ABSTRACT
Efficient transportation systems are essential to the functioning and prosperity of modern, industrialized societies. Mobility is also an integral part of our quality of life, sense of selffulfillment and personal freedom. Our traffic demands of today are predominantly served by individual motor vehicle travel which is the primary means of transportation. However, the limited road capacity and ensuing traffic congestion have become a severe problem in many countries. Nowadays, we additionally have to balance the human desire for personal mobility with the societal concerns about its environmental impact and energy consumption. On the one hand, traffic demand can only be affected indirectly by means of policy measures. On the other hand, an extension of transport infrastructure is no longer an appropriate or desirable option in densely populated areas. Moreover, construction requires high investments and maintenance is costly in the long run. Therefore, engineers are now seeking solutions to the questions of how the capacity of the road network could be used more efficiently and how operations can be improved by way of intelligent transportation systems (ITS).
