Deployment of interurban ATT test scenarios (DIATS): Implications for the European road network

The paper summarizes the research results and implications from the DGVII-funded Fourth Framework research project Deployment of Interurban ATT Test Scenarios (DIATS). The objective of DIATS was to identify options available in the short and medium terms, for implementing advanced transport telematics (ATT) systems for motorway-type roads and to develop scenarios of 'highest potential impact' for each of the systems identified. Included are the results of a Delphi study into the most likely deployment scenarios for ATT technologies. The methodology developed to assess the organizational, social, environmental, efficiency, safety and legal concerns associated with new ATT systems is then described. This includes stated preference questionnaires, traffic simulation modelling, driver behaviour assessment using an instrumented vehicle, analysis of accident databases and literature reviews. A multicriteria analysis of the impacts of a range of ATT systems is then presented. In particular, the results discuss the potential impacts of new in-vehicle driver assistance devices such as adaptive cruise control on the operation and effectiveness of existing fixed-infrastructure systems. The paper concludes with a prioritized list of deployment strategies of maximum impact for all of the systems assessed. The research findings are already being applied nationally and a number of field trial assessments that will assist in this are also proposed.