Strategic Planning for Development of Intelligent Transportation Systems of the Country

In Iran, like many other countries the problem of traffic specially the density related issues is quite serious. Those organizations that are involved with the organization of transportation and traffic have recommended son many projects on the basis of Intelligent Transportation Systems to solve the related problems. But there has not been a comprehensive programme for implementation of intelligent systems. Lack of the strategic plans for intelligent systems not only causes double and repeated investments in infrastructure of the society but also brings about distortion and non coordination between these systems and may cause many problems when the subsystems should be connected to each other, thus results other problems for transportation system of the country.In this paper after literature review the various applications of Intelligent Transportation Systems were studied and then by using the methodology of strategic planning the strategies for intelligent transportation systems of the country have been provided. For provision for strategies the SWOT Matrix (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) has been used. In order to prioritize the strategies the decision making techniques with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) were used and the resulted effects were then compared by Spearman ratio. Reviewing the results taken from the written strategies and the present circumstances of the country the following conclusion may be obtained:1- The situation of the country for development of the Intelligent Transportation Systems is generally not appropriate, regarded as medium for external factors, and weak for internal factors2- The development of Intelligent Transportation Systems in the country should be regarded with special emphasis on the safety of transportation systems and modes3- As the first priority, the prioritization of using intelligent transportation systems should be considered for accident prone areas, compared to highways and freeways4- In relation to large scale objectives of transportation systems as a whole, the following factors should be taken into account respectively: Safety, Public satisfaction, Improved environmental conditions, Reduction in energy consumption and mitigation of delay times5- Regarding the development issues, the considerable factors are respectively as follows: Management and organizational policies, Financing, Technical infrastructures, Cultural environment, Manpower and finally Legal issues. The development of Intelligent Transportation Systems should be implemented by such prioritizing 6- For the development of Intelligent Transportation Systems the skills and potentials of the private sector should be used and the governmental sectors are only responsible for policy making and provision of substructures for such development7- The required compatibilities and cooperation are not available between the responsible organizations and their situation and place of them is not specified8- The development of Intelligent Transportation Systems requires an organization with comprehensive structure and expertise manpower