INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS : A NEW ERA IN TELEMATICS TECHNOLOGY

Urban road traffic congestion problems which accounts to some substantial loss to the economy can only be reduced if the interaction between vehicles, infrastructure and transport management can be handled in a more efficient way. The emerging Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) or Transport Telematics technologies do, however, address many of the contributing factors which provide significant improvements in highway safety, mobility, and accessibility. This paper provides a snapshot of the latest information on the progress of transport telematics. It presents the result of the literature review of progress reports of transport telematics from America and Europe. The aim of this paper is to address the question of what is transport telematics and provide the progress report of the application of telematics technologies in the transport sector. It focuses on the issue of selecting of suitable system architecture and the associated technologies of transport telematics. A summary report on the cost analysis and benefits evaluation of transport telematics in America and Australia is included. The paper concludes with a summary of number of issues in the implementation of intelligent transport systems.