CIV5304 Intelligent Transport Systems-Modern Traffic Technology

The Intelligent Transport System is a modern traffic technology that was designed and developed mainly to address the ever-skyrocketing road accidents. Notably, many a people have perished in our roads due to the traffic factors at play. The World Health Organization (2017) reports that there were 1.25 million traffic deaths globally in 2013. This is a great loss as most of these people who perish on our roads are productive people who contribute greatly to the global economy. Therefore, ITS system has gained traction over the years and has been implemented in many traffic areas in different countries so that the issue of traffic-related carnage can amicably be addressed.

But what is Intelligent Transport System? Mathew (2014) defines it as an integrated system that comprises the computer, electronics, communication technologies and management strategies to bring about safety and efficiency in the transportation systems. For instance, by providing real-time information to travelers, sanity and order can be restored in most of the urban road infrastructure where there is normally the highest concentration of traffic. Notably, Singapore seemingly is taking the technology to the next level, if the current ambitious plan is anything to go by. Recently, according to LTA (2015),

she plans to further expand the ITS infrastructure through the roll out plan dubbed: Smart Mobility 2030; where she hopes to comprehensively and sustainably develop the ITS ecosystem via the Intelligent Transportation Society Singapore (ITSS) and Land Transport Authority. In Australia, the issue of traffic congestion and road safety featured prominently in the global summit of 2015. According to Mass Transit (2017), the discussants actively sensitized on the need to deliver greater value to the existing infrastructure. Importantly, the proposed improvement to the ITS will have to address issues of road safety, efficiency and sustainability to guarantee the greater value so desired.

In fact, the driverless technology which has also gained traction is being seen as one of the initiatives in which the ITS technology could play a greater role in coordinating and controlling the sequencing of these kinds of cars. It is therefore undisputable fact that ITS infrastructure must be improved both in value and complexity to handle the ever-changing traffic system and the dynamics of urban dwellings. Besides, by improving the ITS infrastructure, the issue of congestion and road safety will be addressed prominently as effective coordination, monitoring and -real-time information flow will be the norm; loss in man -hours due to traffic congestion in the busy cities such as Melbourne will drastically drop and this will have a multiplier effect on the economy in terms of GDP contribution.

Now, apart from integrating road safety, ITS can be applied in the following areas: Autonomous vehicles system; non-motorized transport; motorcycles and public transport; public transport ticketing; Parking Booking systems; Freight Transport; Traffic Management; intelligent Speed Adaptation; Pre-incident detection on motorways; Predicting the duration and impacts of motorway incidents; assistance with motorway construction and maintenance and in-vehicle navigation systems.

But curiously, how exactly will the issue of road safety be fixed using the ITS system? As mentioned earlier, there is growing concern about the road safety situation globally. Many countries are opting to use technology as a potent means to eradicating the alarming road carnage casualties. It is on thi

The European Transport Safety Council was therefore established in 1993 to act as an advisory body in matters relating to road safety. Through their rich pool of expertise in Traffic Engineering, they have been able to offer potent advice to government authorities, engineering firms and the general public on the best strategies to adopt to ensure a safe and efficient road infrastructure and traffic system in general, is established. Notably, the ETSC has voiced the proposal to have the ITS infrastructure improvement plan be fast tracked due to its promising capacity to substantially fix the road safety problem. Notably, there are critical factors that have caused the alarming road accidents globally; and they are common factors in every country.

Drunk driving was selected as one of the most common causes of road accidents (ETSC, 1999). However, research shows that crushes due to drunk driving is slowly decreasing thanks to the initiatives which have mainly focused on condemning drunk driving. However, as opined by ETSC (1999), there is still more to be done to bring it further down. Connectedly, when one is drunk and driving, they would usually have less control and more often move at higher speeds hence contributing to road accident. ITS integration in road safety systems is being argued that could also potentially lead to the conservation of the environment. However, most importantly, the paper’s aim is to elucidate the entire ITS infrastructure integration in road safety arena such that its underlying benefits can be uncovered.

It should be noted that ITS provides a potent platform for the establishment of solid systems that could potentially reduce the carnage menace in our roads. Therefore, this report is highly dedicated to all the industry players who are playing an active role in ensuring the issue of road safety is dealt with accordingly. The report hereinafter will also discuss critical success factors that must be considered to ensure a robust ITS system architecture is developed. Later, a case example will be given to exemplify the practicality of implementing the said system. Therefore, let the work begin.

As mentioned in the introduction section, the intelligent Transport System provides a potent solution for the maintenance of road safety especially in busy highways and urban streets. This section will discuss ways and means to achieving this endeavor by reviewing different theoretical and practical aspects that are critical to the successful implementation of the said technology. Notably, different countries have different modus operandi with Singapore leading in the field. But firstly, it is imperative to discuss the building blocks of the system and how they work to contribute to traffic safety.

Primarily, according to Barth (2015) the ITS infrastructure can be divided into three basic categories:

• Vehicle system

These systems provide real-time control of the vehicle by utilizing the modern digital control techniques, powerful processors and wireless technology (Barth, 2015). Notably, the most common vehicle systems that have been implemented in most countries include:

• Longitudinal assistance system

It has an inbuilt sensor system that detects other obstacles both at the front and rear of the car. It also calculates the proximal distance and relays the same to the driver hence she/he is able to make an appropriate decision. Besides, the system has a speed detection capability where the car speed can be monitored in relation to the oncoming one so that effective control by speed regulation can be effected. There is an advancement in the technology which futuristically will allow the car in question to ‘communicate’ with its surrounding and make intelligent decisions not to crush each other. Currently, there are test running being undertaken for these kinds of cars and the prospects of being used on our roads is becoming almost a reality; although there are some safety issues that the engineers are still grappling with. Expectedly, there is a number of research work being undertaken as well in this area.

• Lateral assistance system

The system is designed to guide the vehicle during lane changes, turning or even during swerving by warning the driver in advance of any impending danger of taking such a decision. This is combined with the computer vision and wireless technology that are deployed to carry out the intended purpose. This kind of technology can easily be applied in busy roads where traffic density may prove a nightmare to drivers wishing to swerve especially in the busy parking spaces.

• Wireless communication system

The technology is mainly deployed in fleet management where the cellular communication technology offers a platform onto which communication between the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure can be carried out. For example, the dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) radios are being used to relay information to the integrated command center to monitor and control the traffic flow in busy cities.

• Traffic management

The second component of the ITS infrastructure is primarily configured to handle the traffic flow problems in busy urban streets. The issue of traffic is a major concern in many cities of Australia and in other countries. According to News.com (2015), Australia loses about $ 16 billion per year due to traffic congestion. Some researchers have also established that traffic congestion is among the risk factors of road accidents. Normally, during rush hour, when everyone wants to reach their destination fast, the traffic would get jammed and clogged; in the process, some may unintentionally cause crushes due to the rush.

The unfortunate situation is normally compounded with the fact that more people will be in a position to afford purchasing more cars as the economy improves hence the design of the system will have to futuristically accommodate these kinds of dynamics in the city and other busy urban centers. The traffic management system therefore provides a near perfect solution to the problem. But how is this achieved? The system has a number of functional elements which in unison work to ensure effective management of traffic is attained with little or no mishaps. Notably, many countries have developed different technologies to address the problem. As for the United Kingdom, the following basic functional elements are often used to build the entire traffic management system:

• Monitoring

The traffic parameters such as speed, flow and density are usually monitored using sophisticated network of sensors, communication technologies and information processing devices to provide traffic data to the managers who then can coordinate and reschedule traffic accordingly. Notably, technology in this facet is also expected to improve tremendously thanks to the painstaking research and development currently being carried out. The proposal for improvement of real-time information processing and sharing in the entire ITS infrastructure will therefore boost the monitoring capabilities in the arena of traffic management.

• Incident control

While reviewing the causes of road accidents, traffic investigators are often confronted with the possibility of adopting the preventive measures to curb accidents beforehand rather than adopting policies that would only be reactionary. Hence the incident control partly guarantees proactive address to the accident problem. For example, the system works in such a way that it can pursue early detection of the road incidences before snow balling into fatal state. For instance, cars that have been involved in a crush can easily be removed from the road; by detection assistance from the system hence preventing further loss of life and damage to properties.

• Integrated corridor

Road corridors are among the notorious points from which traffic jam results. There are established mechanism which can handle traffic flow around these corners. The integrated corridor is normally composed of advanced signal algorithms and access ramps such that flow of traffic can be coordinated in an organized fashion to cause minimum traffic mishaps.

• Travel demand

In this case, firstly, the traffic pattern is normally studied and a plan to reduce the traffic density by spreading them out or diverting some to other alternative routes in an orderly manner can achieve great reduction in traffic lockdown in a particular busy road within the city. This is considerably simple but very efficient way to manage the road users. It normally depends on other facets as discussed and illustrated in the integrated ITS model in figure 1.

• Travel information systems

Now, the traffic managers must work with facts and data which are collected from the traffic action center, that is, the busy streets roads and highways. A means to collect and relay this information to the traffic manager is made possible by the travel information system. It is composed of the route guidance system which has navigates through the intricate city road network to provide options for routes with less traffic.

One then easily follows the proposed route thereby saving on fuel costs and distance traveled. The system uses the geographical traffic information to do the selection of the most optimized route in terms of traffic density. Now, there is another component of the system called: Geo-location system which used to identify the specific locations to which the vehicle wants to reach. It normally works as a unit with the route guidance system where it will only locate a point on the earth’s surface provided the geo-location is online. Lastly, the electronic payment system guarantees payment to be actualized in an electronic cashless fashion hence making the system to come as a full package for the passenger vehicles.

The integrated Intelligent Traffic System Proposed Model

Now, the above elements can never work as standalone systems less there would be chaos in the entire ITS infrastructure. A quick spot check in the market today reveals the contrary. Notably, part of the aim of this paper is to uncover such loopholes. Therefore, a workable model is being proposed with all the subsystems above working in unified fashion with less technical hitch expected.

What happens is that the traffic system which is composed of the ITS and Road& vehicle infrastructure system mutually depend on each other such that effective performance of the ITS is achieved only and only if the road and vehicle systems are in the picture. The ITS design would often generate the requirements by strictly studying the various parameters that are at play in the traffic infrastructure. Once that is realized, the actual or perceived requirements have been derived, the architectural design would then suffice whereby the ITS system infrastructure would be developed piece by piece as follows:

The three basic components as discussed above are identified and more specific design requirements from the general requirement list are derived for individual component. For example, what parameters must be included in the design of the vehicle system. Perhaps there has been consistent crush problems in the existing vehicle infrastructure due to technological update issue, the team would review the speed parameters and then perform overhaul of the specific sensing technology. It will then be replaced with a more stable one.

Admittedly, the model cultivates both the systems and functional unit approach by first pursuing the whole system so that the configuration can be comprehended by the experts then one moves to down unit by unit until the system’ overall performance is perfected. Next, the traffic management infrastructure is configured with all the required elements integrated to function as a unit and lastly, the third component: Travel information system is built. This is very critical component. It performs the work of linking the other two components so that the entire system can work as a unit with real time information and communication flow.

Figure 2: The integrated ITS infrastructure /architectural design

Key

1-Vehicle system

2-Traffic management

3-Travel information system

4-Longitudnal assistance

5-Lateral assistance

6-Wireless communication

7-Geographical location

8-Ruote guidance

9-Monitoring

10-Incident control

11-Integrated corridor

12-Travel demand

 Information signal and communication flow

ICIC= Integrated Centre for ITS control

Now, it should be noted that in order to guarantee near seamless operationalization of the system, the three facets must work in harmony as illustrated in figure 2. The central position is occupied by the ICIC.

Critical Success Factors

Now, for the above system to work as per the design requirements, there are fundamental aspects that need to be considered. It should be noted, however, that the factors outlined below are not exhaustive per se but they offer a framework for the establishment of the said system. they include:

Technical Aspects

This is the most critical aspect that must appropriately address all parameters under the category. In fact, all other aspects draw their strength from this one. It describes the operationalization of the system. Now, the basic requirements for an ITS system include: speed, accuracy, precision, efficiency, security and versatility among others. It should be noted that the system is composed of many functional units that must work harmoniously to deliver the great performance that is so desired. For example, take the detection unit which falls under the vehicle system component; detection must be I real-time fashion hence sophisticated sensor technology must be used.

However, that is not enough as the speed parameter also depends on how fast the signal flows to the ICICE so that appropriate action can be implemented. The signal flow speed is deployed from the other end which falls under the travel information component. Therefore, in a nutshell, meeting the technical requirements requires a wholehearted approach such that every single functional unit is a critical building block of the ITS system. Notably, if the technical aspects of the system are mediocre then the whole system will be paralyzed and consequently paralyzing the other aspects. Another parameter worth mentioning is the accuracy of the system.

As mentioned earlier, the system has also the capability to locate and find the destination of the vehicle in question. In order for this function to be achieved, there is another subtle function that may not be seen to be having any effect but actually it is the means to achieving the location-finder capability; this is known as the route guidance. It is the one responsible for choosing the less traffic path option so that the vehicle can be guided as it meanders around the busy highway and urban street roads by taking the alternative routes. Suppose this functional unit was never included then expectedly chaos would erupt such that finding its location would become a nightmare.

Environmental aspects

This aspect is also worth considering during design and development of the system. Notably, the world system has embraced the climate change mitigation program. The Paris 2016 Climate change mitigation agreement expected to be ratified by 147 countries clearly set the tone for the re-fixing work on climate change. But one may wonder how ITS implementation is related to the climate change framework. Notably, the ITS implementation aims at ensuring effective and efficient control of traffic in busy roads. Connectedly, when this is properly executed then at a grand-scale, there would be less distance travelled and therefore less fuel burnt.

Consequently, the amount of carbon emissions to the atmosphere would significantly be reduced hence contributing to environmental restoration as it provides a potent means to deal partly with the climate change menace. As mentioned earlier, environmental aspect squarely depends on the technical aspects of the system. For example if the system can detect car crush in real-time then less time would be needed to clear the road hence minimizing possible traffic lockdowns which would then contribute to less amount of carbon emissions.

Government Policy

The ITS system reservations have aptly been captured in the policy framework established by the EU in 2011. Admittedly, the Australian governments could be having a slightly different policy when it comes to the ITS design and implementation. However, most of her provisions are mirrored in the EU’s legal provisions. Now, according to European Union (2011) there are certain legal and administrative provisions that member state must adhere to during implementation of the ITS system. Notably, EU established key action plan milestones that needed to have been implemented from the time it came into force for seven years. These are ambitious plans that the member states had to adopt and accommodate into their own legal architecture. According to European Union (2011) they include:

• Optimal use of roads and travel data

Effective collaboration between the government authorities and commercial entities is being encouraged such that a forum should be created to freely share the traffic information and the infrastructure so that a more coherent flow in traffic can be realized. Therefore, it is requirement that the private entities must formulate modalities to reach out to the government institutions charged with the responsibility of ensuring traffic is well maintained. The action plan envisages a situation where there would be harmonious work relations between the two leading entities in the industry. Therefore, during design and development of the ITS infrastructure, the said company must vehemently engage with the concerned government authority.

• Road safety and security

As mentioned earlier, the ITS system was chiefly designed to address the road carnage menace. The EU wishes to extend this even further hence a provision has been agreed upon to utilize the available capacities to accommodate security feature in our roads. It is now a requirement that ITS designers and road developers must innovatively devise ways and means to protect the vulnerable in the roads. The vulnerable people could be the sick, the elderly, children and those with special needs. Therefore, the systems must be upgraded to grossly accommodate the group if that was not catered during ITS planning and configuration. However, in the course of implementing such initiatives, the effectiveness and efficiency of the system must not be compromised. This might place the traffic designers and developer in a tricky state but importantly, there should be an optimal balance.

• Provision for data security and protection

It is upon the implementing company to guarantee protection of user’s data and security. As noted earlier, the system also integrates the electronic payment mode. Admittedly, security of these payment modes must be assured so that the users are not unfairly made liable for any security that results from the use of this system. In other words, the system’s security must be reviewed on a regular basis so that the users can feel secure when using it otherwise the system could face rejection from the users.

Business Aspect

Admittedly, design, development and implementation of the ITS system is an expensive venture. Therefore, the product is always viewed as part of the infrastructural investment being implemented in a given country. Notably, its value is often measured beforehand such that feasibility studies would often be carried out.

Furthermore, there would be systems in place to monitor the performance of the system and appropriately converted into monetary gain so that one can tell whether the implemented ITS is generating any monetary value or the project is a flop. This can best be captured using models. In fact, Traganos et al (2015) proposes a potent business model which utilizes a service-dominant approach as follows: Firstly, the customer is made to be at the center of the business operation such that all actions revolve around the customer element.

It further asserts that value can only be generated if and only if customer needs are all met and she/he is satisfied with the service or product. Therefore, in the case of ITS implementation, the developers could be sought the input of the potential users of the system and from their various responses, the team must then develop a list of customer requirements that are viewed as critical for the successful implementation of the said system. Any time the system fails to yield the needed customer requirement, then part of its value is lost.

The ITS system must cultivate customer confidence by operators ensuring that it operates appropriately. Notably, all wastes in the system must be identified and eliminated appropriately beforehand so that the system could be a gainful venture. Furthermore, should all the technical aspects be considered then there will be a guarantee that the system will work to generate value to both the customer (who are the road users) and the owners of the system.

Evaluation Criteria

Therefore, in a nutshell, the system must be tested to ensure that the following parameters are working as required:

Table 1: Evaluation criteria for the ITS system

Benefits of implementing ITS system

The benefits of ITS implementation can never be overemphasized. Countries that have made great strides in the traffic technology have reported greater gains in terms of reduction in road accident and achieving effective control of their traffic in busy cities. Notably, a potent area in road safety that has been addressed by the ITS implementation is during construction and maintenance of sections of the busy urban roads. Therefore, according to FHA (2008), the following benefits were realized when ITS was deployed to control traffic while construction work was being undertaken:

• There was significant reduction in aggressive maneuvers. In fact, it was three times less than when no ITS was used (FHA, 2008).
• Significant traffic diversion rates were achieved as a result of the display messages in the congested zones.
• There was also improved ability tom proactively deal with the slow traffic. 82% of the surveyed drivers claimed that the ITS system improved their ability to react to stopped traffic (FHA, 2008)
• Lastly, the drivers’ perception on road safety was also cemented further thanks to the ITS deployment (FHA, 2008).

Conclusion

 This report has elucidated the theory and practicalities of implementing the ITS system in order to specifically address the road carnage menace. It should be noted that the ITS technology was primarily intended to address the traffic flow problem especially in busy highways and street roads. Notably, the developed countries such as Australia continue to perfect the ITS infrastructure to match with the ever-changing technology. For example, there are new requirements that are coming on board for the kind of sensing technology to be used. Currently, in the United States, for instance, there are massive test runs being done for the driverless technology.

Certainly, commercialization of this kind of technology will automatically revolutionize the traffic system such that newer ITS technology with greater capabilities to handle the driverless cars will have to be established. As noted earlier, Singapore is on an ambitious plan to improve her ITS infrastructure by 2020. Therefore, many research works are currently being pursued in this area with the aims of uncovering the most sophisticated technologies that can address the ever-increasing traffic demands. Most importantly, ITS system is made up of many functional units.

Traditionally, however, they have been perceived as a standalone system. However, with the glaring traffic realities, developers are realizing the significance of integrating the elements into a unified wholehearted system that effectively and efficiently operates in a harmonious fashion. Futuristically, therefore, the ITS field is expected to generate more interest for further research work. Singapore is among the countries leading in this initiative. Therefore, to wrap it up, certainly, this paper will provide an impetus to the ITS enthusiast to pursue the subject matter even further.

References

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ETSC. (1999). INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AND ROAD SAFETY. Available at: https://archive.etsc.eu/documents/systems.pdf

European Union. (2011). Intelligent Transport Systems in action. Available at: https://www.gppq.fct.pt/h2020/_docs/brochuras/transportes/intelligent%20transport%20systems%20in%20action.pdf

FHA. (2008). Benefits of Using Intelligent Transportation Systems in Work Zones. Available at: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/its/wz_its_benefits_summ/wz_its_benefits_summ.pdfLTA. (2015). INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS. Available at: https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/managing-traffic-and-congestion/intelligent-transport-systems.html

Mass Transit. (2017). Australian Summit Delivers Global ITS Update. Available at: https://www.masstransitmag.com/international

Mathew, T. (2014). Intelligent Transportation System. Available at:https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105101008/downloads/cete_48.pdf

News.com. (2015). Clogged roads are expensive and one reason we spend an average 85 minutes a day commuting. Available at: https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/clogged-roads-are-expensive-and-one-reason-we-spend-an-average-85-minutes-a-day-commuting/news-story/934ad0c2fca8f15dca346fe6934401c7

Traganos, K… et al.(2015).Business Model Prototyping for Intelligent Transport Systems A Service-Dominant Approach. Available at: file:///C:/Users/Otieno/Downloads/wp_469.pdf

UNFCCC. (2014). Paris Agreement - Status of Ratification. Available at: https://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9444.php

WHO. (2017). Global Health Observatory (GHO) data. Available at: https://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/en/.