This paper describes the ROMANSE project in Southampton, England, and especially its Strategic Information System (SIS), which supports its Travel and Traffic Information Centre (TTIC). ROMANSE is a prototype system, which aims to develop an integrated transport strategy, that includes road improvement and public transport planning, and emphasises the provision of up-to-date travel information to the public. The TTIC is responsible for traffic control and the supply of accurate, reliable, timely pre-trip and in-transit information from various sources. The SIS will provide the underlying geographical and statistical base for incident control, long-term planning and routing information. In the development of the SIS, the use of Geographical Information System (GIS) technology first had to be justified. Then 16 functional requirements were defined, this functionality was built in, and links to the other ROMANSE systems were constructed. The paper describes the SIS pilot's main themes, application data sets, functions and links. The next stage is to develop a SIS prototype. The SIS's location referencing is discussed; it is both a key factor and a problem. The project is also developing evaluation methods, that are outlined.
Abstract