The potential of Intelligent Transport Systems for reducing road transport related greenhouse gas emissions

Executive Summary

Although the available literature lacks a comprehensive assessment of the precise impact of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) on GHG emissions (normally, ITS appear to be associated only with the potential to increase utilisation of infrastructure, with improving transport and cargo management or with improving customer service), its further development presents a strategic tool that could have significant potential in terms reducing environmental pollution and GHG emissions. In this respect already the 2006 review of the European Commission's 2001 White Paper on Transport Policy “Keep Europe Moving” highlighted the contribution that Intelligent Transport Systems can make to meet these challenges. It recognised the role ITS can play in delivering safe, efficient, sustainable and seamless transport of goods and people. This contribution is again referred to by the European Commission in the ITS Action Plan. The Climate Group in its SMART 2020 study estimates that optimising logistics using ITS could in fact result in a 16% reduction in transport emissions and a 27% reduction in storage emissions globally. SMART 2020 further estimates that ITS-driven applications across logistics could achieve a reduction in total global emissions of 1.52 GtCO2.

Recently, the use of ITS to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions emerged as a specific issue of cost reduction that could have a wide range of impacts for the economy and society as a whole.

This study provides a comprehensive qualitative analysis of the potential of ITS for reducing road transport related GHG emissions in the areas of freight management systems (smart logistics), travel demand or demand management systems (smart mobility) and on the synergistic relationships between ITS and Ambient Intelligence technologies and their potential to monitor and control road transport related GGH emissions.

This perspective also aims to clarify the potential of ITS for reducing road transport related GHG emissions through a combination of strong technological innovation (for fleet and freight management) and behavioural change (for mobility or demand management).

Four main trajectories have been defined for the next generation of ICT:

• Networked, mobile, seamless and scalable, offering the capability to be always best connected any time, anywhere and to anything.
• Embedded into the things of everyday life in a way that is either invisible to the user or brings new form-fitting solutions;
• Intelligent and personalised, and therefore more centred on the user and their needs;
• Rich in content and experiences and in visual and multimodal interaction.

These four main trajectories are associated to the so called concept of Ambient Intelligence: Wireless systems are moving from the telecommunications domain of mobile telephony to a more ubiquitous way of accessing information and controlling a wide range of every-day systems and devices. This approach opens up a new range of uses for the sensors (RFID tags, smartdust), performing long-term experiments like real-time environmental pollution monitoring, correlating micro-climates with population health, or tracking the spread of bio-chemical agents, which have been analyzed in the present study.

Finally the study also highlights the potential of cleaner cars (electric and hybrid cars) for reducing emissions.

Findings presented in this report are based on literature review (considering elaborated scenarios, short scenarios, research publications, projects' goals) and on facts and figures derived from business examples and one case study.

Key findings

1. Review of existing ITS related literature and facts and figures confirms that ITS has significant potential to contribute to reducing road transport-related GHG emissions. The growth of electronics, computing and communications technologies, in recent years, has facilitated new applications of ITS technologies in the road transport sector. Nearly all reviewed studies reveal the positive effect of ITS technologies on GHG reductions and a positive effect on a cleaner air. The firsthand case study (Deutsche Post DHL, Germany) presented in the study as well as the parallel Sectoral e-Business Watch Study “ICT impact on greenhouse gas emissions in energy-intensive industries" by DIW econ confirm this finding.
2. Lack of consolidated empirical evidence: However, while a vast number of studies on the impact of ITS on e.g. road safety, traffic management, intelligent vehicles there are not enough studies that are specifically dedicated to analysing the potential of ITS for reducing GHG emissions in qualitative or quantitative terms.
3. The combined application of Ambient Intelligence related technologies (such as ubiquitous computing and sensor network systems) with the existing infrastructure and deployed ITS technologies may hold the key to maximise the potential of ITS in terms of reducing transport related GHG emissions. Ambient Intelligence was a mere vision until very recent; it is expected, however, that the application of Ambient Intelligence in transport will be a feasible option in the near future, due to
   • decreasing costs and sizes of smart objects (such as e.g. microprocessors and advanced sensors) that can be embedded into almost anything,
   • the rapid development of wireless technologies.
   Ultimately, the combined application of ITS and Ambient Intelligence technologies is likely to lead to new paradigms in how transport networks are managed, controlled and operated.
4. To date no common framework architecture for ITS systems exists. Maximising the potential of ITS for reducing emissions will significantly depend on interoperability of ITS systems.
5. Electric and hybrid cars will become an integrated part of the global transport system, providing –by means of the ITS-related technologies– road infrastructure managers with the data they need for a more efficient management of the traffic.
6. e-Freight as an ICT based ITS tool for a paper-free, electronic exchange of freight transport-related documentation is regarded as a technology that may bear considerable potential to contribute to a reduction of GHG emission from road transport. However, e-freight presently remains a policy and research vision. The policy aspect is implicit in the Freight Transport Logistics Action Plan which presents a number of short- to medium-term actions that will help Europe address its current and future challenges and ensure a competitive and sustainable freight transport system in Europe.

Policy implications

Policy could validate and enhance the potential of ITS mainly by enabling targeted research and by supporting the harmonisation of framework architectures.

1. The study confirms that ITS may significantly contribute to reduce road transport related GHG emission. However, there is not yet sufficient empirical evidence to quantify the potential. It is recommended to dedicate targeted research efforts – e.g. in the context of FP7- to further understand the precise impact of ITS and to prioritise further ITS R&D investments accordingly.
2. EU policy should consider prioritising collaborative research efforts (in the context of FP7 in the field of transport) to study the potential of the combined application of Ambient Intelligence and ITS technologies for attaining EU objectives regarding GHG emissions.
3. Interoperability of ITS systems presents a key to unlock the full potential of ITS in road transport, including its potential to significantly contribute to a reduction of GHG emissions. EU policy could enhance the creation of a common ITS framework architecture and interoperability guidelines, e.g. by prioritising relevant research in European collaborative research projects.
4. The meaning of wireless communication technologies for ITS and Ambient Intelligence related technologies is fundamental and ever increasing. The EU should aim to enhance wireless interoperability guidelines and a new wireless communication protocol standard based on mesh-networks.
5. Targeted research is required to validate the potential of e-freight for contributing to reduce GHG emission.

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  "The potential of Intelligent Transport Systems for reducing road transport related greenhouse gas emissions", December 2009 (PDF, 1.4 MB)