Quantum computing for transport research: an introduction, systematic review, and perspective

TL;DR

This paper introduces quantum computing concepts for transport research, reviews 103 studies on quantum applications in transport, and suggests future directions for leveraging quantum advantages in practical problems.

Contribution

It provides a systematic review of quantum computing applications in transport and proposes a research pipeline and future priorities for the field.

Findings

Diverse transport problems proposed for quantum acceleration

Identification of suitable problems where quantum offers practical benefits

Guidelines for future research directions in quantum transport applications

Abstract

Transport engineering has significant potential to benefit from quantum computing. The rise of intelligent transport systems, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things has created an unprecedented demand for efficient information processing and computational optimisation. Accordingly, transport engineers and scientists have explored the ever-improving capabilities of quantum computers in an effort to meet this demand. Motivated by this growing interest, this paper sets out four aims: (1) to introduce the fundamental aspects of quantum computing relevant to the transport domain, (2) to identify transport-related problems which are suitable for quantum acceleration, (3) to develop a pipeline for solving these problems, and (4) to provide a systematic review of the existing literature. For the latter, a systematic search of the Scopus database (and supplemented by additional citation sources) identified 103 studies for inclusion following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. While a diverse set of use cases have been proposed, we conclude that future research should prioritise problems where quantum computation offers a clear practical benefit. To this end, we suggest promising directions to guide further work in this burgeoning subfield.