Information technology will only be as effective as the general policy context in which it is applied. That general transport policy is at this moment in a state of flux throughout Europe, as a new appreciation of the relationship between traffic growth and alternative policies develops. Economic, social and environmental arguments are pushing policy into a new direction, characterised by (a) abandonment of the attempt to match demand growth by increased road capacity, (b) greater importance of public transport, (c) traffic calming schemes designed to moderate the dominance of motor traffic, (d) pricing schemes ensuring that the costs of using different modes reflect their full social costs. In this context RTI (Road Transport Informatics) systems should be seen as levers to assist effective implementation of such policies, not as a generalised way of increasing undifferentiated road capacity. As an example, electronic road pricing could not only act as a major contribution of advanced informatics, but also bind together the contribution of RTI with the contribution of other policies. Similarly, in the absence of road pricing the main focus of RTI techniques should be to contribute to improving the relative efficiency of selected categories of particularly important traffic, e.g. buses, delivery lorries and emergency services.
Abstract