Special Issue "New Generation of Intelligent Transit Systems: Theory and Applications"

A special issue of Information (ISSN 2078-2489). This special issue belongs to the section "Information and Communications Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Antonio Comi
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00118 Rome, Italy
Interests: transport system analysis; transport planning; evaluation methods; energy and transport; maritime transport; smart cities
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

We are facing complicated and difficult issues in terms of sustainable development, and transport systems could contribute to build more sustainable societies. Integrated development of all passenger transport modes and shift towards sustainable mobility play a key role in sustainable mobility planning. In this context, telematics innovations can offer new opportunities both under the view of travelers and transit operators, improving safety, traffic efficiency and travelers’ comfort by helping people to make the best decisions and adapt to traffic situations. 

The availability of infrastructure and traffic/travel data across the whole transport network will also cover new developments such as connected and automated mobility (e.g., self-driving vehicles), as well as online platforms, allowing users to access several modes of transport. The revision of the EU Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Directive is defining the road ahead. 

In this context, multimodal transit systems, which comprise traditional transit services together with new components, such as car/bike-sharing and micromobility in general, are being adopted as new public transport pattern worldwide. Making such multimodal transit systems more attractive and efficient is of key importance in smart cities to increase modal shift from private to public transport. Transport agencies and operators are called to the hard task of planning, managing, governing, and controlling these increasingly complex and integrated systems in order to satisfy the growing mobility needs of travelers both effectively and efficiently. The new technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), big data (BD), blockchain (BC), and artificial intelligence (AI), are useful for establishing smart multimodal transit systems. 

This Special Issue will highlight new opportunities and challenges for planning, managing, and controlling sustainable multimodal transit, focusing on the potentialities offered by the mutual interactions among the new enabling technologies (e.g., internet of things, big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence) for transit mobility and transport engineering tools. We welcome papers on:

  • Analyzing transit systems in order to support real-time info for operations control and for supporting people along their travel;
  • Developing methods and models for advanced multimodal transit system simulation and assessment;
  • Developing advanced transit trip planners which take into consideration passengers’ attitudes and preferences as well as the current and forecasted status of the transport system;
  • Evaluating the applications of innovative technologies in transit systems, focusing on the integration of information technologies and transport systems;
  • Case studies that evaluate transport actions/initiatives, such as personal transit advisors, as well as the management and operations control tools, and so on;
  • Future perspectives on sustainable transit systems.

Prof. Dr. Antonio Comi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Information is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Smart mobility, smart cities
  • Multimodal transport
  • Public transport
  • Maas (mobility as a service)
  • Transit system simulation
  • Transit planning
  • Transit system management
  • Transit operations control
  • Intelligent transport system
  • Traveler advisor
  • Methodologies, practices, and policies for achieving behavioral change
  • Real time transit performance forecast

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
The Expectations of the Residents of Szczecin in the Field of Telematics Solutions after the Launch of the Szczecin Metropolitan Railway
Information 2021, 12(8), 339; https://doi.org/10.3390/info12080339 - 23 Aug 2021
Viewed by 187
Abstract
Transport is integral to every city, having a crucial impact on its functioning and development. As road infrastructure does not keep up to speed with the constantly growing numbers of vehicles on roads, new solutions are required. Fast urban railway systems are a [...] Read more.
Transport is integral to every city, having a crucial impact on its functioning and development. As road infrastructure does not keep up to speed with the constantly growing numbers of vehicles on roads, new solutions are required. Fast urban railway systems are a solution that can reduce transport congestion, with environmental protection issues also taken into account. Contemporary public transport cannot function without modern communication and information technologies. The use of telematics in public transport allows passenger mobility to be sustainable and efficient. Therefore, it seems justified to conduct research on this issue. The aim of the study is to analyze the perception of the use of telematics solutions to service SKM in Szczecin (Poland) with the use of multivariate correspondence analysis. Results of the research indicate that people living in the area of gravity of the SKM have a positive opinion on the application of telematics solutions in the activities of the Szczecin Metropolitan Railway. The results obtained are local in nature, but show the direction that researchers can take in analyzing public transport in other agglomerations. In addition, the article presents a tool that greatly facilitates the analysis of survey data, even with a large number of results. Full article
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Article
Dynamic Optimal Travel Strategies in Intelligent Stochastic Transit Networks
Information 2021, 12(7), 281; https://doi.org/10.3390/info12070281 - 13 Jul 2021
Viewed by 420
Abstract
This paper addresses the search for a run-based dynamic optimal travel strategy, to be supplied through mobile devices (apps) to travelers on a stochastic multiservice transit network, which includes a system forecasting of bus travel times and bus arrival times at stops. The [...] Read more.
This paper addresses the search for a run-based dynamic optimal travel strategy, to be supplied through mobile devices (apps) to travelers on a stochastic multiservice transit network, which includes a system forecasting of bus travel times and bus arrival times at stops. The run-based optimal strategy is obtained as a heuristic solution to a Markovian decision problem. The hallmarks of this paper are the proposals to use only traveler state spaces and estimates of dispersion of forecast bus arrival times at stops in order to determine transition probabilities. The first part of the paper analyses some existing line-based and run-based optimal strategy search methods. In the second part, some aspects of dynamic transition probability computation in intelligent transit systems are presented, and a new method for dynamic run-based optimal strategy search is proposed and applied. Full article
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Article
Optimization Model for the Supply Volume of Bike-Sharing: Case Study in Nanjing, China
Information 2021, 12(5), 182; https://doi.org/10.3390/info12050182 - 23 Apr 2021
Viewed by 532
Abstract
In order to solve the oversupply and repositioning problems of bike-sharing, this paper proposes an optimization model to obtain a reasonable supply volume scheme for bike-sharing and infrastructure configuration planning. The optimization model is constrained by the demand for bike-sharing, urban traffic carrying [...] Read more.
In order to solve the oversupply and repositioning problems of bike-sharing, this paper proposes an optimization model to obtain a reasonable supply volume scheme for bike-sharing and infrastructure configuration planning. The optimization model is constrained by the demand for bike-sharing, urban traffic carrying capacity (road network and parking facilities carrying capacities), and the flow conservation of shared bikes in each traffic analysis zone. The model was formulated through mixed-integer programming with the aim of minimizing the total costs for users and bike-sharing enterprises (including the travel cost of users, production and maintenance costs of shared bikes, and repositioning costs). CPLEX was used to obtain the optimal solution for the model. Then, the optimization model was applied to 183 traffic analysis zones in Nanjing, China. The results showed that not only were user demands met, but the load ratios of the road network and parking facilities with respect to bike-sharing in each traffic zone were all decreased to lower than 1.0 after the optimization, which established the rationality and effectiveness of the optimization results. Full article
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Authors: Agnieszka Barczak
Title: The Expectations of the Residents of Szczecin in the Field of Telematics Solutions after the Launch of the Szczecin Metropolitan Railway
Abstract: Transport is integral to every city, having a crucial impact on its functioning and development. As road infrastructure does not up to keep up to speed with the constantly growing numbers of vehicles on roads, new solutions are required. Fast urban railway systems are a solution that can reduce transport congestion, with environmental protection issues also taken into account. Following these reasons, the decision was made to build the Szczecin Metropolitan Railway (Szczecińska Kolej Metropolitalna, or SKM), consisting of four lines constructed using existing railway infrastructure, within the Szczecin Metropolitan Area (SMA). The construction works on the linear and point assets of the SKM are ongoing and will be concluded in 2022. Contemporary public transport cannot function without modern communication and information technologies. The use of telematics in public transport allows passenger mobility to be sustainable and efficient. Therefore, it seems justified to conduct research on this issue. The aim of the study is to analyze the perception of the use of telematics solutions to service SKM in Szczecin with the use of multidimensional correspondence analysis. Preliminary results of the research indicate that people living in the area of gravity of the SKM have a positive opinion of the application of telematics solutions in the activities of Szczecin Metropolitan Railway.

Authors: Prof. Dr. Antonio Comi
Affiliation: Department of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00118 Rome, Italy

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