6.5.2 The Role of Systems Engineering in Intelligent Transportation Systems

Abstract This paper explores how systems engineering is being applied to meet the growing need for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). There are similarities between the approaches that civil engineers take to design highways and that systems engineers take to solve complex system development problems. The process of developing a highway design can be directly correlated to the system development life cycle used in systems engineering. The progression of highway development is demonstrated to be an evolution of technologies, inventions, organizational creations, and legislative acts that has supported the development of a national interstate transportation system in the United States. The ITS is a global phenomena and is being pursued in Europe, Australia, and Japan as well as the United States. Until now, highway development has been the domain of civil engineers concerned with highway structures, materials loading, traffic patterns, and supporting facilities. However, the growing need for ITS or intelligent‐vehicle highway systems (IVHSs) requires that traditional civil engineering disciplines be integrated with computers, communications, and eventually fully automated vehicles. This paper's thesis suggests that the complex highway transportation of the 21st century can benefit from the collaboration of systems engineers and civil engineers.