Smart transportation systems to support the freight transportation related information

Paper i proceeding, 2010

The purpose of this paper is to identify how the smart transportation systems and services are supporting different types of freight transportation related (FTR) information through the transportation networks. The other purpose is to identify the types of functions and the types of FTR information that are supported by such systems and the values and benefits that are created for actors of the transportation networks by using such systems. A literature study was conducted to identify the smart transportation systems and its elements. Documents of more than 65 companies working on the area of smart transportation systems are studied as a source of empirical data to provide a complete list of the smart transportation systems and services. Semi-structured interviews with representatives of the companies are conducted to understand the types of the FTR information that are supported by smart transportation systems and functions that are carried out by using such information. The results of this study show that only some of the smart transportation systems are supporting the FTR information and majority of the smart transportation systems are used in the urban transport sector. Information related to the location of the freight through the transportation network is the most supported FTR information after using the smart transportation systems according to this study. The results of this study are useful for information operators in companies to identify effect of using the smart transportation systems on performance of their transportation networks.