b'ITS FORshared services. Whether its public transport modeswaytodrive.Myunclesaid,Thatisverysmart! or roads related, we are all providing information andOf course, I couldnt help but burst their bubble and communication technologies to help every user.correct them. I explained that a smart motorway is, DUMMIES Even within Cubic, employees are still confused whenin fact, digital displays and gantries that tell you if you canusethehardshoulder,whatlanestouse,and they read or hear something about ITS, and too oftenwhat speed to go in order to manage the traffic in that they just think its the roads part of the business.area. My uncles response made me laugh. He said, And so even we have some work to do to educate ourWhats so smart about that? They already do that. I BY KRISHNA DESAI, HEAD OFemployees on how our products and services help thesaid, Yes, that does already happen, and a lot of the MARKETING, CUBICentire transport network and agencies. time it can be reactive. The more technology that is TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS installed allows them to control congestion; so instead I sent out a short survey to my Facebook friends toof getting into an accident and being in standstill traffic WHAT IS ITS? get some stats for my presentations, and more thanfor 30 minutes, it may inform you to reduce your speed 70% of respondents didnt know what ITS stood for,to 40-50 for 10 minutes a lot further down the road IthoughtIwouldcheatandtypeitintogoogle,nor had they heard of it before. When they saw itwhen there are no apparent signs of traffic. By the define ITS, steal the first definition, and claim it as mymeant intelligent transport systems, 12% thought ittime you get to where the accident was, you now only own. Well, that didnt really happen as I kept gettingwas an industry purely for traffic management; 28%have to drive slowly at 30mp for 10 minutes rather than definitions for the possessive pronouns.thought it was purely for public transport, and 60%stand still for 30. He said, Oh, now that is smart!thought it was for both. If the general public thinks ButwhenIdidtypeintelligenttransportsystemsITS would be focused towards the entire transportLetsrecapwhathappened.Someonedidntknow (ITS), it clearly stated that its an advanced applicationsystemandnotjustroads,thenshouldntwebewhat a smart motorway was; someone thought they providedtoincreaseinnovativeservicestotrafficmessaging it the same? did but spread rumours; and someone didnt think a management and enable users to be better informedsmart motorway was actually smart until I explained in making safer and coordinated use of the transportWHY IS IT IMPORTANT WE COMMUNICATEWHY it did what it did, and then it became smart again. network. The emphasis is around traffic management.ITS OUTSIDE THE SECTOR? Again, in my survey, 70% of respondents claimed they As the industry moves towards shared mobility andknew what a smart motorway was, but only 50% got mobilityasaservice(MaaS),itmightbetimetoMostITSfromaroundtheworldisfundedthroughthe answer right. redefine ITS. The users need to make the best usetaxation, but many people do not know what the moneyWe also fear that the opinions we have to share may be of all transport networks, be it roads, rail, buses, oris being spent on or the advantages they bring. So theyAswebuildoutthesenewtechnologiesandasreceived negatively. Speed cameras are making people become frustrated with the current state of the system.transportbecomesthebackboneofeverysingleslow down and be late; services arent running on time, person, we need to recruit the right people, the peopleand congestion zones making people yet again pay for Government officials and policymakers are elected intowho we may be losing to other industries becauseroads. Rarely do we say these things are saving lives, their positions through the same pool of uninformedtheydontautomaticallythinkoftransport-relatedmaking cleaner air, and creating more reliable journeys. people. How can we expect them to make favorablecompanies as a career option. This is a challenge in allThere is a fear people simply wont understand. policies towards the well being of the industry or directof our companies, and in order to thrive, we need to tell funding if they dont understand the return on investment? the outside world about all the amazing work we do. Well, of course, they wont understand if we are using heavy jargon. We dont need to explain a lot technically, Some weeks ago, I was driving along the motorwayWHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES INsuch as algorithms behinds a junction, but explaining with my brother and my uncle. My brother tells myTELLING THE OUTSIDE WORLD? theprinciplesbehindphasingandprioritycanand uncle that they are building a smart motorway on themust be easily understood. Wed rather them think we m23. My uncle asks what a smart motorway is. BeforeAccountabilitywhose role is it? Is it public bodiesdo something instead of nothing. 80% of the survey I can answer, my brother eloquently replies, They willlike the Intelligent Transport System of United Kingdomrespondents said they dont think the government or be building an extra lane to charge electric vehicles as(ITSUK); is it the transport authorities and agencies; isauthorities are doing enough to minimize traffic. The they drive on it. Drivers wont have to stop for hoursit the suppliers; or the academics?keywordisthink.Whattheythinkisbasedonthe to recharge their cars, especially if they have a longinformation they have, which is currently not a lot, or Its everyones responsibility. We all need to beits negative coverage from the press. Should we not accountablefordoingmorecollectivelytotellchange this before we get new entrants in the market a compelling story. But the problem with tellingwithdeeppocketswhogoandgettherecognition acompellingstoryisitcostsalotofmoneyifto do some clever stuff, which the industry is already we want to do TV adverts or radio campaigns overdoing, such as infrastructure to vehicle work?a long duration of time. No one has the funding. The small amount of budget we do have is to serve our ownIn the water and sewage industry, companies actually self-interest, winning project bids, flaunting pilots andcreateadvertstotellpeoplehowthewaterwas testbeds, and wanting to be the number one influencer.sourced,howtosavewaterwithinhouseholds, One day there may be no industry if we dont take aor they have employees personify that there are step back and promote outside the industry.people behind the industry and that there can also35'