Future Transportation: Intelligent Vehicles in Intelligent Environment

In the paper there the structure and build-up of transportation systems, their development, and especially, the needs established by the society that motivate the continuous expansion of such systems will be outlined. The development is determined by the four participants ("components") of these systems, namely by the human beings, vehicles, infrastructure and regulations. The principal element of the process is man with his demands for mobility and transportation. These demands can be satisfied by manufacturers who produce the desired vehicles. The response time of manufacturers is much shorter than the development of infrastructure; however, the later is also essential in order to serve transportation processes. The low flexibility of infrastructure is partly caused by the huge amount of necessary investment, and also by the complex ownership relations. The last element that usually appears with delay compared to the other three is the regulation system (laws, standards, specifications etc.), and it also expresses the needs of the society as long as the development - motivated by social demands - sometimes conflicts with other needs, i.e. the needs for safety or for the protection of environment. This contradiction finally closes the "control loop", and actuates the evolution of transportation systems.