The role of ITS in evacuation route choice

The paper focuses on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) oriented to route choice management and control on urban road transportation networks. The elements of an ITS may be grouped into three functional classes: survey and transmission, control and users information. ITS for survey require an architecture based on sensors located on the network, which detect traffic conditions. ITS for control have their core in the so-called Decision Support Systems (DSS), which may operate both in ordinary and emergency conditions. Emergencies in transport system require a real-time management in order to support decision makers in a dynamic context. ITS for users information allowing dissemination of information to users during their trip. Information may be descriptive or prescriptive in relation to the management strategy adopted. In the paper the description of each functional class considers hardware and software elements.