Towards the New Concept of Smart Roads: Regulatory Framework and Emerging Projects Overview

The evolution of the transportation sector enabled by the diffusion of smart roads represent a valuable opportunities for all the stakeholders involved, starting from and users (i.e. drivers) themselves and companies at the different stages of the value chain. Such evolution is driven not only by technology development, but also by the regulatory framework at national and supranational level. The analysis of some first experiences related to the implementation of smart roads concepts shows a certain level of heterogeneity among analyzed projects, none of them realized in Italy. In order to exploit such an opportunity, the Italian regulatory framework regarding transportation systems in Italy has been analyzed. It emerges that some improvements are required compared to the European context, e.g. the definition of technological standards.