The increase in the number of deaths due to ground traffic accidents is a global problem. In such context, the development of new vehicular technologies is considered an alternative to improve road safety. Within the field of new vehicle technologies, it is possible to find driver assistance systems. These systems interact in an active or passive way with the driver, reducing their workload by presenting information about their surroundings, which may imply the safer direction of a land vehicle. Taking into account that one of the main reasons for road traffic fatalities in the world is the lane change in a road, hereby we created a cooperative driver assistance system for the lane change, arising from the combination of a kinematic model and a probabilistic graphical one. By combining these two models, we try to improve the response in the assistance of the system, given the direct dependence of the system with a human. Due to the latter, the response of such systems cannot be deterministic in nature. One of the motivations to use probabilistic graphical models is the flexibility of this machines learning technique in modeling the problem addressed in this thesis. In addition to this contribution of applying a specific probabilistic graphical model in our assistance system, other contributions can be found in this thesis, including the development of a Driving simulation platform with a reconfigurable structure. The ability to reconfigure the structure of the driving simulator platform was of great importance for the development and evaluation of the assistance system hereby proposed in each of its stages. In addition, the decision to model a cooperative approach in our assistance system is due to the great potential of the vehicular communications with respect to improving transport safety and efficiency. The moderate cost that is being projected in vehicular communications is another relevant fact. Finally, the description and application of our assistance system model can be considered as a possibility in the area for the development of an application that needs a close response to the reality, based on the uncertainties present in the problem under consideration. / O aumento no número de mortes por causa de acidentes de tráfego terrestre é um problema global. No âmbito dessa problemática, o desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias veiculares é considerado uma alternativa para melhorar a segurança viária. Dentro do domínio das novas tecnologias veiculares, é possível encontrar sistemas de assistência ao motorista. Esses sistemas interagem de maneira ativa ou passiva com o motorista, conseguindo reduzir sua carga de trabalho, apresentando informações de seu entorno, o que pode implicar uma direção mais segura de um veículo terrestre. Levando em consideração que um dos principais motivos de mortes por acidentes de tráfego terrestre no mundo é a mudança de faixa em uma pista, neste trabalho, realizamos a tarefa de criar um sistema cooperativo de assistência ao motorista para a mudança de faixa, a partir da combinação de um modelo cinemático e de um modelo gráfico probabilístico. Mediante a combinação destes dois modelos, procuramos melhorar a resposta na assistência por parte do sistema, dada a dependência direta que o sistema tem dos humanos. Por essa última razão, a resposta deste tipo de sistemas não pode ser determinística por natureza. Uma das motivações para utilizar os modelos gráficos probabilísticos é a flexibilidade da técnica de machine learning em modelar o problema abordado nesta tese. Além dessa contribuição de aplicar um modelo gráfico probabilístico específico em nosso sistema de assistência, outras contribuições podem ser encontradas nesta tese, incluindo o desenvolvimento de uma plataforma de simulação para a condução, com uma estrutura reconfigurável. A capacidade de poder reconfigurar a estrutura da plataforma de simulação foi de grande importância para o desenvolvimento e avaliação do sistema de assistência proposto nesta tese, em cada uma de suas etapas. Além disso, a decisão de modelar um enfoque cooperativo, em nosso sistema de assistência, se deve ao grande potencial que tem as comunicações veiculares com respeito à melhora da segurança e da eficiência do transporte. O custo moderado que está sendo projetado nas comunicações veiculares é outro fato relevante. A descrição e aplicação de nosso modelo final podem ser considerados mais uma possibilidade na área para o desenvolvimento de uma aplicação, que precise de uma resposta próxima da realidade, a partir das incertezas presentes no problema considerado.

Mobilidade Urbana é uma das questões mais importantes da atualidade, pois afeta uma parcela significativa da população, impacta fortemente a poluição ambiental, é um problema mundial e tende a piorar com o aumento da densidade populacional e das cidades. A provisão de grandes obras de infraestrutura é cada vez mais difícil e onerosa, sendo necessário o uso da tecnologia e da integração de sistemas para o melhor aproveitamento da estrutura existente. O objetivo desta tese é propor um modelo de gestão para automação de centros integrados aderentes às realidades de custo, disponibilidade tecnológica, cultura organizacional e estratégias políticas de cidades com características semelhantes aos grandes e médios municípios do Brasil. Tal modelo permite, dentre outras contribuições, promover melhorias nas tomadas de decisão por gestores da área de mobilidade urbana por meio da incorporação e da liberação de dados e informações dentro de uma modelagem de gestão que visa facilitar as parcerias e a comunicação entre diferentes setores. As maiores cidades brasileiras estão buscando se atualizar para resolver seus problemas de mobilidade e passam por um período de transformação. A proposta do Centro Integrado de Mobilidade Urbana possibilita automatizar processos, implementar novas funcionalidades, fornecer informações para usuários, compartilhar recursos e diminuir custos. A utilização de ferramentas do arcabouço da Modelagem por Processos de Negócios (BPM) é a escolha lógica para um sistema que lida com tantas interrupções. Ao se projetar modelos de trabalho com o intuito de incorporar novas tecnologias e/ou torná-los mais eficientes, é preciso modelá-los de alguma maneira. O sistema de BPM adapta-se bem à necessidade de padronização e reprodutibilidade de processos, propiciando ainda a agregação de múltiplas saídas por processo. A visibilidade e o alcance desta metodologia aumenta a sobrevida de modelagens realizadas nesta base. O desenvolvimento de aplicativos de mobilidade deve acontecer de forma acelerada nos próximos anos. Como demonstrado, a necessidade de automação, integração e consolidação de informações corroboram com a de criação de um Centro Integrado. A utilização dos sistemas propostos é uma maneira de formalizar e aumentar a busca por parcerias e facilitar colaborações tanto no sentido de captar quanto de informar, dando suporte às pesquisas internas de órgãos públicos e privados. / Urban Mobility is one of the most important issues of our times, because it affects a significant portion of the population, strongly impacts the environmental pollution, it is a global problem and tends to get worse with increasing of population density and cities. The delivery of major infrastructure is becoming increasingly difficult and costly, requiring the use of technology and systems integration for better utilization of the existing structure. The objective of this thesis is to propose a management model for automation of integrated centers connected to cost realities, technological availability, organizational culture and political strategies of cities similar to large and mediumsized municipalities in Brazil. This model allows, among other contributions, to promote improvements in the decision making process by managers of urban mobility area through the incorporation and release of data and information within a management model to facilitate partnerships and communication among different sectors. The largest Brazilian cities are seeking to update themselves to solve their mobility problems and undergo a period of transformation. The Integrated Urban Mobility Center proposed allow to automate processes, implement new functionalities, provide information to users, share resources and reduce costs. Using tools from the Business Process Modeling (BPM) framework is the logical choice for a system that handles so many disruptions. When designing work model to incorporate new technologies and / or to make them more efficient, it is necessary to modeled it in some way. The BPM system adapts well to the needs of standardization and processes reproducibility, further enabling aggregation of multiple outputs by process. The visibility and extent of this methodology increases the life time of modeling performed on this basis. The development of mobility apps will happen rapidly in the coming years. As demonstrated, the need for automation, integration and consolidation of information corroborates with the creation of an Integrated Center. The use of the proposed systems is a way to formalize and increase the search for partnerships and facilitate collaboration both to capture as to inform, supporting the internal researches of private and public agencies.

In this research oriented master’s thesis we have proposed a future vision of ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) by utilizing the novel concept of HWA (Heterogeneous Wireless Access). Our proposal is backed by the investigation of the results of experiments conducted at CERES (Centre for Research on Embedded Systems), Halmstad University, Sweden to evaluate the quality of communication for V2V and V2I by using the IEEE 802.11p standard. We have also identified the expected scenarios with need of any other communication technology in replacement of IEEE 802.11p for V2V and V2I communication. We have also investigated the relevant research projects, experiments and their results on the basis of predefined constraints. In the investigated research projects the concept of HWA has been correlated with our proposal of HWA for ITS. We have identified that for smooth integration of any communication technology with IEEE 802.11p, an efficient and smart vertical handover protocol or method will be required. We have presented a blue print of a custom designed vertical handover technique which can be implemented for future ITS with further enhancements and experimental evaluations. We have also evaluated the worst case scenarios to assess the suitability of the HWA for the ITS. We proposed few solutions based on the evaluation of communication scenarios for the integration of IEEE 802.11p with other wireless communication technologies. Finally we have provided some conclusions and suggested future researches which must be conducted to realize the dream of ITS with support of HWA.

Mobilidade Urbana é uma das questões mais importantes da atualidade, pois afeta uma parcela significativa da população, impacta fortemente a poluição ambiental, é um problema mundial e tende a piorar com o aumento da densidade populacional e das cidades. A provisão de grandes obras de infraestrutura é cada vez mais difícil e onerosa, sendo necessário o uso da tecnologia e da integração de sistemas para o melhor aproveitamento da estrutura existente. O objetivo desta tese é propor um modelo de gestão para automação de centros integrados aderentes às realidades de custo, disponibilidade tecnológica, cultura organizacional e estratégias políticas de cidades com características semelhantes aos grandes e médios municípios do Brasil. Tal modelo permite, dentre outras contribuições, promover melhorias nas tomadas de decisão por gestores da área de mobilidade urbana por meio da incorporação e da liberação de dados e informações dentro de uma modelagem de gestão que visa facilitar as parcerias e a comunicação entre diferentes setores. As maiores cidades brasileiras estão buscando se atualizar para resolver seus problemas de mobilidade e passam por um período de transformação. A proposta do Centro Integrado de Mobilidade Urbana possibilita automatizar processos, implementar novas funcionalidades, fornecer informações para usuários, compartilhar recursos e diminuir custos. A utilização de ferramentas do arcabouço da Modelagem por Processos de Negócios (BPM) é a escolha lógica para um sistema que lida com tantas interrupções. Ao se projetar modelos de trabalho com o intuito de incorporar novas tecnologias e/ou torná-los mais eficientes, é preciso modelá-los de alguma maneira. O sistema de BPM adapta-se bem à necessidade de padronização e reprodutibilidade de processos, propiciando ainda a agregação de múltiplas saídas por processo. A visibilidade e o alcance desta metodologia aumenta a sobrevida de modelagens realizadas nesta base. O desenvolvimento de aplicativos de mobilidade deve acontecer de forma acelerada nos próximos anos. Como demonstrado, a necessidade de automação, integração e consolidação de informações corroboram com a de criação de um Centro Integrado. A utilização dos sistemas propostos é uma maneira de formalizar e aumentar a busca por parcerias e facilitar colaborações tanto no sentido de captar quanto de informar, dando suporte às pesquisas internas de órgãos públicos e privados. / Urban Mobility is one of the most important issues of our times, because it affects a significant portion of the population, strongly impacts the environmental pollution, it is a global problem and tends to get worse with increasing of population density and cities. The delivery of major infrastructure is becoming increasingly difficult and costly, requiring the use of technology and systems integration for better utilization of the existing structure. The objective of this thesis is to propose a management model for automation of integrated centers connected to cost realities, technological availability, organizational culture and political strategies of cities similar to large and mediumsized municipalities in Brazil. This model allows, among other contributions, to promote improvements in the decision making process by managers of urban mobility area through the incorporation and release of data and information within a management model to facilitate partnerships and communication among different sectors. The largest Brazilian cities are seeking to update themselves to solve their mobility problems and undergo a period of transformation. The Integrated Urban Mobility Center proposed allow to automate processes, implement new functionalities, provide information to users, share resources and reduce costs. Using tools from the Business Process Modeling (BPM) framework is the logical choice for a system that handles so many disruptions. When designing work model to incorporate new technologies and / or to make them more efficient, it is necessary to modeled it in some way. The BPM system adapts well to the needs of standardization and processes reproducibility, further enabling aggregation of multiple outputs by process. The visibility and extent of this methodology increases the life time of modeling performed on this basis. The development of mobility apps will happen rapidly in the coming years. As demonstrated, the need for automation, integration and consolidation of information corroborates with the creation of an Integrated Center. The use of the proposed systems is a way to formalize and increase the search for partnerships and facilitate collaboration both to capture as to inform, supporting the internal researches of private and public agencies.

The Parking Guidance and Information (PGI) system is an important application of Intelligent Transport System (ITS), which has been shown to be an effect service for traffic information and parking management. The roadside Variable Message Sign (VMS) board has been the usual media for the publication of parking information in early PGI systems, and its performance over the years has been studied via simulations and questionnaire surveys. However, survey results show significant discrepancies across various traffic networks in different areas. More recently, parking information services have become available on other media such as mobile and in-vehicle devices. In contrast to VMS-based systems, PGI systems based on new media, especially the in-vehicle class of devices, have not been studied separately. This thesis aims to conduct research into the performance of PGI systems based on invehicle devices, by simulating and comparing a VMS-based PGI system with a Vehicle On-Board Device (VOBD)-based PGI system. A specially designed simulator utilising a routing algorithm known as the Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol in computer networks, has been created in MATLAB. The simulation minimises the influence of specific structures of traffic networks that may be found in some networks, but not others. This is done by simulating a grid-based road network where the capacities of parking stations and their geographic distribution are randomly allocated within specific zones, and the parking demand in each run of simulations is variable load. The results of simulations, including the information reliability, reduction of travel time, demand on on-street parking and the utilisation rates of parking stations, are analysed for multiple scenarios where the compliance rate, the information update policy and the strategy of human behaviour are varied. The analyses reveal a significant advantage of VOBD-based PGI systems over VMS-based PGI systems in terms of the quality of information and the reduction of travel time. At the same time, the analyses highlight the limitations of a PGI system when the demand and supply of parking stations is not appropriately balanced.

The implementation of In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is becoming a common occurrence in modern vehicles. Automobile manufacturers are releasing vehicles with many forms of sophisticated technologies that remove much of the responsibility of controlling an automobile from the driver. These In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems have stemmed from a genuine need in regards to road safety, however there are advantages and disadvantages associated with ITS. Each different form of technology has its own inherent compromises in relation to road safety, driver behaviour and driver comfort. This thesis outlines the benefits and detrimental effects associated with current In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems and details the development and user interface testing of an adaptive brake light. The adaptive brakelight concept aims to provide drivers with the advantages of an In-Vehicle ITS whilst removing the disadvantages. The technology will help drivers judge the braking pattern of the car in front, thus allowing them to react appropriately and potentially reducing the occurrence of rear-end crashes. The adaptive brake light concept was tested in comparison to a standard brake light and BMW inspired brake light in a series of user interface tests. The adaptive brake light was shown overall to be an improved method of displaying the varying levels of deceleration of a lead vehicle. Whilst different age and gender groups responded differently to the adaptive brake light, it was shown to be of benefit to the majority and the most at risk groups responded positively to the adaptive brake light. This research shows that an adaptive brake light can provide a benefit in regards to road safety when compared to a standard brake light interface. It is hoped that further development of variable brake lights will result from this research and possibly lead to the implementation of the technology to automobiles and other forms of transport.

The Parking Guidance and Information (PGI) system is an important application of Intelligent Transport System (ITS), which has been shown to be an effect service for traffic information and parking management. The roadside Variable Message Sign (VMS) board has been the usual media for the publication of parking information in early PGI systems, and its performance over the years has been studied via simulations and questionnaire surveys. However, survey results show significant discrepancies across various traffic networks in different areas. More recently, parking information services have become available on other media such as mobile and in-vehicle devices. In contrast to VMS-based systems, PGI systems based on new media, especially the in-vehicle class of devices, have not been studied separately. This thesis aims to conduct research into the performance of PGI systems based on invehicle devices, by simulating and comparing a VMS-based PGI system with a Vehicle On-Board Device (VOBD)-based PGI system. A specially designed simulator utilising a routing algorithm known as the Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol in computer networks, has been created in MATLAB. The simulation minimises the influence of specific structures of traffic networks that may be found in some networks, but not others. This is done by simulating a grid-based road network where the capacities of parking stations and their geographic distribution are randomly allocated within specific zones, and the parking demand in each run of simulations is variable load. The results of simulations, including the information reliability, reduction of travel time, demand on on-street parking and the utilisation rates of parking stations, are analysed for multiple scenarios where the compliance rate, the information update policy and the strategy of human behaviour are varied. The analyses reveal a significant advantage of VOBD-based PGI systems over VMS-based PGI systems in terms of the quality of information and the reduction of travel time. At the same time, the analyses highlight the limitations of a PGI system when the demand and supply of parking stations is not appropriately balanced.

There has been a good effort made in Abu Dhabi for the last couple of years between government stakeholders to develop a road safety strategy, define rules and responsibilities, and gain a fully coordinated and integrated framework to deal with road safety. According to my point of view, the challenges that might be seen as a problem for the future development of Abu Dhabi can be the management and the usage of traffic safety technologies to reduce serious road traffic accidents. This study focused on the relationship between the use of traffic safety technologies and serious road traffic accidents on Abu Dhabi Highways. The motivation for this research is to implement correctly the traffic safety technologies in Abu Dhabi highways as a part of the need to adopt plans, programmes, and preventive measures to reduce or prevent the occurrence of traffic accidents in order to ensure the safety of individuals and property, in addition to preserving the security of the state and its human and economic components. The overall approach to this study is a mixed methodology, which combines quantitative and qualitative methods. A questionnaire is one method used in this regard, and is designed to be quantitative. In the quantitative method, comparing statistics of fatalities and injuries before and after installation of the speed cameras is used. As a result of this study and by making the connectivity between reviewing the results and findings of the literature review, identifying the questionnaire results, and exploring the before and after statistics led to findings which were used to develop a decision support framework that can be used to advise the regional safety strategy to be sustainable. The design framework was also validated through Abu Dhabi highways by a panel of experts, which was carried out using the focus group method, which was qualitative in nature. It is recommended from this research to invest much in traffic safety technologies, focus more on driver support systems and rapid response systems, improve driver behaviour as a priority in Abu Dhabi highways using traffic safety technologies, and integrate the compatibility of all of the above through an integrated system and specific performance indicators that are measured and followed up on an ongoing basis, and supported by geographic information systems (GIS).

This Master's thesis examines the possibility of implementing an intelligent transport system for monitoring road vehicles carrying dangerous goods through the territory of the Czech Republic, for the purpose of providing relevant information to emergency responders in the event of an accident involving such vehicles. The aim is to explore whether, and how, can radio-frequency identification technology be used in such a system. The scope of the research is not limited to technical aspects of the solution. Various options are considered in terms of capital costs, complexity of the required information system and impact on shippers and carriers from an economic and business process standpoint. The paper briefly describes the current legislation concerning the transport of dangerous goods, the existing processes and entities involved in transport and handling of traffic accidents. Following is a comparison of several possible implementations of the monitoring system.

With the advent of autonomous driving, concepts like road trains or platoons are becoming more popular. In these arrangements, vehicles travel at separations of only 5 to 10m between them. These short inter-vehicle distances allow compacting vehicle flows resulting in increased throughput on highways. In addition, there are also fuel/energy savings as the magnitude of aerodynamic resistance acting on vehicles is reduced. These benefits increase when reducing inter-vehicle separations to below 5m. However, it becomes extremely difficult to guarantee safety, especially, when braking in an emergency. The longitudinal and lateral control systems developed so far aim to achieve string stability in the cruise scenario, i.e., to prevent that small variations at the lead magnify towards the trail. Unfortunately, this has no relevance during emergency braking, since control systems incur saturation, i.e., the condition where computed output brake forces exceed those that can be applied by actuators. This is because all vehicles have to apply their maximum brake forces in order to minimize the stopping distance of the platoon and reach a complete standstill. As a result, emergency braking requires special attention and needs to be designed and verified independent of the cruise scenario. Braking in an emergency is mainly characterized by the problem of heterogeneous deceleration capabilities of vehicles, e.g., due to their type and/or loading conditions. As a result, a deceleration rate possible by one vehicle may not be achievable by its immediately leading or following vehicles. Not addressing this heterogeneity leads to inter-vehicle collisions. Moreover, transitions in the road profile increase the complexity of such brake maneuvers. Particularly, when there is a transition from a flat road to a steep downhill, an already saturated brake controller cannot counteract the effect of the downhill slope. Hence, its deceleration magnitude will be reduced, potentially leading to intra-platoon crashes that would otherwise not occur on a flat road. In this work, we first analyze the problem of emergency braking in platoons operating at inter-vehicle separations below 5m and under idealized conditions (i.e., flat road, instantaneous deceleration, etc.). For this case, we propose a cyber-physical approach based on exploiting space buffers that are present in the separations between vehicles, and compare it with straightforward schemes (such as Least Platoon Length and Least Stopping Distance) in terms of achieved aerodynamic benefits, overall platoon length, and stopping distance. We then consider realistic conditions (in particular, changing road profiles as mentioned before) and investigate how to design a brake-by-wire controller present at each vehicle that accounts for this. We further extend our proposed cyber-physical approach by adding cooperative behavior. In particular, if an individual vehicle is unable to track its assigned deceleration, it coordinates with all others to avoid inter-vehicle collisions, for which we propose a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication strategy. Finally, we present a detailed evaluation of the proposed cyber-physical approach based on high-fidelity vehicle models in Matlab/Simulink. Even though more work is needed towards a real-life implementation, our simulation results demonstrate benefits by the proposed approach and, especially, its feasibility.