The Record - Issue 21: Summer 2021

103 alone; the optimisation of the transportation system for sustainability, economic viability, and traveller experience. Other important dimensions may also be included, such as inclusivity for dis- advantaged communities, but these three dimen- sions propel and create the need for an ITS. Looking at these three factors in turn, sustain- ability is driven mostly by the city on behalf of its citizens and the broader global community, with targets such as reduced congestion, reduced emissions, improved air quality and social envi- ronment. Economic viability is critical for oper- ators, providing a context where they can make a good return on their investment. And traveller experience unsurprisingly is the concernmostly of individual travellers – where, to be successful and a desirable enough option to preclude less opti- mised transportationmethods, a travel experience must be low friction, pleasant (even fun) and most of all predictable. Studies have shown that deter- ministic outcomes in transportation are critical to the success of public and shared approaches. Achieving this principally requires data! More specifically, a mixed-mode transportation system that is carefully synchronised to match demand with supply, with sufficient flexibility to meet different routing and mobility demands with- out imposing undue constraints on passenger options. This can only be achieved with high degrees of information transparency and the use of deep historic data and real-time signals, requir- ing data sharing between all operator participants and the city, as well as the use of digital planning, booking and ticketing systems by travellers, wherever possible. A city ‘transportation data hub’ – irrespective of who provides and operates this – is essential to this need. Data services start with providing demand- and location-signals to allow operators to optimise their services, and ultimately can extend to planning and dispatch, including traffic load balancing via variable routing Similar approaches apply to and can be lev- eraged for urban freight requirements, and in some cases transportation and freight require- ments can be integrated for further optimisa- tion. This combination of modes is of course very common in the aviation world, and is found even in the field of road transport. The UK had ‘postbuses’ in remote parts in the 1970s, while internal corporate shuttles often combine mail and people transit. With such transportation systems, the prob- lems that affect today’s urban environments can be significantly mitigated, including over-or under-loaded public and private transport, kerb- side access challenges, congestion and pollution hot spots, unpredictable journey times for mul- ti-mode journeys, and under-served locations and populations. Subsequent articles in this series will drill down further into how the evolution of such systems can be accelerated and ways of overcoming some of the challenges in doing so. John Stenlake is director of vehicle innovation & mobility for the worldwide automotive industry at Microsoft AUTOMOT I V E An intelligent transportation system could help to reduce congestion and improve travel experiences