ITS in practice in Sweden : lessons learned after several years of operation of different its systems including parking information, variable speed recommendation, bus terminal information and real-time information at bus stops.

This paper focuses on the evaluation of ITS systems that have been in operation for a number of years. How are the systems really working? Which are the most important factors for achieving a successful system, with regard to both users and operators? How long is the life cycle of a particular system? How accurate are estimates of system costs prior to investment compared with final implementation costs? What are the hidden problems? The paper concentrates on: systems for parking information and guidance, variable speed recommendation systems, bus terminal information systems and real time passenger information at bus and tram stops. More general results are also presented. The paper comprises a state of the art study of system evaluations worldwide as well as on site evaluations of a total of 14 systems in Sweden. The key conclusions are: (1) it is not easy to produce effective and reliable ITS; (2) systems that provide information to the public need special attention; (3) the public quickly lose confidence in poorly performing systems and it takes time to recover this confidence; and (4) many systems can now be bought "off the shelf" from major suppliers. However this is no guarantee that such systems will work effectively. The project sponsor is the Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA).