This paper presents a literature review about the application of blockchain-based systems in transportation. The main aim was to identify, through the implementation of a multi-step methodology: current research-trends, main gaps in the literature, and possible future challenges. First, a bibliometric analysis was carried out to obtain a broad overview of the topic of interest. Subsequently, the most influential contributions were analysed in depth, with reference to the following two areas: supply chain and logistics; road traffic management and smart cities. The most important result is that the blockchain technology is still in an early stage, but appears extremely promising, given its possible applications within multiple fields, such as food track and trace, regulatory compliance, smart vehicles' security, and supply-demand matching. Much effort is still necessary for reaching the maturation stage because several models have been theorized in recent years, but very few have been implemented within real contexts. Moreover, the link blockchain-sustainability was explored, showing that this technology could be the trigger for limiting food waste, reducing exhaust gas emissions, favouring correct urban development, and, in general, improving quality of life.
Traffic safety and energy efficiency of vehicles are strictly related to driver's behavior. The scientific literature has investigated on some specific dynamic parameters that, among the others, can be used as a measure of unsafe or aggressive driving style such as longitudinal and lateral acceleration of vehicle. Moreover, the use of modern mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), and their internal sensors (GPS receivers, three-axes accelerometers), allows road users to receive real time information and feedback that can be useful to increase awareness of drivers and promote safety. This paper focuses on the development of a prototype mobile application that can evaluate the grade of safety that drivers are keeping on the road by measuring of accelerations (longitudinal and lateral) and warning for users when it can be convenient to correct their driving style. The aggressiveness is evaluated by plotting vehicle's acceleration on a g-g diagram specially studied and designed, where horizontal and lateral acceleration is displayed inside areas of "Good Driving Style". Several experimental tests were carried out with different drivers and cars in order to estimate the system accuracy and the usability of the application. This work is part of the wider research project M2M, Mobile to Mobility: Information and communication technology systems for road traffic safety (PON National Operational Program for Research and Competitiveness 2007-2013) which is based on the use of mobile sensor computing systems for giving real-time information in order to reduce risks and to make the transportation system more safe and comfortable.
This paper presents a simple concept which has not been, up to now, thoroughly explored in scientific research: the use of information coming from the network of Internet connected mobile devices (on vehicles) to regulate traffic light systems. Three large-scale changes are going to shape the future of transportation and could lead to the regulation of traffic signal system based on floating car data (FCD): (i) the implementation of Internet connected cars with global navigation satellite (GNSS) system receivers and the autonomous car revolution; (ii) the spreading of mobile cooperative Web 2.0 and the extension to connected vehicles; (iii) an increasing need for sustainability of transportation in terms of energy efficiency, traffic safety, and environmental issues. Up to now, the concept of floating car data (FCD) has only been extensively used to obtain traffic information and estimate traffic parameters. Traffic lights regulation based on FCD technology has not been fully researched since the implementation requires new ideas and algorithms. This paper intends to provide a seminal insight into the important issue of adaptive traffic light based on FCD by presenting ideas that can be useful to researchers and engineers in the long-term task of developing new algorithms and systems that may revolutionize the way traffic lights are regulated.
New technologies such as "connected" and "autonomous" vehicles are going to change the future of traffic signal control and management and possibly will introduce new traffic signal systems that will be based on floating car data (FCD). The use of floating car data to regulate traffic signal systems, in real time, has the potential for an increased sustainability of transportation in terms of energy efficiency, traffic safety and environmental issues. However, research has never explored how not "connected" vehicles would benefit by the implementation of such systems. This paper explores the use of floating car data to regulate traffic signal systems in real-time in a single intersection and in terms of cooperative-competitive paradigm between "connected" vehicles and conventional vehicles. In a dedicated laboratory, developed for testing regulation algorithms, results show that "invisible vehicles" for the system (which are not "connected") in most simulated cases also benefit when real time traffic signal settings based on floating car data are introduced. Moreover, the study estimates the energy and air quality impacts of a single intersection signal regulation by evaluating fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. Specifically, the study demonstrates that significant improvements in air quality are possible with the introduction of FCD regulated traffic signals.Energies 2019, 12, 409 2 of 22 completely eliminated, showing that congestion was reduced and safety increased [5,6]. Cassini [7,8] also presents a fascinating case where traffic signals were installed improperly causing residents to protest, without success, until the moment the lights went off for a technical failure and the traffic jams magically disappeared.While these experiences hint that regulating traffic signal systems properly is an important and actual problem, mobile internet coupled with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) localization systems are creating disruptive innovations in the transportation sector. A real technical revolution has started, driven by the convergence of mobile internet, GNSS and the introduction of "connected" vehicles.Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) can take advantage in the use of Floating Car Data (FCD) for managing traffic flow or to extract traffic flow parameters and many large scale deployments of such systems based on Floating Car Data (FCD) are already showing the use of mobile phones [9][10][11][12] and wireless communications [13,14] combined with GNSS technologies.Smartphones (and connected vehicles) can obtain localization and speed information from GNSS systems such as Galileo, GPS and Glonass. GPS sensors embedded in smartphones provide an economical method to obtain vehicular travel times [15] and to evaluate traffic scenarios [16,17]. Smartphones also allow the estimation of traffic safety parameters [18] and route choices [19]. Mobile devices have also been used to asses safety and risks by insurance companies [20] and for traffic safety [21,22] and fuel consumption estimation [23]....
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