Improving Fuel Efficiency in Road Freight Transport: The Role of Information Technologies

An essential government function is to provide for the safe, efficient and environmentally friendly movement of people and goods. The past 20 years have seen tremendous growth and important changes in the use of road transport to such a degree urban congestion is adding significantly to the costs of road transport and hence to end consumers. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) offer promising solutions that will go a long way to meeting the environmental challenges brought about by the increasing demand for road transport. This group of technologies has the potential to improve the efficiency of road transport and the use of transport infrastructure through vehicle monitoring and tracking systems and traffic management systems, thereby reducing the negative impacts of transport on the environment. Many countries have made estimates of the “benefits” of ITS. For example, a recent study in the United States found that carriers using ITS experienced productivity gains from five per cent to 25 per cent. The European Commission reports that the market for traveler information and guidance systems, advanced vehicle control systems, and fleet management systems will have a total estimated value of ECU 167 billion (US$ 190 billion) up to a saturation level and then have an annual market of ECU 30 billion (US$ 34.3 billion). However, there are a variety of challenges that confront the efficient implementation of ITS which could detract from the realisation of these expected benefits. The lack of standards or interoperability in specific areas is a key issue, without which transport costs time, fuel consumption, etc. for industry and private travellers are likely to increase. The associated disbenefits will be in the areas of: environment; safety; infrastructure management; and transborder shipments. Introduction Intelligent Transport Systems represents the application of advanced computing and communications technologies to transport. This group of technologies has the potential to provide significant benefits to transport, and hence to society overall, by reducing congestion and the negative impacts of road transport on the environment, improving road safety, as well enhancing the efficiency of commercial vehicle operations. In addition, through the implementation of advanced traffic management systems, ITS has the capacity to realise savings on infrastructure investment by making more efficient use of existing infrastructure. It is generally accepted that the underlying technology necessary for Intelligent Transport Systems either already exists or can be developed in time without too much difficulty. The significant barriers to the full-scale implementation of ITS are principally non-technical. The institutional, legal, economic, financial and societal impacts are not well understood, either by key decision-makers -government and industry -or the public at large. It is not reasonable to assume that ITS will provide all of the solutions that are needed for the complex transport challenges that currently confront OECD Member countries. However, by the appropriate implementation of ITS, these technologies have the potential to contribute significantly to addressing transport related problems. It is clear that the opportunity costs to society will be very high if ITS implementation does not proceed in a co-ordinated manner. There are few, if any, fully developed methodologies available for appraising the impacts of ITS which are consistent, robust and credible. This can act as a constraint on the road transport industry looking to reduce costs through the adoption of new technologies. The goal of this paper is to identify the types of ITS applications being adopted by the road transport industry in OECD Member countries, particularly in the area of Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems and vehicle monitoring systems. An attempt is made to describe the potential benefits to be derived from the implementation of ITS by industry, and outline which areas will have the greatest impacts and document the barriers to realising these benefits. ITS applications A critical issue that arises when reviewing approaches for the implementation of ITS is defining the users or beneficiaries. Clearly, some approaches focus wholly on “society” as the beneficiary. Others consider both society and one or more specific societal segments such as the road transport industry or road programme managers, while others are concerned with very clear and specific users of the technologies as the beneficiaries. 33 However, it may be illustrative to compare the United States and Japan to see whom they view as the main users/beneficiaries and how they are defined. As Table A.1 shows, there are similarities, but divergences as well. Both the definitions of ITS applications as well as the expected beneficiaries differ depending upon the country that is considered. Table A.1: Main users/beneficiaries of ITS in Japan and the United States Japan United States Drivers Travellers Carriers Commercial Vehicle Operators Road Management Agencies Traffic Managers Public Transport Passengers Transit Operators Pedestrians Emergency Response Managers ITS Planning Organisations