situation in Austria is the website www.AnachB.at, which is a service provided by ITS Vienna Region. The website contains an online map with routing functionality, using traffic data of stationary and mobile traffic sensors to calculate the real-time traffic situation in the supported area. The map can be displayed as street map or as satellite photograph for route planning purpose. In traffic situation mode, the current traffic flow, as well as information about road work, roadblocks and real-time pictures of traffic web cams are integrated and updated every 15 minutes. Figure 1 shows a screenshot of the website www.AnachB.at at about 2 pm on 2011-11-29, displaying the current traffic situation in Vienna.

The second application area of traffic data is strategic traffic management [4], which incorporates long-term planning and execution of traffic infrastructure construction works and traffic simulation, used for decision making in traffic management strategy. In terms of traffic system infrastructure there are some approaches in development to enhance information supply and communication methods. One example are Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) [5], which is a term for infrastructure-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Therefore ICT is used to increase coordination and multi-direction information exchange between vehicles and infrastructure of traffic systems. With the IEEE 802.11p standard for wireless LANs, there is a agreed platform for this type of communication in traffic systems via smart vehicle communication systems [5]. A general term for the trend of information and communication systems in traffic systems and vehicles is cooperative vehicle-infrastructure systems (CVIS) [6]. These ICT systems increase safety and efficiency of traffic systems by using traffic data to inform users and act as support for route planning. The improved capability of communication between traffic infrastructure, vehicles and travelers can be seen as part of the ambient intelligence paradigm [7], which is a term describing the effort to link sensor networks, ICT infrastructure and mobile devices.

Figure 1: Screenshot of www.AnachB.at at 2 pm on 2011-11-29

References

[1] Siemens AG. Its magazine. http://www.mobility.siemens.com/mobility/global/SiteCollectionDocuments/de/news/customer-magazines-and-newsletters/its-magazine/its-03-09-de.pdf,  July  2009. Accessed: 2013-02-12.

[2] B. Williams. Intelligent Transport Systems Standards. Intelligent Transportation Systems. Artech House, 2008.

[3] G. Gottardi  and  A. Fellmann. ITS – Umfang,  Ziele  und  Zukunft  von  intelligenten Verkehrssystemen. http://www.jennigottardi.ch/images/publikationen/S+V9_97.pdf, September 1997. Accessed: 2013-02-12 (in German).

[4] M. Königsmayr. Wartung und Instanhaltung von infrastrukturseitigen Sensornetzwerken. Master’s thesis, Vienna University of Technology, 2011.

[5] J. Zhu and S. Roy. Mac for dedicated short range communications in intelligent transport system. IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 41 Issue: 12:60 – 67, 2003.

[6] F. Penwill-Cook. Intelligent transport systems: Driving into the future.
http://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/features/feature42979/. Accessed: 2013-02-12.

[7] G. Philipson. Ict’s role in the low carbon economy. Technical report, Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), 2010.