The EC Communication on a European strategy on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems [1] acknowledges the key role of digital technologies in the current transformation of the transport sector. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) apply information and communication technologies such as journey planners, eCall (a system that automatically alerts emergency services in case of an accident), short-range communications for improving passenger safety and reducing road fatalities, and connected and automated mobility concepts for passenger and goods. Their aim is to make mobility safer, more efficient and more sustainable [5]. The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy highlights the role of ITS to achieve the digital transformation of the transport sector, including milestones such as deploying and connected automated mobility at large scale by 2030 and eliminating fatalities in all transport modes by 2050 [6]. Moreover, by providing route guidance, they enable trip optimisation, reduce travel distances and increase multimodal transport and use of more sustainable modes. Furthermore, they also help to reduce emissions and improve air quality [7]. All the advantages and innovative solutions are particularly important for inhabitants of urban areas.
The Directive on the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems [3] and its amendment [4] stresses the importance of Intelligent Transport Systems for real-time traffic management, multimodal travel information, the improvement of transport safety and comfort, the uptake of zero-emission vehicles and MaaS solutions, as well as the deployment of Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility.
Several detail solutions can be implemented within ITS, alone or in a combination of. Among of others, they include:
- Digital twins are digital replicas of a physical, e.g. urban, space [8]. They use mathematical modelling methods to analyse the transport network and develop proposals for solving transport problems: optimisation of traffic and pedestrian flows, public transport, traffic management, optimisation of traffic lights, and investment justification in the construction of transport infrastructure [9][c, d]
- Dynamic platoons of vehicles, which uses connectivity and automation to allow group vehicles to travel together in order to increase road capacity and decrease emissions [a, u]
- Geopositioning which permits to precisely define position of a vehicle [b]. Recent project [e] tackled the problem of positioning errors which occurs in particular in deep urban valleys.
- Intelligent traffic lights, variable speed limits and dynamic lanes to improve traffic safety [k], decrease congestion and improve air quality [10]
- Cooperative forms of communications between vehicles that allow for better perception, sensoring and anticipation of traffic scenarios to improve passenger safety and reduce road fatalities.
ITS infrastructures take also advantage of latest developments in artificial intelligence, big data and internet of things solutions [j].
However, solutions implemented so far represent a small percentage of what has been proposed by the scientific community [2] and ongoing and future research and innovation initiatives may significantly widen ITS infrastructure applications.
MATURITY:
Most implementations of Intelligent Transport Systems are currently at the demonstration phase with some ready for commercial deployment or even already available on the market. However, in case of the latter, ongoing research and innovation activities are scaling up solutions to increase their efficiency and market take-up, as well as making them adaptable to particular urban environments. Some projects focus on real-life implementation of ITS (e.g. [l, n, p, s]) while others concentrate on standardisation and unification of innovative solutions (e.g. [j]).
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