Thinking Highways Europe/row Nov 2008

THIN KING

HIG HW AYS EUROPE/REST of the WORLD EDITION Volume 3 • Issue 4 • November/December 2008

15th ITS WORLD CONGRESS SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Gary Bridgeman’s connected traveller concept

PREMIUM SPACE

Satellites are back on the agenda, says Yanying Li

THE SCIENCE OF THINGS

Marie-Christine Bonnamour introduces Kopernikus

INTELLIGENT

the

choice

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

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Foreword Thinking

Congressional memories

Thinking Highways may be exhibiting at an ITS World Congress for the first time this year, but some of us have been making a show of ourselves for years...

Kevin Borras is co-founder and publishing director of H3B Media and editor-in-chief of Thinking Highways

Editor-in-Chief Kevin Borras ([email protected]) Sales and Marketing Luis Hill ([email protected]) Tim Guest ([email protected]) Design and Layout Phoebe Bentley, Kevin Borras Contributing Editors Bruce Abernethy, Richard Bishop, Lee J Nelson, Andrew Pickford, Phil Tarnoff, Paul Vorster, Harold Worrall Contributors to this issue Tom Antonissen, Richard Bishop, MarieChristine Bonnamour, Gary Bridgeman, Bill Butler, Phil Charles, Maurizia Giglio, Jan Hellaker, Yanying Li, Stephen Little, Dave Marples, Louis Nastro, Margaret Pettit, Peter Plisner, Ofer Ronen, Andrej Skobe, Martin Stone, Phil Tarnoff, Sebas Van Den Ende Sub-Editor and Proofreader Maria Vasconcelos

This really should have been my 11th World Congress on ITS, but I’ve managed to miss three for very similar reasons. As a fairly sizeable portion of the ITS population heads for New York City, I couldn’t help but think back over my previous seven congressional experiences and wonder what memories I’m going to take away from this one. I didn’t get to go to Seoul in 1998 so my first ITS World Congress was the following year’s in Toronto (I still use the bag on a daily basis). My abiding memory from that one is undoubtedly being asked to take a photograph of a Japanese tourist while on the observation deck at Niagara Falls and just as I pressed the shutter about 25 of his friends appeared out of nowhere and crammed themselves into the picture just before they all got soaked to the skin in Falls spray. The 2000 ITS WC was held in the former FIAT factory in Turin and other than the

incredibly long walk from the showfloor to the press room, the thing that sticks in mind from that show was the announcement over the public address system that George W Bush had won the US Presidential election, despite the fact that it wasn’t made official for another six weeks. Sydney 2001 is probably my favourite location, the stunning backdrop of the city skyline, the superb dinner at the zoo and accidentally sleeping for 16 hours on my first day in Australia leaving the most lasting impressions. Twelve months later, sitting in a bar on the 100th floor of the Hancock Tower in Chicago, watching aeroplanes take off from O’Hare and seemingly head straight for us, gave me an unsettling but mercifully brief taste of just what a horrific experience being in the World Trade Center a year earlier must have been. Madrid 2003 was an odd one. Still the best Congress food, it had an odd atmosphere as quite a number of delegates Thinking Highways

Administration Jodie Graham ([email protected]) Subscriptions and Circulation Pilarin Harvey-Granell Visualisation Tom Waldschmidt ([email protected]) Conferences and Events Odile Pignier (odile@h3bmedia.,com) Website The Mind Corporation Financial Director Martin Brookstein EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING H3B Media Ltd, 15 Onslow Gardens, Wallington, Surrey SM6 9QL, UK Tel +44 (0)208 254 9406 Fax +44 (0)208 647 0045 Email [email protected]

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were mugged in the city and the expo center seemed to get further away every day. I elected to give Nagoya a miss (shame that hurricane didn’t) so my next World Congress was San Francisco, venue for the VII-precursor, the IMS showcase, and the chance to visit one of the most iconic river crossings in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge. Shame the fog was so thick you couldn’t see it even when you were on it. London 2006 meant I could leave my house at 8am and be on the exhibition floor an hour later, but the abding memory of that one was the fact that we chose to launch Thinking Highways at our “home” event. That was something we’ll never forget and we’re very pleased to say that two years (and another missed Asian ITS World Congress) later, we’re still here. You’ve made us feel very welcome, I must say, and I look forward to seeing you in New York... and Stockholm... and Busan... TH

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, 13705 North Ivy lake Road, Chillicothe, Illinois 61523, USA.

Managing Director Luis Hill Publishing Director Kevin Borras www.thinkinghighways.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. © 2008 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 The Manson Group

Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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Contents

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COLUMNS The Voice From Brussels

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Prof Phil Charles’ Australian Update

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COVER STORY ERTICO’s Gary Bridgeman introduces the Connected Traveller Concept

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THINKING CARS Richard Bishop reports as H3B Media’s European Commission-funded Smartest Cars Video Project reaches the filming stage THE THOUGHT PROCESS Volvo Technology North America’s Swedish vice president of business development, Jan Hellaker SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY They’re back in vogue and back on the European agenda.Yanying Li charts the return to popularity of the satellite 68

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THE THINKER Phil Tarnoff, a self-confessed VII sceptic, shows his concern for the long-term future of the program The Thinker

Climate Change The Thinker

Stunted growth Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

Stormy weather PHIL TARNOFF poses a potentially taxing question: is the past prologue to VII’s future?

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“The disappearance of VII would represent another setback for the application of technology to the transportation system” During the 1990s many champions of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology felt that its impacts would be equivalent to those of the construction of the US Interstate system. Unfortunately, as transportation agencies cautiously adopted the use of this technology on an as-needed basis, this dream never materialized. In an effort to “realize the dream” the Automated Highway System (AHS) program was established. This program which was initiated in 1992,represented an attempt to enable vehicle operation without requiring human intervention. AHS was an effort to leapfrog the gradual introduction of ITS technology by providing significant improvements in roadway safety and capacity. This program with its 10+ year horizon was eventually cancelled by the USDOT in 1998 due to funding pressures and a feeling that the development of near-term safety systems should be given a higher priority. Research programs conducted both in parallel with the AHS and subsequent to its conclusion offered alternative approaches to the use of technology to advance safety. In 2003 these programs coalesced into a major initiative known as the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) program. VII takes advantage of the extensive instrumentation installed in the modern automobile to measure speed, roadway and weather conditions, vehicle location and direction. The cumulative information received from a sample of the overall traffic stream could be an invaluawww.thinkinghighways.com

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ble asset for both safety and traffic management applications. The combination of applications possible by taking advantage of on board vehicle sensors is extensive. Like AHS, the VII program offers the possibility of a significant paradigm shift in terms of both the safety and mobility impacts it would have on the transportation system. Unfortunately, storm clouds are now on the horizon for VII. The program appears to have lost much of its momentum along with the support of many within the transportation community. The disappearance of VII would represent another setback for the application of technology to the transportation system, not to mention a significant loss for its users. What has gone wrong? How can the loss of momentum be reversed? Does the program need to be restructured? The answers to these questions are vital to the future efficiency and safety of the nation’s transportation system.

So what exactly is VII?

After many years of development, definition of the VII program should be an easy task. Unfortunately, due to the number and variety of participants, there is little consensus on the objectives, business model and architecture of the system. Participants providing planning and guidance for include various segments of the US DOT (Joint Program Office, highway operations, safety, transit, motor carriers), state governments, the automobile industry, aftermarket equipment manufacturers, Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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GMES Marie-Christine Bonnamour welcomes Kopernikus to the Global Monitoring for Environment & Security fold ITS WORLD CONGRESS Thinking Highways’ guide to who is launching what (and why) in New York’s Jacob K Javits Confvention Center INFRASTRUCTURE An American company’s camera lowering systems have revolutionised Israel’s cellular phone network BRAZIL Sebas van den Ende’s hopes for an obstaclefree transport future for his adopted country

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TRAFFIC POLLUTION Milan is battling the twin terrors of congestion and pollution with Ecopass, as Maurizia Giglio, a Milanese herself, reports ITS Martin Stone and Stephen Little on Florida’s Reversible Express Lanes ITS APPLICATIONS Does ITS really need that much-vaunted killer application? And if so, what is it? Dave Marples has been giving it some thought INTELLIGENT SPEED ADAPTION Peter Plisner reports as ISA comes one step nearer deployment. Or does it? TUNNEL INTELLIGENCE As Slovenia opens yet another aesthetically welcoming road tunnel ahead of schedule, Andrej Skobe takes a deeper look inside AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES Louis Nastro on how and why autonomous vehicles are emerging from the laboratory and on to the streets SHOW PREVIEW Bill Butler looks forward to Traffex 2009

FUNDING AND FINANCE 100 Margaret Pettit on some of China’s regional transport investment projects 104 Advertisers’ Index

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The Voice from Brussels

Applying the brakes TOM ANTONISSEN on how Europe’s transport initiatives are slowing down without signs of congestion

As Thinking Highways’ publishers gave me such a tight deadline to ensure that some of you were able to read this at the ITS World Congress you will now be cordially treated with an overview of EU transportinitiatives in the pipeline, combined with an analysis of a “slowing downphenomenon”, linked to time but not to distance (so actually nothing to do with congestion). My point is that a selffulfilling prophesy is taking place, in that the European Commission is clearly postponing several transportrelated legislative initiatives, while at political level both the Parliament and the Council of

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Ministers are launching press statements by the hour that use the wording: “... will do our utmost to have this proposal adopted in first reading in the European Parliament and by the Council before the last Plenary Session preceding the June 2009 elections”.

There are a number of important initiatives that need to be followed:

The Action Plan on Urban Mobility A case in point, since the Green Paper on Urban Mobility was adopted in September 2007, which signalled the launch of a Keeping track public consultation that ended Though it can be argued that in March 2008. such legislative initiatives do Since then, the mantra has not matter much to your daily been that this Green Paper will businesses, this postponement be followed by an Action Plan does matter to the “Brussels (thus containing legislative crowd”, especially those that proposals, much like a White seek to influence the Paper), but a few weeks ago, European Commission’s the Director General of DG thinking and acting within a Transport and Energy of the transport policy that affects all Commission stated that the publication of this Action Plan 500m of us.

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®

Robert Kelly and Mark Johnson had been delayed till at least the beginning of 2009. Speaking at the European Transport Forum in Brussels (see www.europeantransportforum.eu for reports and a continued online discussion platform), the Director General gave as reasons for the delay a change of Transport Commissioner and a subsequent changeover of the staff within the Cabinet of the Commissioner. As everybody in Brussels knows, this excuse is thinly veiled, since a Commissioner (and the Cabinet) rarely provides any content into such EU initiatives. So what would be the real reason for this delay? Disagreement between officials from different Directorates General? Political disagreement at the level of the College of Commissioners? All we know is that the Commission stressed again that this Action Plan will respect the principle of subsidiarity (meaning that they promise they will not oblige cities to follow EU laws, just provide recommendations and exchange of best practices), and that the main elements will be: Intelligent Transport Systems, interoperability and the definition of harmonised rules for green zones. Naturally, the topic of congestion charging will also be tackled, so it is definitely an initiative to monitor closely! The ITS Action Plan As amply described in a previous column, the ITS Action Plan was supposed to be the natural follow-up of a public consultation (and a Workshop) that ended in March, and was preceded by an “ITS Roadmap” in October 2007. In many Commission documents, the previewed time of presentation of this Action Plan was September 2008. There has been no news

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since. In this case, the answer for the delay might be given on the Commission’s own website: “The initiative is supported by 5 Directorates closely co-operating: Directorate General Energy and Transport, Information Society and Media, Research, Enterprise and Industry and Environment.” However, it is definitely worthwhile to follow this initiative closely, as it is “aiming at launching and supporting a limited number of targeted actions to unlock the full potential of ITS in serving EU policies in the field of enhanced road safety, improved transport efficiency and reduced environmental impact and to create the momentum necessary to speed up market penetration of (rather mature) ITS applications and services.”

“Everybody in Brussels knows that new EU Commissioners rarely provide personal content for initiatives” A slightly more recent text adds that the Action Plan should be accompanied by a legislative proposal to set up a committee of Member States that will help accelerating ITS deployment in Europe. Now, isn’t that good news? The Freight Transport Action Plan Here we are moving into the domain of the massive Greening Transport Package (though the best is saved for last). In fact, the Commission had proposed a Freight Transport Logistics Action Plan in October 2007, which encourages the use of information and communication technologies

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in freight and outlines the vision of paperless information flows accompanying the physical shipment of goods. It should also help make traffic management more efficient by promoting Intelligent Transport Systems as well as facilitate the roll-out of innovative services and emerging technologies such as RFID and the possibilities offered by satellite services.

Freight expectations

Be that as it may, and with several initiatives already following this Action Plan (for example on maximum dimensions and so-called e-Freight), a general feeling is that also in this important area of Freight Transport the Commission is dragging its feet and the further outcome of this noble initiative is being jeopardised by the highly politicised discussion on the Greening Transport Package and the proposed review of the Eurovignette Directive. On the other hand, an interesting legislative proposal to look forward to will be a Regulation on a “Freight Oriented Network”, to be launched in October 2008. This Regulation (which should have direct legislative effect in the Member States) will propose measures to reinforce cooperation between Infrastructure Managers, to allow sufficient capacity to rail freight and to improve the operations relating to rail freight transport along international corridors. Interoperability, anyone? The Green Paper on TEN-T As well an issue tackled in the aforementioned Package, the Commission is planning a review of current developments regarding the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and the highly controversial 30 priority projects (where the Commission has earmarked www.thinkinghighways.com

The Voice from Brussels over €5 bn investment in those sensitive cross-border projects, with over 70% of the budget going to rail-based projects). Several documents state that this review should lead to a Green Paper on TEN-T, where the Commission would review key issues related to how to better respond to climate change objectives and how to meet future transport service demand in the most efficient way. Interesting issues that will be tackled include using some of the TEN-T funding to promote free-flow interoperable toll collection systems on the TEN-T network, as well as to use ITS for road transport optimisation and co-modality. However, though it was stated that this review process would kick off in October with this Green Paper, all that is known now is that “TEN-T days” will take place behind closed doors, and that the Green Paper would be foreseen by January 2009, with the objective of legislative proposals in 2010. Everyone with an interest in this Trans-European Transport Network should definitely keep their eyes on this one! The Eurovignette III Directive (Greening Transport Package) Coming back to the point I made earlier, while most transport-related initiatives seem to be jammed up in the narrow alleys that link the different Commission departments, the proposed review of the Eurovignette Directive is still subject of very intense debates in the European Parliament and the Council, with the timetable set to reach agreement before the crucial month of June 2009. Within the Transport Committee, the MEPs are now locking their horns on issues such as the methodology and calculations of the identified externalities (which are noise, www.thinkinghighways.com

air pollution and congestion, while CO2 and accidents are still being pushed forward by Socialist and Green MEPs); caps on the maximum amount of external costs that can be charged; extending the scope of the Directive to all roads (so not only TEN-T) except for urban roads (as there Congestion Charges should apply) and earmarking the additional revenue to infrastructure investments and transport alternatives (while avoiding that Finance Ministers will compensate this by off-setting the extra revenue to decreases in the non-earmarked transport budget). Two nice stand-offs are added: mandatory versus optional approach (the second

“Almost every day a new Position Paper is being launched with new ideas, suggestions and objections” contender is winning) and time-based charging versus distance-based (where again the second option is winning, though they might become friends and decide to spend their lives together).

A question of time

The timetable proposed is that the Parliament’s report should be adopted in the Transport Committee in January 2009, then moving to the Plenary in March. At the same time, the French Presidency of the EU was pushing for an agreement in the Council before the end of its term at the end of December. Looking at the intense discussions taking place between different political groups in the Parliament as well as between Member States in the Council of

Ministers. Hold your breath to see if this timetable can be met. On the other hand, this does not mean that the transport stakeholders are being quiet on the issue, since almost every day a new Position Paper is being launched with new ideas, suggestions and/or objections. My personal favourite at this point is the 10-page document issued by the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour, which is to be categorised as a trade union and has some quite peculiar ideas and suggestions on the matter.

End piece

Let me leave those numbercrunchers among you with some interesting data coming from the European Parliament’s Transport Committee (courtesy of the GRACEproject, www.grace-eu.org/ sample.htm): • The cost of Transport represents 1-9 per cent of final product value • Mean value for operational transport costs: €1/km • Mean value for fuel: 30 cents/km (based on following assumptions: 30 litre per 100 km, €1 per litre) • Infrastructure cost: 13-30 cents/km (mean value 20 cents) • Air pollution, noise, and congestion: 4-6 cents per km for a Euro IV truck (2 cents more for Euro III; 1 cent less for Euro V) • Three externalities, only if applied everywhere would induce an increase in operational costs for freight operators of between 3-7 per cent • CO2 cost (following the IMPACT handbook): 2 cents per km • Accidents costs (following the IMPACT handbook): 4-6 cents per km. TH Contact the author at either [email protected] or www.logos-eu.com

Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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Prof Phil Charles’ Australian Update

Haddon’s anti-collider Whats is the optimum method for traffic incident prevention? PROF PHIL CHARLES has the answer Rising traffic congestion in urban areas has resulted in an increased focus on the economic, financial and travel reliability impacts. Understanding traffic incident causation and then an increased emphasis on prevention, has the potential to significantly reduce the number and impact of traffic incidents. It is instructive to look at the extensive research in the causes of crashes and the development of a body of knowledge on traffic safety countermeasures and injury prevention. There is little published research into causes of traffic incidents. Anecdotally, causes of traffic incidents include such things as inattention, careless or reckless driving behaviour, excessive speed, poor judgement, impairment (alcohol, fatigue, drugs etc),

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distraction, poor loading of goods vehicles, insufficient fuel, unroadworthy vehicles, road works and adverse weather.

Before the event

The modern scientific approach to traffic safety really began with Dr William Haddon, who in the late 1960s developed the first systematic method of identifying a complete range of options for reducing traffic crash impacts. The Haddon matrix (see example in Table 1, page 10) applies basic principles of public health to the problem of traffic safety and is an effective tool for revealing where and when to best conduct traffic safety interventions to reduce the potential for a crash to occur and reduce the severity of those that do occur. Adapting Haddon’s Matrix for incident prevention,

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focusing on the ‘before event’ phase, potential incident risks can be assessed, as in the example in Table 2 (also on page 10), after analysis of data of incident history.

Three E’s

The three main approaches to prevent road crashes (the three E’s) of engineering (measures focused on infrastructure) enforcement and education can also be applied to incident prevention. Countermeasures can then be developed to address the identified causes and potential risks. Education: for road safety this means driver training and includes various education or information campaigns. For incident prevention, education could also be extended to provision of real-time information of traffic conditions etc, plus advice on www.thinkinghighways.com

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IT´S ALL ABOUT TRAFFIC SAFETY.

75 years ROBOT Visual Systems

Since 75 years Robot Visual Systems stands for development of modern camera technology. Today we are the market leader in the area of transport surveillance and transport safety technology. Our stationary and mobile systems should contribute to measurably reducing traffic accidents. This is our vision; ROBOT is working on it each day with its highly specialised team.

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

Robert and Mark Johnson Prof PhilKelly Charles’ Australian Update driving safer and avoiding incidents. Enforcement: obviously applies to action to enforce the road rules to minimise high-risk driver behaviour. In many cases traffic incidents are also caused by inappropriate driver behaviour, such as speeding, so a perception that a roadway is being managed, by an appropriate level of enforcement, will improve safety, and also reduce incidents. Intelligent transport systems, such as automated camera enforced variable speed limits can manage the speed of traffic, improve traffic flows, and reduce crashes and incidents. Regulations, penalties and enforcement can also be used to ensure vehicle roadworthiness, improve load stability and reduce the potential for vehicles running out of fuel at critical locations. Engineering: High-risk locations or ‘blackspot’ is an approach to tackle unsafe situations at locations with the most crashes. A similar approach could be taken for traffic incidents, identifying high-risk locations through data analysis.

Measure for measure

Incident prevention principles include providing a consistent and predictable road environment, in terms of functionality of the road and speed profile. Narrow shoulders and structures, and tunnels provide hazardous situations and increase the potential for incidents or when an incident does occur increases the likely impact. Providing wider shoulders and rumble strips at the edge of the lane are measure that can be used in high-risk locations. Road works often introduce additional hazards and risks, such as narrower lanes, lower standard geometry, lower

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Phases Factors

Before Crash

In Crash

•Training, Human Behaviour experience •Use of in-vehicle (drivers, cyclists, •Behaviour & restraints eg seat pedestrians etc) attitudes, eg drink belts driving, speeding Vehicle & Equipment

After Crash

•Emergency response

•Primary safety, eg •Secondary safety – •Tertiary safety – braking, roadworthiness, impact protection victim extraction visibility

•Delineation, road •Roadside safety, geometry, surface Road Environment eg clear zones, condition safety barriers •Visibility, weather

•Restoration •Risk reduction

Table 1: Haddon’s Matrix - Crash Analysis of Traffic Safety Risks

‘Before Incident’ Causes/Risks •Health & fitness: vision, reaction time, fatigue •Behaviour & attitudes: speeding, impairment, risk Drivers taking, attention to driving task, distractions •Information: traffic conditions, weather •Roadworthiness Vehicle & •Load stability Equipment •Operation (fuel etc) •Delineation, road geometry, surface condition, Road shoulders, traffic control devices Environment •Structures, tunnels •Road works Table 2: Analysis of Incident Causes/Risks

quality surface conditions and distractions. Enforcing appropriate driver behaviour, including lower speed limits and ensuring good delineation of the path through construction zones are key measures to reduce incidents.

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Traffic incident prevention countermeasures have considerable potential in reducing the impact of incident induced congestion on major traffic routes. TH [email protected] www.thinkinghighways.com

Xxxxx

IT´S ALL ABOUT TRAFFIC SAFETY.

75 years ROBOT Visual Systems

Since 75 years Robot Visual Systems stands for development of modern camera technology. Today we are the market leader in the area of transport surveillance and transport safety technology. Our stationary and mobile systems should contribute to measurably reducing traffic accidents. This is our vision; ROBOT is working on it each day with its highly specialised team.

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

Connected Traveller

Let’s get going... Stunted growth Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

Gary Bridgeman is a project manager at ERTICO-ITS Europe and coordinates the i-Travel project, more details can be found at www.i-travelproject.com. The project is looking for companies involved in the travel and transport sector with an interest in providing services to the e-Marketplace. Catch up with the latest i-Travel news and Gary’s opinion on all things relating to travel at the i-travel blog at http://itravelproject.wordpress.com/

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Vol 3 No 4 Thinking Highways

“Every minute of every day we will have an electronic device with us…. Everything we consume, all the media, the communications, it will be online and tailored and personalised and real-time and interactive. Our computers, our phones, our TVs, we’ll talk to them, they’ll recognise our voices and our language and our intent; I’ll just say to my computer ‘get me ready for trip to Europe in two weeks’. And it will go and get all the trip reports and all of the news clippings about the companies that I’m going to see and bring them down and organise them for me to read. Because the computer will understand what I’m saying and where I’m going and what I’m thinking about. Today we have these big islands, people have their phone and it’s got SMS messages and a contact system and you’ve got your PC and it’s got another set of contacts for IM [instant messenger] and email…just crazy all these islands of information. www.thinkinghighways.com

Climate Change Connected Traveller

What is the Connected Traveller Concept and how does it applly to advanced transportation management? Allow ERTICO-ITS Europe’s GARY BRIDGEMAN to elucidate

How do we bring these together to make them smooth? People want really tailored information that is exactly right for them” This vision of the future was presented recently by Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, in an interview for the BBC’s Money Box programme. It’s definitely a vision of the future that I share with him but unfortunately I don’t get invited to articulate mine on television, so Thinking Highways will have to do.

How it applies

I recently took a well-deserved skiing holiday, with a midweek flight leaving at 8:30am. I had calculated that leaving my house at 6:00am would give us ample time to reach the airport which is only 40km away. The route follows a journey I take every day and usually means I reach the motorway’s airport turn off, if I leave at 6:30am, in about 30 minutes. Logic suggested www.thinkinghighways.com

that leaving an extra 30 minutes early meant that there was no possibility of missing the flight. Arriving at the airport an hour and an half later at 7:30am, after a lot of cursing this assumption was proven sorely wrong. An accident had held the traffic up causing a major delay on the motorway, with no information of the cause of traffic jam. At first the weight of traffic seemed like the usual congested Thursday morning drive in Brussels. Luckily we were allowed onto the flight but only after a lot of stress. I’m sure you all have examples similar to mine and nowadays traffic information is integrated into navigation systems so already there is a solution to this problem, but this isn’t the whole solution and as Steve Ballmer says, in-vehicle traffic information exists in an island of technology. Getting up at 5:30am I didn’t feel the need to check on line for the traffic information before leaving the house. Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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Connected Traveller If I had done maybe I would have seen the accident and of course if I’d turned on my portable navigation device early enough I would have been able to avoid the traffic accident and arrive in time to spend time shopping in duty free, but I was about to embark on a journey that was very well-known to me so again didn’t see the need.

Wake up and check in

However, it is not only the delay experienced travelling to the airport that is the problem. I checked out flight times on the internet using different flight booking websites, some offered by the airlines themselves, some offering a portal that checks all the airlines, but even these are not comprehensive. Some miss out the low-cost carriers such as Ryan Air and Easy Jet, so time is spent looking at these and maybe, since we live in a technological age, I’ll use a spreadsheet program to capture the different ticketing options based on price and time of day etc. The booking process doesn’t stop there either. Next came the booking of accommodation. I looked for accommodation online and weighed up several options before booking a cabin; once this was done I hired skis and a snowboard, once again online. Finally checking out the options for getting to the ski resort from the airport, bus and train times were consulted, even wading through the process of pretending to book so that I can check the price for the train ticket. In the end a car was hired, once again online, directly from the car hire website. The arrival of the internet has given us the ability to become our own travel agent but it seems to me that this is a double-edged sword with the search for information being labourintensive and time-consuming, a whole host of information needs to be reviewed and assessed, my credit card details need to be put into several different web site forms and I received a multitude of emails confirming each part of my journey, which all were printed and stapled together to produce at various points along the way. When I started my trip, though, I lacked the on-trip information to inform me of when I needed to leave my home, while in the car I lacked the ability for my travel delay and context to be automatically taken into account (perhaps rebooking my flight to a later one to remove some of the stress induced because of the delay).

presents its own difficulty. Once you have located the information there is no assurance that the information will be in a language you can understand. Such information systems are only good for the information at the moment that you access them, real-time bus arrival information is only good while you are at the bus stop. It’s no good to the traveller deciding how to travel downtown who is not in sight of the information nor any good for the business traveller who has turned up at the airport in an unfamiliar country wanting to travel to his meeting or hotel. They are in an unknown environment and as such it is more convenient to take a taxi rather than to try to use public transport which may be cheaper and greener. A connected traveller would have a virtual travel assistant connecting all key stages of the journey, especially when conditions or events are difficult, abnormal, or something unforeseen is happening. By using realtime and context-specific information – such as location, proximity to transport services, journey purpose, time of day, calendar entries etc. - a trusted travel assistant could plan each journey booking electronic tickets, and then co-pilot the traveller along his itinerary, alerting him whenever there is an interesting opportunity, a problem or a choice to be made.The personal electronic device that hosts such a travel assistant would act as the physical ticket for the journey no matter what the modal choice.

PDA-to-Z

Such a ubiquitous and pervasive service will be delivered to a customer at any time and anywhere and will help to link seamlessly a number of journey legs made by different modes of transport. Further to this the digital assistant could act as a floating traveller probe, collecting anonymous information on the traveller’s actual context and providing this to a floating travel data pool for use by transport and travel companies to calculate real-time demand on the services, what if standing in a taxi queue the assistant could match you with another traveller going to the same location or along the same route? What if bus companies could ensure optimum bus capacity by reacting to real-time data on peaks and troughs in traveller demand, say after a sporting event? The connected traveller concept also addresses the needs of traveller information and service providers. Whereas today they depend on the initiative of a traveller to seek out their services via the Internet or to see their advertisements in the media, at a station or on board a transport vehicle, in the future service providers and operators will be able to target travellers directly via their travel assistant service agent.This could greatly extend their potential customer market. To meet their policy objectives of reducing congestion and environmental impacts, transport operators and local authorities need to make collective transport services as attractive as possible, and influence modal

“Such information systems are only good for the information at the moment that you access them”

Islands in a stream

This real-life use case is one that the connected traveller concept is aiming to tackle. As Ballmer says, the travel process exists in islands of technology and this isn’t restricted to holiday booking, in Europe alone there are over 600 public transport network internet sites and at least 170 telematics-based real-time transport information systems. With the information spread across several hundred websites and a multitude of hardware devices this

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A THRILLING TRILOGY

TUNNEL

ROAD

URBAN

THE E WO ORLD D OF F

TR RAF FFIC C VIDE EO DET TEC CTIO ON

AFFI

C

TR

DIRECTED BY TRAFICON

F

PR OO

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF “THE WORLD OF TRAFFIC VIDEO DETECTION”

TUNNEL

ROAD

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF “THE WORLD OF TRAFFIC VIDEO DETECTION”

URBAN

TUNNEL

ROAD

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF “THE WORLD OF TRAFFIC VIDEO DETECTION”

URBAN

TUNNEL

ROAD

URBAN

A TRAFICON FILM

OUT ON THE STREETS, EVERY SECOND COUNTS. A TRAFICON FILM

A TRAFICON FILM

NO JAMS. JUST DRIVING.

— Stijn Vandebuerie, Marketing & Communications Traficon

WHERE EVER THE ROAD TAKES YOU…

“Our VIP modules automatically detect traffic incidents such as queues or stopped vehicles within seconds, leading to a significant reduction in economical and ecological cost.”

“Traficon’s Automatic Incident Detection solution has led to a higher level of safety in more than 250 tunnels!”

“Easy installation and configuration with a vehicle presence detection rate over 99% is the basic starting-point for our R&D team.”

— Jo Versavel, Managing Director Traficon

— Peter Jamée, R&D Director Traficon

— Lode Caenepeel, Sales Director Traficon FRANCE

FRÉJUS TUNNEL U.A.E. BEIRUT AIRPORT TUNNEL SLOVENIA PODMILJ & TROJANE TUNNEL TURKEY BOLEMAN PERSEMBLE TUNNEL HUGUENOT TUNNEL THE NETHERLANDS BENELUX TUNNEL HONG KONG LION ROCK TUNNEL GERMANY SCHWARZERBERG TUNNEL

SOUTH AFRICA

WWW.TRAFICON.COM

BELGIUM

ANTWERP FRANCE A28 MALAYSIA KUALA LUMPUR U.S.A. ATLANTA CHINA BEIJING RUSSIA MOSCOW IRELAND M50 DUBLIN BRESCIA (A4) VERONA (A31) GREECE ATHENS SWITZERLAND A12 FRIBOURG NORWAY E39 GERMANY STRELASUND

ITALY

WWW.TRAFICON.COM

EPISODE I

U.S.A.

CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS BELGIUM CITY OF BRUSSELS U.A.E. FALCON (DUBAI) U.S.A. CITY OF LYNNWOOD (WA) IRELAND CITY OF DUBLIN GERMANY CITY OF MÜNSTER U.S.A. BALTIMORE COUNTY (MD) CANADA CITY OF BRAMPTON FRANCE CITY OF DIJON MEXICO CITY OF MONTERREY POLAND CITY OF WARSAW CHINA CITY OF DAQING

WWW.TRAFICON.COM

EPISODE II

WWW.TRAFICON.COM

“What Hollywood is to the movie industry, Traficon is to the traffic video detection industry: THE reference.”

EPISODE III

Connected Traveller

The Connected Traveller Concept

choice in favour of environment-friendly means of travel. Many car users are simply unaware of the alternatives, so clear information and guidance on travel choices need to be delivered directly to users, ideally before they set out on a journey. Although travellers’ needs are well understood and researched, until now no satisfactory solution has been found that combines a simple, intuitive user interface with a context-aware intelligent agent that can interpret and satisfy a traveller’s needs, together with a virtual marketplace where users’ requests and providers’ offers can meet. It is important to note that the connected traveller concept is not an idea to build a single repository of information which captures all the travel services available, such a system would be incredibly costly and unwieldy to support. For one who would host the servers used to store this information?

Bringing the idea to market

The connected traveller concept relies on building a virtual marketplace which would exist to allow a set of technologies, services, interfaces, procedures and good practice collectively endorsed by the community and operating in a framework based on open standards. As a privileged member of the suppliers’ community business would gain direct access to the only secure, dynamic e-Marketplace for traveller services. Here a multitude of “virtual travel agents” representing connected travellers from around the world come to search for offers of real-time information and value-added travel services on behalf of their ( human) customers. As a supplier of accommodation, traffic information, airline tickets, bus and tram arrival times, tourism information and other commercial services, the connected traveller concept opens up for you a “one stop shop” window with unlimited potential, where B2B customers will come with their traveller clients’ requests and you can negotiate and close a sale automatically. It is clear today that there are many methods available for the traveller to get information on their travel needs, it is however the merging of these many services with the contextual aspect that is missing.

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As a first step the i-Travel project is defining requirements and assessing system concept options for a personal travel assistant service framework. The project will analyse general business and institutional conditions across European travel information markets, including reviewing the available technologies,describing traveller profiles and analysing the aims, use cases and processes of the stakeholder groups. The i-Travel project started out with a vision exactly like Ballmer’s: how to connect all the islands of information into one seamless service hosted on a device that knows what your intent is and where you are going. The project is just at the beginning of delivering the connected traveller concept but has the objectives to: • Describe “snapshot” of existing travel and transport services, technologies and stakeholders. • Identify main traveller scenarios, multi-modal use cases of i-Travel service platform, and requirements. • Describe main stakeholder operational and business processes and needed cooperation. • Evaluate standardised technological and architectural options for the i-Travel service platform to enable delivery of context-aware services. • Create organisational models and business tools for the i-Travel supplier community, and begin acquisition of first community members. • Make a feasibility and risk assessment, and propose a “roadmap for seamless travel services” setting out the milestones and development targets along the path towards deployment. • Present “virtual demonstration” of i-Travel results, and identify scenarios and strategies for i-Travel demonstrations in major European and developing country cities. Funded through the EC Directorate General for Research, the project started in January 2008 and will finish in June 2009 but will lay the ground work for future projects to deliver the actual intelligent travel agent software to enable both mine and Steve Ballmer’s vision of the future. TH [email protected] www.thinkinghighways.com

Sometimes some drivers need a gentle reminder

TEMPODIS placed around school zones, roadwork sites and temporary speed zones will remind motorists to what is really essential: the safety of pedestrians and other road users. Without prosecutions and bureaucracy and even without structural alterations TEMPODIS calms the trafjc kow. Comprehensive statistical information is available – contact us for more information!

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Thinking Cars

Shooting cars... Stunted H3B

MEDIA

LIMITED

growth

The programme concept has been completed for The European Commission’s “Thinking Cars” TV documentary that is being produced by H3B Media. RICHARD BISHOP, one of the project’s executive producers, reports as the process of putting our collective ideas to film finally begins... The European Commission’s Smartest Cars Video Project (SCVP) is making a high-quality, two-hour TV documentary program intended for broadcast throughout Europe. The intent of SCVP is to raise public awareness about the dangers on the road and the greater safety offered by active safety systems, including systems such as electronic stability control, forward collision mitigation, lane departure prevention, and eCall. Under the working title of “Thinking Cars,” the program is planned for completion in mid-2009. SCVP staff includes experts in ITS and intelligent vehicles, as well as people with extensive experience in creating television documentaries on technical topics. The project supports the Awareness Pillar of the i2010 Intelligent Car Initiative and is funded by the Information Society and Media Directorate within the European Commission. As reported in earlier issues of Thinking Highways, SCVP is taking aim at the relatively low public awareness of active safety systems. Led by H3B Media, a top quality TV documentary is being produced under the working title of “Thinking Cars.” The idea is to reach people in their homes with a dual message – everyone, even you, is vulnerable to a road crash, and when you buy your next car there are systems available which can potentially prevent that next crash which may lurk in your future. My role is to manage content research and liaise with the vehicle industry for SCVP, with H3B Media’s CEO Luis Hill managing the project overall. Roxana Spicer, an experienced TV documentary writer and director, leads the creative process. The first phase of production for Thinking Cars focused on gathering the necessary information about active safety in a manner to enable this content to be “trans-

formed” into a television documentary. This process took place during the first half of 2008. Proven television techniques have been used in crafting the programme concept. While there can be a natural inclination from the engineering side to present a very direct active safety message in Thinking Cars, TV documentaries are by nature indirect, or else the program can be perceived as an infomercial and the viewer quickly changes the channel. An effective TV documentary must interweave a variety of aspects from unique perspectives to maintain the viewer’s interest and receptivity to the main points. In particular, the reality of over 100 deaths per day in Europe must go beyond the intellectual and take root at an emotional level to make the documentary memorable for viewers.

“The reality of over 100 deaths per day in Europe must go beyond the intellectual”

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Man and machine, interfacing

In consultation with an Industry Advisory Council and the European Commission, a programme concept, or “treatment,” has been developed which is the blueprint for the creative process. Fundamentally, Thinking Cars explores the changing nature of the relationship between man and machine. Since the human is not ideally suited for driving, because of perceptual limitations and lapses in attention, how can machine intelligence make up the difference to increase road safety? The first episode focuses on the power and limitations of the intelligent vehicle, i.e. the “car brain.” The second episode focuses on what scientists are learning aboutthe nature of driving and human shortcomings - particularly on how to design active safety systems to support the driver at the optimal level to both stay engaged and be supported in critical situations. Today’s testing with crash test dummies - the viewer’s current idea of car safety - serves as the “jumping off www.thinkinghighways.com

Climate Change Thinking Cars Crash dummy testing at Volvo Cars with the author in close attendance

Preparations to filming a crash recreation in CTAG Driving Simulator in Spain,which will show the difference active safety could have made to avoid the crash completely

Daimler “Brain Cap” experimental setup with door-mount camera

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Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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Thinking Cars This vehicle from an actual crash was repositioned on the roadside for filming with Volvo Cars

Capturing emergency braking based on forward collision warning at the BMW test track (left to right: sound recordist Ao Loo, cinematographer Mike Ellis and director Roxana Spicer)

Filming pedestrian detection/avoidance at Daimler with “Hans”

Close-up on the pedestrian detection scenario

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Thinking Cars point” to introduce active safety. The treatment document (which will be available as a public deliverable) provides a comprehensive look at the elements to be included in the two-part documentary series. Systems from a wide swathe of the European car industry will appear in the program via live-action film, computer generated graphics and simulations.

It’s about the people...

A crucial technique in the documentary is to focus on a small number of key characters who have a personal story relating to active safety. These are people working in the active safety domain who have themselves been in car crashes. This is designed to maximize their credibility in the eyes of the viewer as well as to provide a strong “back story.” As part of the documentary, these characters will experience recreations of the crashes (in simulation, driving simulators, and possibly crash test facilities) showing how the outcome could have been different with active safety. Elements of the first hour include: • “the detective world of accident reconstruction” - reconstructing accidents employing new active safety technology; • “the crash proof car” - the world of simulators and test tracks; • the “elastic mind” - robots, biomimicry, and other advanced research that feeds development of next generation systems; • “the cutting edge” - meeting the inventors of new technology; • “the 25th hour” – the vision of eCall. The second hour includes: • “the changing relationship between man and machine” - the complex field of human-machine interfaces; • “the critical three seconds”- findings from the latest naturalistic driving studies including the role of distraction and drowsiness; • “how do smart people turn into dumb drivers?” - Intelligent Driver Testing with Nobel prize winners or similar “luminaries”; • “the biological motor” - driving psychology; • how driver overload/underload issues interact with active safety; • all within the context of the emotional, technical, physiological and neurological aspects of driving.

Engaging the viewer

In television programming it is absolutely essential to use a variety of creative and unexpected techniques to keep the viewer engaged in the documentary. Therefore, other approaches to engage the viewer further are: • slowing down time to thousandths of a second to show how fast a crash happens, how slowly a human responds to it (in relative terms), and how quickly active safety systems can take action; • using visually compelling content about farreaching robotics and other advanced research to hold viewer’s attention, while relating that to the everwww.thinkinghighways.com

increasing intelligence in cars to avoid crashes; • stepping into the process of “invention” to take research results to the real world; • the experiences of individuals on crash response teams, as another means of bringing home the reality of crashes (focusing on the person rather than the crash itself); • using naturalistic driving results to show how frequently people can make mistakes when driving; • engaging experts in driving psychology to show how humans are not biologically well-adapted for driving.

Meet Proto

Thinking Cars features an animated host - a crash test dummy named “Proto” who goes on a journey across Europe to discover why cars really crash, and what scientists and engineers are doing to address the issue. Proto ties the documentary together and serves a crosscultural “voice of the viewer.” During the course of the programme it becomes clear why the most important safety ‘system’ in the loop, despite all of our very human limitations, is still considered the driver. Although Proto deeply desires a crash-proof society, in the end he realizes that this day is very far off, and steps back into the car to do the job he was designed for. Today’s active safety systems are thoroughly interwoven into both hours of the documentary, so that viewers become aware that most of these systems are available now. SCVP reached a key milestone with the launch of the project website in September. The project structure includes negotiations with European broadcasters to air Thinking Cars (two one-hour programmes) in late 2009 or early 2010. A key strategy is the creation of a sophisticated website which will be associated with the TV programme and serve as a conduit for the public to get more information about active safety systems. Enter www.thinkingcars.com. Under the banner of “Be Well Protected in A Crash - Or Never Crash At All,” the new site provides full information on SCVP as well as “teaser” introductions to the 13 systems, which users can click to access an easy-to-understand synopsis. The systems include lane departure prevention, collision mitigation braking, pedestrian detection, and eCall. Animations illustrate the functions of some of the systems. Once the TV documentary is finished, users will also be able to access short video downloads of extended topics based on the programme. Links are provided to the car manufacturers offering active safety, and a survey page will informally poll viewers of Thinking Cars as to their awareness and perception of active safety. For viewers who are ready to buy the safest car they have ever owned, the website will also provide a guide as to which active safety systems are available on particular car models. Filming for Thinking Cars began in September 2008 at locations in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Look for more information on the filming process at Thinking Highways’ stand (1201) at the ITS World Congress in New York. TH [email protected] Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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The Thought Process

Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

Jan Hellaker Vice-President, Business Development, Volvo Technology, North America 22

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ClimateProcess Change The Thought Many years ago I accepted a job at Volvo within an area that was so obscure that no one really could explain to me what it was. It wasn’t until years later that it came to be called ITS. I would never have guessed back then how big a part of my professional life it would become. Being part of the early cooperative research involving all the European car manufacturers (althought it was more like brainstorming) was a fascinating experience. Today the close cooperation between fierce competitors and the open doors at the research labs in Stuttgart, Turin, Munich and elsewhere seems quite unbelievable, but it was a very fruitful type of process that I think our industry should try again. The first estimates of when we would see a significant penetration of GPS-supported navigation systems were probably off by some four to five years, but it’s remarkable how fast this market has grown in the last few years. The mass proliferation of inexpensive handheld devices is putting a lot of good pressure on the automotive OEMs. Initially they completely owned the navigation segment but now they need to step up and prove that the benefits of having access to the vehicle multiplex buses and complete in-vehicle integration will beat the arguably faster software development cycles of the aftermarket industry.

At Volvo we consider VII an extremely important tool in our efforts to make transportation safer and more efficient. It’s understandable that car applications of VII initially have attracted most of the interest, but one should not forget that as far as daily mileage, medium and heavy trucks play an extremely important role for our society and the impact on road traffic. Someone said that:“Cars move Americans, but trucks move America”, which can hardly be disputed. Hopefully sooner than later we will be talking about true deployment of VII, and in that context the ITS trade associations around the world will play an important role. Volvo was quite instrumental when ERTICO was formed in 1991 and I consider the importance of these organizations as even bigger today. Never before has there been more of a need to coordinate so many players to achieve the full potential of ITS. In this context the importance of the World Congress also should be emphasized, as they provide the ultimate possibility for people from all segments of ITS to intersect and cross-pollinate. Although nowadays I live in the US, I will be thrilled when the World Congress finally makes it to my native Sweden in 2009.With four world-class car and truck manufacturers in a country of only 9 million inhabitants, there is little doubt that next year’s Congress will have an unprecedented impact on the host society.

“Although I live in the US, I will be thrilled when the World Congress finally makes it to my native Sweden next year”

When Ford Motor Company acquired Volvo’s car business, it certainly changed the landscape for our ITS R&D. However, I am happy that Volvo Technology is one of a few Volvo Group companies that is still working closely with Volvo Cars. I think it’s essential for a good understanding of both the potential and the pitfalls of ITS, to keep all types of applications and end users in mind when designing your next product.

I consider VII as by far the most exciting thing going on in ITS today. It took longer than anyone would have anticipated getting the early ITS concepts for active safety into the hands of end-users, but now that we see an avalanche of autonomous systems and features being launched, the next chasm will be crossed when truly cooperative systems are deployed. It is encouraging that - for once - we have a common frequency band allocated for VII between Europe and the US, but we all know that this is only the beginning. Even from a nomenclature perspective we are still using different terms for this type of system in all corners of the world, be it Cooperative Systems,VICS or something else. I personally tend to think that the global ITS community needs to straighten this out; we need to be extremely crisp and clear when we communicate this to our lawmakers. They sometimes listen across the borders and we need to make sure we all speak the same language. www.thinkinghighways.com

Regardless of current and very important deployment issues, the entire ITS industry needs to re-energize its innovation efforts. Starting from scratch in the late 1980s, it was easy to generate lots of product ideas but sometimes it feels like true creativity faded away along the way. Maybe it was because we were too busy bringing the first-generation ideas to real products, which took longer than expected. Volvo has recognized this, and we are sharply increasing our efforts in the field of soft product innovations.

ITS as a whole still suffers from the lack of a solid comprehensive system architecture, in particular if you look across different countries or continents. For a global OEM such as Volvo, it is very frustrating having to meet different standards in different markets and this may well impede the speed of continued development. My long-term vision for ITS is that we would one day get to a global, standardized communication infrastructure for road transportation. Call it VII or whatever you like, but it would ultimately encompass all vehicles, infrastructure components, traffic management centers, maybe even pedestrians and cyclists. My dream is that this universal network - just like the Internet – would allow tomorrow’s engineers to develop and deploy software – at Internet speed - for new traffic and transport-related features and services. TH [email protected] Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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Satellite Technolofy

The return of the Stunted

growth satellite Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of prioritiesTen years after going into bankruptcy, Iridium is now being mentioned again by SISTER, an ECfunded project that will study the potential use of satellite communications for ITS applications, as YANYING Li reports

Currently, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is widely used in ITS but because the global coverage of GNSS cannot be matched by current terrestrial communication networks, there is a need for a communication network which will have the same coverage as GNSS. Satellite communication is expected to be integrated with GNSS, particularly with Galileo in the future. Because GNSS, mainly the USA’s GPS, Russian’s GLONASS and EU’s GALILEO, are globally covered, all-weather, and real-time, they are substantially used in navigation, vehicle and cargo tracking, fleet management, etc. The application of GNSS has changed the face of ITS and made many of its applications and services real, or

enhance safety and security. Moreover, the emergence of GNSS has put terrestrial-based radio navigation systems, e.g. LORAN series, on the edge of elimination. LORAN can only survive as primary supplement to GNSS. In many transport systems and services GNSS is involved with, communication is essential. For example, global cargo monitoring requires location information provided by GNSS and a communication channel which is able to report the location information to a monitoring centre. However, while positioning services rely on GNSS, communications still heavily depend on terrestrial communication networks such as GSM and WiFi. Since terrestrial communication networks have different coverage and availability, in many cases, terrestrial communication cannot meet the

“GNSS has changed the face of ITS and made many of its applications and services real”

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Climate Change Satellite Technology

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Satellite Technology requirements, e.g. global coverage. Naturally, we would ask the question: why are satellites not used for communication for ITS as well?

The history

Compared with the navigation and positioning market, the communication market has had a very different development track in the last 10 years. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, the navigation and positioning market had experienced the upgrade from terrestrialbased systems to space-based systems, i.e. GNSS. Particularly, after Selective Availability (SA) was turned off on 1 May 2000, application of GPS has boomed due to improved accuracy. However, although satellite communication systems appeared at the same time, i.e. in later 1990s, they had very different fortunes. When Al Gore, Vice President of the United States at that time, made the first Iridium call after the communication service was launched on 1 November 1998, the Iridium satellites were considered as the next breakthrough in technological history. The system derives its name from the chemical element iridium since the number of satellites of the system was planned to be 77, the atomic number of iridium. The founding company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy nine months later on 13 August 1999. The handsets could not operate as promoted until the entire constellation of satellites was in place, causing a massive initial capital cost running into billions of dollars. The increased coverage of terrestrial cellular networks, e.g. GSM and the rise of roaming agreements between cellular providers proved to be fierce competition. The cost of the service was prohibitive for many users, particularly, compared to terrestrial cellular mobile phones whose cost decreased significantly over the last decade due to the massive number of subscribers. Moreover, the large, unfashionable and expensive handheld devices also discouraged adoption among potential users. The initial commercial failure of Iridium had a dampening effect on other proposed commercial satellite communication projects. ORBCOMM, ICO Global Communications and Globalstar followed Iridium into bankruptcy protection, while a number of other proposed systems never became reality.

Satellite communication versus navigation

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In order to understand the reason for the different fortunes of satellites used for communication and that for navigation, we have to look at the fundamental differences between the two systems. Satellite navigation systems were developed for military purposes and were fully funded by the government. Civil users can use the less accurate navigation signal for free. In many cases, the free of charge service substantially encouraged usage of their application. Differing from satellite navigation systems, satellite communication systems were developed and operated as commercial systems. The massive investment for research and development has to be reimbursed by end users. Therefore, a high cost for subscription was www.thinkinghighways.com

Are you looking for a solution that facilitates intelligent safety and mobility applications, forming a platform for VII and ITS solutions, ideal for tolling and HOT lane management, offering lower costs and greater value, superior performance with reduced infrastructure density, scalable in size and functionality, adaptable, easily enforceable, revenue-maximizing? It’s here. 5.9 GHz WAVE. Join us at the 15 th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems, New York City, Nov. 16-20, 2008. Booth 537 | www.kapsch.net

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Satellite Technology

“Satellite communication and navigation systems can achieve global coverage which cannot be done by any terrestrialbased systems” 28

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adopted and that subsequently limited the number of users. The vicious circle eventually caused the failures of satellite communication systems. Moreover, since GNSS is funded and operated by the government, use of the systems is always encouraged by the government. US- and European Union-funded many R&D projects were aimed at the promotion of applications of GNSS in different fields. Concepts, usage cases, receivers and software related to applications of GNSS were developed within these R&D projects. Many of them focused on promoting GNSS applications in the ITS industry and the timing was perfect. In the late 1990s, many ITS services required real-time navigation and location. Today, transport is the main market of GNSS and very few ITS applications can depend on GNSS. However, there were no government-funded R&D projects which specifically studied potentials of satellite communications in different fields including transport. Operators of satellite communication systems did not take any actions to promote the applications in transport, particularly combination with GNSS services. Therefore, satellite communication systems missed the window of deployment in ITS and gave the chance to terrestrial-based communication network. It is envisaged that satellite navigation is a broadcasting service which can support unlimited number of subscribers and require a small antenna. Many satellite communication systems, e.g. Iridium, are used for twoway communications. Therefore, their capacities are limited and the antenna cannot be too small. In recent years, satellite broadcast services are emerging which share the same principles as GNSS. Despite the above differences, both satellite communication and navigation systems can achieve global coverage which cannot be done by any terrestrialbased systems. Moreover, both systems require open sky view for use. Both might not work well in urban canyon environment or dense forests. Another important character of space-based systems is that they are independent to ground infrastructure. These characteristics make them ease to be deployed in a certain area. The independence to ground infrastructure can also make space-based system play an important role in emergency rescues for either man-made or natural disasters. For example, satellite mobile phones were used after 9/11 when terrestrial communication networks were disabled.

The current situation

The Iridium service was restarted in 2001 by the newly founded Iridium Satellite LLC which was owned by a group of private investors. A similar story also occurred to Iridium’s data-centric competitor ORBCOMM which offers global asset monitoring and messaging services from its constellation of 29 communication satellites. ORBCOMM issued a public offering of stock in 2006 in NASDAQ after it filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2000. In 2004, ORBCOMM struck a deal with a specialist in vehicle tracking. The plan was to produce a joint unit that could track its www.thinkinghighways.com

  

      Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) has already revolutionised the world of commercial road transport. Thanks to Volvo’s ITS innovations, our customers can leverage their transport capacity in a far more efficient and profitable way than before. They have better control over fuel consumption and emissions, and their drivers can do their jobs with increased safety for themselves and other road users. We are at the forefront of technological development. However we continue to invest heavily in the development of the next-generation ITS, so that we keep the transport industry moving on its journey of evolution. We will work even closer with the trucking industry and its end-customers to understand their future needs. We will collaborate with politicians and authorities around the world to formulate a common vision. There are no limits to how far ITS can take the transport sector, and we are committed to plan that journey together.

 
    www.volvotrucks.com

Satellite Technology position via GPS and report its position using the ORBCOMM service but the deal did not go well and such a unit was never available on the market. Today satellite mobile handsets provide either voice or message services and are used widely by adventurers, rescuers, forest rangers, workers on offshore oil platforms, etc. Satellite mobile handsets can be purchased or rented. One minute voice call costs about £1(€1.28) and a short message costs about £0.50. There are few applications of satellite communication in transport, mainly in vehicle tracking and fleet management, e.g. the Blue Sky’s satellite communication kit for vehicle tracking. Designed for fleets operating in remote areas with unreliable cellular coverage, the kit combines GPS and satellite communication, ensuring reliable messaging and allows mangers to always know the exact location of their fleet.

Why do we need satellite communication?

ITS communications mainly use GSM and WiFi for data transmission, information collection and dissemination. Although the market is generally mature, disadvantages of terrestrial-based communication networks have been recognised by the ITS industry. One important issue is that terrestrial networks cannot match the coverage of GNSS and this can be crucial. Take eCall as an example. If a crash occurs at a place where GNSS can provide the accurate location but terrestrial communication is not available, the location information cannot be reported to the Public Safety Answer Point. In such a case, satellite communication is essential. Satellite communication is also essential for large scale emergency rescue operations. Terrestrial communication networks fully rely on ground infrastructure which can be completely destroyed by either a terrorist attack or natural disaster such as an earthquake. In such cases, satellite communication might be the only available communication methods for rescuers. Governments have recognised the issue and started funding satellite communication even only for purpose of emergency rescue. Moreover, recent developments in in-vehicle Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) might need software updates and patches from time to time, e.g. geographic information. Currently, such updates might be done via WiFi or digital terrestrial broadcast. WiFi is expensive for large data transmission and has limited capacity. Digital terrestrial broadcast can only cover a limited area. Satellite broadcasting can offer a widely covered, reliable and cheap option.

Research and development

While the European Union has spent millions in development of its own satellite navigation system, GALILEO, it also realised that GALILEO itself cannot meet many functionalities as it was promised to the public, such as emergency rescues, or global monitoring of cargos. Therefore, the European Commission started funding R&D projects which look at the potential of combining satellite navigation and communication in order to

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enhance applications of GNSS, particularly GALILEO. SISTER (Satcoms in Support of Tranport on European Road), is an EC FP6-funded Integrated Project. It studies needs of ITS for satellite communication, analyses key issues of deployment of satellite communication in ITS and potential market development, evaluate technical performance of satellite communication systems for different areas of ITS. Partners of the project are satellite communication operators, space industry consultancies and manufacturers, as well as ERTICO – ITS Europe, automotive manufacturers, navigation service providers, etc, thus for the first time bringing ITS and satellite communities together. The three-year project started in 2006. Currently, the project is preparing for demonstrations in Germany, UK, Sweden, Czech Republic and Netherlands-Belgium. The final evaluation results will be available in 2009. The results of the project are expected to provide a convincing case for ITS professionals and policy makers. TH Dr. Yanying Li is Project Manager at ERTICO- ITS Europe. She can be contacted via email at [email protected]

Digital Speed and/or Red Light Enforcement

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The Thinker

Stunted growth Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

Stormy weather PHIL TARNOFF poses a potentially taxing question: is the past prologue to VII’s future?

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Climate Change The Thinker

“The disappearance of VII would represent another setback for the application of technology to the transportation system” During the 1990s many champions of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology felt that its impacts would be equivalent to those of the construction of the US Interstate system. Unfortunately, as transportation agencies cautiously adopted the use of this technology on an as-needed basis, this dream never materialized. In an effort to “realize the dream” the Automated Highway System (AHS) program was established. This program which was initiated in 1992,represented an attempt to enable vehicle operation without requiring human intervention. AHS was an effort to leapfrog the gradual introduction of ITS technology by providing significant improvements in roadway safety and capacity. This program with its 10+ year horizon was eventually cancelled by the USDOT in 1998 due to funding pressures and a feeling that the development of near-term safety systems should be given a higher priority. Research programs conducted both in parallel with the AHS and subsequent to its conclusion offered alternative approaches to the use of technology to advance safety. In 2003 these programs coalesced into a major initiative known as the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) program. VII takes advantage of the extensive instrumentation installed in the modern automobile to measure speed, roadway and weather conditions, vehicle location and direction. The cumulative information received from a sample of the overall traffic stream could be an invaluawww.thinkinghighways.com

ble asset for both safety and traffic management applications. The combination of applications possible by taking advantage of on board vehicle sensors is extensive. Like AHS, the VII program offers the possibility of a significant paradigm shift in terms of both the safety and mobility impacts it would have on the transportation system. Unfortunately, storm clouds are now on the horizon for VII. The program appears to have lost much of its momentum along with the support of many within the transportation community. The disappearance of VII would represent another setback for the application of technology to the transportation system, not to mention a significant loss for its users. What has gone wrong? How can the loss of momentum be reversed? Does the program need to be restructured? The answers to these questions are vital to the future efficiency and safety of the nation’s transportation system.

So what exactly is VII?

After many years of development, definition of the VII program should be an easy task. Unfortunately, due to the number and variety of participants, there is little consensus on the objectives, business model and architecture of the system. Participants providing planning and guidance for include various segments of the US DOT (Joint Program Office, highway operations, safety, transit, motor carriers), state governments, the automobile industry, aftermarket equipment manufacturers, Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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The Thinker communications providers, navigation and traffic information providers, and many others. Considering the number and diversity of interested parties, it should not be surprising that consensus has been difficult to achieve but there is general agreement among the majority of participants that the objectives of VII are to: • Significantly improve safety through reduction of both single vehicle and multiple vehicle crashes • Improve mobility by generating traffic and roadway status data nationally for use by both public agencies and motorists • Support automobile industry requirements for improved communications with both their customers and their products • Provide enhanced commercial in-vehicle services such as downloading of entertainment and drivethrough services for applications such as fast food and banking. • Support various electronic payment applications such as electronic tolling and collection of parking fees. These objectives are implemented through the devel-

The promise of VII

Imagine the possible safety improvements possible if either the driver or the vehicle knew about the possibility of imminent crashes due to the presence of other vehicles, or that vehicle speed was too high for pavement condition or geometrics, or that the driver is deviating from the travel lane due to inattention or impairment. The promise of VII is a significant reduction in the 6m crashes occurring in the US each year, at a direct economic cost of more than US$230billion (in 2000 dollars).1 The goal of the VII program is to reduce vehicle crashes by 90 per cent by 2030.2 Unfortunately, similar goals have not been established for mobility or for the commercial benefits of the system. Imagine the possibilities of VII for improved safety, management and operation of the roadway system, with access to high quality information related to travel times, pavement condition, weather, visibility, sun glare, etc. It would be possible to automatically detect incidents, provide accurate detour information to motorists due to an incident, disseminate accurate travel times to motorists and provide improved traffic signal timing.

Database Roadside Unit (RSU) On-Board Unit (OBU) Figure 1. High Level VII Architecture

opment of a myriad of applications that take advantage of a system made up of on-board vehicle sensors combined with a roadside communication, storage and processing infrastructure. As indicated by the simplified Figure 1, these applications are supported by an architecture that includes two-way communications between the vehicle and a roadside unit using a protocol known as Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC). The roadside units communicate through routers (not shown in the diagram) which direct the appropriate vehicle data to large databases with temporary storage that is used by a variety of applications. Also not shown in the diagram is the vehicle-to-vehicle communications required for multiple vehicle crash avoidance. As implied by this architecture VII has been created as a homogenous system that requires installation operations and maintenance of an extensive national installation of RSUs with supporting communications and database infrastructure, for its success. It also requires strict adherence to communications and data standards by all participants.

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Traffic Management Centers Manufacturers Routing and Navigation Retail and Banking Etc. There is little doubt that VII offers the potential to significantly reduce both recurring and non-recurring congestion, which currently costs the American traveler approximately US$73billion per year.3 This conservative estimate does not take into account the impact of late shipments on the retail and manufacturing sectors of the economy. It also ignores the benefits of significant reductions in fuel consumption and reduced emissions that result from unimpeded traffic flow. In fact, US DOT publications discussing the VII program make only passing mention of its mobility benefits which are rarely quantified, while safety is discussed at length and is the basis on which the VII program has been justified. This bias toward safety has important implications for the VII architecture and application development. In the case of the VII architecture, many of the safety benefits can be achieved without the need for an extensive network of roadside units with extensive supporting communications infrastructure, since the many of the more significant safety applications rely on autonomous vehicle instrumentation (lane keeping) or vehicle to vehicle communications (intersection crash avoidance). The current emphasis on safety unneceswww.thinkinghighways.com

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Glass recycling – We recycle uncontaminated flat glass into highly reflective glass beads which are then added to road marking systems in order to make our roads more visible and safer. Fuel cell-based clean energy concepts – Developing hydrogenbased fuel cell technology for auxiliary power units and uninterruptible power supplies in traffic applications is a breakthrough achievement that underscores our future-oriented and dynamic approach to ecological thinking. Whenever you make the choice for SWARCO road safety and traffic management solutions, you choose to move the green way together with us. www.swarco.com

The Thinker sarily limits the degree of support that can be marshaled for the program, not because safety is unimportant (quite the opposite is true), but because there are many who feel that travel delays, travel reliability, fuel consumption and emissions are equally important. Thus ignoring mobility and its associated benefits ignores a source of support.

The (poor) health of the VII program

Things are not currently going well with the VII program for a variety of significant reasons including: • Short attention span. Review of earlier US DOT programs, leads to the conclusion that the maximum life of these programs is eight years. This was true of the AHS (six years), the traffic signal control research of the 1970s (five years), the in-vehicle traveler information research of Pathfinder and Travtek (seven years). There may be many reasons for this short attention span, not the least of which is changing political administrations with different priorities and interests. With this consideration in mind, VII which is now five years old, may be approaching the end of its life. • Absence of a balanced approach to the twin benefits of safety and mobility. The emphasis on safety has diluted potential support for the program as national priorities (including US DOT priorities) shift toward increased emphasis on congestion management and energy consumption. This could have been readily avoided.

• A monolithic architecture based on a Federal Mode. The current VII architecture defines a monolithic standardized national architecture that requires national consensus and uniform participation by all states and local agencies. Achieving the “buy-in” of 52 states and approximately 300 local agencies is a difficult task. Thus the assumption of a centrally managed, national architecture may be fundamentally flawed. One could argue that the standardized national architecture might be possible if a major national corporation such as a telecommunications firm assumes the responsibility and cost of operating and maintaining the system. Efforts to identify such a firm have been unsuccessful, due in part to the lack of a business model adequate to attract private sector investment in the VII venture. • A cumbersome working group. In an effort to ensure that the VII program meets the needs of both the private and public sectors, a VII Working Group has been formed to provide strategic direction for the program. This group initially includes US DOT with its constituent administrations and the ITS Joint Program Office, both domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers, state and local agencies, and a number of associations. Since its initial creation, the group has evolved into the VII Coalition which has expanded to more than forty members. Advancing the design of a monolithic architecture requires the consensus of the Working Group and the VII Coalition. In essence, a complex system is being designed by a large diverse committee.

The VII Showcase in Nebraska in 2006. Has the Program lost momentum since then?

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The Thinker • Absence of a credible business model. In spite of the fact that the VII program has been in existence for approximately five years, questions related to its continuing ownership, management, operations and funding remain. Until these questions are resolved, it is inconceivable that public or private sector funding will become available. Thus there are many daunting challenges ahead for the VII program, challenges that must be resolved if the program is to succeed.

Where do we go from here?

Because of the many issues surrounding the VII architecture, it is important to disassociate the program from the architecture. This is an important step, and one that will lead to a natural restructuring of the program. The needed reorientation should occur rapidly to compensate for deteriorating Federal support while ensuring that all the potential benefits of the program are preserved. In addition, new directions for VII must take into account that technology is being developed and deployed by vehicle manufacturers, information service providers and telecommunications firms, which overlap with many of the safety and mobility functions planned for VII. These developments are proceeding without recognition that they might be coordinated in a manner that will benefit the traveling public. For example, several information service providers are collecting and marketing traffic information nationally that is being purchased by both private and public sector users. Within the next five years, it is likely that the quality of this information will meet or exceed that which could have been provided by VII. With the exception of a unified multi-state project being led by the I-95 Corridor Coalition, states are independently addressing the many issues associated with such a procurement (data use restrictions, location reference standards, validation, compensation, etc.) Most of these activities are being conducted without the support and guidance of the Federal government or the VII Coalition. As a result, a patchwork of uncoordinated data acquisition efforts is emerging that will be of little benefit to the long-distance multi-state traveler.

By no means a lost cause

VII can be rejuvenated and its implementation accelerated through an approach based on the following five principles (several of which are already being considered or adopted by the US DOT): (1) Recognize that a national, “one size fits all” architecture will not succeed within today’s governmental structure and funding climate. There is little need for a system that combines the attributes of millisecond response times for intersection collision avoidance with the networked requirements of areawide traffic surveillance into a single architecture. A one-size fits all system is costly, and requires impractical levels of agreement on extensive sets of standards (including high quality maintenance standards). Disaggregate the needed VII functionality into a series of more manageable smaller systems, some of which are lead by the pri-

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The Thinker vate sector, and a few of which may become the responsibility of public agencies. (2) For the private sector-led systems such as traffic flow data collection, provide coordination and support, rather than developing a VII-like system that competes with these ventures. Coordination includes funding of demonstration projects, development of interoperability standards, preparation of industry supported data ownership agreements, etc.) (3) Monitor the emergence of new technologies that offer the promise of providing VII-like functionality. Develop a process for vetting these technologies to ensure that they truly offer the potential advertised by their developers, and provide funding to accelerate their development. (4) Minimize or eliminate the impact of VII functions on existing public sector organizations. For example, avoid solutions that require the modification of 50 per cent of the nation’s traffic signal controllers and/or cabinets. It is unreasonable to expect state and local agencies to assume such an expanded set of responsibilities. (5) Create a program of mobility application research to fill the current void. It cannot be assumed that private industry will on its own, conduct such research because of the cost, lead time, and unknown market size of these applications. Yet these applications are needed if the VII promise of enhanced mobility is to be realized. (6) Develop a well-defined, aggressive outreach program to disseminate these principles and their impact on the program. While ongoing changes to the current VII program appear to embrace many of these principles, most program participants are unaware of them. A well-defined vision for this program will ensure that everyone is working toward a common goal.

Summary

Taken together, these principles represent a reorientation of the VII program away from a Federally-oriented design toward a more distributed approach, responsive to existing political and technological realities. They are also sensitive to the unique responsibilities of state and local agencies for systems management and operation. It is essential that these changes be made if the promise of VII is to be preserved with, a critical need in view of the increasing vehicular demand and decreasing expansion of the nation’s transportation system. ` TH (1) Vehicle Infrastructure Integration website, Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), 2008, www.vehicle-infrastructure.org/vii-overview/ (2) VII Research Program, August 2008, www.vehicle-infrastructure.org/program-information/ vii-research-program-overview.pdf (3) “What Does Congestion Cost Us?”, Texas Transportation Institute, 2005, http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/ report/congestion_cost.pdf www.thinkinghighways.com

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GMES

... and this is Kopernikus Stunted

growth

Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

MARIE-CHRISTINE BONNAMOUR, after a decade of Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), welcomes Kopernikus with open arms 40

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Climate Change GMES The challenges linked to climate change and the increased risks that its evolution brings to European citizens caused the European Commission and the European Space Agency to initiate GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security). The 1998 “Baveno Manifesto”, which was at the origin of GMES, sets out the necessity for the European Union to define and implement a European strategy in the area of environmental surveillance in order to prepare for future confrontations with environmental and ecological challenges. The aim of GMES is the sharing and optimisation of the existing Earth Observation and surveillance capacities in Member States’ territories. These capacities can be either satellites or sensors on the ground, floating in the water or flying through the air. The data collected are by their nature very heterogeneous and using them within the GMES framework implies to make them become interoperable.

Prevailing conditions

A parallel may be drawn with meteorology. GMES is intrinsically global and ignores borders in the same way as meteorological forecasts do. The weather forecast is also a perfect example of a successful collaboration between public infrastructures and private initiatives, allowing free access to some information and offering in addition specific paid-for services. GMES also intends to share and reinforce national means of observation, by making some of the information available whilst also developing tailor-made services for specific categories of users. The purpose of GMES is therefore to provide the European Union with an autonomous, coherent and centralised observation capacity that can be applied to all levels: local, regional, as well as worldwide. GMES is a “system of systems”, which collects and transmits information about the environment and the security of the citizens. It is meant to assist decision-making by public and private authorities in Europe as well as support research in order to obtain a better understanding of the way in which our planet, the people and their environment interact. After 10 years GMES has finally reached its preoperational phase. At the occasion of the GMES Forum held in Lille, France, on 16 and 17 September 2008 under the auspices of the French presidency of the European Union, GMES has been renamed “Kopernikus” in order to enhance its identity – thus creating a parallel with Galileo (the other flagship of the European Space Policy), and mark the passage from the research to the pre-operational phase.

What is the purpose of Kopernikus?

Kopernikus has a two-fold ambition: • To give decision-makers and users access to useful information; • To help the various operators to get better prepared and equipped. The first Kopernikus services will be operational in 2009. Their potential has probably not yet been comwww.thinkinghighways.com

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Photo: European Commission

GMES

pletely identified; in the course of time, and along with scientific and technical progress, additional opportunities will occur. Because not all potential users have the expertise to process the data delivered by Kopernikus, services will need to be developed to analyse them and provide information that is useful for the end-users. These services may be offered to companies, policy and decisionmakers; they will also benefit the European citizens. The structure of Kopernikus is based on three levels of facilities: 1. The acquisition (in situ or in space) of data and access; 2. The level of the core-services supplies information that is useful at the European level; this is a generic treatment of measurements of which the purpose is to feed into … 3. … the downstream services, which respond to users’ requests are tailor-made and may refer to a limited geographical area. Kopernikus’ objective is to become a public service for environmental information providing all the players with information about the environment and its evolution on a sustainable basis. During the launch of Kopernikus in Lille, both Valérie Pécresse (the French

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Minister for Higher Education and Research) and Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission, reaffirmed the necessity of considering the data provided by Kopernikus as a “European public good.” Therefore, information should be made easily accessible to all in a compatible format.

Transport sector

The environmental services involve the ocean (for example the follow-up of pollution), the atmosphere and landscape management. They also may assist in the management of emergency situations (natural or manmade catastrophes), humanitarian aid or even securitylinked activities. Because Kopernikus is a shared system, there are multiple sources to finance it. As the core-services are of general European interest, these will be financed at a European and intergovernmental level. The development of the downstream services, which react to market forces, will depend on end-users’ demand and needs, making them the main financiers of the downstream services. But Kopernikus in the transport sector? Galileo is a European programme dedicated to geolocalisation. Its world market is estimated at €500billion between today www.thinkinghighways.com

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GMES and 2025. As the spectrum of services and opportunities offered by Galileo gravitates around geolocalisation, it potentially involves all users of road infrastructure. In the case of Kopernikus, the words “Environment” and “Security” in the acronym GMES, hide a multitude of topics and services - some of which are complementary to geolocalisation. Whilst geolocalisation, by definition, refers to a situation at a specific moment in time, Kopernikus is a tool for sustainable development for short-term, medium-term and long-term forecasts, but it can also be a management tool in emergency situations.

the modelling of numerous parameters will produce more accurate forecasts and enable, for example, the delivery of early warning emails or SMS to the populations at risk in case of a peak in pollution (families with young children, the elderly or patients suffering from asthma). If the situation requires it, the authorities in charge of traffic management will be able to anticipate possible speed limitations for vehicles travelling in areas where there is a great risk of traffic congestion and therefore of a more or less rapid deterioration in air quality depending on climatic conditions.

Prevention and road safety

Land management and network development

Kopernikus will enable the improvement of the management of risks and problems related to the impact that exogenous events may have on the structure of the road network itself. In other words, the data collected by Kopernikus will enable the development of both generic and tailor-made services in order to have exact forecasts to better assess what possible consequences climatic events (snow storms, floods) or emergency situations (accidents, terrorist attacks on critical infrastructures) may have on the capacity of the road network to absorb the traffic flows in the given conditions.

Environmental protection

Photo: www.sxc.hu - Garrison Photography

In addition to the exogenous events and the evaluation of their impact on motorway traffic, Kopernikus is also intended to be a tool for sustainable development. The air quality values captured in situ by the sensors, which have now been spread for decades across Member States’ territories, will be collected and analysed via Kopernikus. Although the process is not new, the added value offered by Kopernikus will be real, because

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Due to a growing ecological awareness, the future construction of motorways in Europe needs to comply with important requirements. The services proposed by Kopernikus will enable the production of models based on larger numbers and more precise data. It will therefore be possible to produce more accurate evaluations of the possible impact of the construction of high-speed roads on the environment and inversely the possible impact from the environmental risks on the infrastructure. In conclusion, Kopernikus must not be ignored even if the potential of its services still remains to be developed in order to respond to the specific needs of the transport sector. TH Marie-Christine BONNAMOUR is Managing Director of SQUARIS, a consultancy firm based in Brussels, specialising in EU affairs and involved in EU-funded projects in Road Transport and GMES She can be contacted via email at [email protected]

“Due to a growing ecological awareness, the future construction of motorways in Europe needs to comply with important requirements”

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Infrastructure

Stunted growth

Ahead in the poles

Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

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Climate Change Infrastructure

OFER RONEN looks at Israel’s “Cellular in Green” project. In a country where there are more cellphones than people, urban aesthetics is a far from trivial concern... The level of use of cellular devices in Israel is one of the highest in the world. There are approximately 9m cellphones serving a population of just 7m people. The cellular market is divided between four companies, with a very low level of cooperation between them and, as a result, each company has thousands of cellular sites. A person driving along the roads of Israel sees, every hundred meters or so, a cellular site or several cellular sites located in close proximity to each other. With each site being so conspicuous and abnormal in the standard landscape of the road, the feeling within the country is that there are far too many cellular sites and this feeling expresses itself in public pressure against every 2 new antenna that is erected. Several years ago, a National Outline Plan in the cellular field had come into effect following approval by the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The main goal of the Plan was to emphasize the landscape aspect, whereby guidelines and restrictions were placed on the location of cellular sites and on distances between them, as well as provisions obliging cooperation between cellular companies, etc. One of the principles of this Plan was to prioritize and grant benefits to cellular companies that integrate their equipment in existing infrastructures, i.e. installing cellular sites on electricity poles, lighting poles, camera poles, etc. Consequently, the Israel National Road Company Ltd. decided to take action and had initiated the “Cellular in Green” Project.

structure poles with cellular-combined poles. Furthermore, there is a continuously open channel of communication with the cellular companies, by which they are given the possibility of integrating in future projects at their initial stage of planning: new roads, interchanges, plans for deploying traffic control cameras, etc. The main emphasis of the Project is the landscape aspect and several rules have been set to ensure that the mast and the accompanying equipment would optimally integrate into the environment. Several prototypes of poles have been designed, including a lighting combined cellular mast and a traffic-control camera combined cellular mast.The poles have been designed in such a way that their bottom part is allocated to the Israel National Road Company Ltd., i.e. for lighting or a camera, and a 6-8m extension is connected by bolts to the top part of the mast, to serve the cellular company. The pole was designed in this way to enable the Israel National Road Company to keep using its infrastructures in the event where the cellular company decides to terminate contractual relations, in which case it will be a simple procedure to dismantle the cellular segment of the pole, and thus keeping the standard infrastructure pole intact. Guidelines for maintenance were also prescribed, whereby responsibility for maintenance will be divided. For example, in a camera-combined pole, it has been decided that the cellular company shall be responsible for maintenance of the pole, while the Traffic Control Department shall be responsible for maintenance of the camera.

“One of the advantages of the [MG] lowering system is the ability to combine the system at any required height”

The hard cell

In the framework of the project, it had been decided to allow cellular companies to use the infrastructures of the Israel National Road Company as a basis for transmission sites. The infrastructures include the existing mission of the company; that is, replacing existing infrawww.thinkinghighways.com

Advantage USA

The lowering system of Alabama’s [MG]2 was chosen to serve as the mechanism for lowering the cameras in the camera-combined poles and in some of the lightingThinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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combined poles. The advantage of the [MG]2 lowering system is evident in several aspects, one of which is the ability to combine the system at any required height, without a prerequisite for the system to be positioned at the end of the pole. Another advantage of the [MG]2 lowering system is the fact that it takes up minimal space inside the pole (in this context, our readers should know that approximately 16 to 24 one-inch diameter cables run through the pole for cellular purposes. This is very dense in a pole at a height of 40m and base-diameter of 90cm, in which every centimeter counts). The [MG]2 system has the most convenient and flexible integration capacity. In the camera-combined poles, the lowering system is situated according to the height set by an expert on behalf of the Israel National Road Company Ltd. and, in the lighting-combined poles, the height and number of lighting fixtures is determined by a Photometry Engineer. Each pair of lighting fixtures is connected to one lowering system.

How it all works

The Project is managed by Sphera–Green Solutions Ltd whose function is to coordinate between the cellular companies and the Israel National Road Company. For illustration purposes, let us outline a certification process of a combined cellular site. The process begins with a tour in the location with the representatives of the cellular companies in order to locate a site. After locating the site, including location of the pole that is destined for replacement, an initial examination procedure is con-

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ducted by the Israel National Road Company Ltd. The examination encompasses all relevant fields – planning, electricity, safety, architecture and gardening, and maintenance divisions. Upon completion of the initial examination, a planning tour is conducted. The product of the planning tour is the Site Plan, which incorporates all the requirements and limitations that had been raised in the framework of the initial examination. This Plan undergoes a final certification procedure, at the end of which the respective cellular company is authorized to apply to the local authority for a building permit. After receiving the building permit, the construction of the site is coordinated with the Israel National Road Company; thus, another site is launched. One may say that the “Cellular in Green” project is an ideal “win win” project, as the cellular companies enjoy an excellent location for their transmit sites, and the site’s integration in the existing infrastructures is warmly welcomed both by the authorities and the public at large. By renting cellular sites, the Israel National Road Company both benefits from saving in new infrastructures and, most importantly, from the fact that the integration of the site in the landscape is in its hands. Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not possible to establish green cellular sites. TH Ofer Ronen is co-owner of Sphera-Green Solutions and can be contacted at [email protected] or visit the website at www.sphera-green.com www.thinkinghighways.com

Brazil

Blue sky thinking Stunted growth Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

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www.thinkinghighways.com

Climate Change Brazil South America makes a belated re-appearance in Thinking Highways with SEBAS VAN DEN ENDE’s hope for a stumbling block-free future for Brazilian transport Supplanting the deficiencies and the lack of investment in transport infrastructure is a big challenge for the Brazilian government. In fact, there is a stumbling block that needs to be overcome in order not to decrease the economic growth that Brazil is currently experiencing. Transport is such an important area in Brazil that the lack of modernization can bring loss in competitiveness. Looking at it this way, the importance of the transportation part of the Plano de Aceleração do Crescimento (literally the plan of acceleration of the growth) is undeniable and its investment is of Reais58 billion (US$30 billion), it is undoubtedly the light at the end of Brazil’s tunnel. PAC, along with other initiatives from the government is the gleaming entrance into the future for Brazil in terms of its ability to compete at the same level as many of the richer countries; in terms of its own financial and infrastructural development and, of course, in terms of improving Brazilians’ standard of living. Besides PAC, some other factors make the transport re-structuring crucial and imperious, as the oil discovery by Petrobrás, which will make the ports’ efficiency up to international infrastructure standards, indispensable. Exported products, manufactured or agricultural, need to have modernized and intergraded systems – rail, road, rivers and ports – to ensure they meet prices and deadlines. The country’s natural characteristics, its size, climate and culture, not to mention the Brazilian people’s almost preturnatural helpfulness are also positive aspects that are considered by national and international investors.

growth of the Brazilian transport market. It’s no surprise, or shouldn’t be as we are talking about billions of US dollars in investments, which will form what could be termed as a “virtuous circle”. We are talking about growth, profit, expansion, job and progress. For quite some time now Brazil has been talked about as the “country of the future,” often mentioned in the same breath as China by venture capitalists and financial experts. So, it looks like the future is coming. The country is being prospected as a good place for investments and obviously there are good reasons for that. The modernization of all modes of transport infrastructure is inexorable.

A big year

There is much evidence that 2008/2009 will be a crucial period for transport and it should embrace the entire country. Brazil has just hosted its biggest transport infrastructure event, TranspoQuip, which brought together the world’s intelligence in the sector, exchanging knowledge, technologies, commercial opportunities and partnerships with the participation of organisations involved in the Brazilian government transport models; private, national and international initiative; the sector’s opinion formers and intellectuals and so on. This way, the increasing interest of international companies in conquering their share in the transport infrastructure market can be publicised. The Brazilian government is exceedingly positive to outside investment which, obviously, helps. The recent privatizations of seven federal road sections (totalling 2,600 km) and the perspective of auctions in other modes generates great demand for a wide variety of equipment, which goes from high quality traffic management to port automation technologies to many transport infrastructure items. Some Reais34 billion of business will be dedicated to road modernization, Reais13 billion to ports, Reais3 billion to airports and Reais8 billion to the States’ subway systems. That is no small amount of money in any currency. During the next few years we expect to see an ascendant curve in the demand of these products. At first sight, it may look simple, but the numbers involved in this modernization involves are enormous. Now the time has come. The world is looking towards Brazil and it must make the best out of these opportunities if “the country that belongs to the future” wants to play a key role in the global transport arena. TH Sebas van den Ende is the President of Real Alliance, a Brazilian company originating from the Netherlands. It organized TranspoQuip Latin America 2008 – an international exposition on transport infrastructure that took place in September 2008 in São Paulo.

“There is much evidence that 2008/2009 will be a crucial period for transport”

Growth industry

All of these assets and facets make Brazil the most promising country in the world in terms of transport infrastructure area.This market growth in the next three years should surpass 50 per cent and keep growing and offering continuous modernization. It’s not by chance that European companies such as the Spain’s OHL and Acciona have already invested heavily, becoming concessionaire of roads on the south and southeast of Brazil. OHL is reportedly investing Reais4.2 billion in federal roads. This year, there is a forecast of more auctions, as for the “rodoanel” in São Paulo, and also the privatization of some ports. Moreover, exotic countries, largely unknown to the Brazilian people, have been speculating Brazil’s market landscapes. Asia is showing interest in taking part in the auction for the express train concession that the government intends to build between Campinas and São Paulo. Canada, the United States, Japan and even China, to name but a few, are hugely interested in the potential www.thinkinghighways.com

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Traffic Pollution

Smoke and mirrors Stunted

growth

MAURIZIA GIGLIO looks at the intricacies (political and technological) of implementing a traffic pollution charge in the car-centric city of Milan

Milan is the capital of the Lombardia region, situated in the north west of Italy at the core of a highly urbanised area. The province of Milan spreads out for 1,984 km2 with some 3.8m inhabitants with 1.3m of those living in the densely populated city of Milan (7,000 inhabitants for each of the 182 km2). In the year 2000, with its 500,000 cars, Milan was the Italian city with the highest number of vehicles per inhabitant (0.4 per person, 1.17 per family). Road traffic is very intense in the city: 650,000 cars enter the city during an average working day (7am to 9pm) and one quarter of these drives into the central area (“Cerchia dei Bastioni”). The modal split between private vehicles and public transport shows that 51 per cent of trips within the city occur by public transport; the public transport percentage increases up to 70 per cent for those trips bound for the Cerchia dei Bastioni. Due to its geographical position and the very high number of motorised vehicles, Milan is one of the Italian municipalities with the highest health risk as a consequence of road traffic pollution, which is responsible for 72 per cent of total particulate matter (PM) emissions in

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the urban area. During the last years, the daily average PM10 emission levels have been well above the threshold of 40 micrograms per cubic metre fixed by the European directives (Council Directive 1999/30/EC).

The political context

After a failed attempt during 2002, the proposal to implement a road pricing scheme in the city officially entered the political arena in 2006 and soon became one of the most controversial issues of the local elections, which were held in April of that year. Although the scheme was one of the key points of the Action Plan of the newly elected Mayor, the preparatory steps for its implementation were delayed many times due to different views within the political majority in the Milan government. Indeed, the scheme was discussed and redesigned many times (also leading to a change in its objectives from congestion to pollution charge) and the tariffs were negotiated among stakeholders. No detailed feasibility study was made available for the public during the preparatory period. Eventually, the Ecopass pollution charge was introduced on 2 January 2008 for all vehicles entering the city centre.

www.thinkinghighways.com

Climate Change Traffic Pollution

The Ecopass scheme

Ecopass was designed with the aim of restricting access to the central area of Milan by charging the most pollutant vehicles. Its objectives are: • to make the air cleaner by reducing PM emissions in the Cerchia dei Bastioni area by 30 per cent, with a positive fallout on the surrounding area of the city as well; • to relieve congestion by reducing the number of incoming cars by 10 per cent and thereby speeding up public transport in the area; • to boost public transport through the re-investment of the pollution charge revenues. The charging scheme is applied to the central city area, the Cerchia dei Bastioni, from 7.30am to 7.30pm from Monday to Friday. One ticket allows for as many journeys into and out of the charging zone as needed during a single day. Similar to London’s congestion charging scheme, the car (or goods vehicle) driver has to pay the charge within 24 hours. Charges can be paid in advance buying tickets for single or multiple entries. Payments can be done either cash or through the internet.

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Traffic Pollution

Figure 1 (above): The municipality borders (blue) and the central Cerchia dei Bastioni area (red) Figure 2 (right): Access points to the Ecopass area (red dots are reserved to public transport)

The system is based on the ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) technology. Electronic cameras have been installed at each of the 43 gates. They read plates and send the information to a central database where they are compared with a list of ‘allowed’ plates. For each plate the corresponding pollution level is recorded and the charge is calculated. Such a technology, used also in London and in a few Italian cities, like Rome or Bologna, doesn’t offer the possibility of tariff modulation according to the distance travelled or the resultant congestion and therefore is not suitable for the implementation of more complex charging schemes. Ecopass tariffs depend on the vehicle’s Euro category and petrol/diesel engine. Euro categories are defined in EEC/EU directives and are grouped in pollution classes as shown in Table 1. It is worth noting that, although the Ecopass is recognised as a “pollution” charge, the tariffs applied are quite different from the scientific estimates of the monetary values of transport externalities of air pollution. In other words, the values proposed by the available studies in relation to the external costs of air pollution are lower and less differentiated among the vehicles emission classes than those applied in the Ecopass scheme. It is useful to point out that there is a 50 per cent dscount for residents of the Ecopass area and a 40 per cent reduction for multiple entries tickets, which allow passengers’ vehicles to access to the Ecopass area for 50 (not necessarily consecutive) days. The implementation costs vary between €27m and €33m million (partly start up costs and partly operating costs)1 while expected revenues should range between €29m and €42m per year. Ecopass revenues will be reinvested in public transport improvement and sustainable mobility.

Preliminary results and critical issues

Since the beginning of the measure application, the Mobility Agency of the Municipality of Milan has published monthly monitoring reports where observed

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data are compared with a “reference month 2007”, based on October and November 2007 real data. On average, car trips entering the city centre have decreased by 16.4 per cent (January to June 2008), which is reflected by a similar reduction of car traffic in the rest of the city. Looking at the daily traffic development, those traffic volumes did not change significantly before the Ecopass validity period (7.30am), while at the end of it (7.30pm) traffic reaches a clear peak which is, however, lower than the evening peak of the reference period before Ecopass. After six months of Ecopass application, the composition of the vehicle fleet entering the Ecopass area has changed due to the increase of less charged vehicles and the corresponding decrease of more charged ones, more evident for passenger cars (-52.6 per cent), but also for commercial vehicles (-28 per cent). As an example, in June the shares of class III passenger cars went down from 14 per cent to 8 per cent, and for class IV from 25 per cent to 10 per cent; while in the case of light duty vehicles, the share of class IV decreased from 55 per cent to 34 per cent and class V from 20 per cent to 14 per cent. As a consequence of the reduced congestion within the Ecopass area, ATM, the Milanese public transport company, registered a slightly higher surface public transport commercial speed (+10.6 per cent, from 8,67 to 9,59 km/h) as well as an increase of underground passengers (+3.5 per cent).

Here comes the science

Given the reduction in the number of the most polluting cars entering the city, benefits on the pollutant emiswww.thinkinghighways.com

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Traffic Pollution Tab.1 Ecopass pollution classes Pollution class I

II

III

IV

V

Ecopass (
/day)

Vehicle EURO category

Free access

Ecopass Area Residents (
/year) Free access

Free access

Free access


2


50 (first 50 days)
60 (second 50 days)


50


5


125 (first 50 days)
125
150 (second 50 days)


10


250 (first 50 days)
250
300 (second 50 days)

gpl - methane - elettric – hybrid Free access Euro 3, 4 or more recent petrol cars and goods vehicles Euro 4 diesel cars and goods vehicles without particulate filter (only up to 31st Free access December 2008) Euro 4 or more recent diesel cars and goods vehicles with approved particulate filter Euro 1, 2 petrol cars and goods vehicles pre-Euro (Euro 0) petrol cars and goods vehicles Euro 1, 2 and 3 diesel cars Euro 3 diesel goods vehicles Euro 4 and 5 diesel buses pre-Euro (Euro 0) diesel cars pre-Euro (Euro 0), Euro 1 and 2 diesel goods vehicles pre-Euro (Euro 0), Euro 1, 2 and 3 diesel buses mopeds, scooters and motorbikes

Multiple Entry Daily Reduction (up to 100 days)

Note: It is relevant to mention that pre-Euro (Euro 0) and Euro 1 diesel vehicles, pre-Euro (Euro 0) mopeds, scooters and two-stroke motorbikes are anyway barred from entering or circulating within the territory of the municipality of Milan, from 15/10/2007 to 15/4/2008, from 7.30am to 7.30pm from Monday to Friday (except Public Holidays), in compliance with regional bylaw no.5291 dated 2/8/2007. There is no Ecopass charge for mopeds, scooters and motorbikes; vehicles carrying disabled passengers and/or bearing a disabled passenger badge. sions have been recorded2, in terms of PM10, NO2 emissions and CO concentration3 . The average value of PM10 in the Ecopass area in June was 43 μg/m3, which is better than the corresponding value of 54 μg/m3 during June 2007, and 58 μg/m3 during June 2006. The reduction of PM10 emissions was accompanied by a reduction of NO2 emissions of 16 per cent and a reduction of concentration of CO of 13 per cent. Another positive result is the decrease in the number of days exceeding the 50 μg/m3 limit during the first six months of the year: 35 days compared with 69 in 2007 and 73 in 2006 (pollutant concentration is usually monitored by only three switchboards within the urban area). Although the above-mentioned data seems promising, it is important to mention the weather, which has an impact on the correlation between emissions and pollutant concentrations. The weather during spring 2008 was much better than in the two previous years leading to a significant improvement of air quality in the whole metropolitan area of Milan.

Public acceptance

The car drivers’ perception after six months of the Ecopass scheme is quite positive and the system has the merit of being the first full-scale implementation of a road pricing scheme in Italy. A few other Italian cities have already shown an interest in replicating the system elsewhere. It is clear that more data and more time will be needed to really understand the effects of the Ecopass scheme on air quality in Milan. A crucial role is played here by the second phase of Ecopass, which is the investment of

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revenues for improveing the public transport service and for providing better conditions to more sustainable modes of transport, like cycling and walking. In other words, the Ecopass system alone cannot go any further and in order to produce significant results it has to be part of a general strategy for private cars t raffic congestion, which would also require a much stronger enforcement of the current parking pricing scheme as well as a more rigid regulation of freight distribution. TH Maurizia Giglio is a consultant at TRT Trasporti e Territorio Srl, an Italian consultancy specialised in research and quantitative analysis, strategic planning and economic and financial evaluation of transport and land use policies and investments projects. She can be contacted via email at [email protected]

References

1 Source: data issued by local politicians interviewed on local newspapers 2 Source: ARPA Lombardia and AMA elaboration for the ‘Rapporto Giornaliero di Qualità dell’aria della Città di Milano’ (RGQA). 3 Emissions in the Ecopass area have been calculated as product of average trip’s length and emission factor for each COPERT 4 class in which the vehicles are grouped: • average trips’ length have been estimated using the results of an assignment model; • emission factors have been adapted to local conditions (fuels, driving cycles). www.thinkinghighwaysa.com

ITS

Reverse psychology Stunted

growth

ITS is helping to make Florida’s Tampa Hillsborough Reversible Express Lanes a success as MARTIN STONE and STEPHEN LITTLE are about to tell you...

Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

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Climate Change ITS In 2006, the Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority in Florida opened the most unique toll road in the world, the Reversible Express Lanes (REL). The project is the first anywhere to address urban congestion by combining the innovations of land-based concrete segmental bridges, reversible express lanes, reversible cashless multi-lane open road tolling and full electronic controls, all constructed within the existing right-of-way of Tampa’s Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway. Over the past 20 years, continued population growth and ever increasing traffic has resulted in severe congestion for thousands of daily Expressway commuters. The ability of the Expressway to provide direct service to the heart of the city is important to these commuters as well as being vital to the growth and prosperity of the downtown core and the continued expansion of the Port of Tampa, Florida’s largest deepwater port. The original plan from the Department of Transportation (FDOT) was to widen the Selmon Expressway by opening one additional lane in each direction and to connect the Expressway directly with I-4 to improve mobility on the region’s limited-access highway system. Unfortunately, projections of future Expressway traffic growth indicated that volumes would exceed the peakhour capacity of the planned three-lane section in the peak direction and both the Expressway and the new connection to the Interstate would be severely congested within less than 10 years. Authority staff believed that these unique traffic conditions warranted an innovative solution, one that would produce a more efficient use of the more than US$200m that would have been spent on the traditional widening of the Expressway. The Authority’s extraordinary solution to relieve this severe peak-hour congestion and improve access on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway was to build 10 miles of reversible express toll lanes between I-75 and downtown Tampa.To preserve the valuable Expressway corridor for future transportation needs, most of the project was constructed as an elegant concrete segmental bridge built using only 6ft of space within the existing Expressway median, dramatically reducing project costs and impacts to the community and the environment.

operators monitor the lanes, oversee the change of direction and direct a dedicated “Road Ranger” service patrol vehicle to provide immediate motorist assistance thus quickly clearing the roadway of stalled vehicles. The REL ITS system had very stringent design criteria; firstly that it be based on a mature software platform that had been utilized in similar environments. Because there was a variety of field equipment to be controlled and several operations to be executed concurrently the system elements had to be fully integrated and accessible from any operator workstation. It was also important that the REL ITS be configurable and scalable as connections to other Tampa-area freeways and arterials was already under consideration. The Authority chose Transdyn, Inc. to be its system integrator for the project due to their experience with “mission critical” control systems including a similar project for the Virginia DOT in Hampton Roads, home of the US Atlantic Fleet. Transdyn designed the REL ITS with assistance from local engineering firm, TEI (now HNTB). The resulting system employs 32 variable message signs along with 25 CCTV cameras, 30 warning gates, five impenetrable barrier gates and an interface to two signalized intersections. The core software is Transdyn’s DYNAC ATMS®, an integrated software suite used for advanced transportation management, process automation and SCADA applications. It has user-configurable applications designed specifically for customers that require a high level of security, availability, performance, and data integrity.

“Reversible express toll lanes were the Authority’s extraordinary solution”

ITS Technologies

Critical to the acceptance and success of Tampa Hillsborough’s REL was the safe and efficient management of the reversible roadway. Technological innovations included an open road tolling system that operates in both directions and a fully integrated centralized traffic management system (REL ITS) to manage, control, and operate the reversible lanes and safely control each ingress point into the reversible lane system. The Authority manages these lanes from a central Traffic Management Center (TMC) constructed as part of the REL project. Full-time professional traffic signal www.thinkinghighways.com

Express delivery

The system delivers operational information to expressway customers and ensures that no vehicle may enter the reversible lanes in the wrong direction while providing feedback to TMC operators for the management of incidents on the roadway. The graphical interface features real-time graphics showing the complete status of the roadway. Operators have pan-tilt-zoom control of the cameras and full access to the message signs. Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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ITS

The system also manages a checklist that ensures the gates are opened and closed in the proper sequence. Travel times are calculated based on data imported from the toll system.

Project success

The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority’s REL project has received many awards based on the overall performance of the project against stated goals. In the first year of operation there were no accidents on the lanes and projected traffic volumes were exceeded by more than 30 per cent. While a number of the protective warning gates have been clipped, none of the impenetrable barriers have been struck and no vehicles have accessed the travel lanes in the wrong direction. Because of its unique design, the bridge was able to be built entirely within the existing right-of-way, dramatically reducing project costs and virtually eliminating any impacts to adjacent land uses, the surrounding community or the environment. Often called “Six lanes on Six Feet,” the bridge piers use only 6ft of the Expressway’s 46ft wide median to construct the three reversible lanes.The remaining land is therefore preserved, ensuring this irreplaceable transportation corridor will be available in the future to serve the growing transportation needs of the immediate community and the region. After the opening of the REL, Expressway customers experienced freeflow traffic conditions, with average trip times being reduced to 10 minutes or less depending on the trip length - a reduction of 20-30 minutes in trip time during the morning commute for both the REL and the existing Selmon Expressway toll lanes. What makes these time savings even more valuable to the community is that average daily traffic on the eastern end of the Expressway actually increased by more than 110,000 trips per month after full operations in January,

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2007. These additional Expressway trips represent diversions from local parallel non-tolled highways and roads that improve the mobility of the entire transportation network. The REL project guarantees customers a trip time of 10 minutes or less for their morning and afternoon commute into and out of the city thus delivering a time savings of up to one hour per day for some travelers. Additional customer value, in terms of reduced stress and improved employee performance, has been documented within a number of local media reports. Reversing the lanes greatly reduced the cost. For the project as a whole, the extremely low cost of the bridge, coupled with the elimination of the need to acquire virtually any right-of-way for these new express lanes, resulted in one of the lowest costs for a major urban expressway expansion anywhere in the United States. Using state-of-the-art ITS technologies to safely control the reversible lane operations has made all the other benefits possible. Customer acceptance has been exceptional and the Authority has hosted transportation officials from around the world.

Conclusion

While the combination of innovative design, construction techniques and technology was developed specifically for this project, many of the concepts employed on the REL have direct application to other transportation needs throughout the world. The concept of increasing the capacity of transportation corridors through innovative bridge design and maximizing the use of existing public rights-of-way is directly applicable to traffic congestion problems in many urban areas all over the world (tolled and non-tolled). The role ITS plays in this model is crucial and clearly demonstrates its value as we move toward more efficient transportation systems. TH Martin Stone, Ph.D., AICP is Director of Planning for Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. Stephen Little is Transdyn, Inc’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager. www.thinkinghighways.com

ITS Applications

Stunted growth Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

Let’s look at it another way... For many years it’s been said that what ITS needs is a killer application. DAVE MARPLES agrees but has a few ideas as to what those applications could be and what they could be used for... 78

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www.thinkinghighways.com

Climate Change ITS Applications

In a companion article to this piece, to be published in the November 2008 issue of ETC, etc: The International Road Pricing & Electronic Toll Collection Review, I discuss the opportunity that the deployment of a road charging infrastructure presents for secondary applications which can suddenly rely upon the presence of a certified, reliable and highly available platform in the vast majority of vehicles with mechanisms deployed to ensure it’s there and working properly and to get it repaired when it breaks. Not only that, but this platform will be developed in a defined timescale but we will go from 0 to 100 per cent penetration in a very short time. In the ETC, etc article my proposition is that if we spent slightly more on that platform then it would become infinitely more powerful and useful in delivering ‘thinking highways,’ because we could use it for a wide variety of secondary applications. In this article I would like to talk about what some of those applications might be. www.thinkinghighways.com

“I look forward to the ITS Facebook and blogger.com equivalents with bated breath”

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ITS Applications Mapping the apps

I want to start by outlining some of the applications that could easily be hosted on such a device. I have split the candidate applications into three classes; Single Vehicle, Vehicle to Vehicle and Vehicle to Infrastructure. For the purposes of argument I am assuming that there is no integration between the on-board unit and the vehicle’s existing systems because that would make the device considerably more difficult to fit. I can’t claim to have the killer application in any of these classes (If I did I’d be building it, not writing about it) but smarter people than I will find them and will make a lot of money out of them. With the vehicle integration limitation I find Single Vehicle applications rather unexciting, simply because they’ve been done before: Sat Nav, speed trap warning, where is the nearest Starbucks and so on. The main advantage that a ubiquitous platform would bring is that individual applications no longer need to carry the full cost of the hardware on their shoulders. This will allow more speculative applications to be developed, some of which may be unexpectedly successful. Could Facebook and blogger.com have ever created a sound business case were it not for the fact that the cost of their initial deployment was virtually zero? I look forward to the ITS Facebook equivalent with bated breath.

no-one to listen. Toll charging could give us that other endpoint in the conversation. Not only that, but by making the platform flexible we can even accommodate applications we haven’t thought of yet.

Killing two birds...

It is these applications that really would exploit the power of a flexible in-vehicle platform. Indeed, I would happily forego Single Vehicle and Vehicle to Vehicle applications just to be able to get Vehicle to Infrastructure working. These applications would, alone, justify the flexibility in a road charging platform and could, in many cases, be piggy-backed onto infrastructure equipment that needs to be deployed anyway for the primary application. The applications that are possible in this model mostly relate to providing information to the driver and improving their situational awareness; traffic light countdown, local lane mappings and map updates, Intelligent speed adaptation, local road condition warning, automatic entry systems, software distribution, weather warnings, vehicle merge control, data relays, electronic filling/cash/mileage reporting/car park payment... the list just goes on and on. On any sizeable road project the cost of adding the communication equipment is minimal, but the cost of deploying the in-vehicle equipment was previously prohibitive and logistically fraught. Using road tolling equipment for this purpose fixes that problem at a stroke and gives users a tangible, short-term benefit of some magnitude for embracing the tolling platform.

“By making the platform flexible we can even accommodate applications we haven’t even thought of yet”

Talking cars

Slightly more alluring but still not that interesting with the integration restriction is the set of applications that become possible when vehicles communicate with each other. The main advantage we gain here is that the ubiquitous nature of the platform means that the rate of penetration of a new application is accelerated, helping to deal with the ‘fax machine problem’ (what use is a fax machine when you’re the only person that’s got one?). Couple this with assurances that it will be possible given the nature of the platform; legitimacy and certification, user identification and so on, and there are some interesting possibilities. Not only could vehicles talk to each other, but a vehicle could act as a ‘carrier’ to transport data between two other vehicles without needing wide area connectivity. Traffic Jam, upcoming road speed indication, hazard reporting and peer-to-peer software distribution are examples of the kind of applications that could be realised. To me, however, these are just distractions. The true opportunity is in applications which demand communication between the vehicle and the infrastructure, with the infrastructure equipped with transducers to relay information to and from the driver. It’s been possible, and reasonably cost effective, to do this on the infrastructure side for a long time now, but there’s been little point in doing so because there was simply nothing to talk to.... no sane transport authority was ever going to spend money deploying equipment while there was

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Secret migration

As I said in the ETC, etc article, the deployment of a tolling system means that, for one of the very few times in our history, we can achieve an almost pervasive technology migration over the course of a single generation of vehicles and, not only that, mandate the retrofit of the existing population... in the space of a couple of years we can deploy an on-vehicle platform into every vehicle in theatre and have the mechanisms to make sure it stays there. The opportunity for new applications to exploit that platform are immense. Road Authorities throughout Europe and beyond; our challenge is to avoid building the cheapest possible solutions with an event horizon of five years and do it right for the next 50. TH Dr Dave Marples is Chief Scientist of Technolution B.V. of Gouda, Netherlands (www.technolution.eu) where he is involved in work on Road Charging, ITS applications and Weigh-in-Motion technology. He was the Chief Architect of the EU GST programme (www.gstforum.org) and was the Executive Director and Architecture Chair of the OSGi (www.osgi.org). His background is in communication systems technology and he is Honorary Professor of Communications at Stirling University in Scotland (www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~djm) www.thinkinghighways.com

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Intelligent Speed Adaption

Remote control Stunted growth

It’s controversial but according to the latest study it could lead to drastic reductions in accidents on our roads. It’s called ‘Intelligent Speed Adaption’ and it involves fitting devices to vehicles which effectively stop drivers speeding. After several years of research the UK government has finally published its findings. PETER PLISNER has been looking at the results further erosion of civil liberties. So what exactly is ‘IntelIf a car salesman offered you a vehicle that makes it ligent Speed Adaption’ or ISA? impossible to break the speed limit, while most peoThe report characterises it as “the vehicle knows the ple Thinking would probably Highways’ agree that it’s a good idea in financial analyst MARGARET speed limit.” That knowledge, the authors suggest, can terms of reducing accidents, many buyers would PETTIT looks at the Territorial be used to display the current speed limit to the driver probably turn it down on the basis thatEuropean they’d prefer to provide warnings the vehicle is exceeding to remain in total control of their vehicle. Cooperation Programme and and finds that likewhen with And there lies the problem with developing systems it. The information can also be linked to the vehicle any other major programme, it’s a matter of that control the speed of individual cars on the road. engine management systems and, if desired, apply the brakes. The technology that drives ISA is similar to the Let’spriorities face it, we’re all used to the freedom offered by navigation systems currently popular with drivers motoring and that also means the freedom to break the across the world. However, in addition to having inforspeed limit too, occasionally! Some drivers might also mation about road layout and features, the ISA system have concerns about being tracked wherever they go, also incorporates speed limit data. evoking thoughts (in part thanks to lazy national newspaper journalism) of Big Brother in George Orwell’s book 1984. Already one motoring group in the UK has condemned the idea of Intelligent Speed Adaption as a

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www.thinkinghighways.com

Climate Change Intelligent Speed Adaption

“Before adoption of an ISA system can be considered, UK councils will need to provide detailed information about speed limits within their areas”

www.thinkinghighways.com

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Intelligent Speed Adaption Drivers don’t need to enter journey start and end points. The ISA system automatically detects the road on which the vehicle is travelling and hence the speed limit. A special display is provided to show the current speed limit and system status. System testing, which was commissioned by the Department for Transport, involved the fitting of 20 cars, all driven by volunteers. Trials held in Leeds (see Thinking Highways Volume 1, Issue 1, pages 64-66) tested the system in a major urban area, with a location in Leicestershire providing experience of driving in small towns and mostly rural roads. The cars themselves look much like any other vehicle on the road but one of the only visible differences was a screen added to the dashboard which shows the driver the speed limit on the current road. Three different ISA scenarios were used in the trails “Mandatory ISA” meant the system was compulsory for all drivers. If they exceeded the speed limit the brakes would be applied. For safety reasons drivers were able to override the system. “Voluntary ISA” only operated after drivers had switched the system on. Once engaged it operated in exactly the same way and the mandatory alternative. Again the driver was able to override the system by pressing a special button on the steering wheel. The final scenario “Advisory ISA” only offered information on the LCD screen on the current speed limit and would warn the driver when he or she was speeding.

Behavioural science

The project team in charge of the trials, drawn from Leeds University and the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA), were tasked with establishing a variety of key factors related to the behaviour of drivers. The report states that the main tasks were to investigate how car drivers behaved when driving with voluntary ISA. They also looked at overtaking behaviour with ISA in a driving simulator and prepared an ISA design for motorcycles and large trucks. They were also asked to assess the cost and benefits of ISA. As part of the trials researchers also wanted to investigate a number of core issues resulting from the use of ISA, including long-term behavioural changes and user attitudes. Studies were also carried out about how compliance with a voluntary ISA varied according to road being used or the type of driver behind the wheel. Another key question was about whether some manoeuvres become more dangerous with mandatory ISA and what the implications would be if they did. Each trial was divided into three distinct phases. Phase 1 was an initial period of one month with no ISA to serve as the baseline. Phase 2 lasted four months (involving mandatory) and had the ISA system active. Finally, a one month-long Phase 3 had ISA once more inactive, to allow researchers to study carry-over effects. The report states that “The general effect of ISA was to reduce the amount of speeding across all speed limits, with the exception of 60 mph roads where there was little speeding in Phase 1. The typical pattern was for speeding to reduce in Phase 2 as compared to Phase 1,

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and then for there to be at least a partial return to the baseline behaviour in Phase 3.” Researchers didn’t just stop when the trials ended. The remit also included consideration of what are termed implementation scenarios. Two alternative visions of the future were examined. A ‘Market Driven’ scenario would see drivers choosing to adopt ISA. The other option was an ‘Authority Driven’ scenario with more encouragement of ISA adoption.

Authority figures

Authors state that the scenarios affect not only the rate of ISA adoption, but also the mix of ISA systems in the vehicle fleet with “stronger” forms of ISA more prevalent under the Authority Driven scenario. It’s only when the results of implementation scenarios were assessed did researchers finally come to conclusions on the effectiveness of ISA. The report states that safety impacts rise gradually in line with penetration of ISA. By 2070 the Market Driven scenario would be achieving a 16 per cent reduction in fatal crashes, a 10 per cent reduction in serious injury crashes and almost a 5 per cent reduction in slight injury crashes, when compared having no ISA at all. In contrast, the authors found that the Authority Driven scenario, delivers a 42 per cent reduction in fatal crashes from 2045. In that year, the retro-fitting of older vehicles and eliminating the override of ISA produces a step change in speed compliance, so that all vehicles fully comply with the speed limits. www.thinkinghighways.com

Intelligent Speed Adaption

The corresponding reduction in serious and slight injury crashes is 38 per cent and 23 per cent respectively. And with such drastic reductions in accidents it’s not surprising that the cost benefits of putting in the system are high. Under a market-driven scenario researchers suggest that it could be 1.9,whilst the authority-driven scenario might be as high as 3.2. Although impressive in terms of accident reduction, introducing a system similar to ISA won’t be easy. Motoring groups appear to be queuing up to oppose the move. The Association of British Motorists maintains that previous research from the Department for Transport has shown that exceeding a speed limit wasn’t the main factor in UK road fatalities and questioned the credibility of the report’s findings. Other motoring groups, including the UK’s AA and the RAC, have made it clear that they would oppose any moves to bring in mandatory ISA. Some are even concerned that the introduction of a voluntary system represented “the thin end of the wedge” and lead to it becoming compulsory in the future. But regardless of the views of the UK motoring groups, the big question is what did the volunteers who trialled the system think of it? According to the report 54 per cent of participants said they would be willing to have ISA installed in their vehicles if its use was voluntary. But what would they be prepared to pay should they drive with ISA? Views ranged from paying nothing to £500. Some 62 per cent of participants approved of requiring the fitment of ISA on all new vehicles and 56 per cent approved of compulsory usage of ISA by all drivers.

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Adoption agency

Before any adoption of an ISA system can be considered, councils throughout the UK will need to provide detailed information about speed limits within their areas. The Department for Transport is now working on the creation of a digital map, which would contain speed limit data for every road in the UK. It’s a mammoth task and something that will take time to complete. It certainly buys time while the wider implications of the introduction of an ISA system are considered. Some feel that it could become as controversial as road pricing in the UK. However, others maintain that anything that could potentially help reduce the death toll on the UK’s roads must be carefully considered and not rejected merely because it’s unpopular. Even the Department for Transport, which commissions the research, remains cautious about the future. A spokesman said “To allow the motor industry to respond to any future consumer demand for ISA, we will now work with vehicle manufacturers, local authorities, insurance companies and others to consider what steps should be taken to support the future availability of the technology.” After a lengthy period of research it looks like the public debate will finally begin. TH Peter Plisner is the BBC’s Midlands Transport Correspondent and be contacted by email at [email protected] www.thinkinghighways.com

Tunnel Intelligence

Stunted growth Coming through

Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

Slovenia is a country that is famous for its well-managed network of aesthetically pleasing road tunnels. ANDREJ SKOBE reports as work is completed ahead of schedule on yet another new one

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Work has been completed on the new Šentvid tunnel, one of the 11 that make up Slovenia’s extensive tunnel network. Its opening had been eagerly anticipated and the completion time was exceptionally short, even by Slovenian standards. Difficulties in selecting the main contractor, long drawn-out procedures before signing the contracts and other difficulties caused the start of the work to be delayed until the spring of this year but incredibly by 30 June 2008 the majority of works had been completed.

Control and monitoring system

Iskra Sistemi equipped the tunnel with the control and monitoring system - the most intelligent part of the tunnel’s electric safety equipment. The basic elements of the system are local stations built in the emergency call niches and subcontrol tunnel centres and the system is completed by control computers and software in the Smodinovec Control Centre from which the Šentvid tunnel is managed. All systems are integrated by the control and monitoring system which enables the personnel on duty in the traffic control centre to have a clear view of the events and traffic flow through the tunnel, as well as of the state of all systems installed in the tunnel. Due to specific traffic conditions in the tunnel which may cause traffic accidents with unforeseeable www.thinkinghighways.com

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Tunnel Intelligence

consequences it is essential for the personnel on duty, who supervise the tunnel around the clock, to have a complete overview of all subsystems as well as a possibility of taking prompt and efficient action.

A sense of control

The basic tunnel control level consists of local controllers, which are MSKE60 modular microprocessor control systems. Upon the user programme commands, they are capable of performing various logic, sequential, time, count, arithmetic, regulation, and communication functions. Local controllers of the same type are used in the control systems of all of Slovenia’s other tunnels (Trojane, Podmilj, Kastelec, Dekani, Jasovnik, Locica, Golovec, Pletovarje, Golo Rebro and Karavanke) and they are also used in the motorway and urban traffic control systems, ABC lanes of tolling plazas and border crossings.

Control of electric and mechanical equipment Local controllers are connected with communication links to all subsystems, collecting data from them and automatically controlling them depending on the prescribed control algorithms. The Šentvid tunnel subsystems comprise traffic lights, blinkers, variable message signs and LED indicators, traffic counting by inductive loops, emergency call and SOS buttons, CO2 and visibil-

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ity measurements, wind velocity and direction measurements, anti-burglary protection, tunnel illumination, video surveillance system, and automatic detection of traffic queues, stopped vehicles or vehicles driving in the opposite direction, fire alarm, low-voltage and middle-voltage equipment control, uninterrupted power supply system, fire-fighting water reservoir control, waste water control and hydrant water heating, radio equipment and tunnel ventilation.

Upper tunnel control level

In normal operation mode, all control sequences in the tunnel are executed automatically. The operator in the control centre only monitors the events and takes approwww.thinkinghighways.com

Tunnel Intelligence priate action if necessary. In addition to the main control computer, the system contains a stand-by computer at the subcontrol location. Both computers are interconnected into a network so that in addition to the supervision from the main control centre the tunnel can also be managed from the subcontrol centre. The supervision from a standby PC is also used, if the communication between the tunnel and dislocated control centre is interrupted. The PC control centre systems equipment and software executes and enables the following functions: reception and analysis of processed data from all subsystems in the tunnel, additional data processing, realtime data base, display of data, information and alarms via graphic terminal, dialogue with operator, event printing, archiving, on-line modification of data and parameters, suitable data protection and off-line modification of algorithms. The PC control system consists of computers of industrial design, colour screens, colour and matrix printers, TV system operating console, radio links operating console, TV monitors and video wall.

Functionally clear, totally reliable

Iskra Sistemi uses a functionally clear and totally reliable concept of tunnel control. The concept used is incomparably more adaptable than systems which have autonomous controllers for individual subsystems with a single data concentration point. In the event of a failure or interruption of communication with a local controller the entire control system continues to operate normally



  
 


 

 


 





except for the small part of the tunnel covered by the failed local controller. All the subsystems are important for controlling traffic through the tunnel. A pedestrian stepping into the tunnel or the opening one of the tunnel niche doors causes speed restrictions to be implemented and the activation of the blinkers. Any greater danger, such as the detection of a fire, a stopped vehicle, a vehicle driving the wrong way or excessive concentration of CO2 in the air, can cause the tunnel to be closed. In addition to automatic tunnel control algorithms, the operator monitoring the tunnel by means of surveillance cameras can intervene at any moment. There is actually a lot of equipment in the tunnel, although you only notice traffic signs, illumination and fans when passing through, while the most important system, the one taking care of tunnel control and safety, is hidden from the eyes of the drivers. Yet it depends on the tunnel control system whether the equipment installed will detect any hazard in the tunnel in time – and react properly. The very speed and correctness of reaction are what the safety of the Šentvid tunnel depends on. If the installed system saves just one human life then our job has been done well. Coincidentally, this is exactly what happened on the first day of the tunnel’s operation. TH You can email the author at [email protected]

www.truvelo.co.za [email protected] tel +27113141405




 

Autonomous Vehicles

Tomorrow’s world... today

Stunted growth

Photo by Bjoern Gantert

Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

The 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge

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LOUIS NASTRO on how and why unmanned, robotic vehicles are leaving the laboratory ... www.thinkinghighways.com

ClimateVehicles Change Autonomous

The DARPA (US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Challenges of 2005 and 2007 had an astounding ambition: to take the driver out of the vehicle and give full control to onboard systems. Sounds like science fiction, but for those developing the technology, it is just a matter of time until it’s an available reality. And that time is soon. The Pentagon sees the automated vehicle as the warrior of the future and has mandated that one-third of the military’s ground combat vehicles be unmanned by 2015. Commercial possibilities for this technology are extensive as well. So the race is on to perfect this technology! One of the principal challenges researchers face is achieving reliable and repeatable positioning data of a vehicle. Robust positioning (the ability of a positioning system to maintain accurate position and orientation information even during GPS outages), is a necessary component of successfully navigating a vehicle; necessary for both pre-planning functions and real-time navigation. Onboard sensors must be provided with correct and relevant data in order to steer their vehicles on their intended track, and in order to deal with unanticipated conditions en-route. Applanix Corporation, a pioneer in autonomous vehicle navigation, and an important contributor in all DARPA challenges, provided the position and orientation data systems for the top finishers of the challenge in www.thinkinghighways.com

both 2005 and 2007. The Applanix POS LV (Position and Orientation System for Land Vehicles) delivered top results because it not only guided vehicles physically but also helped them perceive their environment and respond to it. It is all made possible by ensuring the vehicle’s onboard systems know, within a few centimeters, where it is in relation to everything around it. This is where POS LV comes in.

Introducing the POS LV

The POS LV system is a tightly coupled inertial/GPS system which optimally blends the inertial data (from the IMU or Inertial Measuring Unit) with raw GPS observables from individual satellites (ranges and range rates). The result is improved navigational accuracy, improved re-acquisition time to recover full RTK position accuracy after satellite signal loss, and improved integrity of the resulting navigation solution. The inertial navigator computes position, velocity and orientation of the IMU. A Kalman filter estimates the errors in the inertial navigator along with IMU, distance measurements instrument (DMI) and GPS receivers. System components are shown in Figure 1. The distance measurement instrument (DMI), another essential piece of the POS LV hardware, outputs pulses representing fractional revolutions of the instrumented wheel. These pulses are converted by the POS LV into measurements of incremental distance travelled by the Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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Figure 1: POS LV System Components

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The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge

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vehicle when no GPS is available. DMI data can be used not only to bridge GPS outages and provide POS LV with incremental distance estimation, but also as an input into the velocity controller for detection of when the vehicle may be stuck. Wheel slippage can be monitored by comparing the DMI output to the velocity reported by the POS LV system.

Vol 3 No 4 Thinking Highways

The 2005 Grand Challenge pushed participants to develop solutions for terrain perception and obstacle avoidance at ranges of 40m directly in front of the vehicle. Applanix collaborated with Carnegie Mellon’s “Red Team” for the position and orientation component of their two entries, “H1ghlander” and “Sandstorm.” The data provided by the POS LV was essential for governing vehicle dynamics in safely navigating the course in real-time operation. Both vehicles utilized a series of LIDAR and radar systems to sense terrain and feed that information into onboard computers which would modify pre planned route information to avoid obstacles and deal with changes in terrain. The Red Team’s approach involved a methodical analysis of the course terrain and modification of the RDDF (the route definition file) in order to provide both vehicles with the optimum path. LIDAR data (provided through a gimbal located on the roof of the vehicle which provided medium and long range terrain data) and supplemental lasers (scanning the boundaries of the navigable track) in addition to the short range radar (vital for detecting targets in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle), were incorporated to form a view of the world within which the robots could sense and evaluate terrain. Position information from the POS LV was critical in determining the direction of rotation of the gimbal in order to sense the oncoming terrain and georeferencing point cloud data. With data derived from the LIDAR and radar systems, it is fused into a composite model of the terrain. Errors in terrain characterization can, in most cases, be attributed to errors not in the data acquired by the sensor, but by errors in position and orientation estimation (pose). www.thinkinghighways.com

Autonomous Vehicles

Figure 2: All-seeing eye: a 360 degree LIDAR scan

Planning and vehicle control

With reliable data from the POS LV integrated into the drive-by-wire systems of both Red Team Robots, pure pursuit tracking was made possible. But to further maximize performance, the robot was also provided with apex and curve entry and exit information, in addition to terrain condition, prior to the mission. These terrain models are best obtained by driving a vehicle equipped with laser scanner and POS system over terrain and recording topographic imagery. This was done with an H1 Hummer called ‘Topographer’ which utilized a POS LV and laser scanner to derive drive by topography typically with .25m resolution and 1.5m accuracy. The resulting surface models provide resolution and accuracy that are unobtainable from satellites or from traditional maps. The result of this pre-planning is illustrated in Figure 3 overleaf. The black lines denote raw RDDF file waypoints and speed limits provided by DARPA. The red dotted path illustrates the route as edited by human planners heavily interpolating the original set of waypoints.

The 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge

The 2007 iteration of the Grand Challenge, in an urban environment, pushed the state of the art further not only in perception, but in object prediction and autonomous vehicle interaction in dynamic environments. There were three timed mandated mission tests, each of which tested different core skills (parking, traffic collision avoidance, driving precision). Pose estimation was critical to perception, planning, control and providing key data to the drive-by-wire systems of the autonomous vehicles. Data fusion was key in determining a robot’s success in characterizing and interacting within its environment. In each phase of the mission, the robot needed to integrate the composite representation of the world and understand what was safe and unsafe given the changing targets around it impeding its route. Given the improved skills of the robots, the benefits of pre-planning were not as profound as with the 2005 www.thinkinghighways.com

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2007 Carnegie Mellon Univeristy winner Tahoe utilizing the Applanix POS LV system

Challenge and instead of two hours to prepare a vehicle, teams had 15 minutes. The missions therefore required much more processing of real-time obstacle avoidance. When obstacles in question are moving, there are three fundamental challenges: reliable position tracking relative to where the vehicle is and where it needs to go (in the local coordinate), accurate range and target bearing so the robot can determine what lane the obstacle is in from the route network definition file (RNDF), and most importantly, what is the predicted path of the obstacle? As the course presented obstacles in rapid succession, very accurate pose estimation was required to avoid collisions. So the key elements determining success in this Urban Challenge were real-time situational awareness and data fusion. High-level capability required two levels of characterization, that of the robotic vehicle in relation to the road and that of the dynamic obstacles on it. The vehicle must not only track and predict where it will go, but it must do this while tracking within its lane, sensing the terrain (road radius of curvature, grade/cross fall) to ensure any maneuvers are within the performance envelope and actually predict where the obstacle will move to. The vehicle does a lot of thinking.

Lessons applied to real-world scenarios

Fundamentally these autonomous vehicles are mobile mapping platforms and the advances made here have significant implications for how mobile mapping data can be used. Consider the automotive industry. Currently GPS is utilized as a convenience feature utilizing GPS, matching map and odometer data to route a driver through GPS outages. When looking at position and ori-

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Figure 3. The black lines denote raw RDDF file waypoints and speed limits provided by DARPA

entation data in terms of driver assistance/active safety systems, the accuracy required changes dramatically. Data needs to be thought of in a layered approach much like the data fusion discussed above. Base maps utilized by onboard computers need to be very accurate for sensors to determine dynamics in relation to a vehicle’s current and predicted path so the vehicle can determine if a driver is making turns at unsafe speeds or passing through an intersection without stopping. By having detailed maps along with accurate position and orientation data, vehicles will be able to actively ensure the safety of passengers. Still sound like science fiction? TH Louis Nastro is the Director for Land Products at Applanix Corporation, where he is responsible for new business development and overall product direction for the land business. [email protected] www.thinkinghighways.com

Traffex 2009 Route masters All routes lead to the NEC, Birmingham, UK and Traffex 2009: the International Traffic Industry Exhibition. Meet over 350 specialist companies as they showcase the most innovative, cost effective traffic management, road safety and highway maintenance solutions from around the world. For more information and to register for your free visitor ticket go to www.traffex.com.

Co-located events

21-23 April 2009 | The NEC, Birmingham, UK Register online for your free visitor ticket at www.traffex.com

Content partners:

Stunted growth The

countdown begins Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

Brintex’s BILL BUTLER presents the second of his three Traffex 2009 previews They used to tell me that July and August are traditionally a quiet time for business, but judging by the size of my inbox and the ever-growing to do list I’m beginning to think that a quiet summer was a fond and distant memory. Is it the rise in e-mailing on the move, more meetings, or is it the curse of copying emails to anyone and everyone?

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Whatever the reasons, the last eight weeks have been one of my busiest periods yet. Despite my normal pessimistic predictions for stand sales to slow over the summer, this year has seen a record number of new and past exhibitors taking time to finalise their stands. I have no doubt that this has been helped by the fact that the last two Traffex exhibitions sold out well in advance and despite the urge to say ‘I told you so’ to late coming exhibitors who cannot exhibit, it is always annoying for the show to miss out on leading companies that I know visitors would want to see. To see the latest exhibitor list and floor plan visit www.traffex.com.

Industry-supported seminar programme

As many readers will now know, next year’s Traffex will move to a new larger hall to accommodate even more exhibitors and features areas. One feature that has taken up much of my time and I’m confident will really interest visitors, is the new Traffex seminar programme. The support of two leading professional bodies ITS UK and www.thinkinghighways.com

Climate Change Event Preview When DAVID SCHONBRUNN read the April/May issue of Thinking Highways he felt compelled to write an article offering his own views on transportation’s impacts onm and solutions for, climate change

exhibition, but linked in to the whole event cycle. For an event like Traffex, the marketing campaign is run over six months and involves a massive promotional campaign in magazines, direct mail and electronic formats. As a result Traffex 2009 is seeking to attract five exclusive event partners, who will receive a number of marketing, branding, editorial and communications opportunities over the entire marketing campaign. To find out more about the benefits of becoming an event partner please contact Mathew Elton at [email protected].

The countdown begins

the IHT (Institute of Highways and Transportation) will ensure a highly topical and focused selection of sessions across the three days. There will be three new purpose built seminar theatres covering ITS, Traffic Management, Parking and Street Design, seminars are free to attend with seats allocated on a first-come, firstserved basis. A detailed programme will be available in December this year at www.traffex.com.

Event partnerships

Advertising, exhibitions, direct mail and sponsorship are all well established as part of the marketing mix for many companies. However most companies’ idea of exhibition sponsorship is limited to what is offered by the event organisers, traditionally this has taken the shape of branded bags, signage and floor tiles etc. As an exhibition organiser and an exhibitor myself, I have felt for some time that there must be a better way to offer sponsorship, so that the sponsors get better value with benefits that are not just limited to the open days of the www.thinkinghighways.com

The last 30 years we have seen Traffex grow from a small tabletop exhibition with just a handful of exhibiting companies to the lively international meeting place that the event is today. Both visitors and exhibitors have become more international too.The current list of exhibiting countries includes, Australia, USA, Canada, China, Turkey, Iran, Israel and virtually every European Country you can think of. You may also be interested to know how we compare to other events, Traffex is now ranked in the exhibition industry top 100 as the 32nd largest trade exhibition in the UK, ahead of, Coach and Bus, Transport Innovation and Railtex to name a few. However, what really makes the event for me is the people in the industry, the characters, the inventors, the entrepreneurs, nearly all the companies I speak to with have happy memories and a special link with the show and the organisers. Most have a good story to tell too: the fortunes gained and lost, the mergers, the gossip, the accidental meeting that leads to that order, that evening in the bar, the headache, even the marriages! We have had it all at Traffex. The entire team and I are looking forward to the next show already and making sure that it is bigger and better than ever before. Online registration is now open and you can register for your FREE visitor ticket at www.traffex.com. We look forward to seeing you there. TH The 24th International Traffic Engineering, Road Safety, Parking & Highway Maintenance Exhibition takes place in Hall 5 National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham, UK from 21-23 April 2009 Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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Funding and Finance

China’s billion dollar Stunted takeaway growth Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities

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Climate Change Funding and Finance

Thinking Highways’ funding analyst MARGARET PETTIT turns her attention to China. Unsurprisingly for a country with such a rapidly expanding economy, money for transport projects seems to be no object, as evidenced by these selected highlights

Where China is concerned, statistics are not exactly hard to come by, as you would expect. Earlier this year China surpassed Japan as the second largest car market, after the US. Also, the number of privately-owned cars in China exceeded 11.5m and the number of cars in Beijing were increasing by 1,000 per day. Fortunately, the World Bank continues its large lending program (through the IBRD) to address some of the problems. Here are their current projects, both upcoming and recently approved, totalling around US$780m.

Urban Transport Partnership

The objectives are to establish sustainable urban transport in China through the development of more effective mechanisms (including enabling policy, regulatory and legal frameworks) to facilitate urban transport planning, financing and management; and the implementation and dissemination of a set of demonstration projects that highlight sustainable approaches to urban mobility in the Chinese context. These projects include cost-effective public transport development and road development consistent with compact growth. Status: the project was approved in June 2008 and has a proposed grant of: US$21.0m (Global Environment Facility). Ref: PID: 90335. Consultants will be required. Contracting Authority: Ministry of Finance, San Li He Lu, Beijing 100820 China, Tel: (86-10) 6855-2097, Fax: (86-10) 6855-1125, E-mail: [email protected]. Contact: Ms. Wu Fan, Project Officer. Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 4

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Funding and Finance

Computer Recognition Systems

    
 eyes of a HAWK

Anhui Province

Anhui Medium Cities Urban Transport: The objective is to invest in urban infrastructure and public transport services that follow key National Priorities. Status: project identification is completed and preparation is underway with a proposed loan of US$ 100.0m (IBRD). Consulting services to be determined. Contracting Authority: Anhui Provincial Construction Bureau, No. 28, Huan Cheng Nan Lu, Hefei, Anhui Province, China 230001, Tel: (85-551) 287-1280, Fax: (85-551) 263-9845, E-mail: [email protected]. Contact: Mr. Zhong Yaping, Chief Engineer; Ms. Dai Weili, Deputy Director, Planning and Financial Division.

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Anhui Road Rehabilitation and Improvement (Loan no. 7511-CN): The objective is to increase the effective use of the road infrastructure in Anhui Province, to support its social and economic development at lower costs and with improved safety because of the increase in the flows of passenger and freight traffic along key corridors across the province. Status: project approved by the Executive Directors in April 2008 with a proposed loan of US$200 (IBRD). Ref: PID: 99112. Consulting services to be determined. Contracting Authority: Anhui Provincial Communications Department, 528 Tunxi Rd., Hefei City 230022 China, Tel: (86-551) 265-5163, Fax: (86-551) 362-3530, E-mail: [email protected]. Contact: Mr. Luo Ning, Vice Director General.

Hubei Province

Hubei Yiba Highway: The objective is to improve passenger and freight flows in the Yichang-Badong corridor by investing in the construction of an expressway and strengthening the institutional capacity for environmental management. Status: project appraisal is underway www.thinkinghighways.com

Funding and Finance

Laser sensors for traffic control

with a proposed loan of US$150m (IBRD). Ref: PID: 101258. Consultants will be required. Contracting Authority: Hubei Provincial Communications Department, No. 428, Jianshe Avenue, Hankou, Wuhan, Hubei, China 430030, Tel: (86-27) 8346-0753, Fax: (86-27) 83460754, E-mail: [email protected]. Contact: Mr. Chen Xinwu, Deputy Director General.

Shanxi Province

Taiyuan Urban Transport: The objective is to improve mobility and accessibility for Taiyuan’s people and freight to key industrial and commercial zones in a safe, efficient and sustainable manner. Status: project appraisal mission was scheduled for September 2008 with a proposed loan of US$ 150.0m (IBRD). Ref: PID: 81615.Consultants will be required.Contracting Authority:Taiyuan Development Planning Commission, Project Management Office, No. 38, Fuxi St., Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China 030002, Tel: (86-351) 415-2220/21/23, Fax: (86-351) 415-2221, E-mail: [email protected]. Contact: Mr. Wang Shiying, Deputy Director.

Xi’an Municipality

Xi’an Sustainable Urban Transport (Loan no. 7558-CN): The objective is to improve accessibility and mobility in Xi’an while protecting its cultural heritage and reducing the environmental impact of the urban transport system. Status: project approved in June 2008 with a proposed loan of US$ 150.0m (IBRD). Ref: PID: 92631. Consulting services to be determined. Contracting Authority: Municipality of Xi’an, Foreign Capital Utilization Division, Xi’an, China, Tel: (86-29) 8729-5821, Fax: (86-29) 8721-0878, E-mail: [email protected]. Contact: Mr. Cheng Zhixun, Division Chief. TH [email protected] www.thinkinghighways.com

Noptel's CM30 distance sensor family has been developed for OEM use with products for traffic, industrial or portable applications that require high-speed measurements of poorly reflecting targets. These devices represent a perfect choice for intelligent traffic camera triggering, vehicle profiling or speed measurement. The units are small in size, of low weight and power consumption, and are suitable for outdoor use in harsh environments. They are available in different packagings, and customised operation is possible even with smaller volumes.

Applications • LPR camera triggering • Vehicle profile measurement • Vehicle classification • Speed measurement

• Traffic light control • Signal violation control • Criminal vehicle interception • Vehicle detection • Tunnel entrance control

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Noptel Noptel Oy, Teknologiantie 2, 90570 Oulu, Finland Tel. +358 8 551 4351, fax +358 8 556 4101, [email protected], www.noptel.fi

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Logic Behind Transport

Do you need help lining up your ducks?

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Advertisers Index

Alpha Technologies .................................................... 81 Applanix ....................................................................... 87 Aselsan ......................................................................... 38 Barco ............................................................................ 51 Clearview ......................................... inside back cover Computer Recognition Systems ...........................102 ESRI ............................................................................... 49 FAMAS ......................................................................... 94 Gatsometer ................................................................. 71 Image Sensing Systems ................................................ 5 INRO ............................................................................ 95 International Road Dynamics .................................. 61 ISKRA ........................................................................... 65 ITS World Congress 2009 ........................................ 57 JAI .................................................................................. 39 Jupiter Systems ........................................................... 77 Kapsch TrafficCom ..............27 & outside back cover MG2 ............................................................................... 73 Neavia........................................................................... 85 Noptel ........................................................................103

Peek Traffic .................................................................. 37 Q-Free...............................................inside front cover Radarlux....................................................................... 17 RedSpeed ..................................................................... 31 ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH......................... 9 & 11 SGS ............................................................................... 81 Samaritania .................................................................. 89 Satellic Traffic Management ........................................ 3 Swarco ......................................................................... 35 Techspan ...................................................................... 59 Telegra .......................................................................... 45 Traffex 2009 ................................................................ 97 Traficon ........................................................................ 15 Transport Logic ........................................................104 Transurban .................................................................. 43 Truvelo ......................................................................... 91 Vitronic ........................................................................ 37 Volvo Trucks ................................................................ 29 White Willow Consulting.......................................104

Thinking Highways For more information on the advertisers in this issue please go to www.thinkinghighways.com and click on READER ENQUIRIES 104

Vol 3 No 4 Thinking Highways

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