This thesis describes the development of a new Road Traffic Monitoring (RTM) system designed by a team at the University of Aberdeen, to provide low cost traffic monitoring that maintains the privacy of the driver and provides high quality traffic data for the authorities. The RTM system communicates with vehicles equipped with satellite transceivers attached to Global Positioning System (GPS) units which provide data about position and velocity, enabling a picture to be built up of traffic flow conditions. The author developed an innovative system to maintain the anonymity of the driver in order for the system to be attractive to both authorities and drivers. The thesis focuses on the author's contribution to the project - the design of the major protocols, including polling and 'system wide' strategies, an in-depth study of the statistics of the capacity of the RTM system and the development of a protocol to limit the number of responses from vehicles to a manageable level. The RTM system was implemented as a simulation and all designed protocols and parameters thoroughly tested. It is currently being used by the European Space Agency in a pilot study as the first phase of implementation. The author then envisaged an intelligent control system that would monitor and control the RTM system in real time, optimising parameters dynamically in order for the system to run efficiently and accurately. A hybrid 'Artificial Intelligence' (AI) system composed of a rule based system and a number of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is proposed. A new rule extraction system developed by the author to counter the 'black box' effect of ANNs is then presented, making use of a hierarchical system of Self Organising Maps (SOMs). Following this, an extension to the system is described, using the Quantisation Error (QE) to enable the real time detection of 'unusual' data, or data from outwith the current operating environment, enabling retraining or the return to a previous control situation, to take place. Such a system of ANNs is ideal for use in both monitoring and control of a dynamic real time system such as RTM.

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This thesis explores whether ‘business model innovation’ could hold the key to advancing the ultra-low and zero carbon vehicle industry in the United Kingdom. This thesis presents a critical comparison of two case studies drawn from qualitative research conducted with a broad cross-section of UK vehicle manufacturers (VMs) that are interested in introducing zero carbon vehicles to the marketplace. The two cases, looking at large established producers of vehicles with trans-national presence (herein termed TNC/MNC VMs) and smaller producers (herein termed SME VMs). The two cases consist of a number of grouped embedded cases focusing on the activities of vehicle producers that are in the process of introducing Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) to the UK marketplace. These cases are constructed and informed by both primary research, semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives of these VMs, secondary analysis of interviews conducted with VM representatives and industry commentators and documentary analysis of contemporary sources and industry commentary. The thesis is framed within a broader academic debate regarding the nature of achieving socio-technical transitions. Within this frame of reference, particular attention is paid to the role of large incumbents vs. new start-up insurgents in bringing innovative technologies to the marketplace; innovative technologies being seen as a key component of a transition to a more sustainable world. In comparing the business models of large, well-established vehicle manufacturers, with smaller, newer, SME providers the ontology of Business Models developed by Osterwalder & Pigneur (2002) is used to interrogate, analyse and make comparisons between the business models of a range of companies that are very dissimilar in nature. Context is crucial to understanding the detail of case studies; as such, the thesis is also informed by the perspectives, gained through interviews, of a number of industry commentators, representatives of government organisations and automotive trade bodies. ~ xxviii ~ This thesis set out to explore a number of research themes and the contributions to knowledge that this thesis has made are: Establishing a theoretical linkage between Geels (2006) multi-level perspective of transitions literature and Osterwalder & Pigneur’s (2002) business model ontology. By bringing these two powerful tools together, it is proposed that a complimentary analysis of the business model on the micro level, embedded within an overall socio-technical transition at the macro level can be made. Furthermore, through an empirical analysis of business models in the car industry, a range of business model components, new directions for business models and “complementary” ancillary business models that support the introduction of ULEVs has been identified. Disappointingly, whilst some observation are made about the early stages of transitions, the slow uptake of ULEVs in the marketplace has shown that the incumbent regime is still reistant to transition – and no concrete transition mechanisms can be identified. There are however a collection of observations about the early stages of socio-technical transitions. The thesis also contributes to the ongoing debate about the tensions between incumbent and insurgent business contributing to the ongoing characterisation of the competitive forces that exist between them. Another important contribution to the business models literature, is a discussion of the role of product, process and business model design. Very recent work by Meertens, Starreveld, Iacob, & Nieuwenhuis (2013) has also explored this issue, however, this work takes a different perspective informed by the empirical data within the case studies.

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In Riyadh City, as an effort to reduce the excess dependency on private vehicles, in 2012 city’s authorities have approved the construction of a public transport system and travel demand management strategies. On this basis, this study question is “what are the procedures and approaches that have to be undertaken to ensure public transport uptake in Riyadh City?” To answer the study question, a relevant literature has been reviewed in order to identify major successes of public transport services around the world. In addition, two empirical studies were conducted in Riyadh during the study course include a series of semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders and a web-based-general-public survey. The study findings were consolidated and discussed to provide concrete answers to the study question. The study found considerable support by stakeholders and the general-public for introducing public transport services and reshaping the existing travel strategies. It was also found that the future planning of the public transport system in Riyadh City has to pay considerable attention to social and cultural perspectives of its citizens; for safety and separate family carriages. The study also found that improving infrastructure to enhance accessibility to and from transit stations, selecting appropriate TOD sites, parking charges are effective strategies. Finding from a stated preference experiment showed that the likelihood of shifting people from private cars to public transport in Riyadh City would increase by a reduction in public transport cost, number of changes, and increase in the service frequency. Most importantly, there are cultural aspects involving perceptions towards public transport that play an important role in people’s intention to use public transport. For example, it found that highly qualified individuals were more likely to perceive public transport as a 'taking a step down into the World' and this is a point in which public transport authorities need to focus in order to ease this perception. Finally, this is the first time to derive estimates of the value of travel time savings for Riyadh City.

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