INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLIED TO TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENT

INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLIED TO TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENT SISTEMAS DE INFORMACIÓN APLICADOS AL MEJORAMIENTO DEL TRANSPORTE JULIAN ANDRES ZAPATA CORTES M.Sc., Professor, Institución Universitaria ESUMER, Colombia, MARTIN DARÍO ARANGO SERNA Ph.D. Professor, Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Medellín, RODRIGO ANDRÉS GOMEZ M.Sc., Professor Politecnico Jaime Isaza Cadavid, Colombia, Received for review January 15 th, 2013, Accepted March 26 th, 2013, final version June, 15 th, 2013 ABSTRACT: Transport is one of the most relevant elements for the competitiveness of companies and cities. An inadequate transportation system generates high costs and low customer service levels, which ultimately produces a negative economic impact for both. This article presents an overview of the technology tools that are part of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) used to improve the performance and safety of transport, not only of cargo but also of passengers, in different modes such as air, maritime, rail and road. This article begins with a description of ITS, followed by the presentations of their benefits and, finally, it presents a review of the different tools for ITS. KEY WORDS: Transport systems, ITS, ICT, City logistics, Communication systems. RESUMEN: El transporte es uno de los elementos más relevantes para la competitividad de las empresas y las ciudades, pues un sistema de transporte inadecuado genera altos costos y bajos niveles de servicio al cliente, lo que finalmente produce un impacto económico para ambas partes. Este artículo presenta una revisión de herramientas tecnológicas que hacen parte de los sistemas de transporte inteligentes (ITS), sistemas utilizados para el mejoramiento del desempeño y seguridad del transporte, no solo de carga sino también de pasajeros y en diferentes modos. El artículo comienza con una descripción sobre los sistemas de transporte ITS, seguido por la presentación de los beneficios de estos sistemas y finalmente se realiza una revisión de las diferentes herramientas que enmarcan los ITS. PALABRAS CLAVE: Sistemas de Transporte, ITS, TIC, Logística de ciudad, sistemas de comunicación. 1. INTRODUCTION City growth generates an increase of traffic due to a higher movement of vehicles for the transport of people and the distribution of goods. This makes mobility problems more evident and more complex every day. The problem of increased transport not only creates congestion problems, but also affects the economy, environment, health and competitiveness of cities and businesses. A collapsed transport system in a city means an economic problem since vehicles lose their ability to move easily; then their purpose, which is to move goods or people, is not developed properly, leading to higher transport costs, and affecting businesses and cities’ economy. The environmental impact is evident, since vehicles will have longer waiting times in heavy traffic locations or their trips will be made at a lower speed, creating higher fuel consumption, which produces more CO2 and pollution. Besides, traffic jams make people impatient, and this is reflected in the use of horns, creating noise pollution. As for health, CO2 emissions and pollution from fuel burning generate respiratory problems In terms of competitiveness, companies and cities perform logistics operations less efficiently due to traffic, which involves higher costs and lower service levels, resulting in the mentioned competitiveness loss. Internationally, there are strategies aimed at mitigating the negative impact of freight transport in cities [1,2], which are known as City Logistics Initiatives. City Dyna, year 80, Nro. 180, pp. 77-86. Medellin, August, 2013. ISSN 0012-7353 78 Zapata et al logistics are based on reducing the number of trucks circulating within the cities, supported by a good integration strategy, allowing consolidation movements and thereby reducing the number of trips [2 - 5]. Taniguchi et al. [6] define city logistics as the process aimed to optimize the transport activities, with the support of advanced information technologies in urban areas, taking into account a set of initiatives that allow mitigating the negative effects produced by the vehicles used for goods transportation [6 - 8]. According to Crainic [4] and Arango et al. [2], city logistics strategies must be linked to an information system that allows an effi cient administration process, aiming at the capture, processing, transmission, and management of that information. This has led to the development of specialized computer tools for transport management, such as the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and to the integration of administrative tools for operation management and decision making [2, 3]. However, the need to control transport operations outside cities is a key element to ensure quality and customer service. That is why ITS systems have also expanded to maritime, river and air transport, each with specific conditions, but with the aim of increasing productivity, customer service and therefore companies, cities and countries’ competitiveness. 2. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS According to Pillac et al. [3], during the last decade, a significant development of “smart” information technologies for vehicle routing management has emerged, based on technological advances in more accurate geographic information systems, newgeneration of computers with increased processing capabilities, and developments of better planning systems and techniques. The Ministerio de Fomento en España [9], defines intelligent transport systems as “... a set of advanced applications inside information technology, electronics and communications that, from a social economic and environmental standpoint, are designed to improve transport mobility, safety and productivity, by optimizing the use of existing infrastructure, increasing energy efficiency and improving the capacity of the transport system. Intelligent Transport Systems aim to respond, from a multimodal perspective, to the transportation needs, applying ICT (Information and communication technologies)”. Intelligent Transportation Systems are part of ICT, however Perego et al. [10] argue that some authors use the term ITS and ICT for transport without distinction [10, 11]. Therefore, the reader interested in exploring this subject should take note of this clarification and perform their analysis using the two possible names. With the use of ITS, transport operations are performed optimally in terms of traffic flow (speed and time routes). Jarašūnienė [12] states that the integration of ITS allows the exchange and coordination of information, information acquisition and integration between vehicles and the road infrastructure, the exchange of information with private sectors (logistics service providers), and the exchange with nontransport-related organizations, such as electronic payment institutions. Then, Intelligent Transportation Systems are the interconnection of different (...truncated)