Real-time traffic management supporting intermobility and strategic control.

The paper describes the concept and implementation of the MObility and Traffic Information Centre (MOTIC) architecture. Building upon the concept of a Traffic Information Centre (TIC), MOTIC provides a European architecture for a traffic information, mobility management and supervision centre including: (1) integration of data and information of different transport modes coming from different sources in the transport network, including traffic control centres (TCC), TICs, traffic operators (police, automobile associations), local authorities (traffic planners, public transport companies); (2) integration of TIC-based functions, including traffic message processing and dispatching, generation, update and maintenance of multi-modal traffic information; (3) provision of added-value information services for travellers, to be operated and offered to the users by the relevant service operators (public, private or through public-private partnerships); and (4) provision of an information base and several software tools to support traffic managers and planners in analysing traffic scenarios, designing strategic traffic management measures and distributing such information to the local, internetworked information and control centres for implementation on the network. The concept of MOTIC is based on the use of open standards which will satisfy the needs of the providers of traffic information services and will ease the integration of the various information sources on the network. MOTIC development and demonstrations are carried out in the framework of the Telematics Applications Programme within the ENTERPRICE project (Enhanced Network for Traffic SErvices and InfoRmation Provided by Regional Information Centres in Europe). Pilot applications are being implemented in the Hessian region (Germany), in the EURODelta corridor (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), in the region around Copenhagen (Denmark) and in Switzerland (region around Berne, Basel-Chiasso motorway). The paper describes the overall concept of MOTIC and, particularly, the upper level strategy management functionalities made available to traffic managers within the Mobility Strategy Centre.