Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
This technology integration would be also interesting for customers, as they can
see their planned trips online (Web-Portal), for example for a given week. The simu-
lation model plus to produce solutions, also print reports on systems performance to
allow analysts and decision-makers to assess the DRT specification being simulated
(or in use, if the system was implemented). Appropriated sets of KPIs can be obtained
from a series of simulation runs (working-day unchanged pattern) for a particular
DRT specification, i.e. set of fixed rules and parameters.
6
Conclusions
This paper presents a systematization of performance measures to be used for the
evaluation of the performance of transportation systems. The model adopted is sup-
ported in the framework developed by the Transportation Research Board for trans-
portation companies. These performance measures are supposed to be incorporated
into simulation and BI transportation models, by properly designing their computation
model. (Most of the measures, such as averages and standard deviations of a given
relevant variable, are easy to implement, but others may not.)
One of the most important problems of ITS is the analysis and management of in-
formation gathered either from historical data or simulated data. The simulation-based
BI solution herein proposed is funded on a framework that extends commercial avail-
able software by explicitly incorporating a “what-if analysis” BI component that
easily creates new scenarios (of the functioning of the system) and automatically
transmits all needed information (data) to the simulation model as its input.
Real and/or simulated data can be extracted by BI system, and then processed and
translated into the form of traditional tables, graphs and reports, and allowing easy
customization by end users. Thus, this work promoted the use of general proposed BI
tools that, along with the integration of advanced analytical techniques and prospec-
tive what-if simulation, support the inference of both strategic and operational per-
formance measures helping decision makers in the transportation sector in monitoring
and managing their working system, in designing new strategic and tactical improve-
ments, and even in designing new sustainable systems by accurately predicting their
performance and related economic, social and environmental impacts.
The general framework herein proposed was extended and adapted to the particu-
lar problem of designing and planning DRT systems, thus overcoming a current
lack of analytical tools to this end. The paper shows the potential interest of the
proposed what-if simulation and BI integration, identifying a set of questions that
can be answered with effectiveness and more efficiently before implementation.
The approach is based on a iterative procedure (between BI analysis and simulation
run sets) thus producing and comparing alternative DRT parameterization for dif-
ferent scenarios, and proactively foreseeing the correspondent effects on perform-
ance. It may contribute to implement the most probable effective and sustainable
DRT for a given area.
