INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION
COLLABORATION ON INTELLIGENT
TRANSPORT SYSTEMS COMMUNICATION
STANDARDS
TELECOMMUNICATION
STANDARDIZATION SECTOR
ITS-DOC-4
English only
STUDY PERIOD 2009-2012
Original: English
26 June 2012
DOCUMENT
Source:
iMobility:FutureVision Virtual Research Centre
Title:
Future Vision of iMobility in Arabia
Future Vision of iMobility in Arabia – ITS Priorities
When addressing the Arabic Wide Market, it is important to have General Arab States Policy/Plan
that ensures the success of the ITS Applications Market by harmonizing Arab State- Wide
deployment of ITS. A harmonizing plan should take into account future technologies and the
economic diversity of Arab Countries, thereby affecting the speed in which the ITS technology are
deployed in these countries. Decisions of what to deploy next may not follow priority but available
budget. Hence, the question is: How to make the most of the current infrastructure and where
to invest to achieve harmonization and return on investment?
I have classified the above applications according to ITS domains indicated in ISO 14813-1[1]. The
most important ITS Services and Applications in the Arab world are focused on improving safety,
reducing road fatality and casualties as well as more efficient transport of people and goods [2, 3].
The following list is in the order of priority:
1- Road Safety and Traffic Management law enforcement.
2- Economy boosting applications for:
a. Road Traffic Management ( congestion, parking, surveillance, incident , and
demand management) and Emergency response
b. Multimodal e-Logistics and Fleet Management ( Freight and Public Transport
Buses)
c. Multimodal Public Transport
d. Tourist (multimodal information)
e. Multimodal travel (Real Time information, GIS information, trip planning,
alternative choice such as last mile and car sharing applications)
f. Multimodal Electronic Ticketing and real-time journey time prediction
g. Environment: (e.g. emission testing and mitigation, pollution levels/zone, Weather
monitoring and information dissemination, reducing fuel consumption..)
For example Traveller Assistance Navigation/ Assistive driver awareness will be particularly
important for example to Visitors, Tourists and Fleet /Freight Transport receiving parking
Contact:
Contact:
Dr Muna Hamdi
MGH FutureVision Ltd.
Tel:
00447989060405
Email: munahamdi@mghfuturevision.co.uk
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information. Both this application and the Multimodal Travel Information: Urban Multi-Modal
Routing has scored high priority when reviewed by Professor Kamoun, Tunisia.
Ridha Arjoun [5] considers Public Transport and Logistics as top priorities for the Tunisian
Ministry of Transport, in their mission to support the development of the Tunisian Economy. Buzz
words such as Strengthening infrastructure, Service Quality, Safety, Sustainable Development,
steady traffic flow and multimodal transport give us a clear indication and an example of priorities
in the Arab World and particularly the Mediterranean region.
Group taxis and Car Sharing applications is also expect to succeed in Arabic Society
particularly in last mile applications where people tend to know each other and where public
transport may not be available. Prof. Kamoun, also highlighted the importance of car sharing
applications not only for local transport but for example for University Student/Staff transport.
Another example provided by Hany Hassan of an Egyptian startup Carpooling application:
http://www.egyptcarpoolers.com/
Final Conclusion and the way forward:
This work is just the start and the work must continue in collaboration with the MENA iMobility
Research Teams:
Arabic Road Message signs &Travel information presentation – Research Team:
The most interesting applications is Traveller Information: Infrastructure signage
reinforcement - (Scott Cadzow, UK) – To standardize information messages in the Arab world
is a high priority to
give travelers the same look and feel reducing travel stress
avoiding information overload which leading to traveler ignoring the message
 test if visual presentation may be more effective
use message as an safety and law enforcement aid.
make sure that the developed (translated from Worldwide standards) is linguistically
correct and effective.
Use smart positioning and presentation
The application could also be discussed as part of intelligent Mobility & Smart Urban
Environment Research team to incorporate it as part of future smart urban environment planning
and management .
All the application presented can be discussed s part of the Future applications of cooperative
systems in the MENA research team.
All research teams should also address Multimodal Travel Information: Urban Multi-Modal
Routing, which has high interest in the Arab world.
A workshop to start the research team work agenda is now a necessity. Collaboration with ITU and
other worldwide standardization bodies is important to lead in the right direction.
References
1. Intelligent transport systems -- Reference model architecture(s) for the ITS sector -- Part 1: ITS
service domains, service groups and services - ISO 14813-1
2. Tunisia’s Future in Intelligent Mobility: Green, Sustainable and Integrated Transport, Report by
Muna Hamdi (under publication)
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3. Growth area 5: ICT RDI-Transport and Mobility -RDI objectives and potential projects in
Tunisia:governance studies of phase II (Créneau porteur N° 5: RDI TIC et Mobilité –Transport
Objectifs et projets potentiels RDI en Tunisie :études de gouvernance de la phase II)
4. Mohamed Morsi Mahmod, Issam Khalil, Elisabeth Uhlemann and Niclas Nygren, “Wireless
strategies for future and emerging ITS applications,” in Proc. 15th World Congress on
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), New York City, NY, Nov. 2008, 12 pages.
5. Real time public transport information system, Ridha Arjoun - Ministry of Transport, Tunisia
http://www.join-med.eu/Eventpages/presentationsNW4/PDFs/Obj.6.7_Arjoun.pdf