It is well established that the ability to integrate across technologies is essential in the delivery of an Intelligent Transport System (ITS). To facilitate such integration, the Urban Traffic Management Control (UTMC) compatibility specification has been developed and is proving a valuable standard for communication protocols between frontline technologies. The development of two competing Congestion Charging systems for Edinburgh has proven that general business standard Enterprise applications such as Oracle and SAP can be employed for all aspects of business execution. Such a fully integrated model can bring 'best of breed' business tools to the Transport Practitioner. The resulting designs and prototypes were delivered centring on a single Enterprise application in each, one using SAP and the other Oracle. Both developments required no bespoke developments or customisation and covered the entire range of operational requirements. The developments also included other aspects of traffic management such as Journey Time Analysis and real time information. Other complementary operational services could easily be linked to such a business system. The projected capital outlay and subsequent operational costs were considered to be low when compared with similar scale schemes around the world. We fully expected the Edinburgh solution to be the benchmark for other systems implemented elsewhere in Europe and abroad. The paper will explain the procurement approach adopted in Edinburgh, the benefits of the system developed, and how this differs from other approaches to ITS implementation. It will also look at the role Enterprise solutions can play in the transport environment with respect to the supply of timely, joined up, and focused business information and in the provision of a complete customer service. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135582.
Abstract