Report on 18th World CongressOrlando, Florida, 2011

Impressions from the ITS World Congress in Orlando

Opening ceremony - Sunday 16 October 2011

Plenary I: ITS strategies:Spurring economic growth through high-tech transport solutions

Plenary II: Ingredients for implementing ITS policiesto keep the economy moving

Closing ceremony - Thursday 20 October 2011

Facts and figures

Contents

Some impressions from the ITS World Congress in Orlando

Please let us inform you about some of the events which took place at the recent ITS World Congress in Orlando. This World Congress was another milestone in the series of ITS World Congresses successfully showcasing the existing ITS solutions which make mobility more sustainable, increase the welfare of society and create high value-added jobs. This ITS World Congress was an inspiration and provides excellent opportunities for the next milestone: the ITS World Congress in Vienna. Thank you to all the people and organisations for their contributions making this Congress a success.

Hermann MeyerCEO, ERTICO - ITS Europe

Opening ceremony – Sunday 16 October 2011

Mr McGowan gave a brief summary of upcoming highlights of the Congress, including the ministerial roundtable and the demonstrations, and pointed out that the Congress was the only place where one could experience so many things, and learn about best practice in ITS as well.

The next speaker was Alan Taub, Vice President, GM Global Research and Development, who noted that personal mobility has become a victim of its own success, with 1 billion vehicles in circulation, and is becoming ever more affordable; – but vehicles need to be reinvented, as there is no answer to the attendant problems.

Mr Taube articulated five challenges

1. Energy – the need to diversify2. Emissions – whether through technological advance or electrification3. Safety – such as advanced crash avoidance technologies4. Pedestrians and cyclists – VRUs will in the future carry transponders in their mobiles alerting vehicles to their presence5. Congestion – relieve congestion through the application of ITS

Next to speak was Ignacio González-Domínguez, CEO, Telvent, who gave examples of how technology improves lives, and assured delegates that Telvent fully supports their efforts and itself is investing in the necessary ITS technologies.

Greg Winfree, Acting Director, Research and innovative Technology Administration, US DOT, was struck by the diversity of culture and common cause, stressing the need to work together globally to make ITS and connected vehicles a reality. This would provide a solid foundation for a new transport era. Mr Winfree also made a point of calling for harmonisation of international standards.

Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, was next to speak. Mr Scott stressed the importance of the Congress to Florida, and congratulated delegates on their work in making transport safer and more efficient. The Hall of Fame was introduced by Abbas Mohaddes, Chair of ITSA Board. The 2011 winners were:

Atsuo Kurode, Japanese Transport Ministry, thanked everybody for their support after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Mr Kurode recognised the huge potential of ITS to provide solutions to common mobility challenges, including congestion and safety. Mr Kurode made reference to how real time traffic information proved invaluable in the aftermath of the disaster, as, for instance, road maps could be updated from in-vehicle GPS systems, providing valuable help to the relief effort.

Zoran Stančič, Deputy Director-General, DG INFSO, emphasised that transport accounts for over 10 million jobs in the EU, but that 35000 are killed annually – there is a clear need to work together in this regard. Mr Stančič outlined pertinent EU initiatives, including EU2020 – working towards smart, inclusive and sustainable growth; the Digital Agenda; the white paper on transport. ITS is a vital component of the solution, according to Mr Stancic.

Mr Stančič pointed out that one value of the Congress was that success stories could be shared, making ITS more applicable across regions.

Patrick McGowan, World Congress Chair, warmly welcomed delegates to “the greatest ITS event in the world” with 45 countries represented, and stressed that the theme of the

Congress, “keeping the economy moving”, was very apt. Mr McGowan said that while there were signs of economic

recovery, transport infrastructure wasnot keeping up; “Cities need to be smarter and use

infrastructure in a more efficient way”.

EUROPE

Mrs Monica Sundström Swedish Transport

Administration, Sweden

Mr Keung-Whan YoungKorea

Mr William M. Spreitzer (formerly of General

Motors) USA

AMERICAS ASIA-PACIFIC

Plenary I: ITS strategies: Spurring economic growth through high-tech transport solutions –

Monday 17 October 2011

Mr Prasad then introduced the keynote speaker, John Mica, Chairman of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, USA.

Mr Mica underlined the fact that countries face common mobility challenges, trying to do more with less, and that therefore innovation is especially important. He underlined that ITS is not just about roads, and highlighted the example of air transport, where ITS systems can help use airspace more efficiently.

Regarding the road network, Mr Mica stressed how ITS improves road safety, as well as efficiency. With 33000 deaths annually in the USA, ITS can do much to improve and safeguard lives – in this regard, Mr Mica highlighted

the example of drink driving, and that nearly 50% of fatal accidents have as a causative factor alcohol or drugs.

Mr Mica also stressed that he was a strong advocate of mass transport, but that “people in the US don’t use mass transit because it is not convenient”. The impact of real-time travel information services could have a strong positive effect.

Mr Mica ended his address with a call for lawmakers to put aside partisan concerns and seize the opportunity to invest in ITS to create a world class transport network. To this end, he invited delegates to contribute to the consultation (on the US Congress website) so that the views and concerns of ITS industry could be taken into account.

Mr Prasad then invited the plenary speakers onto the stage.

First to address the delegates was Zhongze Wu, Chairman of ITS China. Mr Wu first gave a brief retrospective of China’s ITS development, showing how with China’s growing urbanisation, relying on technical and scientific innovation is vital. Mr Wu also underlined China’s investment in roads, rail – especially high speed rail – and port infrastructure. Mr Wu also stressed that China has learnt from international lessons and applied them to Chinese conditions.

Mr Wu then proceeded to give several examples where ITS has been successfully used, highlighting in particular:

1. ITS in large cities, especially for large events such as the Olympics2. ITS in rail, for example in the ticketing system3. Road transport safety

Looking ahead, Mr Wu identified six elements as part of a ITS and low carbon transformation strategy:

1. Public transport service levels and coordination2. Increased real-time surveillance for emergency response across all modes3. Travel efficiency and service, with a view towards comprehensive services4. Traffic safety, moving from passive response towards active safeguarding5. ITS framework – standards and the application thereof6. Promotion of the industrial development of ITS

The following day started with the first of the two plenary sessions. Ananth Prasad, Secretary, Florida Department of Transport, and moderator of the session, welcomed delegates and opened proceedings with a reminder to the assembled delegates that not only does ITS

promise much, but it also delivers much. Noting that the economic outlook was still uncertain, Mr Prasad referred to the subject of the session, saying that with governments

cutting back on their outlays, “ITS offers a cost effective alternative”.

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The second speaker was Fotis Karamitsos, Director of DG MOVE. Mr Karamitsos underlined the fact that ITS plays a fundamental role in transport, making it more sustainable. However, he went on to say that technology is not sufficient – vision is needed, centred on the user, with a good government, legal and financial structure. The 2020 strategy is Europe’s answer to this need, involving:

1. Decoupling economic growth from resource use 2. The digital agenda

3. Innovation union 4. Industrial policy, such as GALILEO

Mr Karamitsos also stressed that countries cannot carry on as normal, and that “the challenges of the past are still the challenges of the future”. The solution is not simple, but lay with a single and multi-modal European transport area, with, by 2050, a 50% modal shift from road transport, a 100% shift from petrol-driven cars (50% by 2030), modernisation of air traffic control systems (by 2020), eFreight, “zero” vision in road safety (another 50% reduction in ten years), smart ticketing, and finally multi-modal traffic management.

Mr Karamitsos stated, “Current business models have been exhausted”, and pointed to the European Commission’s ITS Action Plan and associated Directive as laying the path for the development of new models. Furthermore, Mr Karamitsos said that if necessary, binding instruments would be created to spur the deployment of ITS, especially regarding interoperability. Finally, Mr Karamitsos underlined the €80 billion (proposed) for transport under the Horizon 2020 programme.

The third speaker was Catharina Elmsäter-Svard, Swedish Minister for Infrastructure. Mrs Elmsäter-Svard started by observing that the task facing the ITS industry was to find solutions that benefit society as well as individuals. To this end, Mrs Elmsäter-Svard noted the benefits of multimodality – “Imagine one transport system, not four separate ones” – providing a clear and coherent mobility chain for passengers and goods.

Mrs Elmsäter-Svard referenced the 16th ITS World Congress held in Stockholm as a showcase of cooperation between academia, business and government, pointing out that only a multi-stakeholder approach for ITS deployment would bring the necessary results.

Mrs Elmsäter-Svard also called for innovative procurement policies to deploy ITS, the adaption of the road network to vehicles’ increasing ability to communicate (C2X, C2C), the rationalisation of freight distribution, the adoption of the “zero” vision for traffic accidents (basing the starting point on the human body’s resilience).

After the introductory speeches, the panellists started the debate.

Regarding the first question of the role of ITS in road safety, Mrs Elmsäter-Svard reiterated that there is both a human and a societal cost to accidents, which should be factored in, while Mr Karamitsos pointed out that other transport modes, such as maritime, have put ITS into deployment much faster.

Mr Karamitsos called for international agreement to enable the move to ITS deployment on the road network.

Mr Wu underlined that, based on China’s experience as a developing nation, the legal framework must accommodate not only ITS but also more basic road safety aspects, such as making drink driving or car racing crimes.

Answering the question, “Why has ITS not been implemented?”, Mr Karamitsos again returned to the comparison between different transport modes, pointing out that with road transport there are many actors, so reaching a consensus is correspondingly more difficult. Furthermore, ITS is still stuck in R&D departments – too few politicians or marketing departments are aware of it. He concluded by saying ITS must be moved up to a higher level.

Mrs Elmsäter-Svard noted the paradox that countries on the periphery were normally keen to have more traffic, equating it to more business, while more central countries viewed traffic as congestion.

Mr Wu, noting that China is a relative latecomer, said that the Chinese government would make efforts to foster the necessary structure for ITS deployment.

The next question was directly related to the topic of the plenary session – “How does ITS foster growth?”

Mr Wu answered that from the Chinese perspective, rapid urbanisation and modernisation made ITS indispensible – without it, growth would be further constrained.

Mr Karamitsos underlined that the transport sector is a large industry, and as such, its inherent efficiency or otherwise has knock-on effects. He also pointed out that if an extra 1% were added to the cost of infrastructure investment, and that 1% were dedicated to ITS, the cost benefit ration would be greatly favourable.

The next question for the panel was “Do we need global standards?”

Mrs Elmsäter-Svard answered in the affirmative, underlining the fact that Sweden, a small country, needs a European arena, but even that is not enough.

Mr Karamitsos differed slightly, answering both yes and no. While global standards would clearly be of benefit in some transport modes, for others, such as road traffic, with a generally limited national or regional scope, global standards are not only not necessary but could also be counterproductive – “Deployment should not be delayed for a global standard where a regional standard would suffice”.

The final question was directed at Mr Wu, about the future of high speed rail in China. Mr Wu highlighted China’s strategy of indigenous innovation coupled with international cooperation, and noted that the Chinese bet on high speed rail was proceeding apace.

Plenary II: Ingredients for implementing ITS policies to keep the economy moving –

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Mr LaHood called for more investment in transport, pointing out that, for example, 1 in 4 American bridges were of substandard quality, and 12% structurally deficient, while transport in general was overburdened and obsolete. Mr LaHood, in the context of the American Jobs Act (sent to Congress by US President Obama), called on the American Congress to act in the “American tradition”, and to get the unemployed back to work by investing in transport infrastructure.

After the keynote address, Mr Darbelnet introduced the three panellists: Allison Cerra (Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs for the

Americas, Alcatel-Lucent); Hiroyuki Watanabe (Chairman, ITS Japan); and Hauke Jürgensen (CEO of Intelligent Transport Systems, Siemens).

Mrs Cerra underlined the importance of transport in the economy – and the concurrent cost of transport inefficiency, noting that traffic congestion costs the US 1.5% of GDP, and accounts for 20% of emissions. With drivers in Washington DC spending an average of 74 hours per year stuck in traffic jams, Mrs Cerra noted that productivity is a key measure of success, and that ITS can help reduce wasteful congestion.

Mr Watanabe started by noting the contribution of ITS to society, in terms of safety, efficiency and energy. Referring to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan, he illustrated how ITS made a vital contribution to the rescue and reconstruction effort, for example, by using GSM or GPS data to have real-time maps of available and functioning road routes.

Mr Watanabe further went on to describe the innovations and rebuilding that Japan has embarked upon in the light of the disaster, including diversified, decentralised and autonomous energy management.

Mr Watanabe then illustrated the development of individual mobility from the 1900s to the near future, showing how many of the elements currently being researched in vehicles – zero fatalities, energy sustainability and autonomous driving – existed, to some extent, in an earlier age.

Mr Watanabe concluded by saying that vehicles supported economic growth, while at the same time creating many problems. ITS, and especially connected vehicle systems, are the solution to many of these problems.

The final panellist, Hauke Jürgensen, began by noting the interconnected nature of the transport system and the fact that traffic is an indicator of economic health. With congestion costing time and money, smooth traffic flow becomes ever more important. Furthermore, Mr Jürgensen remarked that cities, who compete with each other economically, are judged, amongst other factors, on their transport system. Thus, an efficient transport system reinforces growth.

Mr Jürgensen underlined that, logically, ITS not only supports job creation directly (software companies etc.), but also indirectly through providing a competitive edge by increasing transport efficiency.

Wednesday saw the second and final plenary session. Robert L. Darbelnet, President and CEO of the American Automobile Association, welcomed delegates

and introduced the keynote speaker, US Secretary of Transport, Ray LaHood.

Mr LaHood warmly expressed his appreciation of the ITS industry and thanked delegates for their work on making America’s roads safer.

Mr Jürgensen called for more funding to be made available in the transport sector, especially in the context of the European Commission’s ITS Action Plan, and further called upon industry to act as a partner to public authorities to push forward the deployment of ITS. He concluded, “ITS is not necessarily cheap to set up, but over its life cycle it pays for itself”.

Mr Darbelnet then launched the panel discussion, quoting two well-known aphorisms: “build it, and they will come”, and “build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door”. Mr Darbelnet asked the panel, in the context of the plenary theme, “What is the most important thing we can do?”

Mrs Cerra replied that the focus must be on jobs, and that the positive effect of ITS on the wider economy argued for its deployment.

Mr Jürgensen agreed, saying that the appropriate environment for the creation of jobs must be created, and, returning to and reinforcing his earlier point, that efficient transport was the number one factor for investors when choosing a city or region.

The second question was the higher death toll that the spread of vehicles into developing countries engendered.

Mr Watanabe answered, with the evident agreement of the other panellists, that the move towards a “zero” vision would be facilitated by the effective use and deployment of ITS, and that, as with telephony, developing countries can to some extent leapfrog the developed world through investing in the most modern ITS technologies.

Mr Darbelnet then asked the panel how ITS deployment could be achieved.

Mrs Cerra and Mr Jürgensen both pointed to the necessity of monetising ITS, and the need to increase road efficiency and safety, the later especially to create “buy-in” from users. Mr Jürgensen gave the example of parking reservation systems as the kind of application that would provide a real, noticeable and immediate benefit to both individuals and society.

Mr Watanabe for his part gave the example of ETC, leading to the progressive disappearance of toll gates in Japan. This has led to more efficient revenue gathering, and less time and emissions in comparison to the traditional toll gate.

Mr Darbelnet rounded off the questions by asking about the issue of privacy.

Mrs Cerra noted that whilst some are very privacy orientated, others are willing to go some way in exchanging privacy for efficiency and better services.

For his part Mr Jürgensen emphasised that “We cannot afford to compromise on data security”, with the same high security standards needed in the ITS industry as in the banking industry.

EU-Scientific

EU-Technical

AP-Scientific

AP-Technical

AM-Scientific

AM-Technical

Koen De Baets

Jan van Dijke

Huei-Ru Tseng

Yasuhiko Nakano

Asad Khattak

Christoph Mertz

How sustainable is route navigation? A comparison between commercial route planners and the policy principles of road categorisation

CityMobil, advanced road transport for the urban environment - final results

A secure aggregated message authentication scheme for vehicular ad hoc networks

Detecting driver’s drowsiness level with simple predetermined initial state

Queuing delays associated with secondary incidents

Continuous road damage detection using regular service vehicles

Ghent University

TNO

Industrial Technology Research Institute

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.

Old Dominion University

Carnegie Mellon University

Closing ceremony – Thursday 20 October 2011

The keynote address was delivered by William C. Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company. Mr Ford reflected upon the future of transport, noting that the “connection revolution” was the most dramatic change since the assembly line. Mr Ford also noted how, over the last 30 years, the motor industry has been very insular and lacked leadership on “green issues” , whereas now it is far more open and protecting the environment is seen to add value to shareholders.

Mr Ford expounded on his theme by noting that with the growing population of the world and its increasing wealth, problems loom. Whereas in today’s world there are 1 billion cars, by 2050

there will be between 2-4 billion, which will count as a serious challenge to future prosperity and the environment. There is thus a need for new technology, and Ford

has more than doubled its investment in intelligent vehicles in 2011.

Mr Ford again referred to the “connection revolution”, promoting the need for multi-modal travel. Technical changes were needed, but according to Mr Ford philosophical changes were also necessary. As Mr Ford said, “No one company can go it alone. You can never stop competition, but you

can start collaboration”.

The next element in the programme was the awards for the best scientific and technical papers of the Congress, according

to the three regions. John Peracchio, Programme Committee Chair, presented the awards:

The closing ceremony of the 18th ITS World Congress took place on Thursday 20 October. Patrick McGowan, World Congress Chair and President of Telvent North America, opened

proceedings by thanking the assembled delegates for making the Congress the success it was. He challenged delegates to consider how best to act following the Congress, and take the

opportunity to change the world for the better.

Following the awards, Reinhard Pfliegl, Chair Vienna 2012 Host Organising Committee, Midori Ito, Senior Director, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and James Barbaresso, Vice President for ITS at HNTB, introduced forthcoming ITS World Congresses in Vienna, Tokyo and Detroit respectively.

Please visit http://2012.itsworldcongress.com/content for the video of the Vienna Congress presentation

Finally, following the successful 18th ITS World Congress in Orlando, the “Passing of the Globe” ceremony took place, whereupon Ingolf Schädler, Deputy Director General Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, received the globe from the Americas.

ERTICO – ITS Europe looks forward to seeing you in Vienna, for the 19th ITS World Congress! 22-26 October 2012.

Facts and figures

General Facts

• More than 7,000 registrants from over 60 countries

• More than 250 exhibitors showcased cutting edge technology over 32 516.064 m2

• 25 demonstrations

• First ever Investor Matching service

• Over 100 co-located meetings and Workshops

Demonstrations

• Over 40 companies participated in 25 demos

• Many focused on connected vehicles

• Much of the technology will remain

Media Coverage

• More than 300 web and print stories/placements including Wired, Financial Times, Business Week,

Automotive World, Transportation Nation, and many more

• More than 46 television news hits

Produced in cooperation with: