# BIM-Based Description of Intelligent Transportation Systems for Roads
###### Abstract  
Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) provide safer, greener, and more convenient mobility, while reducing the impact on the environment. In recent years, simulation platforms have been employed to study ITS applications, mostly focusing on traffic-related simulations. Despite several research studies on ITS applications and simulation platforms, formal semantic descriptions of intelligent transportation systems have not been addressed yet. In this paper, a semantic model describing intelligent transportation systems for roads is proposed. The semantic model is devised to provide a basis for designing ITS simulation platforms. Building upon the semantic model, an extension to an open building information modeling (BIM) standard, i.e., the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) schema, is presented. The IFC schema extension is verified and validated using a BIM-based simulation scenario of ITS for roads. It is shown that the proposed IFC-compliant description of ITS for roads provides a formal basis for generating BIM-based simulations and hence facilitates ITS infrastructure modeling in BIM projects. It is concluded that the present work represents a cornerstone for designing BIM-based ITS simulation platforms. In future endeavors, potential standardization and formalization efforts may be discussed. intelligent transportation systems; semantic modeling; building information modeling (BIM); Industry Foundation Classes (IFC); vehicular cloud; EXPRESS; STEP  
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modal transportation systems with an information management layer between different modes of transport [7]. The reference framework integrates a simulation module and forms a platform for operational processes. [PERSON] et al. (2014) have presented a comparative analysis framework for performance assessment of existing simulation platforms used for public transport control systems [8]. A model-driven engineering framework for implementing ITS simulations for roads has been proposed in [9]. The framework comprises ITS data models for traffic simulations and sensor network components, as well as guidelines on how to use the data models for different simulations, such as traffic lights control. [PERSON] et al. (2016) have presented a semantics-based framework addressing ITS building blocks and different operational phases of ITS software elements, obtained to describe interconnected vehicles in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem [10]. Research on ITS simulation platforms has mostly focused on improving simulations of traffic-related applications [11; 12]. Although BIM for infrastructure is a matter of recent research [13; 14; 15; 16], formal descriptions of ITS for roads that provide a basis for simulation platform designs have received little attention [17]. Standardized formal descriptions, e.g., based on open building information modeling (OpenBIM), may be used for describing infrastructure information for physical components in ITS for roads. OpenBIM data models, i.e., the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) schema maintained by building SMART International (bSI), provide neutral non-proprietary data models for collaborative descriptions of infrastructure in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry [18]. The current official IFC schema, standardized in ISO 16739-1:2018, includes several IFC entities that may be used to describe road infrastructure, such as the _IfcAlignment_ entity, which defines reference systems for locating infrastructure elements [19]. Furthermore, within collaborative projects, researchers and organizations have been developing extensions to IFC entities that may be obtained to define physical and spatial elements of road infrastructure, with the potential of becoming candidate entities of official IFC schemas [20; 21; 22].