Newcastle University

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

To provide timely information on many of the key state of the art ITS and e-services being adopted by the transport industry
To understand the philosophy of why technology has been developed to support the management and control of the transport sector and how the systems and services have an influence on transport policy development.
To provide an understanding of the basic techniques used in the delivery of ITS systems and services including the main communications and information backbones developed for the UK
To understand the processes in the develop of business case for investment in ITS from different actors' viewpoints and the subsequent cost benefit and economic appraisal of proposed projects from both the private and public sector perspectives as well as the end users' willingness to pay for many of the optional services.

To provide an understanding of the building blocks of ITS systems and services and, through examples, critically examine a range of ITS deployments and the policies they are designed to support.

Outline Of Syllabus

Introduction to ITS research programmes from across the world
Main ITS technologies in communications and computing.
Putting ITS in the political content of European white papers and the UK Integrated Transport White paper and subsequent 10 year plan for transport
Charging and Payment Systems (congestion charging, tolling, smartcards and e-commerce)
Traffic Management Systems (UTMC, NCMS, TCS, data collection and dissemination)
Provision of Information (in-vehicle, roadside VMS, mobile platform delivery, digital TV and the internet, e-kiosks and public assessable information points)
Safety systems that deploy ITS in different ways
e-Mobility - the use of ITS to support electric vehicles and their associated re-charging infrastrucure
Standards and need for interoperability
A sample of Key application areas (Freight and fleet management, safety systems, public transport, design for all/accessibility and citizen centric traveller-support applications)
Understanding how to develop a business case and financial plan for ITS and e-services investment
It should be noted that the range of examples, applications and services may change from year to year to reflect the political realities of ITS deployment and the topicality

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

To achieve an understanding of why ITS and e-services have developed in the way they have within transport and the potential benefits of their use.
To foster familiarity with the main systems, services and techniques that practitioners and local authorities may be tasked with implementing and running over the next decade or so.
To have an appreciation of the policy drivers, financial/investment issues and the social and economic impacts of introducing new technologies and service delivery channels in the transport sector

To ensure the student understands the role ITS can play and its limitations in the current economic environment of low-spending on transport infrastructure and the effects austerity may have on travel and the investment in technology to better manage travel demand and all its disbenefits (congestion, pollution, climate change and energy use).

Intended Skill Outcomes

To understand the applications and services that could be delivered and the underlying technologies utilised by these.
To understand the effects of implementing such applications and demonstrate the application of techniques
To undertstand and be able to apply new and emerging ITS systems and services to a range of transport problems and situations with an appreciation of the benefits that such deployments could derive.
To critically assess ITS and e-Services from cost-benefit and generalised economic analysis

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures are the primary means of delivering the curriculum. Students are given a programme of required reading to supplement the lectures, and are also encouraged to read round the subject as widely as possible. It is noted that due to the rapid evolution of the state of the art in ITS and e-Services that journal and academic publications should be augmented by up to the minute information from government web-sites and from trade/industry publications. A programme of self study work is provided which explores how the techniques and technologies for various ITS sectors, such as road-use pricing, traffic control, in-vehicle and mobile information delivery, e-service delivery (both transport and citizen-focused local authority applications), freight operations and safety systems. Developing the business case for investment in such systems is seen as crucial for understanding the reality that transport operators have to live within – thus the policy issues, cost benefit, social issues and the economic case for investment is covered through workshops and case studies. To tackle practical problems and to encourage discussion of issues relating to strengths and weaknesses of the methods.

Students are required to discuss these issues in small teams and to present their findings to the rest of the class, thus developing oral-communication skills. The self study programme helps students to develop problem-solving, numeracy and written communication skills. Self study is critical to delivering the learning objectives of the module as the ITS field is growing rapidly year on year and not all topics and areas that are important for a wider understanding of ITS can be covered in lectures and thus are covered through guided self learning and the coursework assessments. Seminars and discussions to discuss ITS in the wider political and economic context area also a feature of the course to achieve the above.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The coursework element critically assesses the students' understanding of the role ITS systems and services do, or could play, in tackling transport problems in a new, innovative way. The coursework requires the students to discuss and critically analyse the context in which ITS and e-Services are deployed from the political, societal, transport challenges, impacts and user acceptance points of view as well as considering the financial and political environment we find ourselves at present.
All the above areas are requested to be covered in the presentations that the group are tasked with researching and preparing. The group coursework is assessed both as a piece of group coursework but also from the individual contribution and presentation performance.

The unseen examination is to test knowledge, understanding and interpretation of the Intended Learning Outcomes through written communication.

General Notes

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