In recent years we have experienced adverse weather conditions which have caused major problems for transport services. During this time we have seen a number of extreme storms and floods which have caused significant disruptions to road traffic and ferry services. These occurrences of extreme weather conditions have had considerable impact on the Scottish economy with thousands of hours lost each year, not to mention the significant number of lives that have been lost as well. The Scottish Government has recognised this in the recent ‘Scottish Road Network Climate Change Study’ [Transport Scotland (2008)] in order to adapt the future design and operation of the Scottish road network to the predicted effects of climate change. Since weather events can have significant impacts on the transport network it is important to be able to monitor and predict weather conditions in order that timely information can be made available to network operators and travellers. This will result in safer environments, smoother traffic flow and reduced delay. This paper will consider the environmental and climate change challenges facing transport operators and review how applications of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can be used to monitor and manage weather events, reduce risk and disseminate appropriate travel information. While we cannot change the weather, we can reduce the disruption it can cause to travellers and provide better support for transport operators. The paper will consider the following aspects in relation to the effects of adverse weather conditions and their impact on transport operations: *?Climate change and changing weather patterns; *?Methods and technologies for monitoring weather conditions; *?Managing weather related events which affect transport services; and *?Dissemination of information to transport network users. International practices for monitoring, managing and disseminating information relating to weather events will be reviewed. This will include network monitoring, weather event management and the provision of relevant and timely information to travellers. In conclusion the aim is to learn from other experiences which can be transferred to a Scottish or UK context and to consider future directions for ITS developments in this area. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting