On Intelligent Transportation Systems and Road Congestion

Despite substantial investments in transportation infrastructures, road congestion in urban areas has not abated. While there is a growing interest among policymakers in intelligent transportation systems (ITS), the role of ITS in road congestion has not been established. To investigate the effect of ITS on road congestion, we utilized a unique dataset on traffic and ITS adoption from 99 U.S. urban areas in 2001-2008. The results from fixed-effects estimations show that ITS adoption reduces road congestion, saving an average driver 98 minutes of driving time and $38 per year. We also obtained preliminary evidence that ITS reduces carbon emissions by alleviating road congestion. Our findings extend the emerging IS literature on IT value in the public sector and the societal impacts of IT. Our study also contributes to the transportation economics literature and informs transportation policymakers by showing that ITS could be a cost-effective alternative to tackle road congestion

Are You Responsible for Traffic Congestion? A Systematic Review of the Socio-technical Perspective of Smart Mobility Services

A large amount of the pollution of modern cities is caused by individual transportation. Hence, many road users suffer from stress, emissions and noise. Smart mobility services can help improving the situa-tion by distributing traffic more consistently across different routes, times, and transportation modes. These services comprise two dimensions, a technical and a socio-technical. The latter addresses the road user’s role as data and knowledge provider and stresses the road user’s role in actively contributing to relieved traffic. As such, road users display one of the strongest levers to sustainably relieve traffic both in terms of knowledge providers and traffic actors. Using a systematic analysis of 28 publications, we show that existing SMob services show several chal-lenges related to the involvement of road users. We call for more research on SMob services that account for long-term user involvement e.g. by positively in-fluences road users’ practices and routines

A Socio-Ecological-Technical Perspective: How has Information Systems Contributed to Solving the Sustainability Problem

This literature review extends the dominant view of Information Systems (IS) as socio-technical. We establish a novel view of IS as socio-ecological-technical systems to steer and unite IS research and scholarship to co-create digitally transformed sustainable futures. Without a commitment to reducing carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e), we will reach a tipping point leading to large-scale, dangerous, and irreversible impacts on climate, human liveability, and survivability. Digital technology can potentially mediate human activities to reduce CO2e, but its production, utilisation, and disposal are multiple sources of CO2e. In response to the conference theme “Co-creating Sustainable Digital Futures”, this paper systematically reviews the IS research over the last twelve years from the socioecological- technical and Environmentally Sustainable Digital Transformation frameworks, with a focus on CO2e. Our holistic approach reveals emerging themes, current gaps and research opportunities, thus contributing to IS knowledge building and proposing future studies in this socio-ecological-technical domain

ICIS - On Intelligent Transportation Systems and Road Congestion

Despite substantial investments in transportation infrastructures, road congestion in urban areas has not abated. While there is a growing interest among policymakers in intelligent transportation systems (ITS), the role of ITS in road congestion has not been established. To investigate the effect of ITS on road congestion, we utilized a unique dataset on traffic and ITS adoption from 99 U.S. urban areas in 2001-2008. The results from fixed-effects estimations show that ITS adoption reduces road congestion, saving an average driver 98 minutes of driving time and $38 per year. We also obtained preliminary evidence that ITS reduces carbon emissions by alleviating road congestion. Our findings extend the emerging IS literature on IT value in the public sector and the societal impacts of IT. Our study also contributes to the transportation economics literature and informs transportation policymakers by showing that ITS could be a cost-effective alternative to tackle road congestion