Enhancing Drivers’ Privacy in Urban Electronic Road Pricing Systems

Durant l’últim segle els vehicles ha esdevingut el mitjà de transport per excel·lència. L’ús generalitzat d’aquests vehicles en la nostra societat ha significat una revolució en diferents àmbits com ara les relacions socials, la comoditat i l’economia. Malgrat això, també ha suposat nous inconvenients, com per exemple, un augment de la congestió del trànsit, dels accidents, i de la contaminació atmosfèrica. Recentment, l’agreujament d’aquests fets, especialment en àrees urbanes, juntament amb l’aparició de les tecnologies de la informació i de la comunicació, i una major conscienciació de la societat amb aquestes problemàtiques, ha suposat el desenvolupament dels sistemes de telepeatge en ciutats. L’objectiu d’aquests sistemes és restringir l’accés de vehicles a determinades zones de la ciutat, anomenades “zones de baixes emissions” (LEZ), mitjançant el pagament de peatges en funció de les condicions del trànsit i les emissions del vehicle. Des de la seva implantació, les solucions semblen prometedores. Tot i això, encara son lluny de ser ideals ja que, com s’ha demostrat, afecten la privadesa dels conductors i tenen un alt percentatge d’error en el control de frau. Aquesta tesi té com objectiu proporcionar seguretat i privadesa als sistemes de peatge urbans mitjançant l’estudi de la privadesa i control de frau que ofereixen els sistemes existents. A més a més, basat amb les conclusions d’aquest estudi, es proposen dos nous sistemes de telepeatge per detectar el frau de manera determinista i preservar la privadesa dels conductors mitjançant anonimat revocable. Ambdues propostes permeten dispersar el trànsit procedent de zones amb alta densitat de trànsit amb l’objectiu de reduir les emissions contaminants. En la primera proposta, els conductors paguen en funció de la durada de l’estada a la LEZ, en canvi, en la segona, els conductors paguen d’acord amb trajecte recorregut. També inclouen un estudi de seguretat, privadesa i viabilitat.Durante el último siglo los vehículos se han convertido en el medio de transporte por excelencia. El uso generalizado de éstos en nuestra sociedad ha significado una revolución en ámbitos como las relaciones sociales y la economía. Sin embargo, también ha supuesto nuevos inconvenientes, como el aumento de la congestión del tráfico y de la contaminación atmosférica. Recientemente, el agravamiento de estos hechos, especialmente en áreas urbanas, junto con la aparición de las tecnologías de la información y de la comunicación, y una mayor concienciación de la sociedad con estas problemáticas, ha supuesto el desarrollo de los sistemas de telepeaje en ciudades. El objetivo de éstos es restringir el acceso de vehículos a determinadas zonas de la ciudad, llamadas "zonas de bajas emisiones" (LEZ), mediante el pago de peajes en función de las condiciones del tráfico y las emisiones del vehículo. Desde su implantación, las soluciones parecen prometedoras. Sin embargo, todavía son lejos de ser ideales ya que pueden afectar a la privacidad de los conductores y tienen un alto porcentaje de error en el control del fraude. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo proporcionar seguridad y privacidad a los sistemas de peaje urbanos mediante el estudio de la privacidad y control de fraude que ofrecen los sistemas existentes. Además, se proponen dos nuevos sistemas de telepeaje para detectar el fraude de manera determinista y preservar la privacidad de los conductores mediante anonimato revocable. Ambas propuestas permiten dispersar el tráfico procedente de zonas con alta densidad de tráfico con el objetivo de reducir las emisiones contaminantes. En la primera propuesta, los conductores pagan en función de la duración de la estancia en la LEZ, en cambio, en la segunda, los conductores pagan de acuerdo con trayecto recorrido. También incluyen un estudio de seguridad, privacidad y viabilidad.Over the last century, vehicles have become the means of transport par excellence. The widespread vehicle adoption by our societies has been a revolution in terms of social interactions and economy. They undoubtedly bring many benefits, but they also entail some drawbacks such as an increase of traffic congestion and air pollution. Recently, the aggravation of these problems in urban areas and the emergence of the Information and Communication Technologies have led to solutions such as the deployment of Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) systems. The main purpose of these systems is to restrict the access of vehicles to certain city areas, named Low Emission Zones (LEZ), for which a toll is assessed according to traffic conditions and vehicle emissions. Since their adoption, these solutions have proven to be quite promising. However, current proposals are still far from being ideal. While reducing congestion to some extent, they exhibit several shortcomings. They still introduce a significant error percentage in the detection of fraudulent drivers. Moreover, they usually require toll systems to be equipped with cameras that take pictures of all the vehicles that pass through the control points, which may represent a serious privacy threat. This thesis aims at providing security and privacy to new LEZs. Two new urban ERP systems have been proposed with the aim of detecting fraud while preserving drivers’ privacy. They provide a deterministic fraud control and revocable anonymity for vehicles that misbehave. Both proposals allow to disperse traffic from areas with high traffic density with the aim of reducing the pollutant emissions. In the first proposal, drivers pay depending on the duration of the stay in the LEZ. In the second proposal, drivers pay according to the path they have covered. They include a study of security, privacy and feasibility

A Survey on Privacy-preserving Electronic Toll Collection Schemes for Intelligent Transportation Systems

As part of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Electronic toll collection (ETC) is a type of toll collection system (TCS) which is getting more and more popular as it can not only help to finance the government's road infrastructure but also it can play a crucial role in pollution reduction and congestion management. As most of the traditional ETC schemes (ETCS) require identifying their users, they enable location tracking. This violates user privacy and poses challenges regarding the compliance of such systems with privacy regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). So far, several privacy-preserving ETC schemes have been proposed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first survey that systematically reviews and compares various characteristics of these schemes, including components, technologies, security properties, privacy properties, and attacks on ETCS. This survey first categorizes the ETCS based on two technologies, GNSS and DSRC. Then under these categories, the schemes are classified based on whether they provide formal proof of security and support security analysis. We also demonstrate which schemes specifically are/are not resistant to collusion and physical attacks. Then, based on these classifications, several limitations and shortcomings in privacy-preserving ETCS are revealed. Finally, we identify several directions for future research

The cognitive and affective antecedents to consumer behavior towards on-demand transportation services in Egypt

In the recent few years, smartphones have shaped and assisted in the creation of new business models to formulate and develop some additional dimensions such as shared-economy or shared-mobility. Since transportation is one of the most essential aspects of shared-economy, it is vital to this study to focus and investigate the consumers’ intention to use the new commuting services provided by Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) in Egypt. Consequently, this research aims to examine and understand the cognitive and affective antecedents to consumers’ behavior towards TNCs in Egypt. Therefore, the model of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) has been applied to understand and explain the factors that influence the behavioral intention (BI) to use TNCs services. The factors of Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI), Facilitating Conditions (FC), Hedonic Motivation (HM), Price Value (PV), and Habit (HT) tested through surveying 200 respondents thru online (Google Forms) and offline (Self-Administered Questionnaires) techniques. The results showed that consumers’ intention to use TNCs services in Egypt, was positively affected by the factors of (performance expectancy, social influence, price value, and habit). However, the variables of (effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and hedonic motivation) showed a negative influence on the intention to use TNCs services in Egypt. Thus, upon the evaluation of the gathered data and discovered findings, the market acceptance and share of TNCs services can be increased if these services considered the factors affecting the consumers\u27 intention that mentioned earlier

SUGAR. Sustainable Urban Goods Logistics Achieved by Regional and Local Policies. City Logistics Best Practices: a Handbook for Authorities

This publication is one of the main results of the SUGAR project and it is focused on the Best Practices analysis, a tool for the involvement of the community of experts in the emerging field of city logistics. The handbook proposes a quick overview on the project, a detailed collection of best practice synthesis, a synthesis of transferrability issues of such practices and the methodology for applying some of them to different cities and fields

Fuzz sensoring

Treball desenvolupat en el marc del programa "European Project Semester".Traffic congestion is a significant problem which affects smoothness in transportation in many cities around the world. It is unavoidable due to increasing numbers of vehicles and overuse of roads in large and growing metropolises. Although, there are several policies that are implemented to reduce traffic congestion, such as improvement of public transport, car and motorcycle restriction on several roads, and an even-odd license plate policy, the major problem involves getting data in order to predict and avoid traffic. Information can be collected from many sources such as: city sensors, GPS, as well as, from many application programming interfaces (API) provided by different companies. The project involves gathering sources and information about traffic congestion in order to create guidelines which can be essential in creating a traffic map of Vilanova i la Geltrú in the future. Eventually, the guidelines to the city of Vilanova i la Geltrú are provided, consisting of analysis of traffic inside the city, IoT management, choices of APIs, effective selection of sensors, and cost analysis to vastly improve traffic flow.Incomin

Connected And Autonomous Vehicles: Implications For Policy And Practice In City And Transportation Planning

Vehicular transportation is undergoing a technological change. Cars are being automated, which have significant implications for governments. Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) can have significant benefits such as improved overall roadside safety and efficiency however, there may also be negative effects as well such as increased sprawl and social inequity. In Ontario, AV testing on public roads has been conducted under O. Reg. 306/15, which has also helped to establish Ontario as a leader of innovation in Canada. Before CAVs can be mass deployed in Ontario and Canada at large however, a number of barriers will need to be addressed such as legislation, infrastructure and cooperation between municipalities, and between municipalities and the automotive industry. Recommendations for municipal and provincial governments are provided

Using tax and regulatory measures to reform choice and usage of motor vehicles for personal transportation in Australia for the sustainability of oil

This thesis has been motivated by the need to preserve the scarce oil resources used by motorists for their personal transportation. The inquiry for this research was whether the government of Australia bears some responsibility for influencing Australian motorists’ choice and usage of motor vehicles, in order to reduce oil consumption and preserve this scarce commodity, and whether this responsibility is being achieved within the current regulatory and tax environment.This qualitative research has been conducted by using interpretive description and legal methodology. A tax policy solution has been suggested after investigating the problem by deconstructing prior knowledge in three areas: the status of oil reserves; the characteristics of motor vehicles that impact upon the consumption of oil; and the tax and regulatory measures that have been adopted by other countries to influence the choice and usage of passenger motor vehicles.A critical examination of the various policy options for Australia was conducted to suggest a solution for this identified problem and this thesis proposes that the best option for Australia is to conduct a comprehensive reform of the motor vehicle taxes and charges and introduce a Luxury Energy Tax (LET) system for motor vehicles based on the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle.The diagnosis of the problem and the design of a solution has been undertaken in this thesis using a step-by-step approach as follows: 1. Investigate the reported data on Australian and global oil resources. 2. Explore the need to focus on reducing oil use by passenger motor vehicles in Australia. 3. Explore the growth of passenger motor vehicle use, both globally and in Australia. 4. Explore the design and choice of passenger motor vehicles in terms of power and weight. 5. Investigate whether future car designs can resolve the oil problem. 6. Examine the current Australian regulatory and tax framework and its failure to promote oil efficiency in passenger motor vehicles. 7. Examine the regulatory and fiscal policies implemented by other countries to promote oil efficiency in passenger motor vehicles. 8. Explore specific studies on motor vehicle taxation undertaken by the Netherlands, Norway and the State of Oregon in the USA. 9. Analyse the criteria to develop a framework for Australia to promote energy-efficient passenger motor vehicles. 10. Design an interventional strategy for Australia, being a tax framework for the Luxury Energy Tax (LET).In order to design the LET criteria, it was necessary to examine the motor vehicle characteristics that cause increased oil use and emissions and to ensure that these characteristics are taken into consideration in the design of the LET. The administration, operation and implementation of the LET system are explained in detail in this thesis. The proposed LET is then evaluated in terms of various criteria including its net revenue generation potential, the known criteria of a good tax and the ability of the tax to change behaviour. It is proposed that the revenues from the LET be directed towards building public transport infrastructure. The LET provides a new policy approach directed at resolving the problem of how passenger motor vehicles are perceived and reducing the demand for large and powerful motor vehicles that consume and diminish the limited oil resources.This thesis identifies the opportunities that could arise through the introduction of a LET, including the design of a new micro-light LET motor vehicle and modernisation of the public transport system. The message from this thesis is that a new way of thinking is required regarding passenger vehicle transportation, and the application of this new way of thinking might bring about benefits and opportunities. This thesis also identifies that without a strong political will, these regulatory and fiscal reforms would only end up as a window-dressing exercise

Data-driven Methodologies and Applications in Urban Mobility

The world is urbanizing at an unprecedented rate where urbanization goes from 39% in 1980 to 58% in 2019 (World Bank, 2019). This poses more and more transportation demand and pressure on the already at or over-capacity old transport infrastructure, especially in urban areas. Along the same timeline, more data generated as a byproduct of daily activity are being collected via the advancement of the internet of things, and computers are getting more and more powerful. These are shown by the statistics such as 90% of the world’s data is generated within the last two years and IBM’s computer is now processing at the speed of 120,000 GPS points per second. Thus, this dissertation discusses the challenges and opportunities arising from the growing demand for urban mobility, particularly in cities with outdated infrastructure, and how to capitalize on the unprecedented growth in data in solving these problems by ways of data-driven transportation-specific methodologies. The dissertation identifies three primary challenges and/or opportunities, which are (1) optimally locating dynamic wireless charging to promote the adoption of electric vehicles, (2) predicting dynamic traffic state using an enormously large dataset of taxi trips, and (3) improving the ride-hailing system with carpooling, smart dispatching, and preemptive repositioning. The dissertation presents potential solutions/methodologies that have become available only recently thanks to the extraordinary growth of data and computers with explosive power, and these methodologies are (1) bi-level optimization planning frameworks for locating dynamic wireless charging facilities, (2) Traffic Graph Convolutional Network for dynamic urban traffic state estimation, and (3) Graph Matching and Reinforcement Learning for the operation and management of mixed autonomous electric taxi fleets. These methodologies are then carefully calibrated, methodically scrutinized under various performance metrics and procedures, and validated with previous research and ground truth data, which is gathered directly from the real world. In order to bridge the gap between scientific discoveries and practical applications, the three methodologies are applied to the case study of (1) Montgomery County, MD, (2) the City of New York, and (3) the City of Chicago and from which, real-world implementation are suggested. This dissertation’s contribution via the provided methodologies, along with the continual increase in data, have the potential to significantly benefit urban mobility and work toward a sustainable transportation system