The purpose of the course
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the basic elements of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), focusing on technological, systems and institutional aspects. This course is intended to introduce attendees to systems engineering and provide a basic understanding of how it can be applied to planning, designing, and implementing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and Cooperative ITS (C-ITS) projects.
Content overview
Module 1. Introduction to ITS and C-ITS
This topic study aims at providing the fundamentals on ITS and C-ITS and it caters beginners who have almost no prior knowledge on ITS and C-ITS. The study course presents clear definitions of ITS and C-ITS with an emphasis on their distinction. After the course, the trainee has the ability to recognize ITS and C-ITS systems and understand the usefulness of transition from ITS to C-ITS.
Module 2. ITS technologies
Intelligent transport systems vary in technologies applied, from basic management systems such as car navigation; traffic signal control systems; container management systems; variable message signs; automatic number plate recognition or speed cameras to monitor applications, such as security CCTV systems, and automatic incident detection or stopped vehicle detection systems; to more advanced applications that integrate live data and feedback from a number of other sources, such as parking guidance and information systems; weather information and others. Additionally, predictive techniques are being developed to allow advanced modelling and comparison with historical baseline data. The basic technologies are described: Cooperative ITS (V2V, V2I, I2V, I2I, V2X, I2X); Floating car data (triangulation method, GPS based methods); Sensing (Inductive loop detection, Video vehicle detection, Radar Detection, Information fusion from multiple traffic sensing modalities) etc.
Module 3: ITS and C-ITS applications and user services
The objective of this topic study is to offer a wide knowledge of ITS and C-ITS services that are nowadays available to transport managers. A range of services is briefly presented as well as their capabilities in assisting safe driving and avoidance of fatalities: (Travel and Traffic management, Public Transportation Management, Electronic Payment, Commercial Vehicle Operations, Emergency Management, Advanced Vehicle safety systems, Information Management etc.).
Module 4. ITS architecture
ITS architecture provides a view of how an ITS implementation will look from a system design perspective. ITS architectures are primarily about data exchange and the control instructions that pass between the different ITS components and the external interfaces (operators, stakeholders and other systems). It needs to reflect the real-world constraints that operate on transport agencies and the requirements these impose on the ITS implementation. An ITS architecture may show where existing organizational structures need to be modified and changed. These viewpoints might include:
- the logic (or functionality) of the system describing how various items of data should flow and be processed (the “logical” or “functional” viewpoint);
- how the ITS functionality will reside in the physical components of the system (the “physical” viewpoint);
- what communications are needed between the physical components – and between the outside world and the physical components (the “communications” viewpoint);
- how the system components, communications and responsibilities are to be assigned to providers and recipients of the ITS services (the “organisational” viewpoint).
Learning Outcomes:
The main learning outcomes of the course are:
- Knowledge of basic ITS terminology.
- Ability to describe the structure of intelligent systems.
- Ability to analyse ITS applications and services.
- Ability to identify the main advantages when using ITS in transport management
- Know examples of practical use of ITS applications to improve the efficiency of transport management