Over the last ten years there has been a rapid proliferation of R&D activities in the application of new technologies to traffic and transport systems. Ambitious national and European research programs have been launched, new products for individual users are available and new systems for traffic managers and operators have been installed. In Europe alone, programs like Prometheus and Drive/ATT have provided frameworks for short, medium and long term R&D projects performed through the joint effort of major industries, research institutes, operators and public authorities. In parallel, the first commercial applications of Advanced Transport Telematics (ATT) have come onto the market. These range from autonomous navigation devices to traffic information and route guidance systems to automatic debiting systems. Most of the emerging systems are based on different choices of strategies, standards and communication facilities. Research in Prometheus and Drive/ATT also used a broad range of basic technologies (RDS/TMC, GSM-Socrates, various short-range communication media etc.). To meet the growing need for better mobility management, many operators are already installing, testing and operating systems based on various new concepts. In short, what we are witnessing is a proliferation of prototypes, concepts and technologies in this field. Given that the proliferation cannot continue, but direct control of the market cannot be entertained, what are the future expectations for ATT? This paper attempts to provide the elements necessary for answering this important question.
Abstract