REVIEW OF THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF ROAD TRANSPORT TELEMATICS. VOLUME 1 MAIN REPORT. VOLUME 2 (PARTS A&B) TECHNICAL ANNEX

Transport telematics is a rapidly expanding field of technology which promises major improvements in traffic efficiency, safety, environment and our quality of life. It involves the combination of increasingly powerful in-vehicle computers linked to external information sources and control centres by means of modern communications. Together, these are providing a range of applications which will potentially improve the management of traffic, provide in-vehicle information and improve driver comfort and safety. However, despite major investment in research and product development within Europe, USA and Japan, consistent information for policy makers on the likely benefits is still fragmentary. This report summarises the results of an analysis of potential costs and benefits of most of the transport telematics applications envisaged for the UK, from the perspective of national government. Estimates of costs and benefits of individual applications are compared with an assessment of the costs and benefits of providing a common telematics infrastructure as a basis for a wide range of telematics applications. The report is in two volumes: Volume 1 comprises the main report and volume 2 contains the Technical Annexes. (A)