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This paper gives the definitions of transport telematics and intelligent transport systems (ITS), and describes the basic pre-conditions, situation and market of ITS as well as its applications (products and services) in Europe. Availability of navigable digital maps is emphasized as a major premise. Strategic aspects and key issues for ITS development are explained. Current weaknesses and prospects for ITS services in 20 years are discussed. It is concluded that ITS will make a major contribution to the sustainable development of our society, because it increases our mobility without additional environmental burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of GIS-T is characterized in three stages: the map view, the navigational view, and the behavioral view. The static nature of the map view favors applications related to inventory and description, and raises difficult questions of accuracy and interoperability. The navigational view adds concerns for connectivity and planarity, and the storage of time-dependent attributes. Navigation also raises issues of representation related to scale, including the need for lane-level connectivity. The behavioral view stems from the work of Hägerstrand, treating transportation events as dynamic and occurring within the largely static transportation space. Appropriate representations for the behavioral view have still to be worked out. In all three cases the legacies of prior technologies and perspectives are still evident. The paper presents a series of research challenges, dealing with standards, representation, unambiguous communication, economic models, response to new technologies, and application of knowledge gained from GIS-T and ITS research to other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the impediments to the implementation of ITS is the lack of map database interoperability. Centreline databases are available from a number of sources, but few were designed specifically for ITS. Consequently there are a variety of problems—coordinate inaccuracy, errors of omission and commission, missing or wrong street names, incorrect topology—that are compounded when communicating parties use databases from different vendors. Many ITS applications (e.g., emergency response, ATIS) rely on the exchange of messages in which location is a component. Map error and interoperability problems can result in a variety of practical difficulties, from inappropriate vehicle routing to delays in delivery of critical services. These problems can be addressed by (a) standards for map databases, (b) intelligent messaging, (c) national integration efforts to improve database quality in the long term. This paper examines the dimensions of the problem, and describes solutions currently under development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]