ERTICO News: ERTICO, Partners host Shanghai Municipal Government Delegation

Date: 12 July 2007

High-level Shanghai delegation visits ITS sites in five European countries with the help of ERTICO and Partners.

ERTICO – ITS Europe and several of its Partners were host to a high-level delegation from the Shanghai Municipal Government, 25 June – 5 July 2007. The trip was organised by ERTICO Project Manager Julia Wu based on the requirements and wishes of the Shanghai authorities. Its overall aim was to showcase European ITS solutions and build the foundation for future European and Chinese cooperation activities.

The delegation included Mr Miankang Jiang, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Information Centre, as well as other high-level representatives from the Shanghai Municipal Construction and Transportation Commission, Shanghai City Comprehensive Transportation Planning Institute, Shanghai City Development Information Research Centre, Shanghai Urban Transportation Bureau, Shanghai Municipal Engineering Administration Bureau, Shanghai Traffic Police General Brigade and the Shanghai Electrical Apparatus Research Institute (Group) Co., Ltd.

1. Germany
The first stop on the five-country tour was Berlin, where ERTICO Partner Siemens presented its technologies used in the city’s traffic management and traffic control centre (VMZ Berlin). The delegation also heard more about traffic information and service provision in Berlin, as well as related services which were carried out for the FIFA World Cup in Germany last year. From Berlin, the visit continued to the city of Halle, where the participants learned more about how the radio station that covers the entire central German region area uses TMC to broadcast real-time traffic information.

Next, the delegation was welcomed to Hannover by ITS Niedersachsen, a member of the ERTICO-hosted Network of National ITS Associations. They profited from presentations about traffic management for large events, especially the EXPO and the integration of the traffic management center. They also learned more about public transport timetable planning for 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

ERTICO Partner Robert Bosch was the next host, and greeted the delegation in Hildesheim where an afternoon was spent at a demonstration/discussion of navigation systems.

2. France
The delegation arrived in Paris on 29 June to meet with ERTICO Partner French Ministry of Transport at La Défense. Here they viewed the "inter-modal pole" of La Défense and the technical centre in Guyancourt. ERTICO Partner Renault provided an introduction to its research centre, focusing on the conception of new cars and new services for mobility. The delegation also learned more about the business model of a traffic information provider by Mediamobile, a subsidiary of ERTICO Partner TDF. It rounded out the day with a meeting at the Interdepartmental Highways Directorate in Ile de France.
 
The second day of the French visit included an overview of the mobility and modes of transport in Paris and in its surrounding region. It also heard about Paris’ urban policy and the measures the city takes to reduce traffic problems, improve the quality of bus services, and overall traffic management. A visit of the traffic control center of the Paris region (PC Lutèce) and a trip on Paris bus line 38 also gave the participants the opportunity to witness the quality of service in a very dense urban zone, see the role of passenger information, experience connection with a tram line, and study the effectiveness of design to improve acceptance of public transport.

3. The Netherlands
The delegation then headed north to The Netherlands, where it was welcomed at ERTICO Partner ANWB's head office in The Hague. It learned more about ANWB’s international cooperation activities, as well as detailed plans about traffic and travel information services and road pricing situation in the Netherlands.

4. United Kingdom
ERTICO Partner Transport for London hosted the delegation on 4 July to introduce and share their experience on the world first congestion charging systems. Another meeting was arranged with ITIS Holdings to discuss the use of mobile technologies to collect and distribute traffic information.

5. Belgium
The delegation wrapped up the whirlwind tour with a closing visit to the ERTICO offices in Brussels. ERTICO CEO Arnold van Zyl introduced them to ERTICO and its activities and fruitful discussions followed about tolling, cooperative systems and ERTICO international cooperation activities.

Cooperation important
During the visit to ERTICO, Mr Jiang noted that the trip offered the opportunity to see impressive traffic information services in action in many cities. He remarked that since ITS solutions have just begun to be deployed in Shanghai, the focus now in China is on data collection. The next steps will be on how to use this collected data, and he added that TMC is a start.

Mr Jiang also called for the need to establish cooperation between Shanghai and ERTICO and its Partners, and welcomes ERTICO Partners to Shanghai. Areas of mutual interest are also important, he added.

For more information, please contact ERTICO Project Manager Julia Wu

Areas of mutual interest are important.	ERTICO staff and representatives from Shanghai at the ERTICO premises.