Politicians, policy- and decision-makers need no-nonsense, non-technical answers on which to base investments in ITS. The International Benefits, Evaluation and Costs (IBEC) Working Group can provide them, says its Chair, Richard Harris
IBEC has history. Ten years ago, a small informal network of individuals recognised that there was a need to study and detail the benefits of ITS applications and to apply consistent evaluation methods to projects. Their aim was to build up a resource of best practice as demonstrated by deployments from around the world.From those beginnings in 1999, IBEC was formally established at the
Now with over 450 members from over 40 countries throughout the world, the group is still focused on bringing together the best knowledge and experience available with the object of encouraging more effective use of ITS evaluation information so that decision-makers can make more informed ITS investments.
Global resource
As Richard Harris concedesRichard Harris, Director, Intelligent Transport Systems, Logica, is internationally recognised as an expert in the application of information technology to transportation.He has a comprehensive understanding of the requirements of end users, service providers, system developers, road and network operators and managers, motor manufacturers, local, regional, national and European decision-makers and policy leaders.
His capabilities are recognised and valued by the organisations that he serves including: Chair of IBEC, the International Benefits Evaluations and Costs (of ITS) group; International Director, ITS UK; UK representative and English Language Secretary of the World Road Association (PIARC) Technical Committee on Network Operations (2008-2011); and Technical Secretary of the PIARC/FISITA Joint Task Force on Intelligent Cooperative Vehicles and Vehicle-Infrastructure Communications and Safety.
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comes from the knowledge and expertise of its diverse membership, all adding to a substantial global resource. Or, as Harris says with enthusiasm, "We have got some cracking stuff. IBEC has always received superb support from the USDOT, so we have all that information available. We also have all the evaluation information available from all the European Regional Projects. They are now moving towards EasyWay, a project for Europe-wide ITS deployment on main TERN corridors. We have good links with that project and with the EasyWay evaluation expert group." While conceding that a majority of members are in the US and Europe, IBEC evaluations aren't confined to these two continents. For instance, Harris mentions an evaluation of the Smartway Experiment in Japan where accidents on blind curves on the expressway were reduced by 79 per cent through the application of roadside sensors with variable message signs and in-vehicle units. It's a very simple, logical approach which warns drivers that there is a queue around the bend, which most respond to and reduce their speed in anticipation.
For Harris, accurate evaluation of ITS projects is paramount. As he points out, IBEC is an entirely voluntary organisation: no one gets paid for doing IBEC work "so it is comprised of people who just believe in ITS and want to make sure that the evaluation results are collected initially, done professionally and then exchanged".
The key word is 'professionally', because as Harris points out, evaluations are quite specialist in many respects and need a level of commitment that most people don't give them. They know intuitively that they have achieved what they wanted to do, but it is very difficult to accurately measure it.
Appraisal
In his view, the starting point must be an accurate and detailed appraisal of the current situation. Then the ITS system is introduced and evaluated."My approach to evaluation is that we need to know, and understand, exactly what is happening; to quantify it in efficiency and/or cost terms. We invested X and we got Y and Z as a return. Because the fact is, we have some very smart people in the world who can do very clever things with models and modelling to see what impact something will have. But they tend to be very small geographical areas, rather than a widespread network. It is very difficult to model that and get the right information to make sure you are making the right decisions." So what would be an example of investing X and getting Y & Z in return? "If you want a real financial return example, then the traffic signal optimisation project in Nashville, Tennessee would give you that: an investment of US$750,000 yielded a $15 million-plus benefit in one year and over $46 million in three years (see page 22).
"In these days of talk of shovel-ready infrastructure projects to increase road capacity and reduce congestion, then the UK's Managed Motorways programme which uses a range of ITS technologies to enable hard shoulder running is a prime example. This concept has provided a 25 per cent increase in capacity, when it is needed at peak periods, on the sections of motorway it has been applied to. While admittedly the costs of increasing capacity in this way are substantially less than building new motorway lanes, the key objective was the speed of achieving desperately needed new road capacity. And there are other significant benefits too: smoother and more efficient traffic flows improve fuel efficiency which leads to a reduction in vehicle emissions and a consequent improvement in local air quality as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
"In terms of reducing death on the roads, and the huge resulting cost to society, then I think my favourite example is speed enforcement on French motorways. Essentially, the culture was that people felt they had a good chance of negotiating their way out of a speeding ticket if they were stopped by the police. So there was an imbalance in the way enforcement was applied. Recognising this, the French Government went to a system with automated cameras on motorways. In the first year of operation, there were 4,000 fewer deaths on motorways, to say nothing of tens of thousands fewer injuries, and at the three year stage, there were 11,000 fewer deaths per year."
Harris adds that road deaths and injuries have also been substantially reduced in France through stricter enforcement of drink driving laws.
Major strengths
Although IBEC is a unique resource for best practice in just about every major area of ITS, Harris cautions that there is no one-size-fits-all ITS solution. And that fact is one of IBEC's major strengths and the main reason for its existence. "The current global economic recession means that
the demand to squeeze more from transport infrastructure and maximise
the return on investment has never been higher," he points out. "Since
IBEC is first and foremost the network of ITS evaluation experts and
provides evaluation results based on reliable and proven evaluation
methodologies, it is in a unique position to help identify the best
options, from around the world, for particular transport issues. What
has worked in Boston, may not work in Bonn or Bangkok. So the global
spread of our members, and the international expertise we have, is a
particular strength."
Indeed, one of the things Harris is very keen on
through his work with IBEC and the
IBEC Membership Benefits
IBEC aims to serve a wide range
of ITS professionals, including planners, researchers, and suppliers of
ITS systems and services, as well as decision-makers and the general
public. Membership is free:
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Core activities include:
• Being the network of evaluation experts;
• Organising thought-provoking and informative sessions at the annual ITS World Congress;
• Running a responsive email discussion group where members post questions and get answers;
• Facilitating information exchange through an online library; and
• Providing networking opportunities at regional ITS conferences.
