Web – Based Travellers Information Services

Web-based Travellers Information services are set to play vital roles in propagating the transportation systems information. In‎ order‎ to‎ investigate‎ the‎ public‟s‎ opinion‎ on‎ the‎ significant providing the travel information, Fekpe and Collins have established a number of surveys and telephone interviews. To achieve the target, a complex network has been utilised to send and receive the traffic information. And then, the data is provided from various medias such as smart radio broadcasts and helicopter surveillance to other medias through TV and Internet. To conclude their findings, accordingly to the customer awareness, access, acceptance use and value of the information, they noticed that travellers, general public and stakeholders have shown different percentages of the level of interest in using the web-based information [142].

3.11.1

Social Networking

Social networking (SN) is‎ “The grouping of individuals into groups based on interests, profiles, etc. It is mainly oriented to meet other people and to share first-hand information or experiences about common interests” [106]. Another definition for social networks has been described in [143] and [144]. Examples of social media include blogs, chat rooms, wikis, YouTube Channels, Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter. Social media can be accessed by computer, tablets, smart and cellular phones, and mobile phone text messaging (SMS) [145]. The increasing complexities of modern life, the desire to connect, communicate and build relationships with peers, become one of the important features of society. Therefore, various technologies have been designed to meet the requirements of sharing and exchanging the information in different aspects. The United States, as many developed countries, have contributed significantly in developing, enhancing and providing services for the participants in social networks, especially through the Internet. Facebook, MySpace, Pinterest and Twitter are the most prominent examples of social networks [106].

Now, we will turn the attention to the role of using social networks in various aspects. In Section ‎3.11.1.1, we discuss works which specifically done in transportation system, and the challenges can be raised during using social networks is presented in Section ‎3.11.1.2.

3.11.1.1Social networks in transportation system

Advanced technology has performed explicitly by reducing the constraints between users especially via Internet services, and it motivated people to increase the time spent in vehicles. Therefore, it can be concluded that vehicles are the third place where people could spend more time, after the home and workplace [106] and [146]. As a result, it becomes necessary to clarify the importance of providing essential information for drivers.

Smaldone‎et‎ al.‎have‎described‎the‎communication‎between‎the‎drivers‎as‎“In this socially- driven virtual world, people can form “Instant villages” that mirror and facilitate real-world

interaction” [146].

For providing the social networks in a vehicular environment, some companies have already launched some applications which depend on adding some basic social features to navigation applications and services. Several applications have been generated in the vehicular environment, Table ‎3.2 shows the most common social networks applied [106].

Table ‎3.2 Classification of social services for vehicular environments [106]

Personal information Traffic information Photo Voice notes

Integration with other SN

Navigon _{Location, destination} Facebook,

Twitter ALK

Technologies Location Facebook

Telmap &

GYPSil events, news, advertisement Location, recommendation, Yes Yes Facebook, Twitter

Aha Mobile Location, recommendation, _{events, songs} Congestion Yes Facebook, _Twitter

Waze Comments Hazards, accidents, speed, cams, map inconsistencies, congestion,

parking Yes Yes

Facebook, Twitter

Table ‎3.2 displays different social networks used in vehicular environments as well as providing important information by integrating with other social networks. According to the features of the social networks shown above, it is demonstrated that Aha Mobile and Waze are most useful in vehicular environments.

3.11.1.2Challenges and design issues

It has been recently reported that the social networks for vehicle drivers while they are concentrating on the road has become as an urgent need as the provision of social networks in the home and office work or in public areas [106]. Therefore, some recommendations have been suggested for commuters in order to provide successful social network services, such as the ability to avoid touching the screen, presenting the information according to the size of the screen, using speech technologies to communicate with drivers about information.

Moreover, some automotive companies have started moving towards the provision of network equipment in the vehicles, such as an on-board computer, it still requires some time to be available in all vehicles. Therefore, they have suggested that specific software can be included with some high penetration rate such as Personal Navigator Device (PND), Smartphone, etc., so they can use it for vehicle scenarios.

In order to overcome the difficulties and problems that may accompany vehicles while can communicate and share other information, the support approach would be provided by the technology and it is currently available or under deployment, Table ‎3.3shows wide variety of applications which can be applied on Smartphone and in-vehicles. According to the results of Table ‎3.3, the Smartphone has been presented as the preferable alternative because of high features such as time, cost to market and capabilities indicators.

In addition, they proposed a social network application called Drive and Share. This application has been developed for iPhone to allow the drivers to send/receive the vital information on board vehicles in real time, such as personal and traffic information [106]. The traffic information enables the navigation systems to recalculate the best path and subsequently update all the relative information; services facilities. Precisely, different information can be gathered through the vehicles, passengers and drivers which are currently moving along these alternative roads.

Table ‎3.3 Comparison of application platforms [106]

Application

Platforms Integration Open Platform Time to Market Technical Capabilities

Indicates whether the platform has been deployed (or is planned to be deployed) on smartphones or in-vehicle equipment.

A platform increases its value when provides some degree of openness in terms of:  Be based on standards.  Allowing the development of third party applications.

 Open source code and allowing its

modification.

 Mature: available some time ago.

 Recent: available, but growing.  Short term: available in the next year.  Medium-long term: not available in the next two years.

Ac ce lero m eter GPS M ult ito uc h S cre en S pe ec h Tec hn olo gy Cu sto m iza ble Ce ll ular Co m m un ica ti on M ult ip le Ha rd wa re P latfo rm s

iPhone OS Smartphone Third Party Applications Mature Y Y Y Y

Android Smartphone and _In-vehicle Open Source Recent Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Microsoft Auto In-vehicle Open Source Recent Y Y Y Y

MeeGo Smartphone and

In-vehicle Open Source Short Term Y Y Y Y Y Y European ITS

Reference Platform In-vehicle Standard Long Term Y Y Y Y

3.11.1.3Social networks role in disasters

Social networks within vehicles have become more reality with high penetration rates, although it still faces many challenges which need to be taken into an account, particularly, the provision of social network services in the vehicular environment.

In the early 21st century, social networks have played a crucial role in emergency response and disasters. They rank fourth among the most common means of communication in emergencies [145]. The social networks can be used in emergency responses for the disasters through disseminating a wide range of public safety information, responding to victim requests, and using uploaded images in order to create damage estimation.

To date, many sources confirmed the vital role of using social networks in the case of disasters, and it has been verified that the use of social networking is significant to achieve success in responding to any incident. During Hurricane Gustav, in 2008, one of the most

famous of the social network, Facebook, was used by the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to send a notification to team members when its call notification system went down [145].

In 2010, a survey conducted by the American Red Cross showed that many people might turn to social networks to ask for relief for themselves or others during events. The survey found that‎if‎people‎couldn‟t‎dial‎the‎9-1-1 firstly, then one in five would turn to get the response through digital means; such as emails and social media [147]. The survey also found that social networks have occupied the fourth place among popular media which can deliver the emergency information, just behind television news, radio and online news sites.

3.12

Transportation evacuation strategies

The Transportation Evacuation Strategies can be simply defined as‎ “Moving the threatened people away from the dangerous area” [149]. It can be enhanced by implementing one/more evacuation schemes. The definition involves some important and complex steps that require intensive study to get the best evacuation strategies that enable us to achieve the fewest possible losses.

3.12.1

Evacuation types

Evacuation is considered one operation among different processes which needs to be undertaken during the disasters. So far, a range of evacuation forms has been conducted, listed below [10]:

 Spontaneous Evacuation

 Voluntary Evacuation

 Mandatory or Directed Evacuation

 Notice versus No-Notice Evacuation