Intelligent Transport Services and Systems - IBM

IBM Global Business Services

IBM Institute for Business Value

Government

Intelligent
transport
How cities can
improve mobility

IBM Institute for Business Value
IBM Global Business Services, through the IBM Institute for Business Value,
develops fact-based strategic insights for senior business executives around critical
industry-specific and cross-industry issues. This executive brief is based on an
in-depth study by the Institute’s research team. It is part of an ongoing commitment
by IBM Global Business Services to provide analysis and viewpoints that help
companies realize business value. You may contact the authors or send an e-mail to
iibv@us.ibm.com for more information.

Intelligent transport
How cities can improve mobility
By Jamie Houghton, John Reiners and Colin Lim

Cities face urgent transport challenges. Many are starting to tackle
them by implementing new intelligent transport systems, and some
have achieved impressive benefits. However, many cities are at the
“early adopter” stage. How can they move forward? We believe five
recommendations can assist cities in using new technologies to achieve
optimized, integrated transport services.

The world is urbanizing rapidly, and popula- ments are necessary. However, the constraints
tion densities are increasing. A United Nations of tight capital budgets are driving an
report estimates approximately 70 percent increased focus on the need to better manage
of the world’s population will live in cities by transport demand and supply through
1
2050. This growth is expanding demands deploying intelligent transport systems (ITS).
on urban infrastructures of all kinds, including
transport. The majority of cities are at an early stage in
understanding and realizing the full potential
IBM research in over 50 developed and devel- of ITS. Our research identifies significant gaps
oping world cities reveals that although cities between the progress of the typical city and
face unique transportation challenges, their the global leading practice. To understand
leaders share a number of common ambi- what the leaders are doing, we talked in depth
2
tions. Most strive for cleaner, less congested to transport officials and experts responsible
cities and improved traffic flow, primarily for transport policies, programs and service
through increased use of enhanced public operations in selected cities about their trans-
mass transit systems and other alternatives to port visions out to 2020 and the role of ITS
3
private vehicles. In terms of transport systems, in meeting their objectives. Specifically, we
most leaders agree that infrastructure invest- discussed their strategies and plans for imple-
menting ITS, their progress and any practical

1 Intelligent transport

issues faced during implementation. After Some cities have already made significant
collating their experiences, we summarized a strides in these areas through implementing
series of recommendations to assist cities as ITS (for example, multimodal fare card tick-
they progress toward solving transport chal- eting). As technologies mature and cities
lenges: become more experienced in optimizing their
• Develop and implement comprehensive ITS value, we believe more and more cities will
strategies that are long term, flexible and adopt global leading practices. In addition,
integrated with the city’s transport vision. virtually all cities can learn from others’ experi-
ences and accelerate their own programs.
• Adopt customer-centered approaches to Ultimately, success will be determined by the
improve services, understand customers leadership qualities of those with responsibility
and influence customer behavior patterns. for developing and executing their city-wide
• Integrate service delivery across transport transport strategies.
modes.
• Secure funding and apply innovative
business models.
• Effectively manage implementation by
addressing the complexity of ITS projects.

22 IBM Global Business Services
IBM Global Business Services

Intelligent transport
How cities can improve mobility

As part of their The smart city significant impact on a city’s attractiveness to
The twenty-first century has been described both prospective investors and employees.
transport strategies,
as “the century of the city” due to increased
many cities have The growth of the city presents city leaders
urban populations and the expectation that
deployed ITS, and 4
this trend will continue. Urban growth is
with significant challenges and opportunities.
many others have A common emerging theme is the potential
driven by the developing world, and there are
for cities to become “smarter” – to apply
plans to do so. increasing numbers of megacities – those
5 advanced technologies to collect more and
with ten million or more people. Along with
better data, analyze it more intelligently and
population growth, there is an increase in car
connect it through more effective networks.
ownership and demand for transport journeys
The end result is more efficient, effective and
across all regions (see Figures 1 and 2).
targeted services for citizens.
In the developed world, cities are increas-
Cities are starting to use smarter solutions
ingly becoming driving forces of their national
in the areas of water, wastewater, electricity
economies (e.g., Tokyo, Paris, Zurich, Prague
supply and public safety. However, the adop-
and Oslo all produce about a third of their
6 tion of smart solutions is perhaps most
countries’ gross domestic products, or GDPs).
advanced in the area of transport, with many
As cities grow in economic importance in the
cities having deployed intelligent transport
global economy, they often compete to attract
systems and many others planning them as
commerce and employment opportunities. The
part of their transport strategies.
effectiveness of a city’s transport system has a

FIGURE 1.
Personal transport activity by region.
80

70 Africa
Latin America
60 Middle East
Passenger Km (trillions)

India
50 Other Asia
40 China
Eastern Europe
30
Former Soviet Union
20 OECD Pacific
OECD Europe
10 OECD North America

0
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Note: OECD = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Source: “Mobility 2030: Meeting the challenges to sustainability.” The Sustainable Mobility Project. World Business Council for Sustainable
Development. December 2004.


FIGURE 2.
Personal transport activity by mode.
80

70 Minibuses
Buses
60 Passenger rail

Passenger Km (trillions)
Two- and three-wheelers
50
Air
40

30

20 Light duty vehicles
10

0
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

Source: “Mobility 2030: Meeting the challenges to sustainability.” The Sustainable Mobility Project. World Business Council for Sustainable
Development. December 2004.

Today’s transport challenges impacts and the pressure to improve a city’s
Transport is perhaps one of the most urgent economic competitiveness.
issues facing most cities today. A 2006 study,
While there are similarities, the exact nature
“Megacity Challenges, A stakeholder perspec-
of the challenges and planned solutions vary
tive,” found that transport was the single
for each individual city based on a number of
biggest infrastructure challenge for cities at all
7 factors, including the city’s stage of develop-
stages of development. Effective transport is
ment, physical characteristics, existing levels of
central to a city’s economic competitiveness,
transport infrastructure and citizen preferences
and severe congestion is known to have an
(see Figure 3). For example, Amsterdam and
equally severe economic cost, estimated as
Chicago are both mature cities but have very
high as between 1 and 3 percent of GDP in
8 different characteristics that will shape their
developed and developing countries. Equally
transport ambitions: in Amsterdam, over 50
important, transport is an experience shared
percent of daily trips are on foot or on bicycle,
by almost all of a city’s inhabitants and directly
whereas in Chicago, just under 90 percent are
affects their well being. Transport is also 9
by private car.
responsible for a large share of emissions,
which authorities increasingly want to control.
“Total mobility is the most
Our research reveals a common set of trans- compelling driver. The emphasis
port challenges. The most severe challenges must be on achieving traffic
reported include increasing congestion
on all modes of transport, customer safety,
outcomes that benefit the city and
a decaying transport infrastructure, under its people – be they permanent or
funding, growing negative environmental visiting.”
Phil Mumford, CEO, Queensland Motorways Ltd.


Effective transport FIGURE 3.
Regional transport challenges, priorities and solutions.
is central to a
city’s economic Emerging Markets Asia Pacific (mature)
• Increasing urbanization (especially in the mega cities) • The mature Asia-Pacific cities include several global
competitiveness. has resulted in worsening congestion, which has transport leaders (e.g., Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore),
adverse economic and health impacts. Funding and which have extensive public transport systems.
safety are major issues. • Regional innovations include advanced traffic and bus
• Most cities are focused on developing their transport management systems, integrated fare systems and
infrastructure, especially highways, railways and metro traveler information.
systems, while improving their traffic systems. • Congestion remains a key concern, with several cities/
• Leading cities, including Dubai, Beijing and New Delhi, countries considering various congestion charging
are implementing ambitious and innovative programs. solutions.

Western Europe North America
• Most European cities already have expansive roads and • The private car is the key mode of transport in most U.S.
public transport infrastructure. Europe is also home cities. However, the high cost of congestion (time and
to many pioneering leaders, including London and gallons wasted) is measured in the billions.
Stockholm. • Issues include significant funding challenges for new
• Many cities/countries are seriously considering infrastructure, maintenance of existing infrastructure
congestion charging, including the use of next- and achieving quality service levels. An overhaul of the
generation GPS-based solutions, especially for trucks. gas tax is being considered with higher rates and user
• Greater demand for public transport interoperability at charges being introduced.
the metropolitan, regional and national levels. • The new administration is encouraging railways and
public transport improvements while new approaches in
tolling are being explored.

Source: IBM Institute for Business Value interviews and analysis of publicly available information.

Virtually all cities are developing visions Intelligent transport systems
and strategies to address their particular Intelligent transport systems have been around
challenges and improve mobility, usually for many years, but more recently, global cities
by changing modal shares and delivering have been implementing a new generation of
improved transport services. In addition, nearly ITS. Some examples include:
all of the city leaders interviewed highlight the
• Integrated fare management
importance of ITS in tackling their transport
challenges. • Enhanced transit/customer relationship
management
“Allowing congestion to grind cities, suburbs
• Traffic prediction
and supply chains to a halt every morning
and afternoon is unacceptable when we have • Improved transport and traffic management
innovative tools, technologies and strate- • Traveler information and advisory services
gies available to manage our transportation
• Road user charging
systems and utilize our infrastructure more
effectively,” states Scott Belcher, president and • Variable parking pricing.
chief executive officer (CEO) of ITS America.


ITS technologies also create the potential for they progress through different levels of
new information-based services like pre-trip sophistication in each of these three areas,
and on-trip journey planning and traffic alerts, which we have documented in the IBM
as well as different pricing and business Intelligent Transport Maturity Model (see
models, such as variable pricing based on Figure 4).
usage, emissions or peak times.
Implementing ITS
As part of its research, IBM has studied a As cities address these three areas and prog-
number of cities over several years as they ress to more integrated and optimized modes
implement ITS. Our findings suggest that of transportation, many will face implementa-
intelligent transport systems are about much tion hurdles. Intelligent transport systems are
more than discrete software solutions. Leading relatively new and, although proven technically,
cities are implementing broader strategies to still present challenges, especially around
help them move from single mode operation matching strategic objectives with assured
to more sophisticated multimodal transport delivery. Many cities freely admit they have not
services and integrated transport delivery. yet gained all of the anticipated benefits from
Their strategies address three main areas: their ITS investments, and some look forward
governance, transport network optimization to further evolution of their intelligent trans-
and integrated transport services. Typically,

FIGURE 4.
IBM Intelligent Transport Maturity Model (summary version).

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Single mode Coordinated Partially Multimodal Multimodal
modes integrated integration optimized
Governance Single mode A transport vision Integrated multimodal Integrated corridor- Integrated regional
• Strategic planning planning with little is articulated. transport authority. based multimodal multimodal planning.
• Performance coordination between Single overarching Coordinated demand planning. Dynamic Continuous system-
management various transport regulator but with management demand management wide performance
• Demand providers. limited planning and measures. schemes. measures with dynamic
management management powers. pricing.

Transport network Limited data Data collection Realtime collection Realtime multimodal System-wide realtime
optimization collection and for major routes. of multiple data coverage for most multimodal data
• Data collection, integration. Ad hoc Periodic data source with high-level corridors. Detailed collection, integration
integration and analysis and incident collection and analysis. Automated realtime data and analysis. Dynamic
analysis response. Manual analysis. Network and network and incident analysis. Automated network optimization
• Network incident response by incident response response systems. pre-planned and incident response.
operational individual modes. mostly by individual multimodal incident
responsiveness modes. response.
• Incident
management

Integrated transport Minimal; mostly cash Customer accounts Electronic payments. Multimodal Single customer
services collection. Limited by mode. Mostly cash Multichannel trip integrated transport transport account.
• Customer and static traveler collection. Static trip planning and card. On journey, Location-based
management information. planning with limited account-based alert multimodal multimodal proactive
• Payment systems realtime alerts. subscription. information services. trip advisory.
• Traveler
information

Source: IBM Global Business Services analysis.


Many cities admit port systems. Other cities are considering ITS version of the maturity model to assess the
investments but are discouraged by perceived current positions of a number of cities and the
they have not yet
public resistance or funding challenges. current state of global leading practice, which
gained all of the
comprises the outstanding features of many
anticipated benefits The IBM Intelligent Transport Maturity Model individual cities (see Figure 5). This bench-
from their ITS can be used to assess a city’s progress mark is itself shifting to the right over time, as
compared with the global leading practice. As
investments. technologies improve and cities get better at
part of our research, we used a more detailed exploiting them.

FIGURE 5.
Progress profile for a typical city versus global leading practice.

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Single mode Coordinated Partially Multimodal Multimodal
modes integrated integration optimized

Strategic Functional area Project-based Integrated agency- Integrated corridor- Integrated regional
Governance planning planning (singe planning (single wide planning based multimodal mulitimodal
mode) mode) (single mode) planning planning
Performance Minimal Defined metrics by Limited Shared multimodal Continuous
measurement mode integration across system-wide system-wide
organizational silos metrics performance
measurement
Demand Individual static Individual Coordinated Dynamic pricing Multimodal
management measure measures, with measures, with dynamic pricing
long-term variability short-term
variability
Data Limited or manual Near realtime for Realtime for major Realtime coverage System-wide
Transport collection input major routes routes using for major corridors, realtime data
network multiple inputs all significant collection across
optimization modes all modes
Data Limited with ad hoc Networked but Common user Two-way system Extended
integration analysis periodic analysis interface with high- integration and integration with
and analytics level analysis analysis in realtime multimodal
analysis in realtime
Network Ad hoc, single Centralized single Automated, single Automated, Multimodal
operations mode mode mode multimodal realtime optimized
response
Incident Manual detection, Manual detection, Automated Automated pre- Dynamic
management response and coordinated detection, planned multimodal multimodal
recovery response, manual coordinated recovery plans recovery plans
recover response, manual based on realtime
recover data
Customer Minimal capability, Customer accounts Multichannel Unified customer Integrated
Integrated relationships no customer managed separately account interaction account across multimodal
transport accounts for each system/ by mode multiple modes incentives
services mode to optimize
multimodal use
Payment Manual cash Automatic cash Electronic Multimodal Multimodal,
systems collection machines payments integrated fare card multichannel (fare
cards, cell phones,
etc.)
Traveler Static information Static trip planning Multichannel trip Location-based, on- Location-based,
information with limited realtime planning and journey multimodal multimodal
alerts account-based alert information proactive rerouting
subscription

Source: IBM Global Business Services analysis. Typical city Global leading practice


Our analysis led to several conclusions: Enhancing ITS
• Different cities prioritize the model’s initia- Regardless of a city’s current state of ITS
tive areas in different ways – there is not one maturity, there is typically room for improve-
solution that fits all. ment and continued development. Therefore,
based on our research and detailed discus-
• There is a material gap between the typical
sions with city officials, we have identified five
city and the global leading practice.
key recommendations to help all cities as they
• There are particularly large gaps in data implement ITS.
collection, data integration and analytics,
and customer relationships. 1. Develop and implement comprehensive
ITS strategies
• The typical city is having difficulty making
A leading practice demonstrated by several
progress with data integration and analytics,
cities is to develop effective ITS strategies that
especially across modes.
are long term and integrated with wider strate-
• The more sophisticated services, including gies and plans for transport, the city and even
demand management, incident manage- the wider economy. Our research found that
ment and traveler information, are relatively many ITS projects are developed indepen-
undeveloped even among leading cities. dently and are not part of a wider strategic ITS
• All cities have bold ambitions – regardless or multimodal transport plan. This can lead to
of current stage of development or current difficulties later in gaining the potential network
level of transport infrastructure – though their benefits across all modes that ITS can offer.
priorities differ.
“We shouldn’t lose sight of 2020
• Each city will have a different implementation
path based on its unique starting position
when addressing the challenges
and the priorities it sets out in its transport of 2010.”
strategy. Julie O’Neil, Secretary General, Department of
Transport, Dublin
Cities can map their ITS strategies on this
maturity model to measure their current An ITS strategy should be long term to antici-
progress and compare it to global leading pate customer demands for new services
practices. This can then be used both to across transport modes and the growing
validate their strategies against the global capabilities of emerging technologies, such
benchmarks and to develop an ITS implemen- as next-generation global positioning system
tation roadmap. technologies and the rapid deployment of
personal digital assistants (PDAs) for realtime
information. Also, ITS services are expected


ITS strategies to expand in scope, linking cities with other In response to the need for integrated trans-
cities, regions and government agencies. They port initiatives and the uncertainties involved in
should be long
also may need to work effectively with a large long-term planning, national and international
term and part
number of commercial providers, as many transport authorities are increasingly playing a
of an overall cities view ITS as a platform to deliver a range role in framing cities’ transport strategies and
transport plan. of services to customers. promoting technical standards.

To move toward multimodal and integrated “There is a need for a single
transport services that benefit customers, the
city and the wider economy, ITS projects and
transport vision and plan for Egypt
plans need to be joined up at various levels to and a central governance and
show how individual projects contribute to the ownership.”
delivery of a broad ITS strategy (addressing a Omar El Bakary, Deputy Minister, Ministry of
broad set of dimensions listed in the maturity Transport, Egypt
model). The strategies for a city’s different
transport modes also should be integrated as The European Union (EU) is progressing
part of a coherent city transport strategy and plans to encourage the adoption of ITS across
need to be consistent with strategies in other Europe based on common frameworks and
areas of municipal government (for example, standards, stating that “it is not acceptable
land use planning). In addition, they should be anymore to see Member States of the EU
coordinated with strategies in other levels of implementing new proprietary road charging
government, including national, regional and systems. Drivers should have only one system
district. for the whole Europe and not one per Member
11
State.”
Cities with an integrated transport authority
will find it easier to develop and implement Stockholm increases services, decreases
a holistic ITS strategy across all transport congestion
modes. For example, Transport for London, The Swedish city of Stockholm has implemented
which has responsibility for all public transport several global leading practices. Stockholm aims
modes within the London metropolitan area to be the world’s most accessible capital and
and reports to the Mayor of London, devel- views its transportation system as an important
oped a comprehensive and integrated 20-year part of reaching this goal. Stockholm is well
strategy for transport, which details how known for its congestion tax, which resulted in
specific initiatives will contribute to achieving a 25 percent reduction in car use and 14 percent
12
a wide range of city and even national reduction in emissions from road traffic.
10
objectives. Where formal organization depen- However, it is important to note that Stockholm
dencies do not exist, cities need to collaborate implemented the tax as part of a holistic transport
effectively with partner organizations. A plan that also increased bus services and park-
13
number of cities in our research mention the and-ride facilities. In addition, Stockholm has an
importance of political support and active integrated ticketing system that links the major
14
sponsorship in establishing and later imple- modes of transport.
menting coherent ITS plans.


2. Adopt customer-centered approaches offer increased convenience for customers
Customer expectations of transport services through integrated public transport smart
are increasing, and transport authorities can cards, which can be used not only for trans-
use ITS to deliver both new and improved port-related services, but also as electronic
services. Many transport users have ingrained purses for small purchases.
behavior patterns based on their percep-
tions of the convenience, reliability and cost Understanding patterns of customer demand
of alternative transport modes. To optimize the and use is very useful in developing customer-
transport network and encourage modal shift, centered transport strategies. Leading
cities need to alter customer attitudes about cities are using demand and usage data
the cost, value and use of transport systems. to segment customer groups so they can
provide optimized scheduling services as well
“Londoners should not have to as transparent and targeted communication
to specific groups (e.g., text alerts of traffic
hunt for transport information. It
problems and advice about alternative routes
should be everywhere and easily to daily commuters). As Peter Martin, general
accessible.” manager of tolling for Sydney’s Roads and
Kulver Ranger, Director of Transport Policy to the Traffic Authority, remarks, “The travelling public
Mayor of London in 2020 will be defined as a number of market
segments…We will see offerings to travelers
For many cities, improving the customer that give them a better value proposition but
transport experience is the primary objective also offer the city a better proposition.”
of ITS projects, whether by increasing overall
To fully utilize the breadth of such capabilities,
customer satisfaction or encouraging greater
transport officials need to get much closer
use of public transport services. According to
to their customers. Increasingly, transport will
Elio Catania, CEO of Milan’s transport authority,
embrace techniques used in retail, such as
“The key issue is to significantly improve
customer relationship management (CRM)
public transport – efficiency, cost, punctu-
systems to support and enhance customer
ality, high quality infrastructure / rolling stock,
relationships and analyze customer data. Data
personal safety, accessibility, etc. – to ensure
will be collected on customer journeys, prefer-
that public transport becomes a superior alter-
ences and purchasing patterns just as retail
native to the car.”
does now. According to Phil Mumford, CEO of
One way to improve the transport experi- Queensland Motorways, “Supermarkets know
ence is through Web-based journey planning exactly when, where, what and why I buy what
services, which can help customers optimize I do. We will be like them around every aspect
their travel across modes, increasing efficiency. of a journey.”
These services can be delivered via mobile
Once they better understand their customers’
phones and other mobile devices such as
travel patterns, city officials can more effec-
PDAs. Location-based services can also be
tively influence behavior patterns through
added, such as tourist information. Some cities
incentives (such as improving the quality and


ITS solutions can be reliability of preferred transport modes) and The objective is to allow the consumer to plan
pricing mechanisms (ticket pricing, higher an optimal journey, irrespective of transport
used to help improve
city-center parking charges, emissions-based mode, and to carry out that journey effec-
the customer’s transport
charging, road user charging, etc.). In most tively (e.g., with connections between modes
experience and integrate cases, a combination of service improvements and without having to buy separate tickets).
modes of transport. and price incentives will be needed to change Service integration also helps transport author-
customer behavior patterns. ities deliver a more efficient service. By sharing
information from different sources, they can
“A key priority is changing construct a holistic view of transport demand
behavior – encouraging a shift to and supply and make decisions to optimize
the transport network. However, the reality
public transport usage by adjusting
is that most cities’ transport services are still
the mindset of the commuter.” delivered by individual modes.
Lew Yii Der, Group Director, Policy and
Planning, Singapore LTA “Within the city, the integration of
all modes, including the bicycle, is
London boosts bus popularity 40 percent
London has been very successful in changing
important.”
customer tendencies to make more use of buses, Rene Meijer, Vice Director, Infrastructure, Traffic
with a patronage increase of 40 percent since and Transport, Amsterdam
1999, and 4 percent modal shift from private
vehicles. This was achieved through targeted Service integration is difficult and, while
initiatives, including expanded services, better many have made progress, only a few of
scheduling and connectivity, investment in new the cities in our research have achieved it
buses, a simpler fare structure and payment to their satisfaction. Integration is required at
solution, regular travel updates and marketing many different levels, as transport services
campaigns. Shifts have been highest in central are typically delivered by many different
London, assisted by congestion charging and bus organizations operating in different ways on a
15
priority measures. wide range of different systems. Joining all of
these to deliver an integrated service to the
3. Integrate service delivery consumer and provide integrated information
Almost all cities report that transport to the transport authority and consumer is a
service integration across modes is essen- daunting political, organizational, procedural
tial. According to Dr. Ashwin Mahesh of and technical challenge.
Bangalore’s Indian Institute of Management,
“Integration of modes is the only way to From an organizational perspective, the
address the problems of congestion and preferred approach is an integrated transport
mobility.” authority, which a number of cities have estab-
lished and others hope to achieve. Regardless
of organizational structure, it is important that
all who work toward planning and delivering


the city’s transport are able to work collab- architectures on all ITS projects, is promoting
oratively with effective political support and the development of a national architecture and
sponsorship. At a policy level, this involves is encouraging the use of service-oriented
coordination between city, regional and architecture (SOA) and open standards to help
16
national transport authorities and agencies, systems integration.
as well as other interested parties, such as
city planners and transport service providers. “Our greatest technical challenges
Collaboration among these multiple entities involve integrating systems with
is essential to develop coherent strategies,
those of other provinces and
consistent policies and technical standards
(as described under our first recommenda-
changing legacy systems according
tion), as well as to help ensure plans are to the standards.”
executed in a coordinated way. Soojin Lee, City Transportation Headquarters,
Seoul
At the operational level, much work is
required to integrate processes, policies and
In Singapore, ITS enables mobility – and
procedures. Employees from different orga-
shopping
nizations need to collaborate to deliver an
A good example of integrated service delivery
integrated service to consumers. Scheduling, is Singapore’s next-generation multimodal
ticketing and pricing have to be coordi- e-payment system dubbed Symphony for
nated across transport providers, and this 17
e-Payment. Based on Contactless E-Purse
has further implications on integration of Application Standard (CEPAS), an open national
back-office functions, such as the need for transport card standard, the system allows multi-
common transit customer accounts and purpose stored value (MPSV) cards to be used
clearing-house functions. for transit (bus, rail, vehicle congestion charging,
etc.), as well as nontransit purposes, such as
Integration challenges also occur at the
micropayments for retail purchases. In addition, it
technical level in integrating informa- provides support for multiple (CEPAS compliant)
tion using incompatible standards and card issuers, increasing choice and convenience
connecting multiple systems. This challenge is for the public commuter.
18

compounded by the complexity and volume
of information flows involved. Cities need to 4. Secure funding, apply new business
make more progress in this area, and the models
need for effective systems integration is likely Several city officials describe difficulty in
to increase as demands for interoperabilty of securing funding as a significant barrier to
transport systems rise. achieving their transport visions. Officials
compete for funding both with counterparts
The long-term answer involves implementing
from different modes of transportation and
open information technology architectures and
more traditional infrastructure projects. A
working with standards-setting bodies to adopt
further challenge is gaining public support for
widely used common or open standards in ITS
ITS projects, particularly if citizens are asked to
applications. For example, the Santiago trans-
contribute to costs through increased fares.
port authority made the decision to use open


Ideally, cities need “New infrastructure projects Intelligent transport systems themselves can
provide new ways of raising funds, for example,
business models that get too much attention at public usage-based charging that varies by vehicle
both exploit new revenue planning. We need new priorities type, volume of usage or time of day. In addi-
opportunities and price to focus on smart solutions.” tion, traffic information collected via ITS can
transport to support their Professor Jonas Eliasson, Royal Institute of be sold to consumers in the form of traffic
transport objectives. Technology, Stockholm updates or to private corporations for fleet
management.
ITS proposals need to be accompanied by
convincing business cases and supported In addition to raising valuable revenue, the
by evidence that benefits are being delivered. pricing of transport services can impact
According to a senior transport official of a customer behavior patterns. Cities should
large Chinese city, “Funding is the greatest be cautious that price increases and new
challenge in implementation, but funds will charges do not lead to public opposition. It
follow if ITS projects prove their value following is notable that both London and Stockholm
evaluation.” promoted their road user charging plans
not only by stating the benefits of reduced
Evaluations should measure a range of bene- congestion and lower emissions, but also by
fits beyond financial payback – for example, emphasizing that fee revenue would be rein-
improvements in numbers of accidents (and 21
vested in the transport network. Ideally, cities
traffic related deaths), reduced emissions need an effective overall business model that
and the customer benefits derived from an exploits new opportunities for revenue and, at
enhanced traffic network. the same time, prices transport in a way that
supports the city’s transport objectives.
Most cities expect transport investments to
be funded primarily via general taxation since
Oregon taxes miles instead of gas
the public benefits from reduced congestion
The U.S. state of Oregon is testing a mileage tax,
and fewer emissions. Some national transport based on the number of miles a vehicle is driven,
authorities (e.g., those in the United States, the as a replacement for the state gas tax. Responding
United Kingdom and Singapore) are trying to to declining gas tax revenues due to greater fuel
encourage ITS adoption by creating national efficiency in cars, the state sees this as a more
funds to support regional and local innova- equitable way to fund road improvements.
22
19
tive transport initiatives. Some countries also
look to the private sector for funding. Public-
private partnerships have been used for some
time in a number of countries, including the
United States, the United Kingdom, Australia
and South Korea, particularly for infrastructure
20
projects.


5. Effectively manage implementation Other industries, such as healthcare, financial
While almost all cities see the use of intelligent services and retail, have deployed innovative
transport systems as central to the delivery of approaches, such as offering incentives to
their transport visions, many express concerns customers and deploying privacy-enhancing
about their capability to implement them. technologies (PETs), to overcome customer
There are difficulties involved in implementing resistance to the introduction of technologies
large and complex intelligent transport proj- that some perceived threatened personal
23
ects, as well as a natural concern that failure privacy. Pilot implementations also can help
would be highly visible to the public. build confidence for delivery authorities and
test the acceptance of users.
With some ITS projects, the implementation
spans different transport modes, which often Part of managing implementation involves
are the responsibility of different organizations, cities effectively measuring progress against
resulting in increased complexity. In these their transport strategies by using well-defined
cases, setting up effective governance struc- metrics. Sharing more traffic-related informa-
tures and sponsorships are important. tion in a transparent way and communicating
the objectives and progress of transport initia-
Other implementation concerns include the
tives can also be effective in building public
need for effective change management and
support. Cities are increasingly sharing their
anticipation of potential resistance from staff
progress with the public using Web sites and
and consumers. For example, some cities in
other channels. The performance indicators
our research highlight the need to respond to
are changing as well. In addition to traditional
consumers’ resistance to privacy-threatening
transport metrics of modal share, journey
technologies, such as vehicle plate recognition.
times, etc., many cities now are measuring
Much can be learned from those who have customer-centric measures, in particular
succeeded in implementing complex informa- customer satisfaction.
tion systems, whether in transportation or other
industries. Several cities emphasize the impor-
“Our transport indicators are
tance of effective project teams with the right all public. People can get the
balance of technical and project management information on the official Web
skills. For example, Akio Shiibashi, the deputy site.”
director of IT-Suica business development in
Tokyo, reports that the technology behind the
Jeffrey Liu, Planning Section Chief, Department
of Transportation, Taipei
integrated Suica rail smartcard was relatively
straightforward. “The key to the successful
implementation was the commitment of the
project team to make it happen,” he says.


City officials can look Conclusions • Treat transport as an integrated service,
Cities around the world face common trans- moving from just managing infrastructures
to global leading
port challenges – from increasing congestion, to providing integrated services, making
practices – and our
safety concerns and aging infrastructure to a this style of management a team sport that
five recommendations lack of funding and increasing environmental involves collaboration among customers,
– for guidance as they impacts. Like their colleagues in city admin- suppliers and all levels of government.
implement integrated istration and government, transport officials • Adopt a customer-centric approach to
ITS solutions. are starting to implement “smart solutions” transport strategy and execution. They
to address these challenges and provide understand and influence consumer
improved mobility in their cities, better services perceptions and behavior patterns, share
for citizens and a more cost-effective transport information in a transparent way and are
network. committed to delivering improved customer
satisfaction.
Intelligent transport is about more than imple-
menting discrete technologies. Leading cities As cities move toward more integrated
are using these technologies to evolve their systems and sharing more information with
transport systems from single modes to inte- their customers and stakeholders, consumers
grated ones, improve transport services and enjoy faster and better services, cleaner air,
provide an improved value proposition to greater alignment and collaboration among
customers. City transport officials can look to transport stakeholders, and pride in knowing
global leading practices – and our five recom- that their cities are becoming more economi-
mendations – for guidance as they implement cally competitive than before.
integrated ITS strategies.

Our research suggests that innovative city offi-
cials exhibit a common set of attributes. They:
• Provide leadership and vision in transforming
their network of modes of transportation
through crossmodal collaboration. They look
far into the future to develop broad strate-
gies, yet also provide leadership to help
ensure short- and medium-term plans are
executed.


About the authors Contributors
Jamie Houghton is the IBM global leader John Hawkins, ITS leader, Asia Pacific, IBM
of Intelligent Transport Systems, IBM Global Global Business Services
Technology Services, where he oversees the Gunnar Johansson, ITS leader, Europe, IBM
development and delivery of ITS solutions. Global Business Services
Jamie has more than 20 years of experience
Naveen Lamba, ITS leader, Americas, IBM
in the development of complex transporta-
Global Business Services
tion infrastructure, systems and services. He is
a regular platform speaker on the subject of Susanne Dirks, IBM Center for Economic
intelligent transport. Jamie can be reached at Development, IBM Global Business Services
jamie.houghton@uk.ibm.com.
The right partner for a changing
John Reiners works for the IBM Institute for
world
Business Value, where he researches, writes
At IBM, we collaborate with our clients,
and deploys studies on issues of importance
bringing together business insight, advanced
to the public sector. He has 20 years of expe-
research and technology to give them a
rience as a managing consultant, including
distinct advantage in today’s rapidly changing
roles in business transformation programs for
environment. Through our integrated approach
both the public and private sector. John can
to business design and execution, we help
be reached at john.reiners@uk.ibm.com.
turn strategies into action. And with expertise
Colin Lim is geography leader of Intelligent in 17 industries and global capabilities that
Transport Systems, IBM Global Business span 170 countries, we can help clients antici-
Services, where he coordinates the develop- pate change and profit from new opportunities.
ment of ITS opportunities and solutions in the
growth markets. Prior to joining IBM, he spent
several years in the Singapore Government,
including a posting to the Ministry of Transport
where he had responsibility for land transport
policy.


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