We introduce a set of coupled transport equations for nucleons, pions, and Deltas for the description of hadronic matter in heavy ion collisions up to beam energies per nucleon of 2 GeV. By investigating pion production, pion transverse momentum spectra, baryon collective flow, and two-proton intensity interferometry, we are able to obtain insight on the sensitivity of these observables to the parameters of the nuclear equation of state and to nuclear transport properties.