PAYING OFF: HOW A STRUCTURED ARCHITECTURE KEEPS ITS AFFORDABLE

Traffic intensity is increasing in The Netherlands. In the Randstad, which includes Amsterdam and Rotterdam, there is no space for new roads or for expanding existing ones. Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Directorate for Public Works and Water Management) has developed intelligent transport systems (ITS) since the 1980s. In 1997, Rijkswaterstaat started the development of AVB (architecture for traffic management) in cooperation with engineering companies to form a foundation for the future development of ITS systems. AVB is an open, multi-layered architecture that distinguishes between computing platforms at the roadside, typical computer centre-based server platforms and platforms for presentation and operation purposes. Engineering companies were asked to design and build demonstrators to test and shape the information technology aspects of AVB. The first ITS system implemented according to AVB was the RWIS (road weather information system). The advantages of AVB are decreased costs through reuse, faster system development and that it makes room for an innovative open market.