T324: Keeping ahead in information and communication technologies

1. T324: Keeping ahead in information and communication technologies First Semester – 2011/2012—Fall 2011Tutorial 2 (B3,P1 (S5—7), B3,P2S1)

2. Outline • Tackling congestion • Road pricing • Conclusion • The ICT revolution and developing countries • Case Study Selection AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

3. Tackling congestion 5 AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

4. Introduction • Apply some of the systems questions to some of the circumstances described in: the National Audit Office’s (2004) report, Tackling Congestion by Making Better Use of England’s Motorways and Trunk Roads. • http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0405/tackling_congestion.aspx • Taking a socio-technical system approach to road congestion => we need to think about the system. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

5. What is ‘Executive summary’? • Unlike other summaries, which are usually written on the assumption that a reader has read the entire document, an executive summary is written assuming the reader might read nothing but the summary. • So an executive summary attempts to distil an entire document to a few pages or less. • The process of distilling the document invariably means making choices about inclusions and exclusions. • To that extent the summary can reflect the values or biases of the person summarising the document (who might not be the same person as the one who wrote it). AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

6. Activity 11 (exploratory) • Please read the ‘Executive summary’ section of Tackling Congestion (pp. 1–9). As you read, try to answer the following questions, which are 4.5(a) and 4.7(e) from the set given in Section 4: • What special or chance events have occurred recently? (Interpret ‘recently’ generously, and bear in mind that the report was published in 2004.) (p) • Whose values determine what is ‘desirable’? (D) AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

7. Note • We will concentrate on just one part of the technology referred to in Tackling Congestion, namely roadside information systems (RIS). AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

8. Roadside information systems (RIS) • One of the allegations made in Tackling Congestion is that the Highways Agency failed to provide effective on-road information. • Let’s investigate reasons for the failure. • As a way of approaching the issue we will think about it in terms of a socio-technical system, a roadside traffic information system. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

9. Failure investigation process • The process consists of these four stages: • Find out more about the roadside information system. • Draw a system map. • Add information flows to the system map. • Try to account for the failure. • The systems questions, or some of them, play a role in all these stages. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

10. Caution • The Tackling Congestion report is just one account. If we were investigating this issue seriously, we would need to find out much more about the events described than is contained in this report. However, because of the limited time available, we will work almost exclusively with this report. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

11. Roadside information system: Components and Environment • Road users are the people for whom the roadside information is intended. • The Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association are two professional bodies whose members are important consumers of roadside information. • Ordinary motorists also use roadside information (though no motoring organisations are mentioned in these pages). • The Highways Agency manages the road network and installs the roadside equipment and signs. • The police, through a network of Police Control Offices, have operated the signals. • The police have monitored road conditions, mainly by using their patrols and CCTV [closed-circuit television] cameras’ AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

12. Developing system map • Questions that helps to organize the information gathered for incorporation into the system map. • 4.1(c): What are the components of its environment? • 4.2(b): What are the system’s inputs and outputs? • 4.2(c): What are the flows between the functional subsystems? • 4.3(a): Which people and groups belong to the system? AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

13. RIS system map AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

14. RIS system map + information flows AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

15. Congestion reduction system • What, basically, does the system do? • A roadside traffic information system should probably be seen as being embedded in a system to reduce congestion on the roads • The congestion reduction system should contain much more than just the roadside traffic information system, and the road users will now almost certainly receive information from sources other than roadside signs. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

16. Congestion reduction system • if the roadside traffic information system is expected to help reduce congestion, its success or failure will almost certainly be judged in terms of congestion reduction, rather than simply in terms of the efficiency with which it delivers information. • Provided congestion on the road network can be adequately defined and measured, the state of congestion on the road network provides a ‘quantifiable measure of performance’ of the congestion reduction system, of which the roadside traffic information system is just one part AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

17. National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC) • Major functions and goals • One of the major functions of the NTCC in UK is providing traffic information. • The (NTCC) provides free, real-time information on England’s network of motorways and trunk roads to road users, allowing them to plan routes and avoid congested areas. • Goals of congestion avoidance are achieved through the provision of information. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

18. National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC) • Audience • Includes people at home planning journeys (and presumably wishing to avoid congestion) rather than just people already on the road. • This expansion of audience takes advantage of new technologies, and can be seen as a strategy for avoiding congestion, rather than just alleviating congestion when it happens. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

19. National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC) • Audience • Example of one of the newer methods of disseminating traffic information (at the time of writing): RSS reader • Information such can also be made available via the cellular phone system to mobile devices inside vehicles. Alternatively, or additionally, navigational devices inside cars could use this information when giving a route to a driver AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

20. Summary • The systems questions can be used at all stages of the process of failure analysis. • They can be used for gathering information, to help construct a view of the system and as a way of highlighting problematic areas. • The systems questions do not lead directly to problem areas, but suggest further lines of inquiry. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

21. Road pricing 6 AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

22. Introduction • Managing the use of the road network through Congestion reduction • Congestion reduction can be thought of as a way of managing the use of the road network. • By encouraging road users to avoid certain parts of the road network, or to reschedule their journey, we are managing the way the network is used. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

23. Introduction • Why traffic information systems cannot be used as traffic management tools? • They are fairly indirect. • They do not offer easily administered penalties and rewards for particular patterns of road use. • The only incentive to a road user to change their pattern of use is their presumed desire to avoid congestion AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

24. Introduction • Road pricing is to create a more effective management tool • In road pricing, users are financially penalised for particular patterns of road use, and ‘rewarded’ for other patterns. • This is done by charging road users for the use they make of roads. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

25. Introduction • Enhancing effectiveness of road pricing as a congestion management tool • The effectiveness of road pricing as a congestion management tool is presumed to be enhanced by variable charging. That is to say: • Some roads might carry a higher charge than other roads. • Use of a road at certain times of day might be charged more than at other times. • Certain types of vehicle might be charged more than others. • Different levels of vehicle occupancy might carry different charges. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

26. Road pricing – The system • System questions • 4.6(a) what, basically, does the system do? • 4.6(b) what gives the system its identity? • 4.6(c) what are the main objectives? • 4.6(d) can the achievement of the system’s objectives be measured? • 4.6(e) to what extent are the objectives met? • 4.6(f) what is the capacity of the technology to meet users’ and customers’ needs? • 4.6(g) what are the main conflicts? • 4.6(h) what is the balance of power? AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

27. Road pricing – The system • What, basically, does the system do? • What are the main objectives? • Can the achievement of the system’s objectives be measured? AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

28. Road pricing – The system • It enables management of the road network • The main objective is to control congestion, which might mean reducing it, or might mean holding it at current levels. • Congestion could be measured, for example, by calculating average journey times, or calculating average journey speeds. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

29. Tracking and electronic logs • Vehicle navigation systems calculate the position of a vehicle from data received from satellites, and match that position information to electronically stored maps within the devices. • It would be feasible to marry these devices to others that could keep an electronic log of the journeys made. • Logs of vehicle journeys would have to be uploaded periodicallyfrom the vehicle to the charging system, and there are various ways this might be done. • For example, the log might be uploaded through the cellular phone system, through dedicated short range wireless networks transmitting from cars to roadside receivers or through swipe cards which could be read at filling stations or other places. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

30. Tracking and electronic logs • Example (using the US GPS satellite system): • The National Motorway Charging Scheme for lorries, introduced in Germany in January 2005. • The lorries are fitted with on-board units which keep logs of the journeys made. • The vehicle’s location is calculated by the on-board unit from data received from the US GPS satellite system. • The on-board unit calculates the charge due, and sends this data, together with the journey details, to a toll collection centre via the cellular phone system. • A bill is then sent to the lorry’s owner or driver (Commission for Integrated Transport, 2007). AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

31. Tracking and electronic logs • Other ways of tracking journeys • Other ways of tracking journeys might involve roadside automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, coupled to the national database of vehicles, which records details of vehicles and their owners. • Yet another possibility is for vehicles to carry a tag which carries identification details. • These details are transmitted by microwave to ‘readers’ positioned at the roadside or overhead. • Details of the vehicle’s movements can be logged from the records of these roadside or overhead readers. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

32. Road pricing – The system ‘Technical’ systems questions (4.4) • What technologies does the system use? • What legislation, standards or regulations govern the use of the technologies? • What codes of practice are relevant? • Is the technology mature or novel? (Old and obsolete? New and untested?) • How long will it be stable? • Are there maintenance or updating implications? • Are there reliability or safety issues? • Does it require new skills to be developed? (Retraining of existing staff? Recruitment of new staff?) • What are the interfaces between the people and the technology? AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

33. Activity 22 (self-assessment) • What technologies might the road-pricing system use? (Think of the system at a high level, rather than, for example, at the level of credit card payment technology or invoice-mailing technology.) AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

34. Activity 22 (self-assessment) • Answer: • Depending on the location system used, the following might be used, possibly in combination: • Satellite location technology • ANPR • RFID • dedicated short range communication (DSRC). AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

35. Activity 23 • For the technologies in the last activity: • Is the technology mature or novel? (Old and obsolete? New and untested?) • Are there reliability issues? AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

36. Activity 23 – Answer (1/2) • At the time of writing (2007): • Satellite location technology for use in vehicles is rapidly becoming established, with the prices of units for cars dropping rapidly. • ANPR and RFID are well established. • Dedicated short range communication (DSRC) is novel. • However, although several of the technologies are mature of approaching maturity, what is novel for road pricing is putting them together into a system on the scale envisaged. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

37. Activity 23 – Answer (2/2) • Reliability issues: • Satellite location is fairly reliable. But there are potential problems with the limited precision available from the GPS. (If two roads are close together, the system might not be able to determine which road the vehicle is on.) The European Galileo system offers higher precision, but at the time of writing is in development. • ANPR is subject to error through misreading of the number-plate. However, in a practical system a vehicle’s number-plate would typically be read many times during a journey, so overall the reliability could be acceptable. • RFID is very reliable. • DSRC is still an unknown quantity AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

38. Why reduce congestion? The Eddington Report • In 2005, Sir Rod Eddington was asked by the UK government to examine: • the long-term links between transport and the UK’s economic productivity, growth and stability, within the context of the Government’s broader commitment to sustainable development. (HM Treasury, 2007) • His report, entitled The Eddington Transport Study, was published in December 2006. • It runs to four volumes, with a fifth summary volume. • All five volumes can be downloaded via web: • http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/transportstrategy/eddingtonstudy/ • However, the entire report is long, so we shall concentrate on just the summary volume. Even that is long (over 60 pages), so we shall just direct you to selected pages. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

39. Do Activity 24 AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

40. Why reduce congestion? The Eddington Report • Eddington’s distinct reasons • One thing that emerges strongly from Activity 24 is that Eddington has a distinct reason for wanting to reduce congestion – namely a wish to reduce the financial burden on business. • In addition, he wants transport to bear the true environmental cost of its operations. • To achieve both of these objectives, he advocates road pricing, but as part of a ‘sophisticated policy’ (recommendation 15(3)) that would also include investment in roads and public transport. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

41. Complexity and practicality • Any practical road-pricing system on a large scale would be complex – too complex for us to delve into here. • So instead we are going to concentrate on what might appear to be a detail. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

42. Scenario for reducing congestion • Suppose we have a section of trunk road from A to B which is regularly congested at certain times of the day • However, suppose there is an alternative route from A to B . This alternative route happens to pass through a residentialarea. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

43. Scenario for reducing congestion • Solution 1: • In an effort to reduce congestion, a high charging rate could be imposed for this trunk road at the busiest times of the day. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

44. Scenario for reducing congestion • Potential Problem with Solution 1: • Imposing a high charging rate for the trunk road is likely to drive yet more people through the residential area increasing the suffering of residents. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

45. Scenario for reducing congestion • Alternate 1 to Solution 1 • Impose the same rate for the residential route as well, to make it less attractive as an alternative to the trunk route. • This is the basis of one type of zonal system, where all the roads in a particular zone are charged at the same rate. • However, if the residential route does offer a way of bypassing the congestion, it will still attract traffic off the trunk road. • Perhaps, then, the charge for using the route through the residential area should be much higher than that on the trunk road. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

46. Scenario for reducing congestion • Alternate 1 to Solution 1 • By making the residential route much more expensive, we attempt to make users of the trunk route stay on the trunk route, or not undertake the journey at all. • Within the residential area there will be a lot of people who are used to making local journeys. • These local journeys might not use the trunk road at all, and so do not contribute to the congestion that we want to reduce. • It would be unfair if these road users had to pay a high charge just to make their local journeys. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

47. Scenario for reducing congestion • Alternate 2: • One possibility is that vehicle owners living in the residential area could be charged at a lower rate than that applying to through-traffic trying to bypass the congestion. • This would be feasible because a road-pricing system would have access to the national database of vehicle owners. • It would therefore ‘know’ who the local road users were and who were not. • Note, however, that what counts as a local journey in an urban area might be quite different from what counts as a local journey in a rural area, so the pricing system might need to take this into account. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

48. Scenario for reducing congestion • Computer models: • Not surprisingly, with a system like this, with many interacting variables, behaviour of the users is hard to predict. • Computer models allow such things as different pricing structures to be tested to see what effect they have, but these models have to make assumptions about how road users respond to variations in charging rate, and these assumptions may turn out to be unwarranted. • Furthermore, we can expect a system as complex as this to have emergent properties. • The purpose of a road pricing system, however, is to change behaviour in a controllable way. • There is a danger that by just getting the technical parts of the system to work, designers will imagine that the larger system will work in the way intended. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

49. Scenario for reducing congestion • Gradualist approach • Bringing in a system like road pricing piecemeal. • In this way it might be possible to avoid outright catastrophe, because with each cautious step forward there is a possibility of retreat if things do not work out. • It seems very likely that well before any major implementation of road pricing takes place, more cities will adopt city-centre congestion charging similar to that in London, and that the charging in London will expand. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011

50. Scenario for reducing congestion • Pros and Cons • As mentioned above, one consequence of a gradual approach is that failure, if it occurs, is less likely to be judged as catastrophic. Indeed, it might be possible to recover from failure quite successfully. • The drawback, naturally, is that it will take an appreciable time for the system to start yielding the benefits that Rod Eddington, for example, hopes to see from road pricing. AOU – T324 – Fall 2011