Project News: ITS Network Special Session at Aalborg

Date: 28 June 2007

Successful session focuses on identifying and communicating ITS benefits.

The ERTICO – ITS Europe hosted Network of National ITS Associations held a Special Session at the Aalborg European ITS Congress on 20 June 2007.  The Session, entitled “Justifying the investment and reaping the rewards – communicating the benefits of ITS installations” was organised by Jennie Martin of ITS United Kingdom and chaired by Christer Karlsson, Chairman of the Network and representing ITS Sweden. Over 35 people attended the session.

The Session looked at how to identify and communicate ITS benefits to those outside the ITS arena.  A series of presentations were given exploring the related issues in greater detail.

Excellent expertise
Steve George of telent presented MATTISSE - a region-wide traffic and travel information system based in the West Midlands in the UK. Part of the EC 4th Framework Programme, it was originally set up to tackle the increase in congestion and has delivered improvements in both operating costs and efficiency. The Help2Travel website, as the public interface, provides current travel information generated within the MATTISSE system.

Reinhard Pfliegl from AustriaTech spoke about the policies and infrastructure requirements necessary for Austria.  He emphasised the role that ITS solutions can play in the future with regards to safety, the environment and reducing congestion. He talked about the need for an integrated transport policy, highlighting the Austrian Telematics Master Plan based on the establishment of a knowledge base and the definition of measures covering all modes of transport.

Andreas Blust from the Austrian Ministry of Transport presented the Austrian Intelligent Infrastructure Programme which started in 2002 and ran until 2006. The programme comprised four calls for cooperating R&D projects, resulting in 95 projects and lighthouse projects on Innovative Inland Navigation and MOBILE which looked at overlapping transport management. The projects are now at the evaluation stage and the results will be presented at a future ITS World Congress.

Martin Brandner from ASFINAG presented the organisation, wholly owned by the Austrian Government covering 2000 kms of road - making it the fourth largest motorway operator in Europe. They have set up Traffic Control Units depending on requirements – light, medium and heavy – with heavy control units located near big cities. Collection of data enables management and planning as well as providing information for customers.  As a result, road users, the environment, the national economy and business have all benefited as shown by the Tyrol case study presented.

Olga Landolfi from TTS Italia spoke about the acceptance by government and local authorities that ITS is necessary as identified by the 2001 National Transport Plan.  The trend in the Italian ITS market is growth with an estimated turnover of €1100 million by 2009 (from €550 million in 2003).  She went on to present the current situation in Rome where the ITS system has been in operation since 2000, integrating public and private transport and providing real time information to the public through mobile phones. The resulting benefits include a 10% reduction time in travel, safety improvement of 12%, a 15% reduction in emissions and a saving of €12 million per year.  An appropriate communication strategy is seen as essential in creating awareness regarding the benefits of ITS. TTS Italia is working on a proposal for a National ITS Strategic Plan to be presented in the next few months.

The Session was closed by Steve Morello from the IBEC network.  He emphasized the fact that individuals were no longer road users, but now customers.  With a move to investing in ITS for infrastructure maximisation, the likelihood is that, despite more vehicles in the future, the impact need not be increased congestion.

In addition to the Special Session, Network members were also highly visible at the concurrent Exhibition. ITS associations from Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK and Switzerland all had stands in the Exhibition area.

For more information, please visit www.itsnetwork.org