Approaches for Introducing Intelligent Transportation Systems into Developing Countries

The use of intelligent transportation systems (ITSs)—the application of information and communication technology to road transportation—is emerging to address a variety transportation-related problems. While countries with developing and transitional economies can learn a lot from the ITS experiences of developed countries, they need to develop their own approaches to ITS. The reasons for this are the high speed at which ITS technology is advancing to bring better performance at lower costs and the arrival of new, innovative approaches for both the initial incentives for introducing ITS and the actual introduction process. To support these new opportunities, the World Bank developed a series of five ITS Technical Notes for countries with developing and transitional economies and appendixes that include the 130 examined cases of ITS deployment. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and provide highlights from the ITS Technical Notes. In particular, on the basis of the ITS Technical Notes, this paper (a) explains the new incentives for introducing ITS, particularly in developing countries, that focus on reliability as well as on social benefits; (b) discusses a number of innovative approaches; and (c) introduces a model to assist the selection of the proper application. The model helps decision makers to select the right applications and also informs users about the requirements of the recommended applications. The model presented here can provide useful guidance and a study tool to help users in developing countries to achieve maximum benefits from ITS.