The Implementation of Transportation System in the United Kingdom - Case Study Example

Introduction Smarter choices are practices for influencing people's travel manners towards more sustainable options such as encouraging school, workplace and individualised travel development. They also seek to get better public transport and marketing services such as travel responsiveness campaigns, setting up websites for car share schemes, supporting car clubs and encouraging tele-working. Transport strategy in the UK has experienced a number of important shifts in direction over the past few decades. The paper highlights some of the key conclusions of the SWOT and discusses in detail the implementation of transportation system in UK. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is an instrument for reviewing an organization and its environment. It is the first phase of planning and guides marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors. A SWOT analysis glimpses at future possibilities through an orderly approach of introspection into both positive and negative concerns. It is a common tool, planned to be used in the preliminary stages of decision-making and as a precursor to strategic planning in different kinds of applications. SWOT analysis can be used for all types of decision-making, and the SWOT template allows proactive thinking, rather than relying on usual or instinctive reactions. The SWOT analysis template is usually offered as a grid, comprising four sections. It is chief to clearly recognize the subject of a SWOT analysis, because a SWOT analysis is a viewpoint of one thing, be it a company, a product, a proposition, and idea, a method, or option, etc. Here are some examples of what a SWOT analysis can be used to assess: a company a method of sales distribution a product or brand a business idea a strategic option a opportunity to make an acquisition a potential partnership changing a supplier outsourcing a service, activity or resource an investment opportunity Fig. 1: Four regions of SWOT analysis Travelling Safely The growing number of fatalities from traffic accidents means that more lives are lost each year. Measures to recover traffic safety include improvements in the performance of drivers, riders and pedestrians; enhancements in vehicle security; better roads and road engineering; and better enforcement. Developments in road safety will promote more walking and cycling, which will help attain a sustainable transport. The growth of higher vehicle safety standards will be pursued as well as decrease of speed limits and opening of traffic calming measures around schools. Environmental profits are also to be gained for these measures. SWOT analysis for the transport system Strengths For strengths, a better transport system should be made that can help transport integration and thus help towards the seamless journey. The Government has acknowledged that public transport should operate as a network in order to offer an attractive alternative to the convenience of the car. The new transport system will help to achieve this aim through the use of smart cards and real time information. A better transport system should also decrease road congestion and pollution and will have many benefits, e.g. compact journey times and cleaner air for people to breathe. This system can assist in creating the best use of the existing road network, e.g. through the use of roadside information systems and in-vehicle leadership systems. These information systems give the driver with correct and up-to-date information on the road network in order to help the driver to stay away from areas of which are overcrowded and make the best decision on his/her route. The strength of our transport system is that it can increase the efficiency of the country's transport system and this can be attained in several ways. For example, vehicle routing equipment helps to create the well-organized use of the country's road system. Opportunities In considering the opportunities, our transport system can provide one of the ways in which to get public and private bodies to work together. This can be seen where a variety of transport providers (e.g. bus and train companies) work with their local authority to bring in smartcards and in the course of ticketing and quality partnerships. This will falsify stronger relationships and help to make an integrated transport system; this will also be helpful for the passenger. Our system represents the opportunity to amplify road network capacity and create the most of the existing road network. It can also give main concern to public transport vehicles, e.g. through the use of in-vehicle transponders that broadcast a signal to traffic lights, in order to make a "green wave" for public transport vehicles. These priority ways may convince the public to toggle from private to public transport and therefore decrease congestion and pollution. It can also check and provide information on pollution levels; the traveller can use this in order to decide which areas to keep away from when there are high pollution levels. It also represents an opportunity for the public and private sectors to work together. It has also created an opportunity for the development of demand responsive transport. Threats In considering the threats to this aim, some operators may not be ready to communicate with other operators in the growth of common technical solutions, for example smart cards or information booths. Some operators may also sense that the investment essential to implement. These threats may delay or stop the growth of an integrated transport system within and between modes. A number of threats survive in the use and growth of transport system in reducing road congestion and pollution. One of these is the charge of the tools and systems of the transports; some local authorities and individuals may not be talented to afford them. For example, in-vehicle route guidance systems are quite costly and are marketed to the specialized. However, some public and private sector bodies are not fully conscious of our technology and its prospective for generating successful partnerships and solving transport troubles. This can be regarded as both a threat and a weakness the painful termination of Railtrack recently, the doubt surrounding the future funding of London Underground and the inability of the consortium now running the National Air Traffic Control System exemplify this. There are a number of threats to the opening of the better transport system in road user charging. One of these threats is that our system may not be able to manage with the expected boost in traffic volumes. Furthermore, motorists may notice road user charging as an interruption of their privacy and may feel unhappy about paying more to use the road network. There may also be oppositions to the introduction of the roadside equipment as it may be regarded as visually intrusive. Road user charging may root drivers to alter the route they take in order to avoid being charged. This may raise congestion and pollution in other areas, and have an impact on businesses. The threats may also be politically intolerable. A threat is in attaining some aim is that if the systems are not developed in the UK, it will be essential to import the technology and this will consequence in the flow of money out of the UK economy. Weakness There are a number of weaknesses of our system including the fact that many integrated transport system technologies/tools are not interoperable. A good example of this is that a smartcard for the use in one area can often not be used in another area. In considering the weaknesses of our system in distributing this aim, people may not act on the information given (e.g. through in-vehicle guidance systems), they may not trust the correctness of the information or they consider themselves ‘better’ able to make a decision on which routes to get. The current weaknesses of our system in the introduction of road user charging, is that our system technologies need to be checked before they can be introduced with self-assurance. There is also a difficulty that no system is totally correct and this may lead to errors in enforcement, e.g. no vehicle registration recognition software is 100% accurate. A further weakness is that there are no decided standards for how such apparatus should be used in the UK (we do not want each local authority to invent its own unique solution) – an interoperable national specification is necessary. There is also a kind of weakness means that the country’s requirements are only provided by a few firms. This may guide to the few companies having a large market share and developing the consumers due to be short of real competition. In terms of weaknesses, there is an awareness of a lack of safety associated with some technology, e.g. some people may not want to enter personal bank details and personal information on the Internet when purchasing tickets. A further weakness is that not everybody has entrance to, or is competent in the use of technology. Conclusion Overall, one should be positive of the future, it is moving into the conventional of traffic information and control systems. We must not loose sight that there is still a lot to do. It is also worthwhile mentioning that the UK Parliamentary Transport Select Committee which is the primary committee of Members of Parliament which review government advancement and legislation do not share the view that that 10 year plan was a creative document. The Select Committee reported in May 2002 that in their view the 10 year plan did not have sufficient hard targets to aim for, was watered down to pacify the motorist lobby, nor addressed the issue well enough where the private investment would come to part-fund the £180 billion earmarked for investment in the UK transport transportation over the next 10 years. One has some understanding with this view, however as a transport professional a 10 year plan and dream for transport in the UK, no matter how flawed is better than the usual short-term policy view we are familiarized to in the UK References Blythe, P. (2001) Lecture 1: Introduction to ITS. Module CIV810. Intelligent Transportation Systems. CPD Student Notes: Course 1. 15-17th October 2001. DETR, (1998): http://www.dtlr.gov.uk/itwp/paper/ Tarry, S. (2001) Lecture 5. The ITS ASSIST Project. Module CIV810. Intelligent Transportation Systems. CPD Student Notes: Course 1. 15-17th October 2001. Read More