Thinking Highways Europe/rest Of The World, March 2007

THIN KING

HIG HW AYS EUROPE/REST of the WORLD EDITION Volume 2 • Issue 1 • Q1/2007

OILING THE MACHINE

The inner workings of cooperative vehicle infrastructure systems RICH PICKINGS

Does India have the capability to become an ITS superpower?

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT Phil Tarnoff gets serious about highway safety

AGREE TO DISAGREE GNSS: discuss in your own words

PLUS

Transportation security • Speed measurement • Green transport Economic policy • Cyprus • Czech Republic • José Capel Ferrer, Predrag Balentovic & Steve Morello interviews NEW COLUMNISTS the

INTELLIGENT

choice

Advanced transportation management policy • strategy • technology finance • innovation • implementation integration • interoperability

    


    
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Foreword Thinking

Kevin Borras is publishing director of H3B Media and editor-in-chief of Thinking Highways Europe/Rest of the World Edition.

Editor-in-Chief Kevin Borras [email protected] Sales and Marketing Luis Hill [email protected] Design and Layout Phoebe Bentley, Kevin Borras Guest Designers The Design Dell (pages 38-47) www.design-dell.co.uk Sub-Editor and Proofreader Maria Vasconcelos

Back for good

There’s nothing quite like feeling entirely vindicated. Just ask KEVIN BORRAS. Or better still, let him tell you You really didn’t think that would be our one and only issue, did you? Shame on you, oh ye of little faith. If you’ve tried calling us over the past few months and been put through to our recorded selves and thought “where are they, then?” and imagined that were scrabbling around for articles and adverts, then we forgive you. Since we launched Thinking Highways at the ITS World Congress our feet have barely touched the ground (literally on one occasion, but that was my fault for wearing inappropriate shoes for the icy conditions). We’ve spent many a long hour explaining our vision for a multimedia transport future to a multitude of people and have so far received nothing but positive responses and reactions. To us, this is vindication that we have got the angle of approach right. There’s no need to take our word for it, either. How about this from a highly satisfied reader: “I actually need to force myself to get through many of these somewhat dry industry publications, it’s sort of a necessary evil. That is

until now of course, and for that I am most grateful to you. Thanks for making it interesting for a change!” Or this from an industry expert: “Your first issue contained some of the most fascinating and thoughtprovoking articles I’ve read in years. We all know that a lot of this technology is brilliant, but

“You didn’t really think that would be our one and only issue, did you?” the real brilliance is in how you implement and integrate it. Marvellous stuff!” These were just two of dozens of congratulatory emails and calls we’ve received (and we also got a lovely hand-written letter from Thailand) and we’re now hoping that this next batch of three issues (including Thinking Highways North America and our road pricing title, ETC, etc, will illicit such similarly heart-warming

Stefano Mainero, Steve Morello, Malavika Nataraj, José Papí, Priti Prajapati, Ondrej Pribyl, Sybille Rupprecht, Phil Tarnoff, Paul Vorster Subscriptions and Circulation Pilarin Harvey-Granell Visualisation Tom Waldschmidt Conferences and Events Odile Pignier Website Code Liquid

Financial Director Martin Brookstein Contributing Editors Bruce Abernethy, James Joseph, Andrew Pickford, Phil Sayeg, Phil Tarnoff, Darryll EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING Thomas, Harold Worrall, Amy Zuckerman H3B Media Ltd, 15 Onslow Gardens, Wallington, Surrey SM6 9QL, UK Contributors to this issue Tel +44 (0)870 919 3770 Alexis Avgoustis, Barbara Bernadi, Ivan Fax +44 (0)870 919 3771 Fencl, Bern Grush, Alan Hayes, Zeljko Email [email protected] Jeftic, Jenny Jones, Paul Kompfner,

www.h3bmedia.com

Thinking Highways

correspondence. However, you won’t find out if you don’t register! Just go to the H3B Media TransPortal at www.h3bmedia.com and it’ll only take you a minute. While you are there, I’d like to invite you to also register for the online versions of all three of our titles as well.You read them just like you would a printed magazine; they download almost instantly as they open as images in your web browser; they are ‘published’ up to two weeks before the printed versions and you can have free access to the North American edition, too. What more incentive do you need? Other highly innovative features will be and indeed are available on the TransPortal so please take a look. Finally, another shameless plug. Pages 38-47 of this issue were lovingly crafted by The Design Dell, a highly creative group of people based in Ely, Cambridgeshire, so thanks to Dan Donovan and his team. And if you’d like to contribute something to our June issue, please give it some thought. TH [email protected]

is published by H3B Media Ltd.

ISSN 1753-433X Thinking Highways is published quarterly in two editions – North America and Europe/Rest of the World - and is available on subscription at £30/€40 (Europe/RoW) and US$60 (North America). Distributed in the USA by DSW 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437 USA. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Thinking Highways, 401 S W Water Street, Suite 201B, Peoria, Illinois 61602, USA.

Managing Director Luis Hill Publishing Director Kevin Borras www.h3bmedia.com

Although due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this publication is accurate and up-to-date, the publisher can accept no liability for errors and omissions. Unless otherwise stated, this publication has not tested products or services that are described herein, and their inclusion does not imply any form of endorsement. By accepting advertisements in this publication, the publisher does not warrant their accuracy, nor accept responsibility for their contents. The publisher welcomes unsolicited manuscripts and illustrations but can accept no liability for their safe return. © 2007 H3B Media Ltd. All rights reserved. The views and opinions of the authors are not necessarily those of H3B Media Ltd. Reproduction (in whole or in part) of any text, photograph or illustration contained in this publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Printed in the UK by Stones the Printers

Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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Contents

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COLUMNS Eurocities’ Mobility Forum Paul Vorster’s ITS South Africa Update

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COVER STORY

Is the CVIS project Europe’s answer to the USA’s VII? Paul Kompfner and Zeljko Jeftic explain 48

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THE THOUGHT PROCESS Steve Morello, Business Development Manager, Egis Projects, France

THINKING DIFFERENTLY Bern Grush looks at how the different schools of thought at work in the world of GNSS aren’t really helping its global take-up. A 10-page feature created by The Design Dell THE NATIONALS Priti Prajapati on ERTICO’s role in the groundbreaking EU-India programmes National pride

EU-India aims to improve road safety and the efficiency of transportation systems in India through a close cooperation between European and Indian stakeholders defining key issues for ITS deployment - in particular, Intelligent Integrated Safety Systems (eSafety) in India. Essentially, the project facilitates EU-India cooperation to define ITS priorities in India and identify future cooperation projects. It achieves this through the organisation of workshops and events, as well as the building of networks of collaboration. These serve to raise awareness of ITS and its benefits for India, as well as share information on best practices. The project also helps create market opportunities for both European and Indian businesses, bringing researchers together to encourage joint EU-India research initiatives. The first EU-India event was a priority workshop in March 2006 which served as a good introductory meeting and insight into the context and priorities in India. ERTICO led a group of European ITS experts to meet institutes involved in transport management and planning in India, such as key stakeholders Central Road Research Institute and Delhi Traffic Police. The Indian hosts presented their current activities in transport planning and were very keen to meet EU stakeholders.

KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if we’ve come as far as we should have done…

Establishing a need

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THE THINKER ITS guru Phil Tarnoff’s thoughts on the global pandemic that is highway fatalities CHATROOM Kevin Borras travelled to Croatia to talk lux intensity, geographical misconceptions and piano scales with Telefon-Gradnja’s charismatic CEO, Predrag Balentovic... ... and then had an illuminating audience with José Capel Ferrer, Director of the United Nations ECE’s Transport Division

International Cooperation is a key priority for ERTICO – ITS Europe as the mobility challenges that Europe faces are shared worldwide. As PRITI PRAJAPATI reports, one region which has caught the interest of ERTICO and its partners is India

With an economy (GDP) growing more than 8 per cent each year, India has divested an increasing amount of investment on infrastructure. This is being done through initiatives such as the construction of National Highways. However, with 80,000 deaths annually on Indian roads, existing road safety measures are said to be insufficient and not enough is being done to counteract this alarming statistic. Up to now, IT-based applications for road transport have not been fully developed or deployed in India, yet there is a huge potential. ERTICO’s first step has been through the EC-funded

projects EU-India and SIMBA that it coordinates to raise awareness of ITS and the standards and technologies available in Europe, to define priorities and requirements in India and work towards areas for joint collaboration in research. India and the EU have been described as “natural cooperation partners” by the EU Ambassador for India, Francisco da Camara Gomes, thanks to their common ideals and political values, long standing cultural and historical links, convergent geopolitical perceptions (particularly in relation to multilateralism and regional integration), similar science and technology priorities

and associated ethical concerns, as well as mutual economic interest in the outcomes of research and its use by enterprise and society.

Establishing links: the EU-India project

The roots of ERTICO’s own cooperation with India go back to August 2005, when it participated in the AsiaPacific ITS Conference and Exhibition in New Delhi. There, it signed a cooperation agreement with AITS India in the presence of Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology. This helped lead to the beginning of the EU-India project in December of that same year.

At that point in time, India was at the stage of working towards the enablers or pre-conditions to ITS: Infrastructure: The focus was mainly on the construction of the Golden Quadrilateral, India’s express highway construction plan of 5846 km of four/six lanes, which links four corners of the country: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, the latter three previously known by their old, colonial names of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Availability of digital maps: India’s Map Policy was announced in 2005, when Open Series Maps became the responsibility of Survey of India/Department of Science. The policy stated that map users can make valueadded additions to the maps and share the information under initiations to the Survey of India. Private agencies would be allowed to carry out surveys across India using public domain datum, as long as they were registered and accredited by the Survey of India. Stakeholders: It emerged that many stakeholders in India, such as the Government of India (GoI), ITS India, Traffic Police, and local transport authorities were not cooperating in ITS development. AITS India has, since 2000, seen one of its main roles as raising awareness of ITS and its benefits in India amongst policy makers and relevant business and academia. According to AITS India, in order for ITS to progress, it would need to be coordinated within a public-private platform, which did not yet exist. Existence of piecemeal efforts: Despite individual efforts, ITS was not being coordinated and driven from a single platform and roadmap. Initiatives have been introduced mainly by the local state transport corporation, such as the first vehicle tracking system using GPS for public transport buses - an initiative of the Bangalore Transport Corporation. The Indian Institute of Technol-

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Is India just playing a traffic management game or is it a serious player, asks Malavika Nataraj

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It’s said that a country must not build its way out of its transport problems. Try telling that to the Czech Republic, says Ivan Fencl

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Alex Avgoustis reports from his home town of Nicosia, capital of Cyprus, as it prepares to embark on some much-needed traffic management catch-up

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TRANSPORT SECURITY Is our transport infrastructure as safe as it should be? Stefano Mainero suspects not Alan Hayes details the importance of futureproofing video transmission for ITS POLICY PERSPECTIVE José Papi, Secretary General of the International Road Federation - Brussels Programme Centre on road transport economics SPEED ENFORCEMENT Ondrej Pribyl discusses how different methods of speed enforcement affect driver behaviour CONFERENCE PREVIEW The IRF’s Black Sea and Silk Road 2007 COMMENT Jenny Jones, the Mayor of London’s Green Transport Advisor on why we aren’t spending enough on low-tech stuff .. . like road safety Advertisers’ Index

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Eurocities’ Mobility Forum

Fighting talk Cities hold the keys to sustainable mobility

Nowadays, as our cities continue to grow, local authorities have to reconcile the goal of providing the means for more people to travel to and around the city (with limited possibilities to build more capacity) with the overarching need of addressing issues of congestion, pollution and climate change. This will not be achieved unless we set up a strong, sustainable and innovative transport sector that brings about efficient traffic flows. Today we find ourselves at a defining moment. Passenger and freight operators should stop asking themselves the old fashioned question what is the quickest was from getting from A to B, and rather addressing the new million Euro question: “What is the most sustainable way from getting from A to B?”.

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To answer that question we need to urgently devise a model facing challenges such as growth and development, transport flows and mobility. Most of all, this model must underline that “access to”

“We need a strong, sustainable and innovative transport sector” goods, facilities, services and activities, and not their “movement of” is the sustainable approach. It is no longer a question of just being been able to move around, but of having access to genuine and sustainable urban mobility. With access to work, to housing, to education, to

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health, to leisure and so on, all requiring more and more mobility, it can be argued that we are witnessing the emergence of what could be called a ‘right’ to mobility, a right that is “generic” insofar as it is the prerequisite for all of the above. The importance of urban mobility in the day-to day lives of individuals and in business activities also means that greater attention needs to be paid to the quality of the public infrastructure environment. In fact, its growth raises problems of different kinds of intermodality and co-modality, of accessibility, of space requirements, of safety, environment, and so on. Resolving these problems require new approaches which will analyse the wider policy implication from a much broader perspective. www.h3bmedia.com

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Robert Eurocities’ KellyMobility and Mark Forum Johnson Bravehearts required

Urban Transport is a crucial factor in this overall picture, but requires a broader approach than its name suggests. If we were braver, we would not be scared of finding the way to join together the dialogue of the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs with the Sustainable Development Strategy. This would help us to simultaneously answer the other million dollar Euro question address, namely: how can we achieve sustainable economic development in order to seriously address the environment concerns affecting the future of the European cities? To find this answer we will need to think outside of the box by developing a broader, more flexible transport policy methodology. By following the subsidiary principle, cities will be able to find solutions ranging from regulations, economic instruments, soft instruments, and technological integration to a geographically differentiated approach using method of tailor-made legislation or enhanced cooperation between cities, metropolitan areas and countries.

Prepare for battle

At the 2006 Burgos CIVITAS meeting Phil Goodwin from the Bristol-based Centre for Transport and Society said that “we need to fight and win the most terrible battle of the century: the adolescent love affair with the car versus the marriage to the city.” This thought or wish may engender the need of escaping the easy trap of getting problem solved one by one, implementing solutions to one problem that exacerbate other problems facing society. For example, in order to reduce congestion we may easily be tempted to build a

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“We must win the battle of the century: the love affair with the car versus the marriage to the city” bigger road, we would have less traffic but a lot more pollution. Put differently, more comprehensive planning helps identify “Win-Win” strategies: solutions to one problem that also help solve other problems facing our society.

A path of many levels

EUROCITIES Mobility Forum members are starting on this challenging path on several levels. The possibility of intervening in the framework of the Green Paper on Urban Transport gives us and all the other stakeholders involved a unique chance to state our ideas and thoughts on the

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subject, which can involve various European actors. In this bi-monthly column, we would like to illustrate from a city’s European perspective the rising problems that are currently affecting European cities. This issue will be devoted to Road Safety. because although many cities may be committed to reducing road deaths, they do not have the resources, experience or know-how to achieve this goal.

Playing it safe

There is a substantial and practical potential, therefore, to expand this programme and facilitate regular exchanges of ideas and experiences to help cities implement effective, concrete measures to improve road safety, as illustrated in the Jenny Jones’s article on pages 92-94 of this issue. TH For more information, please contact Barbara Bernadi, Eurocities’ policy officer - mobility at [email protected] or visit the website at www.eurocities.org www.h3bmedia.com

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Paul Vorster’s ITS South Africa Update

Kick start

Dr Paul Vorster is CEO of ITS South Africa

Africa has the opportunity to deploy so-called Intelligent Transport Systems technologies and to connect the dots to make transport more intelligent. There are numerous projects being implemented, many with a focus on improving public transport. Most of these projects include a strong ITS element. It’s a firmly and widely held belief in SA that the way in which the public and the private sectors are joining forces to deliver on a common

Connecting the dots to make transport in South Africa more intelligent for Soccer World Cup 2010 and beyond Former President, Nelson Mandela’s ‘Madiba Magic’ helped South Africa resume its position in the community of Nations after 1994. The decade that followed saw the economy being restructured and the current Government programme of action is focused on infrastructure development. Getting the mandate to host the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010 in South Africa (see Rainbow Rising on pages 52-55

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of the Autumn 2006 issue of Thinking Highways’ Europe/ Rest of the World Edition) has contributed to put its transport network in the spotlight as part of the multi-billion Euro capital programme. In the absence of legacy systems, South Africa now has the opportunity to leapfrog to state of the art, but appropriate technologies and make its transport systems more intelligent. With several exciting transport capital projects underway, South

“Many projects are being implemented with a focus on improving public transport” focus of improved transport, is an example for industrialized and New World Economies alike.

Gautrain Rapid Rail Link

The Gauteng Provincial Government has entered into a €2.5bn Public Private Partnership with the Bombela Concession Company to build and operate the Gautrain, a rapid rail link between Johannesburg and Pretoria and between Sandton and the OR Tambo International Airport. The Bombela Concession Company includes, inter alia, www.h3bmedia.com

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Robert Paul Vorster’s Kelly and ITSMark South Johnson Africa Update of Bombardier (rolling stock), Boygues (tunneling), Murray & Roberts (civils) and SPG (black economic empowerment partners) while RATPP will be responsible for rail operations. Serving as a catalyst for transport improvements in South Africa, Gautrain is promoting several ITS agendas, ranging from integrated ticketing, traveler information services, state-ofthe-art safety and security systems and a new emphasis on promoting inter-modal linkages to ensure door-todoor transport services.

Metrorail

The high importance given to public transport has motivated Metrorail/SARCC (SA Rail Commuter Corporation) to announce the introduction of a luxury train service between Soweto and the CBD of Johannesburg. The 530-seat train expected to begin a trial phase in March 2007 and be fully operational by April 2007. It is designed to complement the Gautrain in areas not included on the rapid rail link’s planned route and is aimed at satisfying the demands of middle-class travelers.

SANRAL Roads Network

Former President Nelson Mandela with the FIFA World Cup trophy

the planned Johannesburg Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. It will link various high-density nodes with each other. Dedicated bus lanes with modern buses running at high frequency will provide public transport options currently not available.

“SANRA is engaged in several exciting initiatives, such as the Freeway Management Project between Tshwanbe and Johannesburg”

After dedicated work in the past decade to improve the national roads network, SANRAL is engaged in several exciting initiatives. One is the Freeway Management project between Tshwane and Johannesburg and obtaining the cooperation of the Metros of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane. Another project is the planned €0.5bn upgrade of the Gauteng network. A toll study is underway that is likely to result in the deployment of free-flow tolling.

Initiated by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) the BRT system is expected to implement several ITS elements such as public transport vehicle priority at intersections, e-ticketing, realtime traveler information and high-tech safety and security systems.

Johannesburg BRT

Airports Company SA

Another project that is set to transform public transport is

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Equally exciting is the announcement by the Airports

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Company South Africa (Acsa) that it has ramped up its capital expenditure commitments to €2billion to meet expected growth in passenger traffic beyond 2010. The new La Mercy airport north of Durban and further extensions to the international airports in Johannesburg and Cape Town figure in the plans. ACSA anticipates passenger numbers to rise 7 per cent a year between 2008 and 2012 and calculates that its nine airports will handle 31m passengers in the 12 months to March, up from 28.8m passengers in the previous year.

Taxi recapitalisation

The €1bn taxi recapitalisation programme is also steadily getting some momentum with taxi owners applying for a scraping allowance that will see old and often unroadworthy vehicles being removed from the road in favour of new customdesigned 18- and 35-seater vehicles. The scrapping agency is inundated with applications and 1000 old vehicles had been scrapped to date. TH www.itssa.org www.h3bmedia.com

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Team talk

KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if we’ve come as far as we should have done…

What are cooperative vehicle-infrastructure sytems? What can they do? What can’t they do? Is this Europe’s version of the US Vehicle Infrastructure Integration program? All of these questions are answered by PAUL KOMPFNER and ZELJKO JEFTIC ... who ask a good few of their own for good measure This year it appears to be the fashion to talk about “cooperative systems,” “the always connected car” or vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. There seems to be universal agreement that the future of telematics will be the car that communicates. Indeed, the European Union is putting over €50m of R&D money into a group of large-scale projects that are intended to establish Europe as the global technology leader in this domain. Of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating – in this case in what proportion of the roadside infrastructure will be equipped to communicate with cars, and likewise how many new cars and other vehicles will roll off the production line with a series-fit embedded communication system. This article, by the management team of the EU “CVIS” (Cooperative Vehicle-Infrastructure Systems) project, takes a sideways glance at cooperative systems, and asks some probing questions about what they are, how

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they might work in practice, who needs to play a part in their operation and what “deployment” means for cooperative systems. Let’s begin with a visit to the future…

A day in the life of cooperative systems…

What will tomorrow’s world look like once drivers, pedestrians, vehicles, portable devices, roadside infrastructure and centres can talk to each other? Let’s follow Stephanie on her trip to work and see how the paradigm of driving has changed for her now she can benefit from a wide range of cooperative mobility services. It’s 7.35am on 17 March 2014, and Stephanie is woken by the alarm on her cooperative mobile phone. The phone knows her agenda for today, and has just been alerted that there’s been an accident on her preferred route to work, with an expected delay of 10 minutes. The alarm wakes her up earlier than usual and tells her she’ll need to take a detour. After a shower and breakfast she www.h3bmedia.com

Cover Story wave” of synchronised green lights all along its route to the scene of the fire. The cooperative emergency management system even sends new route advice messages to the other traffic, diverting drivers away from the incident area. Stephanie follows the updated advice and turns off her usual route for a few blocks, until she’s passed the fire scene and can rejoin the main road. Nearing the end of her journey, Stephanie gets a message from the vehicle behind her. It happens to be her neighbour Julie, saying hello and asking if she has time for a coffee – she accepts, as her trip was turning out to be quicker than expected. After a short break, when her car dispatches a few quick mails she dictated earlier for her office colleagues and clients, Stephanie is guided to the parking space reserved for her today, and arrives at the office. All along the journey, Stephanie’s car has been connected to the roadside data monitoring service and has downloaded data on its position, speed and heading, and extra information about the trip coming from the car’s sensors. The cooperative monitoring centre has processed this data with that from the thousands of other vehicles on the road, and has used the real-time traffic data to provide routeing recommendations to its service customers. Stephanie’s entire journey was safer, faster, cheaper and “greener” thanks to the new cooperative systems.

So what are “Cooperative Systems”?

gets into her cooperative vehicle and leaves for the office. Throughout her journey the vehicle screen displays a speed recommendation transmitted from the cooperative traffic system, as well as the status of the approaching traffic signals. She knows from experience that if she keeps to the suggested 65 km/h speed she can pass through the next few intersections without being stopped by a red light. At the same time, she might earn extra “green points” as a cooperative driver, credits that she could cash in later for access to environmental controlled zones, or to the right to use city-centre bus lanes whenever there is spare capacity. Further along her trip she stops before a traffic light that’s blinking red, which is accompanied by an alarm and a message on the display saying an emergency vehicle is approaching. A few seconds later a fire engine races across the intersection from her left, riding a “blue www.h3bmedia.com

Before they can cooperate, systems must first of all give, take and share information with each other. While systems individually may hold vast amounts of information, stored in the vehicle, in roadside equipment, in control and management centres and in mobile devices, these are usually organised vertically, with one organisation running the entire chain from data collection and processing to data delivery. If this information can be shared with other, cooperative services and applications, then all members of the cooperative mobility community - driver, passenger, traffic operator, emergency agency, fleet manager, pedestrian, etc - can benefit from it, and real synergy can occur. Beyond information sharing, systems can cooperate in the sense of modifying their behaviour in the light of knowledge of others’ actions and intentions, even negotiating amongst each other. This already happens in a limited way at unsignalised or four-way stop junctions, when simple rules may apply, such as priority from the right or “first-come first-served”. Such interaction can become much more sophisticated and bring widespread benefits if based on collective data collection and information sharing – provided that drivers obey the rules and follow the advice.

Key building blocks

The essential technology elements that need to be in place to support cooperative mobility include: wireless communication networks, wireless communication and positioning units in the vehicle, wireless and fixed communication units attached to roadside equipment, management, control and service centres running Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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Cover Story

cooperative applications, and the interface to users. For its basic communication technology, the CVIS project has settled on CALM (Continuous Air-interface Long and Medium range communications) architecture and specifications, based on standards developed in ISO TC/204, working group 16, as its basic communication technology. In order to maintain a continuous network connection while a vehicle is moving at speed, CALM enables use of all suitable existing communication channels, e.g. UMTS, and facilitates the integration of new ones as they are rolled out, e.g. Wi-MAX. The ability to use flexibly different communication channels should lead to a high quality of service and reduced communication costs. It also means that early services can be rolled out using existing networks. However being able to talk is still not good enough, cooperative systems need to speak the same language in order to understand each other. The CVIS project is devising a common language comprising a set of protocols and data models for a set of core application modules around which real applications and services can be developed. These common software modules allow applications to interact with users in their own language, while the open application management environment provides both a set of basic core services as well as an open platform for any kind of new collaborative service. Accurate positioning is a key requirement for cooperative systems, and the CVIS core platform includes an advanced positioning and mapping module. This will use GPS and Galileo (when available), as well as techniques based on the radio communication systems themselves, such as triangulation from wireless network nodes and registering the location of nearby transmitters such as Bluetooth. To provide sufficient accuracy, high-precision local maps of key infrastructure need to be created, that can be linked with real-time data on the position of the vehicles that happen to be nearby at that moment. In this future architecture, probably the great-

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est uncertainty concerns just which organisations need to be present and what they need to do.We look into this question in more depth below. Last but not least, the human being is the most important element in any cooperative system. The general approach in current cooperative system developments worldwide is based on providing drivers with information, guidance, advice and even commands (in the case of traffic control), but never actually taking over control of the vehicle. Although this would of course be quite possible even with today’s technology.

The driver is the centre of attention

Although one could be forgiven for thinking that the vehicle is at the heart of cooperative systems, with all the talk of “vehicle-to-vehicle” and “vehicle-to-infrastructure” communications, in fact ultimately a human being will be the object of such communications. While the simplest of cooperative systems will simply redistribute to the driver as traffic information the data just collected (with his consent of course) from his “probe vehicle” as it circulated in the road network, it is likely that more complex systems will be developed that require or allow a driver to follow advice or take the initiative. As an example, a system may send to each driver who happens to be within a cluster of vehicles approaching a traffic light an individualised recommended speed which, if he maintains that speed, will allow the cluster to pass on green and avoid stopping. To benefit, each driver must comply voluntarily with the speed recommendation. Success of this idea will depend on drivers learning quickly that they will get real benefits if they follow the advice.

The personal touch

If cooperative systems are a kind of club, we can ask how an individual would become a member. Will this be automatic once he buys a “communicating car”? Will his www.h3bmedia.com

TRAFFEX 2007, Hall 4, Stand E1

Harald Klatt, Application Engineer

„With technical mobility, we make flexible traffic monitoring more effective.“

MultaRadar is the world’s most successful mobile and stationary system to monitor traffic. The technology is convincing with variable application options and precise readings, with unquestionable identification and recording. MultaRadar is ready for use extremely quickly and is very easy to operate – our service team offers effective support here. Visit us at the TRAFFEX 2007, 17th-19th April, Hall 4, Stand E1.

ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH Opladener Strasse 202 40789 Monheim, Germany Tel. +49 (0) 21 73 - 39 40 - 0 Fax +49 (0) 21 73 - 39 40 - 169 [email protected] www.traffipax.com

JENOPTIK Group.

Cover Story car “talk” freely (and free of charge) to any suitably equipped roadside equipment without further ado? Or will he need to sign up for specific cooperative services – even to pay for them? Will there be a mix of free and pay services? Following this thread further, we can look at the person at the centre of the cooperative community. Since the collection of monitoring data from road users is such an important element in the cooperative cycle, users’ willingness to provide these data will be critical. They will need to be processed anonymously and in complete security, to avoid fears of a mass-media hyped “Big Brother”. Given their value, users who provide data could be offered credits towards their service subscription. This leads to the question of how users would “buy” cooperative services, whether singly or in bundles, and from whom. City residents might become subscribers to personal travel services provided by their local traffic authority, such as route assistance or parking services – these might be free of charge to locals but incur a fee for visitors.

Cooperative organisation

Probably the greatest uncertainty surrounds the question of which are the organisations that will need to be involved – or even to be set up – to make cooperative systems work. Clearly the vehicle manufacturers have a role, even if only to ensure that new vehicles will have the appropriate equipment installed. But once they can communicate directly with each vehicle they sell – and with each owner - why shouldn’t they seek to become a service provider to their customers, adding “vehicle relationship management” to the more traditional “customer relationship management”? Who will operate the backbone mobile communication networks? The cellular mobile network operators will have a role, at least for providing coverage outside

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built-up areas. But they too might see an interest to operate other types of wireless network such as WLAN or Wi-MAXTM, that are better able to support the direct, short-range communication requirements of cooperative systems. Is there also a need for a separate organisation to operate a dedicated “cooperative systems network” to handle the rather special needs for secure collection, management and delivery of data and related services, from and to vehicles? While CVIS is basing its technology around IPv6, this does not mean the “world wild web” – there is still a requirement for a protected network environment, and this may need to be managed. The cooperative services model depends on the collection of data from vehicles, the road network and the environment. Once processed and integrated, these data become the source of the information to drivers that propels the cycle of cooperation. Monitoring data will need to be managed by some organisation, although in practice it could be the traffic network operator or an existing service provider, or else a separate entity, either public, private or public-private. On the ground, there are all the infrastructure and fleet operators and other bodies that will want to install cooperative system communication links to their equipment in order to be able to interact with vehicles. This is crucial, since the cooperative system cycle will not be closed without such deployment. The problem is that there are so many different actors who could possibly be involved. This raises the question whether they need to be organised into some kind of business network in order that road users find a coherent offer of cooperative services rather than an indisciplined jungle? This goes to the heart of the nature of cooperative systems in practice: will this be nothing more than a new technology that anyone can adopt and instantly become a cooperative service provider? In this case there might

TRAFFEX 2007, Hall 4, Stand E1

Dr. Ondrej Pribyl, Product Manager, Key Account

“Our Toll Enforcement solutions offer secure data protection.”

Recording, identification, analysis – our modular electronic systems optimise toll control, provide maximum transparency and efficiency. To do this, we combine the latest digital camera technology with advanced laser triggering technique and classification systems with individually developed software solutions such as License Plate Recognition. Visit us at the TRAFFEX 2007, 17th-19th April, Hall 4, Stand E1.

ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH Opladener Strasse 202 40789 Monheim, Germany Tel. +49 (0) 21 73 - 39 40 - 190 Fax +49 (0) 21 73 - 39 40 - 234 [email protected] www.robot.de

JENOPTIK Group.

Cover Story be no need for any more than a label saying “complies with cooperative systems standards”. Otherwise, there will be a need for a much more structured approach in which the various operators and service providers would ensure a planned and coordinated deployment and in which cooperative service operations were also harmonised and controlled cooperatively.

So what is deployment?

What does deployment mean for cooperative systems? Certainly it’s not a simple matter of installing some loop detectors, traffic lights and a junction controller unit – as for a basic traffic control installation. The complexity of cooperative systems and the number of entities and decision-makers involved means that even cooperative system deployment needs to be cooperative! The main elements to be deployed include the following: • The vehicle: an onboard unit supporting wireless communication on the media chosen to deliver cooperative services, enabling a permanent Internet Protocol connection; • The roadside: a box linked to roadside installations that provides wireless communication to nearby vehicles (on the same media as implemented in the vehicle unit), with interfaces to existing roadside systems and onward to back-office services; • Τhe communication system: while existing cellular (2G, 3G…) data services will be one medium used for cooperative systems in order to ensure virtually complete coverage, there is a growing consensus that some kind of wireless local area network (WLAN or “Wi-Fi”) for vehicles is needed: a (mesh) network of local hotspots throughout cities and along main highways; in addition, communication units installed for tolling or access control (e.g. DSRC, infra-red) can be used to fill in the network. Also, Wi-MAX (“WMAN” or wireless metropolitan area networks) could be a future carrier if it should be deployed across urban areas and if the mobile version of the standard becomes the norm; • Operating and management centres: these are the elements that will make up the operational services running in the background and foreground, and that constitute the cycle of cooperation. They include data management centres, traffic management and control centres, emergency service centres, public transport and commercial fleet management centres, etc. As we’ve seen above, it is not so clear how and in what order deployment will take place in practice.Will vehicle makers begin installing communication units in their new cars, trucks and buses as soon as standards are fixed? Will city traffic authorities be first off the line to install communication units in equipment for traffic monitoring and control? Or will motorway operators take the lead? When will roadside equipment suppliers begin offering products adapted for cooperative systems?

Taking off

As the world of cooperative systems involves potentially so many different stakeholders it seems likely a

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special dedicated effort will be needed to make deployment happen in a suitably coordinated way. We would like to propose that Europe needs its own initiative to launch and then steer cooperative system deployment. The United States has its VII initiative, driven by the US DOT, and a VII Consortium made up of federal and state highway departments and the automotive industry, established “to determine feasibility of widespread deployment and to establish an implementation strategy”. Arguably the stakeholder community in Europe is more splintered than in America, hence the need is stronger for a European consortium – a “Cooperative System Alliance” or CSA – to drive implementation. Such a group could work to bring cooperative system implementation into the political arena at all levels from municipal to national to European Union. Coordination of public investment will be needed if the potential benefits for transport safety and efficiency and for the environment are to be realised. The European CSA could support individual stakeholder groups such as traffic management suppliers, mobile network operators, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, motorway operators, fleet owners and operators and urban traffic authorities each to adopt a common approach for deployment, and then to coordinate deployment strategy across all sectors of the community.Without this common approach it is hard to see who would be willing to take a first step towards cooperative systems when there is a risk that necessary complementary investments are not going to materialise. Unfortunately, until now there is very little of cooperative systems visible to the average citizen and driver, so we should not expect deployment to be user-driven! All the more reason to deepen the experience gained through collaborative R&D projects and then to create public awareness through demonstrations and persuasive publicity for the results of cooperative system evaluations. Before then, let us have some good debate about what cooperative systems are, what benefits they can bring, and how to make them happen. TH CVIS, which is IP coordinated by ERTICO in EU FP6, started on 1 February 2006 and will finish in January 2010. The CVIS project acknowledges the support provided by the European Union through a grant of up to €22m towards the total project budget of €41m. The CVIS consortium has 60 members, from sectors including automotive manufacturers and suppliers, traffic system suppliers, public and private road operators, mobile network operators, motoring associations and research institutions. An open workshop on CVIS architectures will be held on 21 June in Aalborg, Denmark and ERTICO will jointly organise an international workshop on cooperative systems architectures the following day, also in Aalborg. For more information go to www.cvisproject.org or email Paul Kompfner, CVIS IP Manager or Zeljko Jeftic, Deputy CVIS IP Manager, at [email protected] www.h3bmedia.com

BECAUSE MOBILITY MATTERS.

INTELLIGENT ROAD PRICING. BECAUSE MOBILITY MATTERS. Satellic Traffic Management engineers mobility for today, tomorrow and beyond. Our environmentally sustainable road pricing solutions ensure the safe, free-flow of traffic, whilst at the same time offering the opportunity for intelligent traffic management, enhanced mobility and improved economic productivity. Satellic manages the entire process of design, launch and operation of electronic road pricing solutions. These are interoperable and tailored to the specific requirements of any city, region or country, anywhere in the world.

Satellic Phone +49 30 259 236 0 • www.satellic.com

The Thought Process

Steve Morello Business Development Manager, Egis Projects, France

The key issue in this industry as I see it hinges on market-driven initiatives. How can we best harvest the fruits of ITS deployments to date and in the offing? Evaluation is like the ebb and flows of the tides – one funding period it is in vogue, the next it is on the wane and then it is at the forefront again. What I do not understand is how can evaluation be switched on and off? Justification of public outlays for ITS deployment should always be on the radar screen, in particular, for complicated system deployments. Today we are seeing a dramatic increase in commercially off-theshelf products and services which require little or no physical functioning evaluation. For example, in the foreseeable future, we are likely to witness the full-scale deployment of electronic tolling in specific countries taking that major step from the now-established nationwide tolling systems for heavy goods vehicles. Has anyone in any country with such a system undertaken an in-depth review of the costs and benefits? Tolling interoperability beyond national borders is not on the horizon in Europe despite many claims to the contrary. The current situation with a hodgepodge range of discrete national systems for heavy goods vehicles (Austria, Germany, Czech Republic and Switzerland) is leading to the creation of new market opportunities for service providers. Independent tag service providers will in the end be the forbearers of true interoperability of tolling across different tolled infrastructure (either at a national level or across several countries). The basic market condition is a platform for additional services that road users want and expect from being slapped with the users pay principle. Customer service levels for tolled infrastructure vary immensely from one region, state or country to another. The sheer fact that motorway concessions in some countries are labelled or perceived as cash cows that do not put the customer first is contradictory to the dictum that road users on tolled infrastructure are pay-

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ing for access to the road and additional services.Therefore, toll road operators should feel obliged to be at the vanguard of deploying a range of ITS services for their (paying) customers. Tolling technology versus market forces.Whenever I meet someone from a specific tolling technology sector, all they seem focused on is promoting the benefits their technology will have for solving all the world’s traffic congestion woes. The key to really taking advantage of the market potential for electronic tolling systems is to allow client-supplier relations for the technology provision to be separated from the management of transponders/tags/on-board units to other players. In other words, in the tolling market, Governments should be allowing for and stimulating competition rather than stifling it with bureaucratic meddling. It seems that we are almost at a watershed with urban congestion charging. Either the number of cities adopting urban congestion charging policies with the concomitant deployment comes of age, or public outcry at paying again and again stymies the way forward to paying for road usage (wherever or whenever) like we pay for catching a plane or high speed train. I believe the tipping point will come from the United States, where we are witnessing a potential for several major cities to adopt urban congestion charging. If that happens, the rest of the world will take notice. After more than 15 years in the ITS industry, I sometimes wonder where cities today would be without the past instrumentation efforts of the roads. We are now reaping those benefits in terms of existing robust sensors and processing facilities which enable many cities around the world to provide real-time traffic and travel information… we are no longer in the dark, but the light is not shining so bright. Much remains to be achieved before we can say that people book road space and are subsequently assured of getting from point A to point B in a pre-determined lapse of time. It’s like I always say, the biggest car park in the world is the M25 Orbital Motorway around London. TH www.h3bmedia.com

“The basic market condition is a platform for additional services that road users want and expect from being slapped with the users pay principle”

“What ITS can do is support policy objectives and improve knowledge, information and management” Interview by Kevin Borras

“Governments should be allowing for and stimulating competition, rather than stifling it with bureaucratic meddling”

The Thinker

N A

E W

KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if we’ve come as far as we should have done…

C

? W O N

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www.h3bmedia.com

The Thinker Highway safety is never a subject to be taken lightly. PHIL TARNOFF suggests that automobile fatalities have become a pandemic that we just aren’t doing enough to eradicate

On 19 September 2006, MSNBC reported that a serious E. coli outbreak linked to spinach had occurred in the United States. The report indicted that one (possibly two) deaths were being investigated by Federal officials. Ultimately, three unfortunate souls succumbed to the E. coli bacteria, an event that was covered by all of the major media outlets. During the two month period that the “spinach problem” was receiving elevated attention, approximately 7,200 individuals died in automobile accidents within the US and 200,000 died worldwide without any media attention. Have we become desensitized to automobile fatalities since they are so frequent? While even a single fatality is not to be taken lightly, the statistics of highway death and destruction defy comparisons with the impacts of E. coli bacteria. In fact, they even defy comparisons with the effects of war and starvation. As shown in table 1 (reproduced from Reference 1), the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over the past ten years the worldwide life shortening consequences of automobile accidents have risen from ninth place to third place, ahead of war (eighth place) and HIV (tenth place). Consider the statistics: In 2005, there were more than 43,000 fatalities in the US and nearly 1.2m fatalities worldwide annually. The number of injuries in auto accidents is equally staggering with nearly 40m injured worldwide. A pandemic is defined as “an epidemic over a wide geographic area and affecting a large proportion of the population. Clearly, because of the worldwide death and injury rates, auto safety can be considered a pandemic. Yet the policy and investment emphasis placed on this pandemic by most governments worldwide is dwarfed by the focus on other life threatening concerns which often pose less serious societal problems.

The pandemic can be cured

The most compelling evidence that solutions to the highway safety pandemic exist, can be found in the safety initiatives successfully implemented in Victoria, Australia during the period of 1989 through 2004. Detailed descriptions of the Victoria program exist elsewhere, and should be required reading for legislators as well as the general public since a program such as the one implemented by the Australians requires comprehensive policy support. The success of the Australian program is enviable. Since its inception, the fatality rate in Victoria has dropped from approximately 22.5 deaths per 100,000 population to 9 deaths per 100,000 population; a decrease of 60 per cent to just over half of the US fatality rate. These impressive results were achieved through the combined support of public agency and political officials, with majority (although far from unanimous) public support for a comprehensive program that spanned the three E’s of safety; education, enforcement and engineering. The success of the program was further ensured through strong legislative support and ultimately, continuous performance measurement. This program deserves particular attention in the US, since Australia, like the US is a “federation, but mostly because www.h3bmedia.com

Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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The Thinker

“ Excessive speed and alcoholism are major highway safety problems, yet there is demonstrated evidence that they are tractable”

it is part of the “new world” where urban form, regional development, and road transport developed more or less contemporaneously.” Highlights of the Victoria program include: • Legislation which increased police powers,increased penalties and clarified existing regulations. This legislation included a zero blood alcohol requirement, increase of the probationary license period from two to three years, compulsory helmets for bicyclists, and immediate license loss for second drunk driving offenses; • Greatly increased speed enforcement including extensive use of speed photo enforcement. • Increased random breath testing for detection of drunk drivers by a factor of five. Statistically, this means that one in three drivers in Victoria can expect to be stopped each year. • Introduced a long-term program of public education in support of specific safety initiatives, in order to maintain the visibility of traffic safety with the public. In summary, three overall factors can be identified as having contributed to the success in Victoria: 1. A sound and realistic plan (more about this later); 2. Political and bureaucratic leadership which recognizes that the enforcement and engineering cannot accomplish their goals without an underlying legislative mandate as well as adequate funding; 3. Integrated implementation in which the three E’s are used to complement each other The Australian program is not alone in its successful improvement of highway safety. However, it provides an

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invaluable example of the potential benefits of a fully integrated program with a foundation of strong legislative support. Equally important, rather than expending resources chasing a large number of safety issues, the program focuses the major causes of traffic fatalities; speed and alcohol.

A focus on speed and drunk driving

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speed and drunk driving accounted for 30 per cent and 40 per cent of fatal crashes annually. Obviously these percentages are not additive, since approximately 40 per cent of the fatal speed related crashes involved drivers with blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher. Adjusting for this double counting, it can be concluded that taken together speed and alcohol account for approximately 58 per cent of the fatal crashes in the US, and significant reductions in these two areas alone, will have a significant impact on highway fatalities. Obviously there are other potential focus areas for improvements can be realized including young drivers and pedestrians. Speed and alcohol also received the greatest emphasis in the Victoria program. In the US and elsewhere, there is a debate regarding the relative value of lower speed limits vs. reduced speed variance (speed differentials among vehicles sharing the same roadway). While there is evidence to support the safety benefits of both, it goes without saying that the value of existing fixed regulatory signing www.h3bmedia.com

The Thinker vailing traffic and roadway conditions. Here again, the variable speed limit must be accompanied by an intensified enforcement program. This approach is likely to produce the highest level of public acceptance for increased enforcement (including the use of automated techniques), since the perceived benefits of “sensible” speed limits will offset objections to the increased enforcement. Alternatives 2 and 3 require legislative support.

Intensive measures required

with unrealistic speed limits that are universally ignored by motorists. In most areas of the US, the 55 mile per hour (mph) speed limit has, for all intents and purposes produced a nation of law-breakers. On many US roadways, it is common for close to 100 per cent of the vehicles to be exceeding the speed limit, a fact which calls into question the value of existing speed limit signage. There are three alternatives to the current situation: 1. Retain the 55 mph speed limits, and greatly increase enforcement such that speeders are assured of receiving a citation. Photo enforcement or other automated enforcement techniques are the only way in which an appropriate intensity of enforcement can be practically achieved. 2. Increase speed limits to a level that reflects actual highway speeds. Combine the increased speed limits with increased concentration of enforcement. Safety advocates are likely to (correctly) oppose this measure, since “actual highway speeds” are variable depending on time of day, weather conditions, roadway geometrics, percent of familiar drivers, vehicle mix (trucks vs. autos), etc. A higher speed that may be safe for one set of conditions could be unsafe under other conditions. However,unless the number of speed violators is significantly below 100 per cent (and probably below 10 per cent), manual enforcement techniques are impractical. 3. Take advantage of existing technology to implement a regulatory variable speed system in which speed limits are automatically displayed at the prevailing 85 percentile speeds, on the theory that the majority of drivers will automatically select the safe speed for prewww.h3bmedia.com

The common denominator of these three techniques is greatly increased enforcement, which must be accompanied by an intense public education program explaining the benefits of the selected approach. As demonstrated by the Victoria program, whichever alternative is selected, it must be accompanied by legislative policy support and adequate funding, to ensure its success. In this manner, the three Es of safety are employed. Any of these three alternatives is superior to the current sporadic enforcement of unrealistic speed limits. The public recognizes the consequences of drunk driving to a much greater extent than speed, and has supported increased penalties for those driving while intoxicated. This may be the result of the efforts of groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), or it could be caused by the fact that a relatively small percentage of motorists drive under the influence, while “everyone speeds”. Whatever the reason, the penalties for driving under the influence (DUI) have been significantly increased during the past 20 years, with approximately 1,600 new DUI laws passed nationwide within the US since 1980. A few examples include the fact that “all States have adopted 21 as the legal drinking age, and two-thirds of the states have passed Administrative License Revocation (ALR) laws, which allow the arresting officer to take the license of drivers who fail or refuse to take a breath test. In addition, many states have lowered the legal BAC limit from 0.10 to 0.08 percent for adults, and more than a dozen states have passed Zero Tolerance laws which prohibit drivers under 21 from having any measurable amount of alcohol in their blood system.” But it is too early to declare victory. While these measures along with extensive public education are likely to be responsible for a nearly 5 per cent reduction in alcohol related fatalities, this slow progress is unacceptable in view of the fact that more than 14,000 individuals lost their lives in 2005 due to drunk driving. It is clear that additional steps must be taken, again to include increased enforcement, expanded public education, and additional funding. A list of measures that have proven effective is presented on DUI.com, a website supported by the State of California. A sample of the measures listed by this reference, over and above those that were previously mentioned includes: • Alcohol treatment programs • Server intervention and education programs • House arrest in lieu of jail • Lower BAC for repeat offenders Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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The Thinker Table 1. Rank of 10 Leading Causes of Global Burden of Disease*

Table 2. History of US Fatalities

1990 Rank/Disease

Fatal Crashes Total Fatalities

2000 Rank/Disease

1 Lower Respiratory Infections 2 Diarrheal diseases 3 Perinatal conditions 4 Unipolar major depression 5 Ischaemic heart disease

1 Ischaemic heart disease 2 Unipolar major depression 3 Road traffic injuries 4 Cerebrovascular disease 5 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 6 Cerebrovascular disease 6 Lower Respiratory Infections 7 Tuberculosis 7 Tuberculosis 8 Measles 8 War 9 Road traffic injuries 9 Diarrheal diseases 10 Congenital abnormalities 10 HIV * Rankings measured in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY), which is a measure that ombines information on the number of years lost from premature death with the loss of health from disability.

• Greatly increasing the number of sobriety check points (as per the Victoria program) • Expanded public information and education • Effective Vehicle-Based Countermeasures • Vehicle impoundment or immobilization • Ignition interlock. The referenced website indicates that measures being used which have not proven effective include jail or community service and fines, even though these approaches continue to be used. Ignition interlocks are of particular interest, since they have been shown to reduce repeat offenses by 50 per cent to 90 per cent. These devices operate by requiring the driver to breath into a device that determines the BAC level. If preset limits are exceeded, the vehicle will not start. Other forms of interlocks are on the horizon, including one in which the driver’s BAC is measured by steering wheel sensors. These devices, which represent the engineering“E”,combined with aggressive enforcement and increased education, offer the promise of significant reductions in alcohol related fatalities.

Traffic safety in the United States

The successes of the Australians and others, the availability of new technologies, an improved understanding of the highway safety problem and its cures, are all causes for optimism. The US, as a leader in technology, with a well funded safety research program should be a world leader in the field of highway safety. Unfortunately, quite the opposite is true. In 1998, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published a strategic plan in which it established the goals of a 20 per cent reduction in fatalities and a 20 per cent reduction in serious injuries within ten years (by 2008 – one year from now). As indicated in Table 2, the US is not only failing to meet these goals, but fatalities have con-

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2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

39,189 38,444 38,477 38,491 37,862 43,443 42,836 42,884 43,005 42,196

National Fatality Rates Fatalities per 100m Vehicle Miles Traveled 1.47

1.45

1.48

1.51

1.51

14.74

14.93

14.80

Fatalities per 100,000: Population 14.66

14.59

Fatalities per 100,000: Registered Vehicles -

18.00

18.59

19.06

19.07

tinued to increase since the plan was published. As indicated in the table, the fatality rate decreased between 2001 and 2004, but, with the exception of 2003 and 2004 the total number of fatalities consistently increased. The statistics for 2005 are particularly alarming, since both the number of fatalities and the fatality rate increased over those for 2004. This lack of progress reduces the FHWA strategic plan to little more than a publicity piece, since the results have so little relationship to the goals. During the eight years since the plan was announced, there has been little tracking of results, and almost no mid-course corrections to ensure that the goals are being met. Perhaps most important there has been little legislative support for the use of techniques that will ensure these goals are met. There is little point in strategic planning without assurance of the needed underlying support. Reference 2 indicates that to be effective, strategic plans must include the following characteristics: • “The traffic safety problems to be addressed should be the major problems and each should be tractable. • The action plan should include interventions for which there is adequate scientific evidence of likely effectiveness (or controlled trials of innovations of unknown effectiveness). • The implementing agencies should have transparent lines of accountability for effective implementation.” The FHWA strategic plan violates many of these guidelines, in that it makes no attempt to identify the root causes of roadway injuries and fatalities, and makes no connection between the strategies and the problem to be solved.

Cure or be cured

Speed and alcoholism are major highway safety problems. Yet there is demonstrated evidence that they are tractable. Many interventions with proven effectiveness exist, if only the United States and its counterparts throughout the world would adopt appropriate planning methodologies, and muster the political will for their implementation. Unless the obvious steps are taken, the auto safety pandemic will continue, with social consequences that dwarf the impacts of E. Coli bacteria on spinach, and for that matter, most major wars. TH Phil Tarnoff can be contacted via email at [email protected] www.h3bmedia.com

CARE, COMPASSION AND CONCERN ON THE FREEWAY

Some of the differences between Samaritania Incorporated’s service patrol programs and others: 01 Our patrol vehicle operators have state and national public safety certifications. 02 We provide a complete turnkey program at not cost to motorists. 03 Provide Internet based Fleet Management Systems. 04 Provide public safety grade AVL/GPS incident recording/reporting systems. 05 Personnel, vehicles, equipment, AVL/GPS, patrol dispatch centers, and public relation programs. 06 The most experienced provider. Over 27 years providing service patrol programs throughout the U.S.

07 Provide the widest variety of quick clearance, motorist, and public safety assistance. 08 Provide a variety of different custom service patrol vehicles with and without tow capabilities. 09 Endorsed by Departments of Transportation and State Governments. 10 Endorsed by State Police, Fire/Rescue, and other public safety agencies. 11 National award winning programs. 12 Consistent media recognition. 13 Rural, remote area, and urban program applications.

Samaritania Incorporated, 10 Riverside Drive, Lakeville, MA 02347, USA Tel: +1-508-947-3700 Fax: +1-508-947-5544 www.freewayservicepatrol.com [email protected]

14 All program service costs included in single patrol hourly billing rate. 15 Operators adhere to detailed conduct policies 16 Standard Operation Procedure Development 17 Local office and project management 18 Provide Complete Indemnification and hold harmless agreements. 19 Provide audited financial resources. 20 Operators have perfect no-fault safety records. Zero fatalities. 21 Private Sector funding available to offset costs.

KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if we’ve come as far as we should have done…

A special intensity

Chatroom

KEVIN BORRAS in conversation with Telefon-Gradnja’s CEO, PREDRAG BALENTOVIC. Music’s loss is proving very much to be traffic’s gain Sometimes as a journalist you find that you have to coax answers out of people in the same way that you would try to coax a new kitten out from under your bed. At other times it’s all you can do to stop them talking. A few years ago an interviewee used up both sides of my C90 cassette answering my first question, a painful hour and a half made all the worse by the discovery that it was the only tape I had brought with me. Every so often you sit down in front of someone who falls perfectly between those two extremes. They answer your question, tell you a little bit more and then hand the emphasis back to you with a satisfied look that says:“next question please, I’m enjoying this.” Fortunately, having driven to Croatia to interview Telefon-Gradnja’s CEO, Predrag Balentovic, this is exactly what I got. Telefon-Gradnja, based just to the West of Zagreb in a town whose name translates into English as “Holy Sunday,” has been a hugely successful company in Croatia’s

transport technology sector for more than a decade, but it’s fair to say that it’s only in the last two or three years that the rest of Europe has had to sit up and take notice of its luminously effective and readable variable message signs and cutting-edge traffic management system, topXviewTM.What has the company done in that period to become so well known and so highly thought of? “We just finished a big campaign in Croatia, which gave us an opportunity to raise awareness,” says Balentovic, who turns 39 this Spring. “The end of this campaign resulted in a newly built highway network in Croatia, something easily seen by tourists, which is one of the feedback sources indicating how great these highways look when compared to the rest of the EU. Frankly, we did not think too much about it, but this feedback encouraged us to promote our presence through regular promotional activities like participating at Intertraffic in Amsterdam, advertising in magaThinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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Chatroom

Telefon-Gradnja’s topXview traffic management system in operation at the Mala Kapela TMC in Croatia

zines, articles in papers and so on. We then completed certifying our products, not only in independent and approved laboratories, but also by meeting specific client needs through interaction with influential state organizations like BASt in Germany, the Dutch Rijkswaaterstaat and ASFINAG in Austria. “These positive declarations about the quality and functionality of our equipment increased market awareness of Telefon-Gradnja,” he concludes.

traffic, our extremely wide area of expertise in development, manufacturing, design, building and implementation and our expertise with cable infrastructure implementation and so on ... and not forgetting the fully developed models of support in all phases and segments of realization of complex traffic management projects and designs. “ Breaking into the British, French and German markets (among others) is something that Balentovic and his company are working feverishly hard to achieve, but does a company from Croatia have to work that extra bit harder to make inroads into the British market, for example, than a Dutch company would? “Yes, we do,” he replies without hesitation. “Realization that a company is from Croatia very often creates a need to further check the product credibility, in particular because the preconceived, and ill-concieved, idea is that this country is not recognized for its strong electronics or software industry. “However, the level of knowledge acquired by students of the Electrotechnical Faculty in Zagreb is tradi-

“Realization that a company is from Croatia very often creates a need to further check the product credibility”

Jungle telegraphy

Once the market had woken up to TG’s presence, their first contract awards in the EU soon followed, which added to further positive rumours of their quality and capabilities within industry. “We believe that Telefon-Gradnja has become an unavoidable company in this industry now,” says Balentovic, “when you take into account not only the vast range of our own products, but also the capability to integrate other key products necessary to control and manage

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www.h3bmedia.com

Chatroom tionally very high and acknowledged worldwide (and we have employed many of the best students from this faculty). The truth is, that the knowledge, as well as the materials and production equipment, are today equally accessible to everybody and this creates the ability to build up a top company anywhere. In this case the shape of the company and types of products really depend only on traditional factors of influence, such as management, organization, market conditions and so on. Not geography.” Balentovic is more than a little pleased that ‘the world is moving on’. “I will never forget the times when in order to build an ordinary audio amplifier, you had to travel to Trieste in Italy or Graz in Austria. Today the situation is completely different: everybody in the world sources programs, literature and electronic components from the same sources, thus the competitive advantages are being built in the spheres of knowledge, innovation, quality, diversification and cost optimization. For this reason the geographical position of the company has no real significance. Nevertheless, we very often have to make a substantial effort to overcome prejudices and stereotypes. Experienceiindicates that, after a while, this kind of problem disappears completely. “

A question of ethics

“It is really quite a conservative industry. There is no connection between the driver and the equipment manufacturer”

Spend an time with Balentovic and his right-hand man, sales engineer Robert Ryslavy, and it’s not difficult to work out that Telefon-Gradnja is a company founded on some very sound, uncomplicated ethics. Its VMS signs are easily readable from in bright sunlight and from unusual angles - and in terms of clarity and simplicity, the topXview system is, quite simply and with no hint of commercial bias whatsoever, peerless. For one company to achieve such high quality levels in several areas is remarkable. “When discussing ethics and key values in TelefonGradnja the most important notion is excellence. Everything within the company is being compared only with the best there is, and this leads to conclusions on what to do next,” says Balentovic. “By implementing a concept of incremental improvements, advanced time management, constant intensive education and a developed culture of hard work in order to achieve uncompromised results, we also accomplish high staff motivation and efficiency. The experience we gained by building such a large and complex traffic management system simply cannot be bought. It’s a crucial element required to achieve the excellence I referred to earlier. “However, it is indisputable that the greatest treasure and ultimate source of any company’s success are its really exceptional people and I believe this will be confirmed by all who know us.”

Strategic thinking

I’ve often opined that there is a tendency for local, city and national authorities to think: “We’ve never done it www.h3bmedia.com

like that before so we’re not interested” when faced with innovative solutions and ideas. As a company that has to overcome a number of barriers in order to compete on a level playing field, Balentovic, who co-owns TelefonGradnja, has a strategy to deal with such narrow-minded thinking. “It is really quite a conservative industry and the issue is that there is almost no connection between the end user and the equipment manufacturer. As these are investments into infrastructure, by default, there is a great involvement of various state institutions, highway management companies, concessionaries and similar, as well as prime contractors to whom this equipment layer usually represents one concern too many in the process of building a completely equipped highway. “ My question seems to have touched a nerve, but in a good way.“If a mix of designers and consultants is added to very often complicated and antiquated, but nonetheless, obligatory to comply with, technical regulations, it is obvious that the introduction of innovations is not easy.” Balentovic says.“Further, these are de facto safety systems and there is not a great deal of room for experiments. At the same time, this industry is relatively young. The best example of this “slowed down” innovation process is the traffic light which has not undergone any significant change for almost 90 years. Therefore there is a set of objective circumstances which are difficult to change and which in their essence do not favour the application of innovations. “On the other hand, I believe that the solutions which provide clear benefits and are affordable will always find its way to a client. I am convinced that our topXview traffic management SCADA is such a product – a true and complete integration of all systems in use on a particular highway is really an idea that seems obvious to anyone. And that is a feature of all the best ideas.”

Speed the plough

Balentovic and Ryslavy show me around the impresssive research and development departments of the company’s facilities and explain that the car park to one side of the building is about to disappear under a brand new TG manufacturing plant. How much of the company’s annual turnover gets ploughed back into R&D, I wondered. “Traditionally, the company invests almost all of its revenue into the further development of markets, infrastructure, products, processes, organization, technology and so on. As far as the development of new products is concerned, including development of software products and services of technology design, the value of this expenditure in a total revenue is approximately 10 per cent, which is almost the double of industry average,” comes the reply from a man almost as intense as the LEDs his company produces and assembles on the factory floor below his office. Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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“The greatest treasure and ultimate source of a company’s successes are its really exceptional people”

Coming up on the rails

Talk to some of Telefon-Gradnja’s competitors and they will tell you, some grudgingly but with no small amount of respect, that the Croatians are a major player in their markets, but who does Balentovic see as his main competitors and how does he think they view him? “There are only few companies in the industry which can be considered as ‘old timers’. This means that in addition to products they bring to the market, they have well-developed and established contacts with relevant structures and a strongly developed and implemented strategy of presence, achievement and lobbying,” he replies, with no small amount of respect in return. “However, strong growth of the market is causing an ever-larger need to create competition scenarios, a fact that creates a challenge for these companies with a more traditional presence,” he says, “By understanding the new reality, our competition probably sees us as an unavoidable ‘natural occurrence’ in the market development cycle. If it were not us, there would sooner or later be somebody else appearing on the market. We may well be a natural occurrence but so is a light breeze and I would like to think that we are a much stronger force than that!” It is worth mentioning that Balentovic is smiling at this point.

Moving swiftly on

With Croatia still seemingly some way off full accession to EU membership, I wondered if its perceived lack of “Europeanness” (perceptions which are swiftly dashed within a few minutes of crossing its border with new EU member Slovenia) will remain in place until it adopts the

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Euro as its currency. Are TG’s plans for the next five years tinted or heavily coloured by the situation? “With no hiding, this company has a clear goal to dominate market within next five years. We consider that both market development and the structure and nature of the competition make this a realistic goal. Taking into account the possible timing of Croatia’s accession to the EU, we believe that it will be less relevant for us then it may seem at first glance.” And finally, the man behind the company. We know a lot about the company and its goals and products and vision, but what about Balentovic himself? Born in the same year as me (and for that matter H3B Media MD Luis Hill), he has an 18-month old child and he is one of the most highly driven individuals I’ve ever met but... there must be more to him than that. “I’ll skip my pre-business history but my interests were always divided between two different polarities – the piano and electrotechnical science. I graduated at both - the electrotechnical faculty, where I obtained a BScEE and the music academy, while presently I am completing my MBA.This duality simplifies my business life and experience as both the technical and interpersonal/emotional aspects are extremely important and necessary for success at the present time. I have spent my whole working career with the company where I started as an engineer in research and development. “It took me a short time to realize the potential of the industry and join the management of the company, participating in shaping the direction and aspirations it has today. And most importantly - I like to think of myself as a persistent optimist!” TH www.h3bmedia.com

*UPITER3YSTEMS0ROVIDES #OMPREHENSIVE#OMMAND AND#ONTROL6ISUALIZATION 3OLUTIONSFORTHE 4RAFFIC#ONTROL)NDUSTRY

*UPITER3YSTEMSOFFERSTHEBROADESTRANGEOFPROCESSORSFORCOMMANDANDCONTROLAPPLICATIONS &ROMTRAFFICMANAGEMENTCENTERSTOEMERGENCYRESPONSECENTERS ANDFROMSECURITYTODEFENSE *UPITER CAN SATISFY ANY CONFIGURATION AND BUDGET REQUIREMENT WITH SUPERIOR TECHNOLOGY AND EXCELLENTVALUE &/2-/2%).&/2-!4)/.'/4/ 777*50)4%2#/- %-!),).&/ *50)4%2#/- /2#!,,  

As yet unsung

Chatroom

JOSE CAPEL FERRER has spent over 30 years in transport, the last 15 years of which as Director of the ‘quietly efficient’ Transport Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) based in Geneva, Switzerland. KEVIN BORRAS discovers how both the UNECE and Ferrer, in particular, operates Would it be fair to say that the majority of the UNECE’s transport-related work goes relatively unnoticed by the industry it serves? Is this a deliberate policy? I admit that we are seldom in the spotlight. Our work is rather silent and unspectacular, but efficient and useful. This is not a deliberate policy. It is to a certain extent a tradition, but it is also the fact that the European Commission (EC) has greater and greater political visibility. It is also a matter of resources. The staff of the UNECE Transport Division is just about 40, including administrative staff, and our budget is just a fraction of that of a comparable EC directorate. Notwithstanding this, I believe it is unfair to say that the majority of our work goes unnoticed by the transport industry. We administer more than 50 international Agreements and Conventions on transport, including those on international transit transport (TIR), on transport of dangerous goods and on motor vehicles. Many stakeholders benefit from them, including our member governments, but also the transport industry, the transport equipment manufacturing industry, many other businesses and the public at large. The TIR Convention is not unknown to the transport industry. Road transport operators are using TIR Carnets daily in international road traffic, mainly between EU countries and countries further east. About 3.5m such TIR Carnets are used every year. Perhaps it would have been fairer to refer to your work as ‘unsung’ rather than unnoticed. Our work on the transport of dangerous goods is an example. It is simply unthinkable that a carrier of such goods or a manufacturer of chemical products or of packages or containers for such products does not know www.h3bmedia.com

the ADR, [the agreement covering the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods By Road]. In this area, we are unique, not only at European but also at the global level. But perhaps the best known is our work on motor vehicle regulations. Here we are also unique and global, and we produce the regulations according to which car manufacturers around the world produce and governments approve motor vehicles. You may wish to know that, upon recommendation of CARS 21, the EC has recently decided to migrate their regulatory system to the UNECE vehicle regulations, which means that the EC will not develop Directives on vehicles and will simply adopt the UNECE regulations. How would you foresee enlightening the transport world to your activities? We are better known today than say a decade ago, but in a world where what is not in the media almost does not exist, we do need to do better. We intend to strengthen our presence, particularly in the specialized media, through a targeted distribution of press notes and other forms of communication. To what extent does the UNECE get involved in transport projects, either National, International or EuroRegional? We are currently involved in two major projects aimed at the development of international transport infrastructure, one in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and the other in the Euro-Asian region. Transport infrastructure is a long-term undertaking and one that requires considerable financial outlay. Careful planning is necessary, which requires close co-operation of the governments concerned. Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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In both projects, we promote cooperation of the countries concerned, help them identify and agree on their priority infrastructure corridors and networks, as well as evaluate and prioritize their transport projects in accordance with a commonly agreed methodology. Twenty-one countries in Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe have recently adopted a so-called TEM and TER Master Plan, which has identified the backbone networks for road and rail transport in those countries, and evaluated and prioritized as many as 491 projects of an aggregated cost of €102bn. Similarly, in the context of the second project, 18 countries in the Euro-Asian region, including Russia and China, have recently identified the main EuroAsian road, rail and inland water transport links to be considered for priority development, and evaluated and prioritized 230 projects of a total cost of €30bn.

this project as from 2008. Contributions from potential donors will be welcome. Do you also have the power to influence European transport policy? We do not really do transport policy in its broadest sense, so we could hardly influence European transport policy. Where we can have a certain influence is in sectoral areas within transport, such as vehicle regulations or transport of dangerous goods. In these areas, since the industry is increasingly global and that we have global participation, European regulations have to be shaped taking into account the views and perspectives of other world countries. In these areas, we do the work and the EC follows. Also in the area of tunnel safety, we have been able to influence European policy. The recommendations that we produced following the fires in the Mont Blanc and Tauern tunnels provided the basis for the relevant EU Directive on the subject. However, in many other cases, for example the introduction of the digital tachograph, we align our regulations with those of the EC.

“We produce regulations that have multibillion dollar implications and save lives”

Who funds your involvement in these projects? In the case of the TEM and TER Projects, the participating countries themselves finance the activities through an annual financial contribution and also through personnel, expertise and other in-kind contributions. Nongovernmental organizations such as the International Road Transport Union (IRU) have also supported the TEM Project financially. With regard to the Project on developing Euro-Asian Transport Links, the funds have so far come from a UN Development Account Project, which the UN regional commissions are implementing together. However, this inter-regional project, and with it its funds, may end in December 2007. This is why we are currently looking for ways and means to continue

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Is there also a transport sector in the UN HQ in New York, or is all transportation work confined to Geneva? Today transportation work within the UN is carried out in the UN regional commissions. However, because of its membership and tradition, only the UNECE carries out regulatory and standard setting work. In spite of its regional constituency, the UNECE sets truly global standards in specific areas such as motor vehicle reguwww.h3bmedia.com

Chatroom lations and transport of dangerous goods, with participation of all relevant world countries, including USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, China or India. In addition, some of the legal instruments on transport administered by the UNECE, e.g. the Vienna Conventions on Road Traffic and on Road Signs and Signals, are applied in many countries around the world. Politically, how do you see your role? Are you able to intervene, rather than interfere, in the cases of policy directives that you as an organization, might have an issue with? We have an important regulatory role, particularly in certain specific areas like motor vehicles and transport of dangerous goods, and this role is not only European but global. We produce regulations that have multibillion-dollar implications and, more important, that save lives and that make transport more efficient and low-cost as well as more sustainable. In addition, some of these regulations are applied worldwide.

ITS World Congress and intend to participate in the forthcoming European Congress in Aalborg. I believe in ITS applications. I believe that transport in the 21st Century will be intelligent or simply will not be there at all. We are currently focusing on ITS applications that improve road safety, particularly vehicle safety. We have already introduced some of them in vehicle regulations and others are under consideration. Before adopting them we must make sure that they do not distract the driver with information or warning signs in excess, which can give rise to road accidents.

“I believe in ITS applications. I believe that transport in the 21st Century will be intelligent”

What involvement do you have with organizations such as ERTICO, POLIS or the national ITS organizations, and to what extent does the UNECE work with the European Commission’s transport directive? We have excellent relationships with ERTICO and with the ITS Congress Association. I participated in the recent

Intelligent Solutions for Traffic Surveillance

What does your job involve? What, if there is such a thing, would a typical day be for you? I have the great privilege to work for the United Nations and in my area of expertise, transport. It is also an uncommon privilege to provide support to a variety of intergovernmental transport bodies and to administer the international Agreements and Conventions on transport developed by those bodies. Last but not least, I am the Director of a small but competent and efficient international and multidisciplinary team of experts. My job involves two main tasks: providing strategic leadership and guidance to my staff on the various issues dealt with, and dealing with my e-mail inbox, including reporting procedures of various kinds. TH For more information visit www.unece.org

VITRONIC product range • PoliScansurveillance Acquisition and identification of vehicles for crime prevention • PoliScanspeed Digital speed measurement - mobile and stationary • PoliScandigital Evaluation of speed and digitally recorded red-light offences • TollChecker Free-flow and multi-lane toll enforcement

Meet the digital future

VITRONIC Dr.-Ing. Stein Bildverarbeitungssysteme GmbH Hasengartenstr. 14 D-65189 Wiesbaden Fon + 49 [0] 611-7152-0 Fax + 49 [0] 611-7152-133 www.vitronic.com [email protected]

Thinking Differently

GNSS goes to school photo www.dandonovan.co.uk

Bern Grush, Founder Skymeter Corporation www.skymetercorp.com

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Why is there as much disagreement about satellite-based tolling in the form of vehicle positioning systems as there is discussion? Are we going to do this thing or not? Whenever we approach the cusp of a major technological change various schools of thought heat up to modulate that change. These may offer exciting predictions or defend the status quo. New solutions get oversimplified and change management is made to appear insurmountable. We are at such a point now in the approaching shift from established dedicated short range communications (DSRC), to the much vaunted, but still pending, vehicle positioning systems (VPS) that use global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), mapping, and wireless as the core metering technologies. On paper, this all looks straightforward. But besides the sheer scope of deployment complexity, with its social and political concerns, there remains the unsettling issue of evidentiary documentation for non-refutability and its associated accuracy issues. photo www.dandonovan.co.uk

DSRC’s microwave-based electronic toll collection is already very accurate and is still evolving. GNSS suffers from a nasty problem called multipath which means that signals from the satellite are so disturbed by terrain and tall buildings that it is very difficult to qualify an accurate position estimate in our cities. It is always like this when a new technology or new use for an existing technology is offered – it’s never quite “good enough”. It is certainly not as good as what we’ve already got.

photo www.dandonovan.co.uk

Thinking Differently

Signals from the satellite are so disturbed by terrain and tall buildings that it is very difficult to qualify an accurate position estimate in our cities.

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But GNSS works in Germany, doesn’t it? It does. But the degree of supporting technology and the relatively easier open-sky application, compared to, say, using that same system in New York or Shanghai, means it’s not yet ready for our fuller purpose – tolling any vehicle anywhere.

Well, doesn’t Galileo solve that? Not necessarily. Galileo will be better than GPS, but not enough on its own to solve the problem of evidentiary documentation for tolling. The promised Galileo accuracy of 1m, while an improvement over the comparable 3m from premodernized GPS, is an open-sky metric. Galileo will still be subject to multipath – especially the non-line-of-sight variety which is highly resistant to existing digital signal processing techniques. So on one hand we have DSRC that works well but is inflexible and has poor extensibility properties and on the other hand we have VPS that does not yet work reliably but is much more flexible and extensible – a perfect circumstance, by the way, for a classic Clayton Christensen “disruptive innovation”.

photo www.dandonovan.co.uk

The current landscape of opinion regarding VPS – especially with its use of GNSS data – is varied and fluid. To explore its range, I categorize recent opinion into a number of illustrative schools of thought for rhetorical purposes.

Thinking Differently

The “GNSS Is Necessary” School Government think-tanks and academic policy researchers are the major proponents of this thinking – perhaps more so in the EU but also to a growing degree in Asia, North America and elsewhere. The coalescing wisdom is that while having the potential to source highway financing, tolling major arteries with DSRC is insufficient to stem congestion for long. As well, access to central business districts needs congestion control and that in order to sharpen pricing signals it is better to remove or reduce fuel taxes and shift taxation to road use shaped by the real-time or static congestion context. Nowhere is this thinking more pronounced than in EU countries such as The Netherlands and the UK. DSRC’s infrastructure expense and impracticality, means it cannot be pervasive; hence we must keep fuel taxes in place attenuating the pricing signals we need to defeat congestion. If we reflect for a moment on the well documented reasons for the failure of predict and provide to manage congestion (“build it and they will it fill up”) we can see how a similar fate will befall “build and toll” or “HOV to HOT switchovers”. Since these approaches intentionally leave unpriced alternatives, they tend to sort those willing to pay from those less willing, and will continue to have a less-than-hoped-for impact on modality switch rates. Worse, the tolled facilities will fill up, and as both greenfield and switchover opportunities become increasingly rare, we will generate a massive patchwork of infrastructure-heavy, congested toll roads and a thriving navigation industry routing a portion of us away from them, leaving a growing number of pockets of congestion continuing to choke our cities and interurban routes.

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In illustration of this effect, a report from Trafficmaster, dated October 2005 ran: “With a price increase on the old M6 Toll road in August 2005, Trafficmaster has seen 7% month on month rise in the number of traffic delays using the old M6 between junctions 4 and 12. This section of the motorway then reached a dramatic 75% increase in congestion in October compared to the same time in 2004.” This is not to suggest that these approaches should not be considered in the short run, rather that they will eventually appear as mere band-aids in the history of congestion management just as predict and provide now appears to our 20/20 hindsight. A permanent control lever on congestion requires pricing signals. If you want to replace the fuel tax in a country, state or province, then to be fair you need to toll everywhere. Only low-infrastructure, GNSSbased VPS makes sense.

The “GNSS Is Unnecessary” School

The “GNSS Is Unnecessary” School

The “GNSS Is Easy” School

Many in this school are saying “DSRC works so don’t fix it”. Truth is DSRC for tolling is mature and highly reliable. There are numerous suppliers and millions of users who are familiar with it.

Some of us who have a passing familiarity with GPS fact and Galileo promise assume that this is a technical no-brainer – i.e. rollout may be painful, but “hey, geo-positioning is solved, right?”

But this school is also populated by a significant minority with vested interests or sunk investments in the EU and elsewhere and by many in the US where HOT systems are proposed much more often than area or cordon style congestion pricing systems, where experience with GNSS tolling is minimal, and where the infatuation with Galileo is barely noticeable compared to Europe.

Recently, a major international engineering firm suggested in expert written testimony to the UK Parliament (RP 53, February 2005) that since the devices we use for automotive navigation are proven and pervasive, the extension of their adequacy to tolling is evident. This line of argument ignores the critical necessity of evidentiary documentation that any tolling authority must rely on to ensure that tolls are metered and bills are generated in a non-refutable manner.

When dealing with heavy commercial vehicles, or when a limited access roadway is the target then DSRC is not only the current gold-standard, it is often the only reasonable way to go. At root, this school is endemic of localthinking that leaves the more challenging and larger view unexamined. And, besides, if VPS is going to take 5 more years, what choice do we have for the next 2 or 3 years, anyway?

The “GNSS Is Easy” School

The fact is that GPS has provided, and soon Galileo will provide, extraordinary positioning and navigation capabilities. But the demands of tolling systems are different from that of navigation. Automotive navigation tolerates momentary errors of several tens of meters, since human users readily cope by adding human intelligence. There is no correlate for that in a tolling system. An onboard unit (OBU) for tolling while much less expensive than a navigation system must reliably generate accurate and consistent bills based on time, place and distance. Occasional, nontrivial errors will not be welcomed. To this point, Transport for London (TfL) has just completed a study of 17 OBUs and in the conclusion to their online report wrote that average billing errors for all vendor systems ranged from 6.7% to 11.8% and that average journey length errors ranged from 5.4% to 10.5% depending on whether a vendor used their own or the trial’s mapping and billing routines as reference. Obviously, TfL is not a member of the GNSS Is Easy School, and we can safely assume membership is in decline.

Thinking Differently

The “GNSS Can’t Work” The “GNSS Can’t Work” School School

The “GNSS is Hard but Doable” School

As we become more familiar with the use of positioning systems for tolling, a new subset of us are saying this is far more difficult than we thought. In fact, this second group includes some so pessimistic that they think it cannot be done the way TDM people wish it could be done – certainly not in the foreseeable future.

This school is showing the most vigorous membership growth. Part of this is from the evidence of incremental improvement, part from the growing certainty that the Galileo fleet will orbit, and part is from the boost to signal availability given by high-sensitivity receivers now offered by several chip vendors.

GNSS for tolling is not mature. While there are already a number of suppliers of GNSS tolling technology, none are yet adequate to operate reliably in our urban landscapes. The realization that we’ll need integrated GPS and Galileo receivers is only two or three years old. The GPS+Galileo system is not even deployed yet.

To the latter point, a recent test made in London questioned how many satellites might be visible to a dual (GPS + Galileo) receiver as it drove a few miles along builtup streets in London. The results showed some areas that “saw” from zero to two GPS satellites, would now see from one to four satellites from the combined GPS+Galileo fleet. While clearly an improvement, this is still insufficiently redundant to develop any measure of positioning reliability. Clearly, this particular test neglected the signal reception improvements offered by high-sensitivity GNSS receivers. Given that combined GPS-Galileo fleet might put 14 to 17 vehicles above the London ground horizon, a high-sensitivity receiver would collect, at a guess, eight to 12 signals, rather than one to four. While the additional signals will certainly be badly disturbed by the architectural environment, the redundancy provides a handle to work with. Therein lays the opportunity.

There are only 500,000 motorists familiar with GNSS toiling devices and except for a handful from a couple of pilots in the EU and another notable one in Puget Sound and they are all operating heavy rigs in Germany. Since progress is being made, membership in the GNSS Can’t Work School is also declining. Some evidence again can be gleaned from the October 2006 TfL report on its GNSS trials. Not only did 14 firms think it worth their effort to trial, but TfL reported “a significant improvement on previous trials in 2004/2005”.

The “GNSS is Hard but Doable” School

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But the single greatest driver for the GNSS Is Hard but Doable School is simple business. As congestion grows, the GNSS is Necessary School grows in tandem and the demand will clearly be big enough to drive the necessary investment for solution.

Thinking Differently

The “GNSS Can’t Work” The “GNSS Can’t Work” School School

The “GNSS is Hard but Doable” School

As we become more familiar with the use of positioning systems for tolling, a new subset of us are saying this is far more difficult than we thought. In fact, this second group includes some so pessimistic that they think it cannot be done the way TDM people wish it could be done – certainly not in the foreseeable future.

This school is showing the most vigorous membership growth. Part of this is from the evidence of incremental improvement, part from the growing certainty that the Galileo fleet will orbit, and part is from the boost to signal availability given by high-sensitivity receivers now offered by several chip vendors.

GNSS for tolling is not mature. While there are already a number of suppliers of GNSS tolling technology, none are yet adequate to operate reliably in our urban landscapes. The realization that we’ll need integrated GPS and Galileo receivers is only two or three years old. The GPS+Galileo system is not even deployed yet.

To the latter point, a recent test made in London questioned how many satellites might be visible to a dual (GPS + Galileo) receiver as it drove a few miles along builtup streets in London. The results showed some areas that “saw” from zero to two GPS satellites, would now see from one to four satellites from the combined GPS+Galileo fleet. While clearly an improvement, this is still insufficiently redundant to develop any measure of positioning reliability. Clearly, this particular test neglected the signal reception improvements offered by high-sensitivity GNSS receivers. Given that combined GPS-Galileo fleet might put 14 to 17 vehicles above the London ground horizon, a high-sensitivity receiver would collect, at a guess, eight to 12 signals, rather than one to four. While the additional signals will certainly be badly disturbed by the architectural environment, the redundancy provides a handle to work with. Therein lays the opportunity.

There are only 500,000 motorists familiar with GNSS toiling devices and except for a handful from a couple of pilots in the EU and another notable one in Puget Sound and they are all operating heavy rigs in Germany. Since progress is being made, membership in the GNSS Can’t Work School is also declining. Some evidence again can be gleaned from the October 2006 TfL report on its GNSS trials. Not only did 14 firms think it worth their effort to trial, but TfL reported “a significant improvement on previous trials in 2004/2005”.

The “GNSS is Hard but Doable” School

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But the single greatest driver for the GNSS Is Hard but Doable School is simple business. As congestion grows, the GNSS is Necessary School grows in tandem and the demand will clearly be big enough to drive the necessary investment for solution.

photo www.dandonovan.co.uk

A recent test made in London questioned how many satellites might be visible to a dual (GPS + Galileo) receiver as it drove a few miles along built-up streets in London.

Thinking Differently

Government policy researchers and industry innovators will continue their drift toward “GNSS is necessary and doable”.

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And the Winners Are… As 2007 dawned DSRC is still superior. In the short run, the easiest way to fix the gas tax erosion problem is to put in as much DSRC tolling as possible and redistribute the revenue where needed. Unfortunately, such a demand-switching system will remain expensive every time you extend or reconfigure it. And, worse, it won’t end congestion. The best way to solve the gas-tax problem and congestion is to put a leak-proof demand-control system in place. That system is flexible and extendible GNSS-tolling. To do anything less is just a finger in the dyke. Government policy researchers and industry innovators will continue their drift toward “GNSS is necessary and doable”. What is missing in all this is that governments and industry are not doing enough to educate either motorists or mass media of the advantages to all parties of solving the scourge of congestion. As long as an informed debate stays only among government policy researchers and innovators, motorist hostility will continue to inform the political agenda.

National pride KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if we’ve come as far as we should have done…

International Cooperation is a key priority for ERTICO – ITS Europe as the mobility challenges that Europe faces are shared worldwide. As PRITI PRAJAPATI reports, one region which has caught the interest of ERTICO and its partners is India

With an economy (GDP) growing more than 8 per cent each year, India has divested an increasing amount of investment on infrastructure. This is being done through initiatives such as the construction of National Highways. However, with 80,000 deaths annually on Indian roads, existing road safety measures are said to be insufficient and not enough is being done to counteract this alarming statistic. Up to now, IT-based applications for road transport have not been fully developed or deployed in India, yet there is a huge potential. ERTICO’s first step has been through the EC-funded

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projects EU-India and SIMBA that it coordinates to raise awareness of ITS and the standards and technologies available in Europe, to define priorities and requirements in India and work towards areas for joint collaboration in research. India and the EU have been described as “natural cooperation partners” by the EU Ambassador for India, Francisco da Camara Gomes, thanks to their common ideals and political values, long standing cultural and historical links, convergent geopolitical perceptions (particularly in relation to multilateralism and regional integration), similar science and technology priorities www.h3bmedia.com

India EU-India aims to improve road safety and the efficiency of transportation systems in India through a close cooperation between European and Indian stakeholders defining key issues for ITS deployment - in particular, Intelligent Integrated Safety Systems (eSafety) in India. Essentially, the project facilitates EU-India cooperation to define ITS priorities in India and identify future cooperation projects. It achieves this through the organisation of workshops and events, as well as the building of networks of collaboration. These serve to raise awareness of ITS and its benefits for India, as well as share information on best practices. The project also helps create market opportunities for both European and Indian businesses, bringing researchers together to encourage joint EU-India research initiatives. The first EU-India event was a priority workshop in March 2006 which served as a good introductory meeting and insight into the context and priorities in India. ERTICO led a group of European ITS experts to meet institutes involved in transport management and planning in India, such as key stakeholders Central Road Research Institute and Delhi Traffic Police. The Indian hosts presented their current activities in transport planning and were very keen to meet EU stakeholders.

Establishing a need

and associated ethical concerns, as well as mutual economic interest in the outcomes of research and its use by enterprise and society.

Establishing links: the EU-India project

The roots of ERTICO’s own cooperation with India go back to August 2005, when it participated in the AsiaPacific ITS Conference and Exhibition in New Delhi. There, it signed a cooperation agreement with AITS India in the presence of Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology. This helped lead to the beginning of the EU-India project in December of that same year. www.h3bmedia.com

At that point in time, India was at the stage of working towards the enablers or pre-conditions to ITS: Infrastructure: The focus was mainly on the construction of the Golden Quadrilateral, India’s express highway construction plan of 5846 km of four/six lanes, which links four corners of the country: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, the latter three previously known by their old, colonial names of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Availability of digital maps: India’s Map Policy was announced in 2005, when Open Series Maps became the responsibility of Survey of India/Department of Science. The policy stated that map users can make valueadded additions to the maps and share the information under initiations to the Survey of India. Private agencies would be allowed to carry out surveys across India using public domain datum, as long as they were registered and accredited by the Survey of India. Stakeholders: It emerged that many stakeholders in India, such as the Government of India (GoI), ITS India, Traffic Police, and local transport authorities were not cooperating in ITS development. AITS India has, since 2000, seen one of its main roles as raising awareness of ITS and its benefits in India amongst policy makers and relevant business and academia. According to AITS India, in order for ITS to progress, it would need to be coordinated within a public-private platform, which did not yet exist. Existence of piecemeal efforts: Despite individual efforts, ITS was not being coordinated and driven from a single platform and roadmap. Initiatives have been introduced mainly by the local state transport corporation, such as the first vehicle tracking system using GPS for public transport buses - an initiative of the Bangalore Transport Corporation. The Indian Institute of TechnolThinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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ogy Delhi launched the first bus rapid transit corridor in Delhi in October 2006. Private fleet operators such as Transport Corporation of India (TCI) and oil companies like Reliance and Shell have started installing and using ITS solutions in their fleets. The electronic content in vehicles is about 8-10 per cent of the cost in India, compared to the global average of 40 per cent. This, however, is changing rapidly. Mobile operators such as Bharati and Hutch are providing specific services to their customers. Standardisation issues: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the national standardising body of India and India is a participating member of ISO/TC 204 Intelligent Transport Systems. Thus far, this ISO committee has brought about 45 standards, with large numbers of standards under preparation. On behalf of India, BIS participates and votes on these documents and standards after consulting with national experts. The corresponding technical committee, Automotive Electrical Equipments and Instruments Sectional Committee, TED 11’ of BIS has finalised IS 15754:2006/ISO 21214:2006 Intelligent transport systems - Continuous air interface, long and medium range (CALM) - Infra red systems. This standard is under print.

2. Real-time traffic and traveller information 3. Traffic management 4. Emergency management systems 5. Public transport 6. Commercial vehicle operations 7. Vulnerable individual protection systems Key stakeholders and potential ITS demonstrations were recommended by the EU-India consortium for each of the above priority areas. (The report can be downloaded at www.euindia. info/en/about_eu-india/public_documents/) In June 2006, the follow-up EU-India event in Brussels continued discussions on ITS priorities in India, covering topics such as accident causation data collection, emergency call (eCall), traffic and fleet management, and enforcement.The workshop was attended by around 80 people, including around 20 from India, and the highlight was the strong support of the officials from the GoI. The Ministry of Urban Development announced plans for an ITS Centre of Excellence and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, GoI expressed an interest in EU-India collaboration in Advanced Traffic Information Systems and Advanced Traffic Management Systems, as well as Electronic Toll Collection and an ITS architecture for India.

“The creation of a public-private platform to consolidate and drive India’s ITS initiatives has been advocated”

A future mapped out

The Indian participants of this EU-India March 2006 workshop advocated the creation of an ITS roadmap for India and the creation of a single public-private platform which would consolidate and drive India’s ITS initiatives. Addressing one of the main tasks within the EU-India project by defining Indian ITS priorities and requirements, AITS India produced a May 2006 report which outlines these key areas: 1. Increasing awareness of ITS and its benefits amongst decision-makers

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India

Left to right: Shri Ajay Maken, Minister for Urban Development, Priti Prajapati, ERTICO-India Project Co-ordinator and Amitabh Bajpai, President of AITS India at the 13th ITS World Congress

Photo by Krithika Srinath

The European Commission, represented by Andre Vits, Head of ICT for Transport in DG Information Society and Media, emphasised the importance of dissemination of innovative European ITS technologies and development of these technologies in India. He also noted that at the same time, India can benefit directly from European expertise while developing it to its own particular situation and requirements. During this trip, the Indian delegation was welcomed by the Indian Ambassador, Shri Deepak Chatterjee, at the Indian Embassy to Belgium and Luxembourg and Mission to the EU, during which he expressed his support for the initiative.

The EU Ambassador to India, Francisco Da Camara Gomes holds court at the EU-India Co-opearation Workshop on e-Safety

More information required

Since this event, AITS India has been pursuing the idea of real-time traffic information and emergency response services with the GoI. Developments have included the submission of a proposal for a Traffic Information and Management Centre pilot project in India to the Ministry of Urban Development. This was the focus of discussion at EU-India’s final project event, which took place 1-2 February 2007. Under the theme “Intelligent Future for Transport and Road Safety in India”, the event focused on the future actions to be taken in the areas of real-time traffic information and emergency response. The event also showcased latest Indian and EU technologies. As a follow-up, ERTICO is preparing a base report for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, GoI. This is in expectation of the Commonwealth Games to www.h3bmedia.com

Dr R C Panda, Secretary of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, addresses the SIMBA conference Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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The SIMBA project

In March 2006, another activity with India got underway with a slightly different focus. The EC-supported, ERTICO-coordinated SIMBA project working with India - as well as Brazil, China and South Africa - aims to boost research cooperation in road transport between the EU and these important emerging markets. SIMBA covers three key areas of ITS, infrastructure and automotive and will pinpoint the areas of mutual interest for collaboration between the EU and each region. After almost a year of activities, it has shown that although many of the regions face similar problems in terms of congestion, pollution and road accidents, each region has varying degrees of development. The India National Coordinator for SIMBA is the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which, through its network of CAR (Core Group of Automotive Research - set up by the Indian Department of Science as an industryacademia initiative) is conceiving and rapidly developing its own ideas for ITS in India. SIAM found that although there was a huge potential for ITS (known in India as “automotive infotronics”), the main players worked in a fragmented manner. It also found that no common roadmap and operational blueprint exists to align these disparate initiatives. SIAM therefore initiated a study in 2006 for preparing the Roadmap on Automotive Infotronics for India.

has been on developing India-specific solutions, i.e. low-cost high capacity. A priority of the Indian Department of Science and Technology is to use home-grown technologies. CAR has launched a public transport fleet management pilot project, funded by the Indian Department of Heavy Industry, coordinated by the Indian Institute of Information Technology Bangalore with local partners such as Ashok Leyland and IBM. It aims to set up a bus vehicle tracking system in Chennai with an open architecture, standards and software application by March 2008. The cost-effective solution should be a scalable model able to be replicated in any other Indian city, allowing such functions as vehicle tracking, estimated time of arrival, platform and bay allocation, emergency call, real-time congestion information and route guidance.

Heavy going

The Indian Department of Heavy Industry has also set up the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP). The initiative involves the GoI, several state governments and the Indian automotive industry and facilitates automotive testing, validation and R&D infrastructure. NATRIP estimates an investment of INR 17.18bn (about US$380m) in setting up, inter alia, independent automotive testing centres within the three automotive hubs in the country: Manesar in the north, Chennai in the south and Pune and Ahmednagar in the west. This will be jointly funded by government and industry. The next project in the pipeline is a centre for research in automotive infotronics in Chennai. At the first SIMBA India Priority workshop in November 2006, participants met to identify joint collaborative research projects in automotive, ITS and infrastructure. For ITS, there was strong interest in possible demonstrations of real-time traffic information, co-operative systems, an ITS platform for trucks and ITS for the environment. In infrastructure, projects were perceived in pavement management schemes and Electronic Toll Collection. For automotive, possible areas of collaboration were collision avoidance systems, and alternative fuels, in particular hydrogen. At the same SIMBA event, Dr R C Panda, Secretary of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, launched a report titled “Automotive Infotronics & India - Unlocking Domestic Value and Emerging Market Leadership”. The study was commissioned by SIAM to PRTM Consulting of the US. This study provides a roadmap for the country to leverage the IT skills in India and identifies the opportunities and specific areas for development. The study has identified the infotronics sector to be a US$1.6bn market in India, with the potential to access upwards of 10 per cent of a US$43bn global opportunity by 2011. The report addresses the following issues: • Who are the current stakeholders involved in

“Until recently, the IT and automotive industries have not cooperated at the same level as their counterparts in Europe”

Playing to your strengths

Up until very recently, the world-renowned Indian IT and automotive industries have not cooperated at the same level as their counterparts in Europe. However, since its establishment in 2002, the Core Group of Automotive Research has been bringing all stakeholders from public authorities, industry and research together on the same platform. It has already developed a roadmap for road transport research covering a much broader focus of automotive and transport. Its six expert panels include: • Advanced materials and processes for automobiles • Hydrogen/alternate propulsion system • Embedded control systems • Telematics in transportation • Road safety (low cost, suitable options for India) • Recyclability of automotive components and systems The focus and work of the Telematics working group

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be held in New Delhi in 2010. The event will also have a parallel exhibition to showcase the latest ITS developments in Europe (such as TMC and eCall) and in India, with the overall aim of working towards future areas for EU-India cooperation. More information, including meeting presentations is available at www.euindia.info

 


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automotive infotronics What currently exists Who could use this in India What are the next steps India needs to take to move forward in this area.

Future trends

SIMBA’s next National Event in India, planned for 21-22 November 2007, will look closer at these initial collaboration ideas, gearing towards forming consortia for future demo projects. The overall goal is to work towards a roadmap for EUIndia cooperation in road transport research. The Indian Department of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises has supported the set up of a Centre of excellence for infotronics. The Indian Ministry of Urban Development has announced setting up a pilot project for Traffic Information and Management Centre. ERTICO’s next priority in India is the demonstration of ITS technologies. The focus will be on some select demonstration projects within major Indian cities (such as Delhi, the seat of the Central Government) or Bangalore/Chennai, where there is a huge amount of Indian IT expertise. These demonstrations should work as a proof of concept and include local Indian partners. An ERTICO-coordinated project carried out a successful demonstration of TMC technology in Beijing in December 2005, and something similar could work well in India. Other interesting areas for demonstrations could

be Electronic Toll Collection and emergency response services. Joint collaborative research opportunities in areas such as pollution monitoring and control could also be explored in the future.

Conclusion

ERTICO has succeeded in raising awareness of ITS in India amongst policy makers and various sets of key stakeholders. Its main messages have been towards forming a single platform in India for ITS and creating a roadmap for development and deployment. The EU has existing standards and technologies that could be adopted by India. However, it is clear that differences in mobility between Europe and India suggest differences in needs and India may need to adapt existing services. Take for example, in-vehicle navigation systems. Although vehicle ownership is growing, 70 per cent of all vehicles on Indian roads are still two-wheelers. The question we may need to pose is how can we get real-time information to a motorcycle driver in India. So, be it leapfrogging in some cases or joint research projects for developing an India specific solution in others, the future looks bright and promising for EU-India ITS collaboration. TH For more information, please contact ERTICO India Project Coordinator Priti Prajapati at [email protected]

“The EU has existing standards and technologies that could be adopted by India”

Photo by Krithika Srinath

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Playing with the traffic? 56

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Photos by Krithika Srinath

India

India

Is India’s traffic situation heading for boom or doom? As MALAVIKA NATARAJ reports in the second part of our focus on India, it’s a bit of both... It’s 6.15 pm, and rush hour across the major cities in India. All the traffic on Marine Drive in Mumbai has ground to a halt. Dusty and irritable, Mohan Sharma puts his head out of his vehicle to see what the hold up is. He is already an hour late for his daughter’s twelfth birthday party, and is nowhere near home. In the falling darkness, all he can see are honking cars, clouds of exhaust fumes and bumper to bumper traffic – with no apparent reason for the congestion. Mohan is just one among millions of commuters who has fallen victim to the burgeoning traffic situation in India. Across all the metropolitan cities, chaos on the roads has become a part of the daily routine. With over 30 million vehicles registered on Indian roads and a growth rate pegged at 16% year on year, delays in journeys and increased congestion are only the tip of the iceberg. As middle class incomes swell and the average car per household ratio increases, the multitude of products offered by the automotive industry become natural magnets. Whatever the budget, there is a four-wheeler or a two wheeler on offer and each one is adding to the heterogeneous jumble of vehicles on the roads. So is an overcrowded traffic situation the price to pay for India’s booming economy?

Addressing the problem

Although the government is constantly blamed for mismanagement, attempts at finding a solution to this problem have proved to be a considerable challenge. For instance, in the past five years, a number of ‘flyovers’ have been constructed across the country. While these have brought relief to congestion, the process of building these over-bridges has taken several months, causing severe bottle-necks and increasing overall pollution. Another case in point is pipe-laying and road repairs. When terrestrial phone and electricity lines are laid, or road repair work is carried out, free movement is immediately constricted. Delays in covering ditches are frewww.h3bmedia.com

quent, leaving the condition of the roads in a deplorable state. Often, public authorities are unable to cut through the red tape in time to prevent the situation from worsening.Where possible, travellers make efforts to find alternative routes to take them to their destination.“As a daily commuter, I try my best to beat the peak hour traffic, to avoid getting caught in two to three hours long traffic jams, which occur almost on a daily basis, says Viraj Kataria, an architect in capital city, Delhi. The current infrastructure network supports a very basic traffic management system primarily consisting of traffic lights. In the cities, the lights are run on a functional loop system, but in smaller towns traffic signals are still operated manually. In addition, policemen stationed at main crossroads are frequently required to redirect traffic the right way. These are all expensive problems, compounded by the lack of discipline on roads. Added to the situation on urban roads, Indian inter-urban highways are easily the most dangerous in Asia. The average number of road accidents per every thousand automobiles is 24, with heavy vehicles alone namely trucks and buses - accounting for over 45 per cent of the accidents. These roads are characterised by the lack of adherence to speed limits and traffic rules, thereby causing an erratic movement of traffic. With the bright lights of the cities attracting more and more of the rural population each year, the traffic situation is unlikely to abate. However, the solution to controlling and maintaining traffic levels extends beyond the mere implementation of new systems.

Enforcement – a mounting concern

Enforcing traffic rules and regulations has so far been a mammoth task for the government, stretching both budgets and resources.With traffic discipline being virtually absent, it is unlikely that any advanced traffic system would be accepted or respected by road users at this time. In a busy country packed with struggling people, half-hearted efforts to force drivers to read traffic signs have gone unnoticed. When there are over 30 Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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modes of transport on the road at the same time, violating traffic rules becomes inevitable. Also, enforcement measures are not drafted scientifically. Rather, they are often treated arbitrarily and on a case-by-case basis. A policeman will stop a vehicle from driving the wrong way up a one-way lane on the pretext of enforcing a traffic rule. After some negotiation, the driver placates the policeman with INR500 ... and the driver is free to go. This is the fundamental problem with a traffic management system that leaves too much room for loopholes, thereby making discipline difficult. In addition, the lack of enforcement of traffic rules outside city limits has raised much concern. On highways and in the rural areas, it is rarely evident. With each Indian state at a different stage of growth, finding the right tool to manage traffic and successfully enforce rules has proved to be a tremendous challenge. Limited by the lack of funds, thus far, the government has now opened its doors to private investment. With a new source of funding, clearer traffic management strategies can be drawn up. As part of the National Highway Development Program (NHDP), the last few years have witnessed the growth of several public-private partnerships in implementing tolling systems on national highways. In addition, Build-Operate-Transfer road projects to improve the condition of 100,000 km of road have created a significant amount of interest. The recent initiative to build an US$87m tolled motorway in the Southern city of Bangalore has been a landmark development in urban traffic management. This privately funded initiative is expected to be followed by a series of plans to introduce improved traffic systems in other Indian cities. European market players have also entered their stakes for the gain. Companies like Siemens, which have already established subsidiaries in India, have begun to run pilot tests of their systems.

Is China doing it better?

Driven by the considerable traffic management potential in India and China, foreign investment is expected to

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double by 2009. With both countries at similar stages of development, the comparisons are inevitable. China, host of the 2008 Olympics, has faced tremendous pressure to address its traffic situation. Under a project funded by the European Union, Chinese and European stakeholders have committed to jointly arriving at a solution. German company Signalbau Huber ITS and Tongji University have developed a traffic control system, DYNAMICS, designed to meet the requirements of Chinese urban areas. This system is expected to reduce output of pollutants by 20-30 per cent by reducing travel time and lowering the number of times vehicles halt. In China’s busiest cities, new projects are being launched to collect, analyse and store real-time traffic information across systems. For companies entering the Indian and Chinese markets simultaneously, traffic applications need to be marketed differently. Although both countries are faced with similar traffic situations, China is technologically more advanced. While China has begun to incorporate electronic tolling systems, manual tolling continues to dominate Indian inter-urban highways. “If anyone is considering planting any devices on the chaotic variety of vehicles on the roads in India at this time, it will be a nightmare,” says K Venugopal, editor of The Businessline, a leading business newspaper. “But a facility that permits electronic collection of payment for road usage may provide some value.” The road ahead is far from being smooth and challenges are still at large. For European players now in the Indian market, implementing such a system will indeed prove to be a significant challenge. But market leaders remain optimistic.“India is a huge market for us,” affirms Per Ecker, head of marketing at Norwegian tolling company Q-Free. “We recently signed a joint venture in India and are in the process of liaising with China as well. We expect a slow rate of growth in the first three years – but we are confident that the growth will be tremendous after that. As with all emerging markets, the key is to succeeding is to hit the market at the right time.” TH www.h3bmedia.com

On January 1, 2007 the Czech Republic’s electronic toll collection system for heavy vehicles started commercial operation. Just 70 days and 14 hours later, toll revenue reached 1 billion Czech Koruna. Electronic toll collection systems from Kapsch TrafficCom can work for you too | www.kapsch.net

Czechmate!

Prague photos by John Hill (www.daytripstoeurope.co.uk)

A Bohemian rhapsody

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Czech Republic

ITS and its future development in the Czech Republic is the responsibility of, among others, IVAN FENCL, scientific secretary of the Transport Research Centre in Brno. A story straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were... Transport in the Czech Republic is one of the key sectors of its economy, with substantial significance for international relations. Demand for the transportation of passengers and goods has been growing constantly and the objective of the public administration is to create legislative and economic conditions for providing public transport services as well as for business activities in the transport sector, and to establish a transport infrastructure corresponding to growing transport demands. As the main guidelines to cover all aspects of the future development of transport, the document “The Czech Republic’s Transportation Policy for 2005 – 2013” was prepared and in July 2005 was adopted by the Government. The document itself is a consensual compilation of documents created between 2003 and 2004, when a number of experts from the field of transportation and other fields, including the representatives of the unions, business associations, and universities, had an opportunity to present their opinions on the working version of the background documents. The important part of transportation policy is specifying its priorities, specific objectives and measures which are of a cross-sectional character: • Achieving a suitable modal split by ensuring equal conditions on the transport market; • Ensuring a quality transport infrastructure; • Ensuring financing in the transport sector ; • Improving transport safety and security; • Supporting transport development in regions.

One very positive fact is that ITS became the non-separable part of the new Transport Policy. In this document ITS was recognized as being a very powerful tool for successfully managing many of the tasks mentioned in the transportation policy document. From a futuristic point of view the development of ITS is the most important part of the document dealing with transport policy implementation tools. ITS is mentioned in many chapters of the transport policy, dealing with development of all kinds of transport modes operating in the Czech Republic (road, rail, air and inland waterway transport).

Operational transport program

The Czech Republic will receive CZK100m (Czech Korunas, €3m) every year between 2007-2013 from the EU. The use of allocated financial resources was necessary to adopt other strategic documents describing priorities and aims. The initial strategic document for the exploitation of financial sources from EU funds is the “National Development Plan for 2007-13”. This document formed the basis for the “National Strategic Reference Framework” that was also prepared in 2006. The Operational Transport Program concentrates on construction and upgrading of motorways and the first class road network (ITS is included). The Ministry of Transport is responsible for administration of this operational program. The allocation of financial sources is shown in the table as follows (in CZK):

Transport Policy

Traffic problems have been rising in the Czech Republic, especially in urban agglomerations. At the beginning of the 1990s, the ratio of mass transport to individual transport was approximately 80:20. Currently the ratio is about 50:50. Urban, suburban, and regional transport systems are not interconnected on a sufficient level and this status is impossible to change without ITS. Also services provided by the railway sector declined every year from 1989 to 2004. Last year this decrease stopped. The task for railway transport is to become an, indispensably important part of the Czech transport logistic chain and this shift is unthinkable without the implementation of transport telematics systems and schemes. www.h3bmedia.com

(1 = Structural funds, 2 = Cohesion fund, 3 = Total) Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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Czech Republic The role of ITS

In the Czech Republic many transport telematics applications have been installed and are used every day. For example, traffic management centres are operated in Prague, Brno and also in other regional cities. Some of the proper ITS implementations have occurred on motorways (traffic line control, VMS e.g.). In January 2007 the controversial and much talked-about electronic fee collection (EFC) system for freight transport was put into operation on the motorways for trucks above 12 tons (the length of network covered by EFC in the 1st phase is 975 km). The 2nd phase of EFC is planned to start in July the 1st and will cover the 1st class road network. It is generally possible to declare in accord with the new Transport Policy that the share of telematics in the control and support of the transport processes falls behind needs, in spite of the level of ITS implementation which rates the Czech Republic top of the new EU member states. This article will now outline the direction of the future ITS development and areas of public interest.

Urban mass transport

Urban mass transport systems will be included in integrated systems with all kinds of suburban transport and telematics will be implemented to control and provide information on urban mass transport operation. According to the new Transport Policy, state co-financing will be provided for larger projects, such as subway, tramway radial routes, tram-train systems, and integration of the railway into urban transport. ITS is an important tool for many of these projects.

Freight transport

The future improvement of freight transport, the experts assume, will be by the development of public logistic centres. This intention will cover complementary meas-

ures relating to the integration of the Czech Republic into European logistics structures, including the implementation of telematics, i.e. control and routing of traffic and transport flows through the application of control and information systems and services. This measure also includes optimization of city supply (city-logistics) where many opportunities for ITS implementation exist.

Safe and secure transport

Another task mentioned in the Transport Policy is to improve traffic information for drivers and thus achieve an overall better quality of transport. This task is taken on by the ongoing project supported by the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Informatics and Ministry of Interior (the Unified Transport Information System project UTIS). The aim is to establish telematics systems to minimize the risk of congestion, increase road safety and better distribute traffic on the road network. The integration of telematics into controlled traffic processes is also needed to create a transport security system on both national and international levels which will allow the state to gain control over threats and risks connected with the movement of dangerous goods and which will meet accuracy and reliability requirements.

ITS on motorways

On the main roads and the motorway network it is assumed that further, systematic and gradual development of the implementation of the telematics system be ongoing. The plan is to equip the D1 motorway, the most important part of the road network in the Czech Republic, with a number of ITS and telematics elements by 2010. In 2006 72km of new motorways was built at a cost of CZK36bn (€1bn). The completed sections should significantly improve traffic situation on many locations

Figure 1: Motorway sections in the Czech Republic under construction in 2006

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Czech Republic Figure 2: The red lines indicate the new motorways and expressways that will be built in the Czech Republic in the next few years

around the country and speed up and make travelling easier for drivers.The longest single stretch of construction was 45 km of the D11 between Podebrady and Hradec Králové. The present road was insufficient for traffic to Eastern Bohemia and Northern Moravia. Only a 4kmlong section will then remain to finish the motorway up to the region’s capital, Prague. The motorway network will be further developed and continuously upgraded. Figure 1 shows motorway sections under construction in 2006. In the next few years another 400 km of motorways and more than 800 km of expressways (Figure 2 with the planned new highways in red lines) will be built.

program period (2007-2013) is a good point of departure for future the development of activities in the area of transport telematics in the Czech Republic. Future development of ITS is not only planned for network of motorways and expressways but also for the regions and its cities centres in the form of dynamic transport management systems, parking guidance, variable message signs and so on. TH Ivan Fencl can be contacted via email at [email protected]

Closure

The fact that ITS is a fully integrated part of the Czech Republic’s Transport Policy is very positive and will encourage experts to increase their attempt to introduce the best solutions to the problems of the transport system. In last decade ITS has become a very important part of every day life of the citizens of the Czech Republic. The further development of ITS is also the objective of many companies and institutes that operate here – all parties are ready to fulfil guidelines mentioned in the Transport Policy and related documents. Tasks and objectives of the future development of the telematics systems have a very wide scope – to allow more effective, safe and secure transport in the transportation system in the Czech Republic. But further successful development of ITS in the Czech Republic is impossible without the introduction of the general plan for implementation of ITS on national, regional and city levels. The preparation of this structured and integrated document is now the challenge for key players in the Czech Republic. The level of financial sources allocated for the next www.h3bmedia.com

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Encouraging

signs

KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if we’ve come as far as we should have done… ALEX AVGOUSTIS on traffic management in Cyprus, where the need for intelligent transport systems outweighs the current capability. A situation, he hopes, that is about to change The city of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, is the political, financial, industrial and trade centre of the island. Situated in the heart of the country, it is also a city choking with traffic and pollution. It has a population exceeding 220,000 (the part of Nicosia under the control of the Republic of Cyprus), which is about 30 per cent of the country’s population and is not supported by any comprehensive public transport system. Dependence on the private vehicle as the sole form of transport dominates Cypriot society, as can be clearly seen on the roads of Nicosia. In 2006 there were more than 580,000 registered vehicles in Cyprus, the majority of them (around 60 per cent) private saloon cars. In relation to a total population of over 760,000 this means 2.2 persons per private vehicle (CYSTAT, 2006) whereas this figure was 3.4 in 1990 and 5.7 in 1980. This, clearly, is a worrying statistic compared to other European cities with the severe consequence of worsening traffic congestion that has lead to problems at a socioeconomic level as well a lower quality of life and excessive time wasted, stuck in long queues during rush hours. The lack of town planning as a consequence of the war

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in the 1970s led to a rather complicated road network in Nicosia. Despite the fact that several efforts at fixing this problem followed once town planning laws came into effect in 1990, the situation has not visibly improved and with the increase in urban population it is rather out of control. Nicosia is missing a ring road, junctions are too close to each other which creates many problems in keeping traffic moving, and the road network is based on radial roads that lead to the Walled City with very few tangential roads running East-West. The city recognises that its public transportation system needs to keep pace with its economic growth and therefore increased urban population. The goal is to provide the city of Nicosia with a modern public transport system that can persuade the increasing population that there are other comfortable, convenient and secure ways to travel. An attempt was made in the last five years with a comprehensive study that called for a public transport enhancement in Nicosia that would implement short and medium term measures in order to alleviate congestion and improve traffic conditions as well as quality of life in the city. But what is being done now? www.h3bmedia.com

Cyprus

agement tool with the addition of other traffic management facilities such as bus priority, incident detection and vehicle emissions estimates.

Traffic management during special events

Urban Traffic Control (UTC)/SCOOT

The Cyprus UTC system (supplied by Siemens Traffic Control Ltd) that has been in operation since 1993 covers a large area of the island and is responsible for managing the traffic signals. The SCOOT adaptive signal control algorithm (currently SCOOT software version 4.5) monitors traffic flow in real-time to optimise traffic signal operation and adjusts signal timings to match prevailing conditions. In Nicosia there are about 200 signalised junctions and pelican crossings of which 40 run under the UTC system in six regions and ten are coordinated by the online fixed time method of method of UTC control. The main control room is located at the Public Works Department Headquarters in Nicosia where traffic signals in the cities of Limassol and Larnaca are also controlled. SCOOT naturally reduces vehicle emissions by reducing delays and congestion within the network. Before and after studies have shown substantial reductions both in journey times and delays along the congested streets of Nicosia. As part of an anticipated ITS initiative there is the potential of enhancing the SCOOT/UTC as a traffic manwww.h3bmedia.com

The Traffic Unit of the Cyprus Police (in cooperation with the Public Works Department for signing and diversion plans) is responsible for managing traffic during special events such as concerts, football matches or demonstrations, mainly by guiding motorists through special signage and managing turning movements at signalised junctions. The lack of a decent public transport system and roadside technology such as Variable Message Signs or other means of transmitting information to motorists makes this approach almost problematic at times as temporary road diversions and signing are deemed inadequate to manage traffic at a substantial level. The absence of ITS which proves so beneficial in other European cities is more than evident when managing special events in town.

Parking management

Unnecessary traffic movements around town, especially from tourists and visitors from other towns who may not be familiar with the parking options, cause an additional strain on the already congested network. The Municipality of Nicosia operates a Parking Management System in the centre of town directing motorists to the main parking places located near the Venetian walls of the old city due to the fact that parking options within the Walled City are limited. The system provides key information about available spaces in the parking lots and is located at key locations where motorists can make an informed decision as to where to park and what areas they might avoid. The coverage of the system is very limited and expansion is crucial as part of a complete transport service in the centre of town where most Governmental and private offices, shops and cafes are located. In addition locals regularly avoid using organised parking lots, especially multi-storey and covered, as it is seen as an Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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Cyprus inconvenience. The typical behaviour is to park on the pavement as close to the shops and cafes, blocking the smooth flow of traffic and discouraging people from walking to their destination.

Traffic surveillance

In an effort to improve road safety, traffic management and enforcement, the Cyprus Government followed the example of other countries such as the United Kingdom in implementing a red light and speed camera project that begun in late 2006. The project will be completed in three phases and will deploy around 400 fixed and mobile cameras around the island (a system supplied by Robot Visual Systems GmbH). The digital cameras installed also register seatbelt offences and use of mobile phones while driving. Nicosia carries the majority of traffic and already has cameras at some of its busier junctions. Early results have shown that the behaviour of motorists has improved with drivers discouraged to violate red lights and cause jams at signalised junctions.

ITS…solutions ahead

Cyprus is a country in transition. Now part of the European Union, the possibilities of funding infrastructure projects and providing for IT based public transport technologies are greater and coincide with the broader goals of the European Union in the transport field. Large sums of money are being spent to update the transport infrastructure and ensure progress is made but the solutions Nicosia should look at in the future fall into the Intelligent Transport Systems area. An upcoming project set to start in 2007 and funded by the transition facility of the European Commission will aim to create an Intelligent Transport Systems Plan for Cyprus and deploy several ITS solutions in an attempt to improve road safety and alleviate congestion on the road network. It is anticipated that the ITS plan will provide a framework for the development of ITS systems and look

into various solutions. Some of these solutions are the following: • Traffic Control Centre: a key component for better traffic management with its base in Nicosia will be essential for effective traffic operations. A Closed Circuit TV system covering 31 signalised junctions islandwide (11 of them in Nicosia) will work alongside the UTC/SCOOT system in cooperation with the Police in order to better manage traffic. • Traveller Information Systems: traffic information will be provided to the motorists via websites, mobile phones and through the media. • Other applications such as the installation of Variable Message Signs (VMS), incident management or intersection control measures. • Bus Priority Measures: buses and signalised junctions will have the necessary equipment to enable recognition of the buses and adjust the signal timings through a central processor. • Vehicle Telematics. Of course technology solutions are not the only way forward in terms of better managing traffic in Nicosia. There are plans to introduce (or improve) other measures such as the introduction of bus lanes (anticipated as part of a road widening scheme on one of Nicosia’s busiest corridors by 2009) and the completion of a bicycle path network around town. A modern public transport system that will include new buses as well as adequate information to the passengers with electronic and printed information is also anticipated. The success stories of many European cities who used ITS and technology solutions to enhance the effective management of urban areas is encouraging and gives Nicosia hope that traffic will be moving at a better pace in the near future than it currently does. TH Alex Avgoustis is a Transport Engineer/Consultant for the Public Works Department based in Nicosia. He can be contacted by email at [email protected]

(Photos :A Avgoustis)

During the summer, tourist traffic unfamiliar with the city’s layout adds to peak-time congestion in Nicosia (below, left). Would multilingual parking management systems (below, right) help to solve this particular problem?

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ON THE ROAD TO FLOURISH

Like an unfolding blossom, the Swarco Group continues to expand its market presence and products, services, and solutions portfolio. Today, 40 companies in 16 countries account for more than 200 MEUR in sales related to traffic control materials and traffic management solutions. The blossom grows and gets new petals, for instance with transport telematics specialist Mizar Automazione in Italy and paint factory Swarco Vicas in Romania. The development of the blossom involves its change, but, similar to the solid roots of a plant, some things remain unchanged: our commitment to road safety

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with quality orientation, innovation spirit, and the partnership approach with you.

SWARCO HOLDING AG, Blattenwaldweg 8, A-6112 Wattens • Tel.: +43-5224-5877-0, Fax: +43-5224-56070 • e-mail: offi[email protected], www.swarco.com

Safe and secure? KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if we’ve come as far as we should have done…

The way in which human beings travel evolves according to a number of needs (social, professional, leisure and so on) and in the last decade a considerable improvement has been introduced by the implementation of Intelligent Transport Systems. But just how secure are our newly enhanced transport systems, asks STEFANO MAINERO

The basic concept of a transport system includes infrastructures (civil and technological), vehicles and people. Its evolution into an Intelligent Transport System includes also data coming from different sensors, devices, video cameras and so on. Therefore, an Intelligent Transport System identifies three characteristics: interoperability, interconnectivity and sub-systems integrations. These innovative technologies not only improved the way we travel, but have also raised new topics such as data collection, processing and storage as well as privacy because data regards not only mere technical aspects but also private ones such as, date and time when certain people moved to certain geographical and topical location, with whom, doing what, etc. Because ITS is also often referred to as ITSS (ITS and Services), people usually pay for transport-related services and fees with credit cards, by electronic means

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over the Internet or by direct debit. This means that also economic transaction data is involved in this modern transport system. Journeys can be classified as mono-modal, when the end-to-end journey is carried out by one mode only (in this article only the by-car mode will be analysed) and as multi-modal, when several modes are used (e.g. car + train + bus). Both kinds of categories are affected by security that covers a number of different topics. Focusing on mono-modal journeys performed by cars the whole journey can be seen as being made of two macro phases such as when the car is in motion, so car and driver are a unique entity, and when the car is parked, so car and driver are two single entities: one (the parked car) in absence of motion and the other (the walking driver) in motion as the driver/pedestrian has to cover a walking distance from/to the car to/from the final location. The main topics involved in car journeys regard: www.h3bmedia.com

Transport Security

“Systems should include a high level of protection where the electronic exchange of pictures is strictly monitored”

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Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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Transport Security areas (i.e. supermarkets and motorways services). These CCTV signals will be concentrated in a 24/7 manned Control Room in order to detect and promptly intervene in case of any burglary or personal attacks. Walking or motorised patrolling activities are suggested even though some Emergency Posts installed at higher risk parking locations will be useful. Usually these emergency posts are numbered and directly linked to the control room. They are equipped with a red button that, when pressed in case of emergency, activates an amber flashing light on the top in order to promptly identify the post of interest and a number of PTZ CCTV video cameras are activated to start filming the surrounding area.

e-Payment

Another advanced service that is included in ITS applications is e-payment. This involves the using the Internet to pre-pay a city centre access permit, as well as a post-paid transaction like a monthly bill charged on credit/debit cards concerning access to restricted city areas or motorway tolling (by either stopping at toll booth though unmanned lanes or without stopping through unmanned DSRC-equipped lanes). The storage of all this sensitive data represents a highly attractive cyber attack with serious consequences to final users and service providers. Moreover, stealing credit card details will imply also an identity theft which could have even more serious consequences. On the other hand, incidental loss of stored data, if not already processed, would make it impossible for service providers to collect their money, which represents a considerable economic loss that would be difficult if not impossible to recover. Data security is a very facet of ensuring an effective and efficient service delivery.

Data quality and systems assurance

Data quality is vital to ensure a good performance of ITS applications and services so that they could be accurate and reliable. Both characteristics depend on the quality

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of the whole systems design, devices installation and maintenance and communications network. Once it is proved that data is accurate, it should also be reliable and this aspect is particularly important during data prediction. Data collection, processing, transmission and storage are part of an ITS chain that must be highly protected against cyber attacks. As mentioned several times above, data security is an important issue that ITS applications have recently raised. To supply services promptly updated and tailored to the user, ITS systems need to collect a huge amount of data. All these phases are important and data storage is among the most sensitive. That’s why databases are frequently a target of crackers and hackers who target sites that store credit card numbers and personal data.

Conclusion

Images are also an important aspect because they are available to a range of operators and authorities, as well as to police officers. Systems, thus, should include a high level of protection where the electronic exchange of pictures should be strictly monitored. Besides, computer-based systems that are connected to Internet are often objective of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks with the attempt to make resources unavailable to their intended users. This represents a dangerous issue as useful information could not be sent in the right time and place when needed. One example is the case of accidents when the event notification, handling, management and attendance are vital steps to save people involved and those approaching the event location. That’s why when ITS applications are designed, great attention has to be paid to security. TH Dr. Ing. Stefano Mainero is Principal Engineer for European Business Development at WSP Development & Transportation’s ITS Division in Bristol, UK. He can be contacted via email at [email protected]

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Homeland Security

Public transmit authority ALAN HAYES on future-proofing video transmission for intelligent transportation systems

Scene analysis using CCTV signals is an increasingly important tool in managing a highway surveillance network. Video compression, required to transmit video signals over Standards-based Ethernet or SDH networks, can throw away valuable video scene information - required for effective scene analysis software. Software analysis will become even more significant in the future as camera counts increase, thus video compression can limit the future use of these tools. Transmission networks are now available which have all the benefits of the standards based networks but with the ability to carry full bandwidth uncompressed video signals along side Ethernet and traditional low speed data services. Today, CCTV is an invaluable tool in managing highway systems.Whether the cameras are used for incident detection and management, for number plate monitoring, or for any of the many other applications, it is clear that the number of cameras at the roadside will continue to increase. The challenge for the transmission system has been how to get the camera signals from the road-

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side to a point where they can be used or processed. The development of video compression technology and the resulting reduction of the information bandwidth required to be sent, has made possible the use of standards based communication systems such as Ethernet or SDH for the transmission, thus taking advantage of all the benefits associated with these types of network systems.

Do not throw away

However, during the compression process, information within the video signal is discarded which cannot later be recovered. With the increasing use of video processing software which benefits from the maximum amount of video content information, the process of compressing a video signal just to make it more convenient for the transmission system starts to limit the future usefulness of the delivered video signal itself. As the sophistication of video processing and scene analysis software continues to increase, both for its intrinsic usefulness and to cope with the ever increasing number of cameras, the limitation associated with using www.h3bmedia.com

Transport Security compressed video transmission threatens to become more and more significant. This in turn limits the future usefulness of the cameras for the management of the highway. Thus the challenge for the transmission system of the future is not only how to get the camera signals from the roadside to the point where they can be used or processed but also how to ensure that important video scene information is not discarded in the process. The purpose of this article is to discuss whether this limiting of the possible future proofing of the CCTV transmission for ITS Systems can be avoided. The paper also discusses and illustrates how transmission networks now available can provide the benefits of Ethernet and SDH networks whilst simultaneously carrying uncompressed video signals. This type of transmission network not only allows all the video content to get to the point where it is going to be used or processed but also ensures that no video scene information is lost in the process - effectively future proofing the transmission network.

Highway management CCTV

The number of cameras used on the roadside is increasing as CCTV becomes a more important tool for the management of a highway network. The cameras are used for a number of applications. These include: • Incident detection; • Incident management; • Vehicle tracking; • Traffic flow control; • Highway lane control; • Emergency control; • Driver information systems; and • Security services applications.

Traditional video transmission

The challenge for the transmission system historically was to get a picture from the camera to the user who would view the video signal on a monitor. Traditional transmission systems designed specifically for the video were in the main point-to-point, limited in transmission distance capabilities, non-resilient and unmanaged. This could be a significant draw back when used with a serious highway management system where information is required 24 hours a day and fast response is paramount. With the introduction of video compression technologies, the bandwidth required for the video transmission could be significantly reduced by throwing video scene information away. This allowed the use of standard networks, such as Ethernet or SDH, and resulted in the ability to take advantage of the benefits associated with their capabilities. These benefits include: • Resilient networks – dual redundancy; • Drop and insert architectures; • Virtually unlimited transmission distance; • Integrated switching and routine; • Anywhere to anywhere connections; • Simultaneous multi-site viewing; • Integration with other signals; and www.h3bmedia.com

• Very large capacity networks.

Video compression

An uncompressed video signal requires ~130Mbit/s of bandwidth from the transmission network. In order to carry many video signals, compression has to be used for the cost effective transmission of multiple video signals over an Ethernet or SDH network. Compression can bring the bandwidth requirement down to between 25Mbit/s to 64kbit/s per camera signal, depending on the video quality requirement and the bandwidth available. Various compression standards are used in the CCTV market to fulfil this requirement. These include MPEG2, MPEG4, H263, H264, Wavelet, MJPEG and MJPEG 2000. The choice of which technology to apply was typically determined not only by when the decision was made but also by the cost and capabilities of the respective compression algorithms. The capabilities of the compression algorithms have improved with time in terms of reduced bandwidth requirement versus quality. However, backward compatibility has not been maintained. This continues to be a serious problem when selecting a specific technology. Some manufactures try to accommodate future improved technologies by using DSP based non-algorithm specific architectures. However, as the technology moves forward so does the processing power requirement. Hence older DSP based systems no longer have the capacity to move to the newer algorithms. Video compression can use compression ‘within a frame’ as well as compression ‘frame to frame’. A static low content video scene can be sent with a minimum of bandwidth. As the scene content increases with more detail so the ‘within the frame’ bandwidth requirement is increased. As the motion within the scene is increased so the ‘frame to frame’ bandwidth requirement is increased. The bandwidth requirement can be further compromised if low latency compression is required for Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) camera type systems. Thus choice of algorithm should include specifications for the worst anticipated case in terms of scene detail, activity, latency and resolution. These can then dictate the algorithm and the overall bandwidth requirement of the network. It is important to note however, that all of these algorithms throw video information away which cannot be recovered. If the Ethernet or SDH networks could accommodate the uncompressed video bandwidth then this would be the algorithm of choice.

Limitations of video compression

The traditional limitations with the use of video compression associated with viewing quality and response latency are still an issue for some applications. Moreover, other issues are now coming to the fore. The two most significant of these is associated with the future use of scene analysis software and the simultaneous multiple agency use of the video each with its own transmission limitations. The use of sophisticated scene analysis software is becoming a significant tool for the processing of the CCTV images. This is not only because the number of Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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Transport Security

cameras is increasing and the use of human operators becomes impractical, but also because the software capabilities are improving and becoming more successful. These software applications can be developed independently of the transmission system and their usefulness is dependent on the quality of the video scene information available to them. It is important that the video transmission system does not compromise or limit future use of any such software packages. This effect can currently be demonstrated when using video processing software such as for smoke detection in tunnels. For a system which could raise an alarm within a few seconds of the first appearance of smoke when presented with a uncompressed video stream, this is delayed until virtually the whole scene is filled with smoke when presented with a MPEG4 video stream. It is also demonstrated with the reduction in reliability some ANPR video processing software when used with compressed video streams. The sophistication of scene analysis software and the requirement for more detail from the video stream is only going to increase in the future. The way to maximise the video scene information available is to avoid compressing the video at all. By this method it is clear that the system can be future proofed against any incompatibility between any scene analysis software and the method used to transmit the signal to it. Another limitation which can be caused by compression results from the requirement of multiple users to

simultaneously view the same video signal. If the collection of the video to a distribution point has used compression and the onward routing also requires compression maybe even to another quality level, the video signal may have to be brought back to an uncompressed format in order to do this. Recompression of a previously compressed signal can be problematic. The way to ensure that a video signal can be onward routed to any user from a distribution point is to transmit the signal to the distribution point in an uncompressed format.

Uncompressed video transmission networks

The range of AMG transmission equipment has been designed to replicate the benefits associated with the standard network capabilities without compromising the video. For the video collection it is possible to collect channels of video and distribute Ethernet and low speed data or audio signals on a single unit located at the roadside. These can be connected on a dual redundant ring architecture with a single fibre daisy chaining between each unit. The benefits of this approach are the minimal use of fibre, ease of camera addition, the ability to drop off signals at multiple locations and the effectively unlimited transmission distance. The dual redundant capability ensures that the operation is maintained in the case of a fibre break or in the case of loss of power at a unit. The AMG3700 series units are the equipment to be used for all the collection of all

“The video transmission system should not compromise future use of any such software packages”

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Transport Security

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the cameras on the UK highways within the NRTS project. The system can be fully managed via industry standard SNMP or via a proprietary GUI to highlight any faults in the fibre, whilst full operation is maintained. It also monitors video availability and loss of power. For high channel count video distribution, resilient and managed equipment can collect and distribute video from multiple locations. Figure 2 above shows the system known as the “Birmingham Digital Ring” currently in use on the motorway network around Birmingham in the UK.

Conclusion

When it comes to future proofing CCTV transmission for ITS systems, it is clear that careful consideration needs to be given to a number of key factors. This article has highlighted the problems relating to the use of compressed video alongside scene analysis software and also the backward compatibility and inconsistency issues with the various compression standards. We also know that from an operational point

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www.h3bmedia.com

Figure 1 (below) Typical uncompressed video collection architectures Figure 2 (right) Typical uncompressed video distribution architecture, as implemented on the “Birmingham Digital Ring”

of view there is trade off between response latency and video quality which can affect the manageability of CCTV systems. From the examples discussed we know that products exist which have all the benefits of standards based networks without the compromise associated with video compression. It is clear that any organisation planning the development of a new highways surveillance system needs to give due consideration to the method chosen for transportation of the video signal. The wrong choice made at the outset could seriously limit the effectiveness of the system as well as restrict the ability of future upgrades to take advantage of the expected advances in the capabilities of important tools like scene analysis software. TH Dr Alan Hayes is managing director of AMG Systems Ltd. He can be contacted via email at [email protected] or visit the website at www.amgsystems.co.uk

Single and dual direction spurs

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Homeland Security

A road for the future JOSÉ PAPÍ, Secretary General of the International Road Federation - Brussels Programme Centre, on the economics of road transport policy

For too many years the role of road transport in modern economies has been negligently overlooked and substituted by theories advocating the negative effects of such means of transportation. Today, the argument that roads are the backbone of Europe’s socio-economic model is backed by solid empirical evidence and numerous academic studies. Finally we are realising that the wealth of a nation is inexorably interlocked with the presence of a modern and well-maintained transport infrastructure. In spite of this, the past decade has seen a consistent decline in spending on road infrastructure in the European Union. Often fuelled by ideological arguments, this persisting trend has come at the cost of increased congestion and lower safety levels. The European Commission, however, can legitimately

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point to a number of achievements since 2001, chief amongst which is drastic cuts in pollutant emissions (- 40 per cent) and road fatalities (- 17 per cent), and improved working conditions for the millions employed by the transport sector. It must also accept that it has been less than successful in tackling congestion, revitalising Europe’s railways or identifying global solutions to help fund the Trans-European Networks. Enlargement has given the EU a continental dimension and created more transport corridors, but at the same time stretched the ability of the Community’s financial resources to offer basic accessibility to citizens living in central and eastern Europe. On the supply side, consolidation is taking place at European level in all transport modes, setting the conditions for increased European competition as motorway www.h3bmedia.com

Policy Perspective

operators and haulage firms vie for new markets. Increased investment in research and innovation in areas such as engine technology, intelligent transport systems and infrastructure management are transforming the transport sector into a high-technology industry. As Europe celebrates 50 years of coordinated policymaking, it needs to adopt a fresh vision on transport. Recognising the socio-economic contribution of road transport and listening to the mobility aspirations of millions of motoring citizens is an indispensable first step.

The economic role of road transport

As evidenced by basic economic data, the global economic impact of roads and road transport on our lives is considerable. As many as 16m EU citizens work directly or indirectly for the road sector (automotive suppliers, www.h3bmedia.com

petrol industry, car insurance companies, etc.), representing almost 8 per cent of the total EU-25 workforce. Road transport is also one of the largest contributors to national budgets. In 2002, the European Commission released a report on vehicle taxation in the EU-15, which indicated that vehicle-related taxes represented up to 10 per cent of the total fiscal income of some EU Member States. Road construction activities themselves also generate economic growth. According to a nation-wide report commissioned by the French Senate in 1995, an investment of €150m in roads creates, on average, 3,240 jobs, of which 1,210 are directly related to the road construction works, while 575 are linked to the activities undertaken prior to the construction, and 660 are directly related to the production of construction materials, in addition to 800 jobs resulting from constructionrelated investment revenues. Finally, by contributing to regional cohesion, roads play a prominent role in the geographic distribution of economic growth. Zones with high job densities (over 200 jobs per sq km) are typically located near major road arteries. There are a number of reasons behind this concentration. Industries need to be located where they have a direct and easy access to their suppliers, customers and employees. This explains why industrial zones are generally located near roads and why roads themselves are so important to regional development (tourism, business location decisions, etc.). At macroeconomic level, an efficient, well-interconnected road network can act as a catalyst in fostering development by creating sustainable, autonomous growth zones, which in turn increase the per capita income in less favoured regions to levels closer to the European average.

The social dimension of road transport

Changing living patterns have also increased the role of roads in such areas as access to employment, education Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

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Policy Perspective and health care. As Europe evolves from the old economy of manufacturing to a service-based knowledge economy, traditional patterns of transport to workplaces are breaking down. While improvements in information and communications technology have helped to make distance less important, the countervailing trend of geographical dispersal of workplaces – in small businesses, rather than large, centrally located concerns that can be efficiently serviced by public transport – has increased the demand for road transport. In 2004, two thirds of new jobs were created in the suburbs, where roads are often the only means of transportation which can be used for commuting. In the UK, travel costs are so high that they are considered a significant barrier to post-secondary education. A study released in 2002 by the Social Exclusion Unit revealed that travel costs are the largest expenditure associated with post-secondary education. The study also found that one in every five students had considered dropping out from their studies because of the travel-related cost -burden. Six per cent of students missed college courses from time to time due to transport costs, and a further six percent turned down the offer of vocational training or further education on at least one occasion because they were unable to get to the educational establishment offering them a place. Finally, lack of adequate transport can also reduce the opportunity to use medical services, resulting in increased costs to health care providers due to missed appointments and delayed interventions.

Car ownership and freight transport

Car-ownership in the European Union has surged over the past 10 years. In 2003 alone, 13,842,044 new cars were purchased, representing a 25 per cent jump on car sales in 1993, while registrations increased by 13.2 per cent in OECD countries between 1990 and 2005. Passenger transport by road (whether by car or bus), which already represents 92 per cent of total passenger transport, has seen an increase of 12.5 per cent between 1995 and 2002. The demand for road transport originates from different categories of users, ranging from passenger cars and trucks to motorcycles, bicycles and passenger buses, depending on the purpose of travel. Figures for the United Kingdom suggest that individual car travel is used primarily for shopping, leisure and going to work with an average of 641 car journeys per person every year. In the 19th century, an average European travelled about 20 km a year, while today this figure is 20 km a day. This data explains why access to a car is essential for the majority of people and why car ownership per 1,000 inhabitants has more than doubled since 1970. Roads are the only mode of transport which can provide a door-to-door connection at a competitive price. The average time in Europe for a home-work journey by car is estimated to be 20 minutes. The corresponding figure for public transport is estimated to be

38 minutes, or almost twice as much. A recent survey pointed out that road transport is considered by 62 per cent of the population as the most practical mode of transport. If citizens no longer had access to a car, over half of them believe their day-to-day tasks would become more difficult as a result. The decision to buy a car and to spend a considerable part of the household budget can only be explained by the fact that the economic advantages of using roads (saving money, more efficient use of time, increased comfort and quality of life) outweigh the direct costs of owning and using a car. Nobody has ever forced anybody else to buy a car and use it.

“In the UK, travel costs are considered a significant barrier to post-secondary education”

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Setting the record straight

The 2nd European Road Congress (Brussels, 6-8 November 2006) offered the perfect setting for stakeholders to analyse and debate the future orientation of road transwww.h3bmedia.com

Policy Perspective choose a different route. Several studies have concluded that the potential for reducing travel time thanks to the use of ITS could be 10 -20 per cent. Furthermore the increase of the use of such a tool as Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to finance the road sector has become a priority for a sector where “consumers” have been shown to be willing to pay extra in order to obtain better quality services and infrastructure. Historically there has been a relative under-usage in Europe of PPPs to finance the road sector. However there is ample evidence that allowing private enterprises to share the cost of building new infrastructure and then providing them with concessions to raise toll-based revenue has led to an improvement in the maintenance level of the road infrastructure itself and generated better services to motorists. Future policy ought to reflect the fact that the private sector wants and needs to be involved to a higher degree in all phases, from design to implementation, of road infrastructure. When taking into consideration progress made to achieve “greener” transportation we can clearly see that thanks to a successful string of emission norms, harmful pollutants from new vehicles are a small fraction of what they were 20 years ago, fleet emissions are being reduced substantially as older vehicles are gradually replaced and CO2 emissions are set to decrease over the years as more stringent EU norms are implemented.

Quiet contemplation

port policy in Europe.It was broadly agreed that changes in the attitude towards road infrastructure and road transport in general are needed to encourage further growth and foster competitiveness in the sector. ITS will, in a matter of years, completely revolutionise the way in which the journeys for people and merchandise are planned and undertaken. A key factor in this change is the implementation of GALILEO,Europe’s satellite navigation programme, which will provide the technological infrastructure needed to further reduce the negative impact of road transport. The monitoring and management of traffic fluidity will be significantly improved when a great number of cars are equipped with satellite navigation receivers and guidance systems. For example, if the average speed of the cars equipped with GALILEO receivers on a given road sector drops significantly, a control centre can anticipate a traffic jam and suggest that approaching vehicles

Traffic noise is another typical area of conflict between individual mobility needs and legitimate societal aspirations for quieter lifestyles. With some 80m EU citizens suffering from unacceptable levels of noise today – much of it caused by the transport sector as a whole and being responsible for €38bn in lost productivity and property value decrease – there is a clear need for Europe to take a driving role in promoting targeted legislation, sharing solutions and achieving a common understanding of the potential for progress in order to reduce the road traffic-related noise level. In addition, a substantial progress has already been made by the automotive sector itself, which is illustrated by the fact that 12 modern trucks today generate the same noise levels as a single truck manufactured in 1974. Future progress can be expected through new tyre design, quieter engines and silent pavements. The future will also have to offer more and better solutions to tackle the problem of road safety. In the EU-25, in fact, there are over 40,000 road fatalities every year, with an estimation currently putting the cost of these deaths at 2 per cent of the overall EU GDP. The tragedy of each and every life prematurely ended on our road network should offer scope for reflection and prompt policy-makers at all levels to take concrete action if they wish to attain the target of halving this number by 2010. TH Visit www.erf.be for more information

“Historically there has been an underusage in Europe of PPPs to finance the road sector”

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Speed Enforcement

Measure for measure Speed enforcement is often viewed by drivers as a nuisance and easy income for the police, but is this actually the case? ROBOT Visual Systems’ ONDREJ PRIBYL examines the different types of measurement systems and their effect on driver behaviour Discussions about speed and speed enforcement are very common. However, is it really generally clear what the relationship between speed and the number and severity of traffic accidents is? This article aims to answer this question. First we look on the correlation between vehicles speed and number of accidents. Majority of traffic accidents happen because driver can not react fast enough to avoid collision. According to the basic time, distance,

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speed equation can be concluded that the faster a vehicle is driving, the less time for reaction to hazards its driver has. When we keep the other variables constant (for example probability that the driver must react to an event that happened 50 meters ahead of him), we can state the first conclusion. Conclusion 1: higher speeds have an increasing effect on the number of traffic accidents. What is the effect of speed on the severity of acciwww.h3bmedia.com

Speed Enforcement dents? According to the Newton’s second law, the net force, F, is equal to the product of the mass, m, times the acceleration, a ( F = m•a). In case of a traffic accident, the acceleration (or rather deceleration ≈ stopping from given speed to zero) depends on the actual speed of the vehicle. For a constant mass it is clear that speed has direct effect on the net force. The net force corresponds to the amount of total damage on a vehicle and consequently higher danger of a serious injury or death. Conclusion 2: higher speeds lead to higher severity of traffic accidents. In order to provide rational proof of the theoretical facts above, we can look at statistical evaluation of traffic accidents. Exceeding speed leads really in long term to majority of all traffic accidents and deaths on roads in Europe. Figure. 1 shows the different reasons for traffic accidents in Germany for the year 2005 (1). This figure demonstrates that exceeded speed leads to 16.8 per cent of all traffic accidents in Germany. Another example can be found in other countries. For example the statistics of traffic accidents in the Czech republic show that exceeding speed lead to 47.4 per cent of all death on roads in the year 2005 (2). This is true also for other European countries in the past years.

Fig. 1: The reasons for traffic accidents in Germany for the year 2005 (Source: Statistisches Bundesamt 2006-15-0842)

Speed measurement systems

The discussion above demonstrates that focus on speed is very important, when we want to increase safety on roads. In order to reach real effect, automated methods for speed enforcement, i.e. penalizing drivers that exceed the maximum speed limit on given road, are needed. Basically, there are two major groups of speed enforcement: point measurement and section measurement. Their major features are discussed below.

Point measurement systems

For point measurement, usually a RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) or LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging; or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) systems are used. These technologies are well known and generally accepted by authorities. However, several studies show that using of point measurement systems can lead to actual increase in risk for road users. Often when drivers realize that there is a speed measurement system, they attempt to avoid getting ticket by very rapid breaking (3). After passing the measurement point, they accelerate back to their original high speed. It has been demonstrated that these sudden changes in speed actually increase the danger of collision with adjacent vehicles. Also the lower speed is maintained only on a very short area so the effect on average cruising speed is small. The differences in speed are actually more dangerous than high speed.

Fig. 2: An example of a mobile speed radar system “Multiradar C” from ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH

is to measure average speed on a given road section. Here, the most common approach that is adopted also within the ROBOT TraffiSection System is described. Figure 3 overleaf depicts the basic principle of a common section speed control system. It is based on exact time measurement of vehicles entering and exiting given section on road. As a vehicle travels across given road, its picture (to determine LP) and its time stamp (TS) are obtained at the beginning and the end of the enforced section. According to this information and knowledge of the exact length of the section, , the average speed, v, on the whole section is obtained according to the following equation:

“Several studies show that using of point measurement systems can lead to increased risk”

Section speed control system

Section speed control systems are also known as distance/time measurement or average speed measurement. As the name states, the purpose of these systems www.h3bmedia.com

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Speed Enforcement

Fig. 3: Picture demonstrating the principle of a common section speed control system

Fig. 4: The effect on speed after introducing section speed control system in Strahov tunnel, Prague.

Advantages of SSC system

ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH offers also its solution for section speed control called “TraffiSection”. It follows the principle described above. For the speed measurement, digital camera system (Smart Camera III) is used. TraffiSection fulfils all requirements on precision, security and accuracy for providing sufficient proof materials in cases of violation.The most crucial part of a section speed control system with respect to accuracy is the precision of time measurement. In this system, the entry and exit point of the section is equipped with a GPS time unit with a specialized CPU with very precise clock. It ensures higher precession and reliability than for example synchronizing using common NTP (Network Time Protocol) protocol. The security is ensured, next to other means, by using digital keys for signatures and encryption of the proof materials. The system provides a user friendly GUI for simple processing of offences. Multiple languages are supported and the GUI allows the operator to use picture enhancement features and fully or semi automated processing. It is clear that the TraffiSection system significantly calms the traffic at required road sections and has big positive effect on drivers behaviour and road safety. TH Dr Ondrej Pribyl, Ph.D. is product manager at ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH and can be contacted via email at [email protected]

It was already discussed above, that point measurement systems can lead in the final effect to rapid changes in speeds and so can have negative effect on road safety. This danger is minimized in case of measurement the average speed on the entire section. The drivers have no motivation to over speed at one part of the section, when it means that in the remaining part of the section they must drive very low below the allowed speed limit. The section speed actually changes the behaviour of drivers in the way that is more safe. The section speed control system is most suitable for clearly defined sections such as tunnels, bridges, city by passes where the danger of speeding and resulting traffic accidents is really high. Such system can be also successfully put into operation in smaller villages with major roads with a lot of transit. Here, the system can really calm the traffic within the whole village and significantly decrease the danger of collision with pedestrians.

“The most crucial part of a section speed control system is the precision of time measurement”

Does it really work?

The advantages of section speed control were discussed in the text above. In order to demonstrate that it has also practical impact on the behaviour of drivers, an example from Strahov tunnel (Prague, Czech Republic) is presented here (3). The following figure depicts the average speeds in the tunnel (results for both so-called northern tube (STT) and western tube (ZTT) are presented here) before the section speed control system was introduced (14 days in 2003) and after that (14 days in the same part of 2004). It is clear that the average speed really decreased by nearly 20 km/h on average. Since the average speed is measured, there is no need to expect that some sudden changes in speed were present as it was before when only point measurement was present. Next to their equipment for measurement of point speed or for example red light violations, the company

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References

[1] Statistisches Bundesamt, Unfallgeschehen im Straßenverkehr 2005 – Presseexemplar, Juli 2006. [2] Tesarík, J. a P. Sobotka. “Informace o nehodovosti na pozemních komunikacích Ceské republiky za rok 2005”. Reditelství sluzby dopravní policie Policejního prezidia CR, January 2006. [3] Pribyl P., Hašek M.: „Optimalizace provozu silnicních tunelu – OPTUN 2005“, Redakcne upravená rocní zpráva projektu, Eltodo EG, Praha, January 2006. www.h3bmedia.com

Roads Scholar

Highways are getting smarter. They look the same,

With IRD technology, our roads can monitor, record and

black asphalt and white lines but look a little closer.

communicate thousands of pieces of data every second

Small weigh and speed detectors right in the asphalt,

over wired and wireless networks. Data that you can use

overhead cameras and sensors to

to make roads stronger, faster, and safer.

record every move. Other more obvious

Talk to the smart people at IRD,

additions are there too, like message

they’ve been leading the way in ITS

signs that change for every vehicle!

for over 25 years.

ir dinc.com

International Road Federation

Former President of the Republic of Turkey, Süleyman Demirel (left) discussing the Silk Road Programme with the IRF’s Tony Pearce

In famous footsteps... The International Road Federation’s 1st Black Sea Ring & 4th Silk Road conference is re-visiting a key transport link from Eurasian history The International Road Federation (IRF) is strongly supporting a major upgrading of 7,000km of roads around the Black Sea. To this end IRF has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), an inter-governmental organisation founded in 1992 and comprises 12 states around the Black Sea including Russia and Turkey. With the signing of the memorandum of understanding IRF has created a framework for its members to assist BSEC with the

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development of the Black Sea Ring Highway, as well as helping with training for best practice in areas such as road safety, signage and maintenance. Many BSEC countries are experiencing a dramatic social and economic transformation as a result of the end of communism and the expansion of the European Union eastwards. As industry and trade develop, there is an increasing need for an efficient trans-Eurasian transport system linking the core transport regions of Europe, the Caucasus and central Asia. www.h3bmedia.com

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THIN KING

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Vol 2 No 1 Thinking Highways

To the west the Black Sea region links with three PanEuropean corridors: 7 (The Danube), 8 (East-West) and 9 (North-South). To the east, the region links to the ancient network of Silk Roads across Asia to China. The region includes the Okhotsk Sea, Caspian Sea, Azov Sea, Black Sea, Marmara Sea, Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean, and is situated along several important sea lanes. The Black Sea Ring Highway will bring about major changes in the quality of life in coastal areas, stimulating further development and progress. The highway is planned to link important cities in Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece with additional connections to Armenia and Azerbaijan. Over the last decade IRF has been promoting the rehabilitation of the ancient Silk Roads across central Asia. These routes first became known when Marco Polo travelled from Europe to Asia in the late 13th Century to become a confidante of Ghengis Khan. But it was people like Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, a 14th Century Florentine merchant, who established the trade link between the Chinese capital, Xi’an, and Europe via Constantinople (now called Istanbul). In May this year IRF is re-establishing this ancient link. In 2004 the last Silk Road Rehabilitation conference was held in Xi’an, and the fourth in this series of conferences will take place in Istanbul on 14-16 May 2007 which is very suitable.

History lesson

In the 14th Century it would take a caravan up to a year to make the 6,000 km trip (or 10,000 km if one included the back roads and side trips). Silk was the main commodity moving from east to west. From the opposite direction came wool, ivory, glass and precious metals. Over time all manner of goods were carried along these roads, from the most expensive cloth to the most mundane ox hide. But few, if any, individuals made the entire trip. Instead, goods were passed along through an intricate network of middlemen who rarely travelled outside their own region. Similarly now, most of the traffic along the Silk Roads travels relatively short distances,and international traffic is less than 20–30 per cent of all trucks (less than 10 per cent of all vehicles). International transit is, however, increasing and is forecast to become a dominant factor in the future. Most of the international road traffic is carried on a core network of around 20,000 km of roads, most of which have two lanes and are designed for 100 km/hour and an average daily traffic flow of 1,000–3,000 vehicles. Almost half of the world’s cargo traffic is made up of goods transported between Europe and Asia. Now the international trade of the central Asian states amounts to about US$50bn of which around US$5bn is trade between the central Asian republics themselves. It is estimated that freight operations on the Silk Roads creates revenue of over US$1bn for transport companies and transit countries annually. As the network and traffic volumes develop, major opportunities will arise for using GPS for tracking freight www.h3bmedia.com

being carried across Asia. The Galileo system could be used for monitoring progress and reporting trucks that have stopped for mechanical or other problems.Satellite telephones can be used for communications with truck drivers in the more remote parts of the network through, for example, Kazakhstan and Siberia.

The here and now

Around the Black Sea the traffic volumes are starting to approach western European levels and ITS applications for advance warning of traffic problems and traffic control become needed. ITS applications are already in use for electronic tolling on the Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul. The road networks around the major conurbation on the Black Sea Ring Highway are congested for much of the day, which presents the opportunity for free-flow tolling of the major roads. These issues are not yet on the agenda of the Black Sea and Silk Road countries, but the IRF conference in Istanbul in May will address the future development of quality road networks, and how ITS applications could play an increasing role. The IRF conference in Istanbul will bring together ministers and directors of roads from the Silk Road and Black Sea states, as well as contractors, consultants, international financial institutions and other interested organisations. Tony Pearce, who is coordinating the event for IRF, says that this will be a unique opportunity for the countries to set out their road development programmes and the other relevant factors such as the legislation on private sector participation. IRF has been fortunate to have received very high level support – including the former President of the Republic of Turkey, Süleyman Demirel, IRF Man of the Year in 1973 who will host the Ministerial meeting on 14 May, and the Turkish Minister of Public Works, Faruk Nafiz Özak. More information on the conference, programme brochure and registration form can be found on www.irfnet.org. TH

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Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 1

91

Less haste, less speed JENNY JONES, a Green party member of the London Assembly and the Mayor of London’s green transport adviser, tackles an issue that touches the hearts and minds of everyone: road safety. It’s not just a question of policy

In London, over the last six years we have invested more in road safety and reduced road casualties much faster than in other UK urban centres. London has achieved, five years early, most of the UK Government’s targets for reducing road casualties. The result is that London has reduced total casualties by over 40 per cent and we are also ahead of the national target for cutting child casualties by half. There is no greater reward for a politician, than to be part of the team which has stopped two and a half thousand people from being killed or seriously injured every year in London. Of course it means nothing to the parents, friends and relatives who are still suffering loss because of our dangerous roads. One person dying on our roads is a tragedy, but several thousand being killed in the UK every year is a political scandal. I don’t understand why we allow our roads to be so dangerous, when we invest billions to ensure that our train and tube system is relatively safe. We seem to suffer from a collective shrug of the shoulders when discussing road safety, neatly summed up in

the phrase that ‘accidents happen’. Challenging that culture of resigned complacency is one of the reasons why I made sure that London’s Metropolitan Police agreed to refer only to traffic collisions, not traffic accidents. The other important change in the road safety culture in London is that being the best simply isn’t good enough. Our response to meeting the national targets has been to adopt tougher ones. So our aim now is to cut by half the total number of those killed and seriously injured on the roads and to reduce by 60 per cent the number of children killed and seriously injured by 2010. Some of the local councils in London were initially reluctant to support these more ambitious targets, but the determination of Transport for London (TfL) has made everyone fall into step. The view of road safety professionals is that the hardest job we have in London is to continue our reduction in cyclists’ deaths and injuries, during a period when the total number of cyclists is rapidly increasing. London is building a strategic network of cycle lanes and also run-

“Several thousand deaths on the UK’s roads every year is a political scandal”

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Comment ning specific campaigns aimed at lorry drivers. However, my biggest hope is that we will generate a critical mass of cyclists who will take their rightful place on the road. Instead of a sole reliance on engineering, I believe that having more cyclists and a greater range of people who cycle will itself change the culture and behaviour of other road users.

A simple solution

Total spending on road safety in London has more than doubled in the last six years (increasing from £20m per annum in 2000 to £46.4m a year in 2006/07). We have more 20mph zones, more pedestrian-friendly traffic lights and the planned redesign of 100 public spaces. All of this is great, but the engineering solution is suffering from the law of diminishing returns. A far simpler approach would be to designate the whole of London as a 20mph zone, with exceptions and higher speed limits negotiated for the main roads. This would be both quicker and far less costly than slowly filling London with road humps. The main focus for the future of road safety policy in London is enforcement and education. Electronic enforcement could play a role in this. We are already piloting distance-based speed cameras in London, so that the average speed of drivers passing through a residential area can be measured by a few strategically placed cameras. We are also piloting speed limiters in vehicles. The short-term aim is to get a critical mass of public sector and other vehicles travelling on the main road network at below the speed limit, so that other drivers are forced to obey the law as well. Unfortunately, existing camera based systems are not entirely successful because of the high number of illegal drivers on London’s roads. The Met Police halved the number of traffic police and regarded road safety as a very low priority. Drivers have spent the last decade or more thinking that they can break the law in London and get away with it. One result is that in some parts of London, a quarter of all people injured in traffic collisions are victims of hit and run drivers.

A matter of recognition

It has been a struggle to change the outlook of senior police officers, but having stopped any further decline in the number of traffic police, I have pressed them to use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment. Being a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority has been vital for me to secure a change of policy and link the police with TfL‘s work. The police have gone from issuing under a thousand Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for the offence of driving with no valid insurance in early 2003, to six times as many last year. The Met Police have also had to increase their capacity to seize and store the vehicles of illegal drivers from 4,000 per annum to 9,000, with many of these subsequently being sold or crushed and recycled. This is still barely scratching the surface of illegal

drivers in London, but it does show that the Met Police are now willing partners in making our roads safer. One battle I haven’t won is over the installation of safety cameras in London. Safety cameras installed by London Safety Camera Partnership have on average seen a 40 per cent reduction in the number people killed or seriously injured. The partnership estimates that 66 new cameras would lead to a reduction of 80 people killed or seriously injured every year in London. However, the reality is that we have trailed behind the rest of the UK for years.We still have a backlog of a thousand sites which have been identified as meeting the Government’s tough casualty based criteria for placing a camera. The problem all along has been a lack of political will from national politicians who are constantly running scared of the car lobby. The only thing now stopping us from immediately putting these cameras in place is the annual budget restraints imposed by the Government. Since 2004, there has been an annual budget agreement between the London Mayor and the Green Party members of the London Assembly. I have used this budget agreement to push for more money for road

“The engineering solution is suffering from the law of diminishing returns”

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Comment

safety and for more action by the police. Innovations like the speed limiter pilot are also part of the deal. One of the commitments in last year’s budget deal was the setting up of a speed awareness course for car drivers caught by safety cameras travelling at just above the speed limit. The drivers have to either pay the fine and get points on their license, or pay to attend a half day course. This speed awareness course is due to educate a hundred thousand drivers in London every year and will become the biggest ‘hands on’ road safety education exercise in the country. I think this scheme will play a vital part in changing the long term culture of driving in London.

A matter of education

Vol 2 No1 Thinking Highways

A matter of planning

Quite recently in London a girl was run over crossing a very fast, busy road. She and her friends had taken to running across the main road because they were too scared of being attacked if they used the underpass which the transport planners had provided for them. The engineers’ proposed solution to prevent future deaths is to put up more barriers along the road side in the hope that teenagers won’t simply jump over them. The obvious thing is to stop the traffic and let the pedestrians have priority. What do we value more: metal or flesh? Sustainable forms of transport or fast, polluting vehicles? There are three lessons which I feel other cities and European governments might find useful to explore. First, don’t accept a collective shrugging of shoulders. Adopt either the Swedish ‘vision zero’ approach, or the London version which is that the best is not good enough. Secondly, increase funding for road safety. Whether you spend it on engineering, enforcement or education, there is no single magic bullet and no short cut to reducing deaths and injuries on the road. Thirdly, link road safety with a wider agenda of improving our cities and our environment. Reducing casualties is good, but we must also have a policy goal of reducing the fear of road danger and encouraging people to use more sustainable forms of transport. TH

“What do we value more: metal or flesh? Sustainable forms of transport or fast, polluting vehicles?”

Perhaps the biggest challenge for road safety professionals in the future is to link up with the wider environmental and climate change agenda. In the 1970s and 80s many local authorities and government agencies in the UK were busy discouraging cycling as a dangerous activity which got in the way of proper forms of transport. Pedestrians were also actively discouraged from making certain journeys by putting up barriers and forcing them down underpasses. Children were given road safety education which made their parents too scared to let them walk anywhere and effectively blamed the victim. All of this needs turning around so that it is the vulnerable road users who get the priority and the drivers who get the education. To encourage more people to walk and cycle we need to reduce the fear of road danger, as well as reducing the danger itself.We need a road hierarchy which places

94

pedestrians and cyclists at the top and reverses all the historic mistakes which have been made in the way that we design and plan our cities.

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If you’re heading to a European city for the day on business, www.daytripstoeurope.co.uk will help you get the most out of your visit. It has everything you need to mix work and pleasure, including information on journey times, local transport, places to eat and drink, top sights and major events. And if you want to know what the weather’s doing, where to get a city pass or how to get somewhere, there are hundreds of handy links. No other travel site pulls together so much information from such a wide variety of sources, in such an easy to use format. Everything you need for perfect day trips.

www

daytripstoeurope.co.uk www.traffex.com

TRAFFEX 2007

INSPIRED SOLUTIONS STRAIGHT AHEAD 17-19 April 2007 National Exhibition Centre Birmingham UK If you’re involved in the design, management and maintenance of traffic and highway infrastructure there is one event you won’t want to miss. Traffex 2007. Meet 350 ‘world class’ suppliers from 35 countries who will use Traffex 2007 as the launch pad for their latest products and services. If you’re looking for new and cost-effective traffic management and road safety solutions register now at www.traffex.com and receive:  Free admission  Exhibition preview  Free exhibition catalogue  Personalised badge for fast track entry Traffex will co-locate with Parkex International and EWx - External Works - The Exhibition.

Be inspired. Be informed. Be at Traffex.

 



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