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ICT must drive transport's future

Chris Skinner, Information Age

12/10/2004 13:51:46

Transportation is undergoing a quiet revolution in its quest for enhanced safety, security and efficiency in the carriage of people and goods, both in the services offered and in the infrastructure, vehicles and, most of all, the information and control systems that make it all work.

Challenges for ICT professionals abound in ITS: everything from business process modelling and information architecture to verification of the non-functional requirements for distributed system performance and availability. Perhaps the most important challenge is to attract ICT professionals to the throng of transport planners, civil and electrical engineers, and equipment suppliers and integrators to add value in the logical modelling and design and delivery of information and deployment architectures for ITS.

So far, the track record of ITS deployment has been mixed, the result of many factors including uncertainty regarding benefits to be obtained. Some ITS projects have been manifestly successful while the user benefits of others are not as clear. The challenge now is to resolve the difficulties experienced in defining the required services, their benefits, the issues for integration and interoperability, and providing effective strategic approaches to deal with these issues effectively.

Most people are aware of the colonial legacy of three different rail gauges in Australia. This classic failure to collaborate seemed about to be repeated with incompatible smart ticketing systems for public transport in some of the states. Luckily the approach being taken by the Victorian Transport Ticketing Authority is intended to ensure a compatible approach from all system vendors, and provide a compatible solution nation-wide

A similar risk of incompatibility of electronic toll tags was averted only by overwhelming pressure from state governments and their industry partners to ensure interoperability and compatibility of electronic toll tags. Whilst tags now work along the eastern seaboard, further interoperability challenges still exist in tolling in areas such as enforcement and payments reconciliation.

The rail network has continuing challenges of train control radio systems which have been provided independently in each jurisdiction. These cases underline the nature of the standardisation and interoperability challenges in practical transport systems.

The active involvement of ICT professionals to deal with the technical solutions needed to make the systems and standards compatible and interoperable has been slow.

In the supply chain

Much work is going on in the supply chain to streamline business processes and lower costs. This is proceeding alongside ITS development but a dialogue to identify benefits of collaboration in the complementary activity is only just starting. ITS and supply chain logistics and distribution are in two parallel worlds; they recognise each other's legitimate role but have not yet learned to work well together.

In many respects the focus is very different, as illustrated by these definitions of interoperability from the two domains:

• ITS interoperability: the ability of systems to provide services to and accept services from other systems and to use the services so exchanged to enable them to operate effectively together. • Supply chain interoperability: the ability for partners to coordinate information and processes, especially across an electronic network.

The difference is that ITS is primarily about interoperability of information and control systems and services using message formats that in the past have been peculiar to the application; supply chain is about interoperability of business processes using traditional well-understood transactions. However there is now increasing realisation that the two domains must interoperate effectively and more common approaches found.

It may be significant that the supply chain has been intimately associated with the development of Web services technology, whereas ITS has not yet adopted it, pending confirmation of the security and reliability for ITS applications.

So what are ITS?

Intelligent Transport Systems [ITS] are transport systems that apply information, communications and control technologies to improve the operation of transport networks. It should be immediately apparent that this makes ITS a fundamental concern for ICT professionals.

Familiar examples of ITS include: • Taxi dispatch and vehicle tracking using GPS • Urban traffic management systems such as SCATS • Emergency vehicle pre-emption and public transport priority systems • Traffic incident (accident) management systems for motorways and major arterial routes • In-vehicle systems such as car navigation, especially when coordinated with traffic incident and congestion reporting systems • Train control systems for optimum track safety and efficiency

Other systems generally included in the ITS domain include the following: • Traveller information systems such as the 511 service in the US • Freight container track and trace systems • Car air-bag activation and roll-over crash distress call services • Commercial vehicle compliance and fleet management systems • Adaptive speed control for vehicles for motorway safety • Collision avoidance detection systems for vehicles • Use of smart cards for toll and other fee collection at highway speeds • Head-up displays for better vehicle driver support

Then there are the futuristic ITS systems that will emerge over the next five to 10 years: • Automated driving systems for instrumented highways • In-vehicle support platform for multimedia information and entertainment services

A major challenge for this rapidly developing field is to try to avoid incompatibilities between ITS systems and services, and to enhance safety, security and efficiency of transportation systems without compromise to privacy of information or to the integrity of the systems involved.

Worldwide there has been much activity to define a top-level architecture for ITS in order to support interoperability and to provide a basis for evolution of systems and services. This effort has been instrumental in achieving some benefits already:

• In the US a common notation has been mandated for ITS architectures covering each of the states and regions. This National ITS Systems Architecture resulted from massive investment over several years and has provided a mature basis for national deployment. • A common approach is in use through most of continental Europe for international systems integration. This has resulted from EU sponsored work primarily intended to harmonise differing national approaches. • A holistic approach in Japan provides for effective coordination between national, regional and local government and private service providers. In some respects it is the most developed.

What is the situation in Australia?

There are several institutes and centres of academic research and development for ITS in Australia and a major industry body, ITS Australia. ITS Australia is a not-for-profit industry organisation which draws together suppliers of ITS systems, researchers, government and users such as infrastructure operators and vehicle manufacturers.

It was incorporated in 1992, around the time that ITS was first being discussed, and has provided increasing levels of leadership for federal, state and territory governments, research and development and industry. In 1999 ITS Australia was charged with implementing the three-year national strategy for ITS program, e-Transport including the development of the National Reference Architecture for ITS (available to download from www.its-australia.com.au).

The next stage of development is the development and publishing of the logical ITS architecture to provide an abstract view of the interconnectivity and interoperability of the many systems in use. One of the challenges of this work is to find and use tools which are able to describe and add meaning to the often complex relationships without overgeneralisation and ambiguity. Some contemporary approaches include the use of Unified Modelling Language (UML).

Although this has the potential to provide greater precision when dealing with abstract concepts, there needs to be available other descriptions that can readily be used by people who prefer a less technical approach. Transport people are not accustomed to working with abstraction beyond the traditional concepts of services and routes.

The creation of new abstract concepts like itinerary or freight manifest is commonly interpreted in terms of existing artifacts rather than as concepts that can be specialised for individual applications. This is a crucial step because otherwise every system development will need to work through the same concepts.

Another critical approach for architecture development is the use of a data registry for collection and harmonisation of data concepts from projects for use in later projects. The Australian standards committee IT-023 for Transport Information & Control Systems has recently supported the publication of an Australian standard for an ITS central Data Registry. This re-badged ISO standard provides the basis for operation of the Australasian ITS Data Registry [ANZIDAR] that is nearing completion.

How does ICT affect transport?

Changes in ICT affect transport just as much as any other sector, sometimes more so. The ubiquity of wireless data communications is generating a profound impact on all forms of transport. For freight transport and distribution the use of RFID tags for freight items and AVL technologies for vehicles, along with geographic information systems to track and trace goods and to assist passenger travel, is giving rise to fundamental changes in how things are done and the level of service that is required.

This technology evolution takes many forms - contact-less smart card tickets for urban travellers, distress calls for stranded vehicles, delivery fleet dispatching, time-critical responses by emergency services or TXT message for airline check-in for flights. What is not so clear though is what effort is being put into optimising the interoperability of all of these technologies. This is where standards can assist greatly. So too an architecture that is conceptual enough to accommodate all of these various services in a generic form so that standards and semantics for the interfaces and applications can be reconciled

What needs to be done by ICT professionals?

ICT professional activity includes both the creation and exploitation of knowledge and practice related to all forms of ICT. With transportation becoming more and more dependent on ICT design and integration for the sustained delivery of benefits, it requires that its special needs are addressed by the peak bodies - AIIA, AEEMA, ATUG and ACS. The transport sector should be engaged by the ICT profession to resolve issues and add value.

This requires imagination and vision. For example, imagine the following scenario a few years hence: 1. Every vehicle has a built-in, sealed black-box immobiliser that prevents the vehicle from operating unless specified conditions are met: • The vehicle has a valid RFID registration tag built into the rear number plate • The driver has a contact-less personal card that includes a valid driver's licence object • The immobiliser checks that the driver's licence object is on the list of drivers authorised by the owner of the vehicle • If security is a concern then the driver can be recognised by a biometrics check of iris using the driver monitoring cameras. These are used to monitor the driver for the onset of drowsiness and are a normal feature of vehicles like airbags are today 2. The personal device that everyone carries provides voice, data and multimedia networking using available wireless services. When in a vehicle this is expanded seamlessly to provide a greater range of services and resources that are carried or supplied by the vehicle. For example, interacting with traffic incident and congestion reporting services to guide the vehicle navigation, in public transport to make reservations and travel enquiries or to use Web-based service delivery using a shared broadband feed to the vehicle. 3. The availability of broadcast, multicast and addressed individual interaction with people or devices no matter where they are, in a seamless fashion, that deals with the connectivity issues as a part of the service. 4. For transport traveller services it will only be necessary to input (probably by voice) a destination and approximate time of arrival for the personal device to research the options available using wireless internetworking, and offer them for selection. Then reservations will be made and confirmed, payments billed and settled and journeys undertaken all with an interoperable traveller information service delivered seamlessly to the personal device.

But how flexible will this integrated traveller environment need to be? We know that sometimes with in-vehicle navigation systems we choose to take a different turn. The friendly voice cheerfully adjusts and provides new directions without any hint of concern. It will be the same with the integrated traveller environment. You can always change your plans and the system will cheerfully adjust.

But it won't just happen by itself; it needs the management and leadership of ICT professionals to ensure it does work - safely, securely and efficiently - so we don't end up with the 21st century equivalent of multiple rail gauges.

This leadership has been evident in successful standardisation efforts such as electronic toll tags and in other emerging collaboration for compatibility, connectivity and interoperability. What is needed now is to articulate generalised principles for achievement of interoperability in ITS. ICT professionals have addressed this kind of challenge in banking, funds transfer and airline reservations. Now this capability is needed in transportation.

Conclusions

1. ITS is a growing area of ICT application that is critical to achievement of two high-priority national goals: • The more effective use of existing as well as new transportation infrastructure through effective application of new technologies; • The efficient use of energy sources for transportation. 2. The design, development and delivery of ITS require the involvement of ICT professionals to work with transport policy and planning, ITS professionals and surface vehicle developers and operators. 3. Where ICT professionals can help most is in the conceptual design and development of information and communications systems to meet ITS requirements to the full extent of their potential.

So if you believe as I do that it is in transport that the most dramatic innovations in ICT are likely to occur, you will agree that its future requires our full attention.

Bibliography AS ISO 142857-2004 International Standards Organisation. Transport information & control systems - Requirements for an ITS/TICS central Data Registry and ITS/TICS Data Dictionaries. Standards Australia. 30 June 2004 AusLink Dept of Transport and Regional Services. AusLink White Paper. AusLink Building our National Transport Future. Australian Government. June 2004 McQueen McQueen, Bob & Judy McQueen. Intelligent Transportation Architectures. Artech House, Boston 1999 PIARC Chen, Ken & John C. Miles (Eds) ITS Handbook 2000. Recommendations from the World Road Association (PIARC). Artech House, Boston 1999

Acknowledgement I would like to acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions from the Executive Director of ITS Australia, Brent Stafford, and from members of the National ITS Architecture Working Group: Andrew Honan, Fiona Howroyd, Graham Lill and Joe Wisolith.

Chris Skinner is the principal of DISplay Pty Ltd. Contact him via cjskinner@acslink.net.au