Intelligent transportation system and smart city

Dr. Mukul Chandra Bora

Dr. Mukul Chandra Bora, currently working as State Project Administrator of State Project Implementation Unit – North East (A unit of MHRD in Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme, Government of India). He is presently on deputation from the Post of Director, Dibrugarh University Institute of Engineering and Technology DUIET), Dibrugarh University.)

PART-II

Contd. from yesterday...

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed many industries, from education to health care to government, and is now in the early stages of transforming transportation systems. While many researchers think that the improving a country's transportation system solely means building new roads or repairing aging infrastructures and the future of transportation lies not only in concrete and steel, but also increasingly in using IT. IT enables elements within the transportation system—vehicles, roads, traffic lights, message signs, etc.to become intelligent by embedding them with microchips and sensors and empowering them to communicate with each other through wireless technologies. In the leading nations in the world, ITS bring significant improvement in transportation system performance, including reduced congestion and increased safety and traveler convenience. Intelligent transportation systems include a wide and growing suite of technologies and applications. ITS applications can be grouped within five summary categories: 1) Advanced Traveler Information Systems provide drivers with real-time information, such as transit routes and schedules; navigation directions; and information about delays due to congestion, accidents, weather conditions, or road repair work. 2) Advanced Transportation Management Systems include traffic control devices, such as traffic signals, ramp meters, variable message signs, and traffic operations centers. 3) ITS-Enabled Transportation Pricing Systems include systems such as electronic toll collection (ETC), congestion pricing, fee-based express (HOT) lanes, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) usage-based fee systems. 4) Advanced Public Transportation Systems, for example, allow trains and buses to report their position so passengers can be informed of their real-time status (arrival and departure information). 5) Fully-integrated intelligent transportation systems, such as vehicle-to-infrastructure (VII) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) integration, enable communication among assets in the transportation system, for example, from vehicles to roadside sensors, traffic lights, and other vehicles.

ITS deliver five key classes of benefits by: 1) increasing safety, 2) improving operational performance, particularly by reducing congestion, 3) enhancing mobility 4) delivering environmental benefits, and 5) boosting productivity and expanding economic and employment growth. ITS is contributing to a fundamental reassessment of vehicle safety. ITS maximizes the capacity of infrastructure, reducing the need to build additional highway capacity. The application of ITS can lead to substantial improve in traffic flow, reducing stops, reducing travel time, cutting gas consumption, and cutting emissions and thereby cutting daily carbon dioxide emissions. Research show that, application of ITS can reduce congestion by as much as 20 per cent or more. ITS also enable transportation agencies to collect the real-time data needed to measure and improve the performance of the transportation system, making ITS the centerpiece of efforts to reform surface transportation systems and hold providers accountable for results. By improving the operational performance of the transportation network, ITS enhance driver mobility and convenience, deliver environmental benefits, and even boost productivity and economic growth. Overall, the cost-benefit ratio of systems-operations measures enabled by intelligent transportation systems has been estimated at about 9 to 1, far above the addition of conventional highway capacity, which has a benefit-cost ratio of 2.7 to 1.

Overall, countries leading the world in ITS deployment: 1) demonstrate national level commitment and vision, 2) make substantial investments in ITS deployment, and 3) feature strong government leadership in crafting a clearly articulated ITS vision, setting a national agenda, convening relevant stakeholders, and spearheading implementation. Many of these countries enjoy a high degree of centralization in ITS decision making and deployment, and in some cases federal governments (as in Japan) have direct control over roadways. But these countries also invest in ITS. South Korea and Japan each invest more than twice as much in intelligent transportation systems as a share of GDP than the United States. Further, these countries recognize ITS as a 'force-multiplier' for their transportation networks that will enable a shift to a performance-based transportation funding system, have built their ITS infrastructure through public private partnerships, and view their ITS investments as a platform that will lead to the creation of new value-added products and services, many of which can scarcely be foreseen today. Intelligent transportation systems must be a critical component of the investments in order to maximize the operational performance of the transportation system and attain significant benefits. Of late both China and India are beginning to make substantial investments in ITS development and deployment.

It was earlier thought by many researchers throughout the globe that improving a country's transportation system solely means building new roads or repairing aging infrastructure but the future of transportation lies not only in concrete and steel, but also in the implementation of technology, specifically a network of sensors, microchips, and communication devices that collect and disseminate information about the functioning of the transportation system. Transportation systems are really about networks, and much of the value of a network is contained in its information and the intelligent transportation systems empower actors in the transportation system from commuters to highway and transit network operators.

(To be concluded)