EU and India to increase cooperation in bid to improve road safety

Date: 06 June 2006

European and Indian road transport stakeholders meeting in Brussels on 1 June agreed to significantly strengthen cooperation in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS). The conference, organised by the ERTICO-coordinated EU-India project and supported by the European Commission, attracted several high-level public and private sector participants from the two regions.

“This meeting has proved a real boost to EU-India ITS cooperation,” Jacob Bangsgaard, ERTICO Director of External Affairs and Communications, commented. "Important ITS demonstrations will be launched in India with the assistance of European stakeholders, and we have a clear commitment from key players to support further Indian ITS deployment activities."

The EU-India event aimed to assess how road safety and sustainable mobility in India can be enhanced with the help of ITS. India has one of the highest road accident rates in the world – more than 80,000 people are killed every year. Due to the phenomenal growth in the number of vehicles in the country, traffic is having an increasingly negative impact on the urban environment and the need to upgrade India’s traffic management systems has become pressing. 

Participants agreed on the need to develop an ITS road map for India that sets out key priorities and action points. As a first step, delegates concurred that urban traffic planning and management must be improved in order to make the most of the existing infrastructure. Digital mapping, traffic data collection and broadcasting will be key factors in this respect. Participants also pointed to the need to develop an emergency management system.

As a first collaboration activity, delegates decided to start work on defining a series of demonstrations intended to showcase the benefits that ITS solutions can offer and raise awareness among Indian decision makers of the potential of ITS. In particular, participants agreed that ITS can greatly improve traffic management in connection with large events, and committed to evaluating in greater detail how ITS could help ease the management of the Delhi Commonwealth Games, scheduled for 2010.

On a more long-term basis, delegates pledged to support the creation of a centre of excellence for ITS in India and increase cooperation on ITS training and education between the two regions.

Among the high-level participants attending the event were André Vits, Head of the European Commission’s ICT for Transport Unit, A. P. Bahadur from the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, O.P. Agarwal from the Indian Ministry of Urban Development, as well as numerous participants from both Indian and European industry.

For more information, please visit the EU-India website or contact the Project Coordinator Priti Prajapati.

From the left: Rasmus Lindholm and Jacob Bangsgaard from ERTICO, P.K. Nanda from the Central Road Research Institute of India, Mike Hollingsworth from ACEA.	From the left: Arnold van Zyl from ERTICO, A.P. Bahadur from the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Andre Vits from the European Commission, O.P. Aggarwal from the Indian Ministry of Urban Development.