A New COST Action: Autonomic Road Transport Support (ARTS) Systems

Mobility of people and goods is a key challenge for the future. Transport is one of the world's largest industrial sectors, yet challenges and frequent failures of road transportation networks are well known, with the cost of congestion alone estimated at Euro 100 billion in the EU[1].
Systems of road traffic flow are affected by the outcome of individual driving decisions, often assisted by personalised navigation and information-providing devices. This combined with the complex topology of the network and the random occurrence of capacity reducing events make for a complex system. Within this system control centres utilise a range of assets (traffic signal, variable speed limits, re-routing etc) to help optimise the flow of network traffic with respect to a range of rules, regulations and policies relating to efficiency, safety and environmental criteria.