Applying a System of Systems Approach for Improved Transportation

Abstract

Future national, commercial, and individual prosperity must rely on a global transportation schema that is dependable, efficient, safe and resilient. To be successful, this global transportation schema must accommodate the needs of local communities within the constructs of larger regional and national transportation systems and priorities. Success will also be measured by the ease with which the multi-level transportation solutions can work among themselves horizontally and vertically, and adapt to the emergence of new technologies and the retirement of old technologies. Without using a system of systems (SoS) approach, scarce private and public resources will be spent on products and infrastructure solutions that are not efficient, interoperable, nor upgradeable, and will hinder economic progress, national security, and individual movement for the next 50 years. Application of a SoS approach brings a single, unifying framework that provides order, simplification, and certainty for entrepreneurs, corporations, small businesses, researchers, urban planners, logisticians, and individuals. Developed as an open set of system and sub-system architectures, such an approach will identify a supporting set of standards, interfaces, best practices, and design guides to foster new and innovative inter and intra-modal transportation ideas and products that are tailorable to address under-developed, rural needs and well-developed, urban needs.