Jontransport

Jontransport is a hypothetical open-standard framework for coordinating urban transportation and logistics. It aims to enable interoperable communication among autonomous vehicles, public transport, freight shippers, and city infrastructure to improve efficiency, safety, and accessibility.

The specification defines a layered architecture including a data model, a transport protocol, and application interfaces. Data models cover vehicle state, trip requests, manifests, and infrastructure signals. The transport protocol emphasizes secure, low-latency messaging over public or private networks, with support for offline operation and multi-network handover.

Key features include real-time dispatch and routing, multimodal trip planning, vehicle-to-infrastructure messaging, standardized manifests, and event logging for auditing. It supports policy-based routing, privacy controls, and role-based access.

Development and adoption: The project is community-driven with contributions from city agencies, transport operators, and technology vendors. Several pilot programs exist in European and North American cities. Implementations are typically provided as open-source toolkits and reference servers, with certification programs to verify compliance.

Impact and reception: Proponents argue that jontransport can reduce delays, optimize energy use, and enable safer autonomous operations. Critics note potential risks around data ownership, security, and vendor lock-in, underscoring the need for transparent governance and robust security standards.