ASSESSMENT OF THE BENEFITS OF TRANSPORT TELEMATICS

Transport telematics applications promise improvements in the efficiency, safety, environmental impact, and value for money of transport sytems--all of which are of strategic policy interest to a number of governments who are considering substantial investments in the area. This paper reports the results of an assessment, commissioned by the United Kingdom Department of Transport, of the potential costs and benefits of 35 applications of transport telematics. Rather than assemble the end results of published cost/benefit studies, this assessment has used previous European research results to apply a consistent technology assessment to all the applications. The major technologies involved in transport telematics were reviewed and estimates of future costs made for inclusion in the various potential applications. National deployment scenarios were developed independently for each application. Costs and benefits were estimated by making necessary assumptions about the market penetration, infrastructure cost, and effects on key benefit indicators, such as travel time, accidents, congestion, and pollution. The study then considered wider issues affecting the successful deployment of the technology, such as the development of standards, institutional obstacles to deployment, and the potential for applications to share common technologies. The concept of an evolutionary approach to a common transport telematics infrastructure is developed. The costs and benefits of the applications, taking account of and using the common architecture, are estimated and an overall assessment of the net benefits made. Finally, the paper reviews the potential market for transport telematics and considers opportunities for government and industry in promoting that market.