Fashionably Late

This article describes how Alexander Gerschenkron, the famous economic historian, once assumed a benefit for those countries that came late to economic development: that they could introduce the latest technology and thus jump over some of the standard development paths followed by their predecessors. It is entirely possible to make the same observation of late-comers to intelligent transportation systems (ITS): that they can gain from the pains of those who went before and more easily implement best practice into ITS. As a consequence, it is entirely likely that the Abu Dhabi Department of Transportation (DOT) will become a best practice example. The DOT for the capital city of the United Arab Emirates has all transport modes under its authority, a responsibility that it takes quite seriously. For the last year and a half, it has been developing a comprehensive spatial data model designed to accommodate not only the requirements of each mode, but also to provide a model that allows for the integration of information across those modes. This data model is designed to manage and maintain all of the DOT’s tabular and spatial data, and to provide the underlying data infrastructure supporting all of its subsequent business and operational workflows. The DOT very consciously examined the operational practices of leading transportation agencies and designed this architecture with great care. It was only after these spatial networks were built and attributed that the DOT began to layer on its subsequent business solutions (travel demand forecasting, asset and maintenance management and public transport automatic vehicle location (AVL), among others) and this data framework also underpins the implementation of the DOT’s ITS program. In addition, the DOT then built a series of information portals, each building on the same core networks and associated information. First was an internal data portal which allows managers in each division and department to access a wide range of information necessary for their work. Thus a highway engineer can access pavement information (and a detailed video log) from a map interface. A similar map interface lets the public transport division see the current location of a public bus, so not only do they share the same base network but they also can share the resultant information (which can often be real-time information).

• Record URL:
  • http://www.itsinternational.com/features/article.cfm?recordID=4648
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/35183091
• Authors:
  • Bills, Terry
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: pp 32-33
• Serial:
  • ITS International
  • Volume: 17
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Route One Publishing Limited
  • ISSN: 1463-6344
  • Serial URL: http://www.itsinternational.com

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Economic development; Geographic information systems; Highway engineering; Intelligent transportation systems; Intermodal transportation; Public transit; Real time information; Transportation planning
• Geographic Terms: Abu Zaby (United Arab Emirates)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01345731
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 28 2011 10:02AM