CAN INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS BRING ABOUT URBAN SUSTAINABILITY

TRF Fellowship Lecture
University of Southampton, 13 April 2005

Prof. Mike McDonald
Director, Transportation Research Group
University of Southampton

Synopsis:
In the future, increasingly advanced detection, communication and management systems will be available to support drivers and control vehicles. Some vehicles may be fully autonomous and demonstrations, trials and applications of such vehicles are already underway to satisfy specific transport needs.

In parallel with vehicle developments, new technology is being applied to manage traffic more efficiently against ever more sophisticated and sustainability focused transport policy objectives. The use of technology to manage demand is a key issue.

The cooperative use of vehicle and highway technologies is becoming a practical possibility with applications ranging from probe vehicle data for network condition monitoring to lateral and longitudinal vehicle control. Intelligent Speed Adaption is being trialled and promoted in several countries.

The role of information technologies to provide travelers with pre-trip and within-trip information so as to enable more informed choices is now possible, although the impacts are small at present.

The lecture will review urban sustainability targets and the potential for new technologies individually and in clusters to meet such targets. Policy options associated with the technologies will be discussed and implications of not integrating market led vehicle technologies with transport policies will be identified. The presentation will draw on findings from recent and current European projects.

Top of page

---