Challenges of implementation of intelligent transportation systems in developing countries: Case study - Tehran

Abstract

The slope difference of development curves between developed countries and developing ones in IT applications in transportation (ITS) leads to a gap in studies conducted among those countries that will evolve over time. As a result, developing countries usually decide to take advantage of new technologies and the experiences of other countries as soon as possible in order to minimize the costs. While the benefits of ITS applications make the imposed socio-economic costs bearable, and available experiences of similar countries are so helpful; uncoordinated development of infrastructure, cultural differences, lack of law and the inappropriate organizational structure of agencies has led to numerous problems of different nature in the operation of these systems. For example, in some arterial streets of Tehran (which the offending vehicles license plate is recorded by cameras equipped with ANPR technology), many cases of covered license plates by the drivers (in order to become invisible to the cameras), and breaking surveillance cameras and telecommunication equipment of these systems have been reported and new types of offenses are generated. This study illustrates the benefits achieved by the implementation of the ITS new technologies in Tehran as a developing city toward sustainable transportation, numerous prominent problems will be unveiled and several suggestions to improve the situation will be addressed in conclusion. © 2013 WIT Press.