Policy issues for the future intelligent road transport infrastructure

Transport by road will shortly be transformed by a communications revolution, enabling new forms of telematics services. Particularly significant is the emergence of Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), leading to the generation of ad hoc networks between vehicles and between vehicles and the infrastructure. Considerable effort, particularly in the US, has gone into identifying uses for DSRC, with particular emphasis on road safety. Means of communication are reviewed, with particular emphasis given to DSRC and its potential uses. As the UK stands to benefit more as a user rather than as a supplier of intelligent infrastructure components and telematics hardware, nationally funded research and development in this field should focus on applications that best meet UK user needs. In so doing, social trends (like the aging population) and issues of social inclusion need to be addressed. Public-private partnerships may be the best mode of telematics deployment where the benefits are largely public, the infrastructure is presently publicly owned, and the service would not otherwise be commercially viable. A UKcentric vision of the intelligent infrastructure, which the Intelligent Infrastructure Foresight exercise will provide, should guide UK policy toward research, development and deployment in the UK. 1 Email: [email protected]