Application of Geomatic techniques in Infomobility and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)

During last years, we assisted to an increment of mobility demand, implying the need of adequate infrastructure and efficient public transport. The deployment of informative services and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) assumed a fundamental importance to address mobility demand, strictly correlated to the territory characteristics. At the same time, mature Geomatic technologies, especially related to GPS differential positioning (both in real time and in post processing), mobile mapping systems (MMS), remotely sensed imageries (aerial, satellite and UAV platforms), archiving and management systems (Spatial Data Infrastructure - SDI) will play a crucial role. These applications to infomobility and ITS are described in this paper

Smart Mobility and Elderly People. Can ICT Make City More Accessible for Everybody?

The ageing population is a phenomenon whose relevance grows over time and quickly spreads in different territorial contexts. Therefore, cities will have to take into account the ageing population and define policies and strategies to improve the quality of life. For this purpose is particularly remarkable the transport sector because it allows to use the urban services and to promote an active ageing. Within the field of urban studies aimed at facing the new challenges related to social developments, including that of the ageing population, the Smart City paradigm has been spread to make cities safe, accessible and sustainable. The strategies to improve accessibility and safety of the mobility system using ICTs can have positive impacts in terms of ensuring elderly people the ability to lead an autonomous life and participate actively in society according to one’s individual needs. In this framework, the aim of the paper is to analyse how Italian cities are declining the topic of Smart Mobility, with particular attention to the use of new technologies to improve the elderly trips. The paper attempt to show that in the sample of Italian cities analysed the ICTs applied to the transport sector do not fully realize their potential; this is not due to the limited fields of application, but rather to the lack of a “system-orientated” perspective when applying innovations. The adoption of a smart approach cannot be limited to a market-induced uncritical introduction of devices or sensors, instead, it will be necessary to refine the tools for understanding the needs of specific categories of users, such as the elderly, to define integrated strategies able to operate on many aspects simultaneously

INVESTIGATING ICT SOLUTIONS FOR THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT IN THE FREE STATE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

ThesisInefficiencies in the public transportation system in the Free State province resulting in poor quality public transportation has led to the investigation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions to improve the system, through integration, and the challenges and opportunities that may result from this integration. This research investigates ICT solutions for public transportation improvement focusing on the challenges and opportunities for all stakeholders of the public transportation system. Critical review of South African legislation and policies on public transportation and ICT was carried out. This was to review government laws and policies governing public transportation development. It also reviewed how the government planned on improving public transportation, developments so far based on those plans and future plans, and how these legislations by the government have been carried out in the Free State province. A theoretical framework was developed to lay out expectations for the integration process including the adoption of technologies and adaptations to the new integrated public transportation system based on technology acceptance and diffusion theories. Questionnaire and Interview surveys were carried out on public transportation vehicle owners, drivers, public transportation users and non-users to assess the current state of public transportation, their needs that could potentially be solved by ICT and the challenges likely to be faced. The use of questionnaires was also to assist in identifying and defining elements needed for successful integration of ICT into the system. ICT experts, transportation planners, academics, public transportation owners and users were also interviewed to gain more understanding and insight on ICT solutions, the public transportation systems, technologies for potential use in the public transportation system and challenges that may arise due to integration

An Agent-Based Variogram Modeller: Investigating Intelligent, Distributed-Component Geographical Information Systems

Geo-Information Science (GIScience) is the field of study that addresses substantive questions concerning the handling, analysis and visualisation of spatial data. Geo- Information Systems (GIS), including software, data acquisition and organisational arrangements, are the key technologies underpinning GIScience. A GIS is normally tailored to the service it is supposed to perform. However, there is often the need to do a function that might not be supported by the GIS tool being used. The normal solution in these circumstances is to go out and look for another tool that can do the service, and often an expert to use that tool. This is expensive, time consuming and certainly stressful to the geographical data analyses. On the other hand, GIS is often used in conjunction with other technologies to form a geocomputational environment. One of the complex tools in geocomputation is geostatistics. One of its functions is to provide the means to determine the extent of spatial dependencies within geographical data and processes. Spatial datasets are often large and complex. Currently Agent system are being integrated into GIS to offer flexibility and allow better data analysis. The theis will look into the current application of Agents in within the GIS community, determine if they are used to representing data, process or act a service. The thesis looks into proving the applicability of an agent-oriented paradigm as a service based GIS, having the possibility of providing greater interoperability and reducing resource requirements (human and tools). In particular, analysis was undertaken to determine the need to introduce enhanced features to agents, in order to maximise their effectiveness in GIS. This was achieved by addressing the software agent complexity in design and implementation for the GIS environment and by suggesting possible solutions to encountered problems. The software agent characteristics and features (which include the dynamic binding of plans to software agents in order to tackle the levels of complexity and range of contexts) were examined, as well as discussing current GIScience and the applications of agent technology to GIS, agents as entities, objects and processes. These concepts and their functionalities to GIS are then analysed and discussed. The extent of agent functionality, analysis of the gaps and the use these technologies to express a distributed service providing an agent-based GIS framework is then presented. Thus, a general agent-based framework for GIS and a novel agent-based architecture for a specific part of GIS, the variogram, to examine the applicability of the agent- oriented paradigm to GIS, was devised. An examination of the current mechanisms for constructing variograms, underlying processes and functions was undertaken, then these processes were embedded into a novel agent architecture for GIS. Once the successful software agent implementation had been achieved, the corresponding tool was tested and validated - internally for code errors and externally to determine its functional requirements and whether it enhances the GIS process of dealing with data. Thereafter, its compared with other known service based GIS agents and its advantages and disadvantages analysed

RURAL DEMAND RESPONSIVE TRANSPORT An overview of the Italian scenario and analysis of Antola-Tigullio inner area case study

Over time, a car-centred mobility system has contributed to the negative externalities that can be observed today in both urban and rural areas: congestion of transport infrastructures, air and noise pollution, reduced urban space for pedestrians and cyclists, lack of parks, etc. All this has led policy makers to find solutions to shift citizens from cars to public transport and other sustainable modes (walking and cycling). While in urban areas traditional public transport is often an already widespread and effective service that only needs to be transformed to build user confidence, in rural and mountainous areas, where low transport demand and long distances make it economically unviable, it needs to be integrated or completely replaced by innovative forms of mobility. One of the most valid solutions in this regard is on-demand transport technology, which allows transport providers to reduce their costs by rationalizing the supply (e.g. higher vehicles’ load factor) and population of these areas to improve their accessibility to public transport and abandon the use of the car. Over time, research has been done extensively in academic literature on the application of this technology in urban areas, but little has been undertaken in rural contexts: this PhD thesis aims to contribute to research in this field by studying the technical characteristics of these services in the Italian scenario, in order to provide decision-makers with useful information to counter the phenomena of depopulation and economic and social isolation of these territories. First, this paper provides a comprehensive literature review aimed at understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the DRT service in general and in its application in rural areas: from the description of its historical development, the close relationship between the diffusion of this tool and the phases of technological progress emerges. The central chapters of this thesis deal with an in-depth analysis of all rural DRT cases in operation in Italy in the last decade (both temporary and permanent), carried out through a web search, an analysis of the Program Framework Agreements of the Italian regions and sector agencies’ websites, as well as with the planning of some DRT services in the inner area of Antola-Tigullio (Liguria Region): this last work, carried out after an analysis of the socio-demographic data and the travel behavior of the population, helped to identify the best routes, time slots and target user groups to experiment with the DRT service. After 5 months of experimentation, it was possible to carry out an ex-post analysis of the initial results thanks to the data provided by the local Public Transport Authority (PTA), commissioner of the study. The results of this PhD thesis, obtained from the study of the literature and the analysis both at national level and of a single case study, are multiple and provide useful indications to policy makers and transport providers for the implementation of DRT services in hard-to-reach areas with low transport demand, capable of truly satisfying the mobility needs of the inhabitants by favoring the use of public transport and slowing down the processes of depopulation and economic marginalization affecting these contexts

Innovative Technologies and Services for Smart Cities

A smart city is a modern technology-driven urban area which uses sensing devices, information, and communication technology connected to the internet of things (IoTs) for the optimum and efficient utilization of infrastructures and services with the goal of improving the living conditions of citizens. Increasing populations, lower budgets, limited resources, and compatibility of the upgraded technologies are some of the few problems affecting the implementation of smart cities. Hence, there is continuous advancement regarding technologies for the implementation of smart cities. The aim of this Special Issue is to report on the design and development of integrated/smart sensors, a universal interfacing platform, along with the IoT framework, extending it to next-generation communication networks for monitoring parameters of interest with the goal of achieving smart cities. The proposed universal interfacing platform with the IoT framework will solve many challenging issues and significantly boost the growth of IoT-related applications, not just in the environmental monitoring domain but in the other key areas, such as smart home, assistive technology for the elderly care, smart city with smart waste management, smart E-metering, smart water supply, intelligent traffic control, smart grid, remote healthcare applications, etc., signifying benefits for all countries