Thinking Highways Europe/RoW Nov 2008

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Volume 3 Issue 4 November/Decem ber 2008

T H IN K IN G

H IG H W A Y SEUROPE/REST o f t h e WORLD EDITION

A d v a nc e d t r a n s p or t a t i o n m a n a g e m e n t

p o l i c y s t r a t e g y t e c h n o l o g y

f i n a n c e i n n o v at i o n i m p l e m e n t a t i o n

i n t e g r a t i o n i n t e r o p e r a b i l i t y

the

15 t h ITS WORLDCONGRESS SPECIAL

K NOWLEDGE IS POWERGar y Br idgemans c onnect edt rave l ler c oncep t

PREMIUM SPACESate l l i tes are back on theagenda, says Yanying Li

TH E SCIENCE OF TH INGSMarie-Christ ine Bonnamour

in t roduc es Kopern ikus

INTELLIGENTchoice


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www.q-free.com


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This really should have bee nmy 11th World Congres s onITS, but Ive m anage d tom iss three for very sim ilarreasons.

As a fairly sizeable portion ofthe ITS population heads forNew York City, I couldnt helpbut think back over myprevious seven congressionalexperiences and wonder whatmemories Im going to takeaway from this one.

I didnt get to go to Seoul in1998 so my first ITS WorldCongress was the followingyears in Toronto (I still use thebag on a daily basis). Myabiding memory from that oneis undoubtedly being asked totake a photograph of a

Japanese tourist while on theobservation deck at NiagaraFalls and just as I pressed theshutter about 25 of his friendsappeared out of nowhere andcrammed themselves into thepicture just before they all gotsoaked to the skin in Fallsspray.

The 2000 ITS WC was held inthe former FIAT factory inTurin and other than the

Editor-in-ChiefKevin Borras ([email protected])

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Contributing EditorsBruce Abernethy,Richard Bishop,Lee JNelson,Andrew Pickford,Phil Tarnoff,Paul Vorster,Harold Worr all

Contributors to this issueTom Antonissen,Richard Bishop,Marie-Christine Bonnamour, Gary Bridgeman,Bill Butler, Phil Charles,Maurizia Giglio,Jan Hellaker,Yanying Li, Stephen Lit tle,Dave Marples,Louis Nastro,MargaretPetti t, Peter Plisner,Ofer Ronen,Andrej Skobe,Mart in Stone, Phil Tarnoff,Sebas Van Den Ende

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T h i n k in g H ig h w a y s is published by H3B M edia Ltd.

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T h i n k in g H ig h w a y s is published quarterly in two editions North America andEurope/Rest of the World - and is available on subscription at 30/40 (Europe/RoW) andUS$60 (Nor th America).Distr ibuted in t he USA by DSW 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville,PA 17318-0437 USA. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER: send addresschanges to Thinking Highways,13705 Nor th Ivy lake Road,Chillicothe, Illinois 61523,USA.

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Congressional

memoriesTh i n k i n g Hi g h w a y s m a y b e e x h i b i t i n g a t a n ITS Wo rl dCo n g re s s fo r t h e f i rs t ti m e th i s y e a r, b u t s o m e o f u s

h a v e b e e n m a k i n g a s h o w o f o u rs e l v e s f o r y e a rs . . .

1T h in k in g H ig h w a y s Vol 3 No 4w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o m

Foreword Thinking

Managing DirectorLuis Hill

Publishing Director

Kevin Borras

www.thinkinghighways.com

Kevin Borras isco-founder andpublishing directorof H3B Media andeditor-in-chie f ofThinking Highways

were mugged in the city andthe expo center seemed to getfurther away every day.

I elected to give Nagoya amiss (shame that hurricane

didnt) so my next WorldCongress was San Francisco,

venue for the VII-precursor,the IMS showcase, and thechance to visit one of the mosticonic river crossings in the

world, the Golden Gate Bridge.Shame the fog was so thick youcouldnt see it even when you

were on it.London 2006 meant I could

leave my house at 8am and beon the exhibition floor an hourlater, but the abding memoryof that one was the fact that wechose to launch ThinkingHighways at our home event.That was something wellnever forget and were verypleased to say that two years(and another missed Asian ITSWorld Congress) later, werestill here.

Youve made us feel verywelcome, I must say, and I look

forward to seeing you in NewYork... and Stockholm... andBusan... T H

AdministrationJodie Graham ([email protected])

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VisualisationTom Waldschmidt ([email protected])

Conferences and EventsOdile Pignier (odile@h3bmedia.,com)

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Financial DirectorMartin Brookstein

EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISIN GH3B Media Ltd, 15 Onslow Gardens,Wallington, Surrey SM6 9QL,UKTel +44 (0)208 254 9406Fax+44 (0)208 647 0045Email [email protected]

incredibly long walk from theshowfloor to the press room,the thing that sticks in mindfrom that show was theannouncement over the public

address system that George WBush had won the USPresidential election, despitethe fact that it wasnt madeofficial for another six weeks.

Sydney 2001 is probably myfavourite location, the stunningbackdrop of the city skyline,the superb dinner at the zooand accidentally sleeping for16 hours on my first day in

Australia leaving the mostlasting impressions. Twelvemonths later, sitting in a bar onthe 100th floor of the HancockTower in Chicago, watchingaeroplanes take off fromOHare and seemingly headstraight for us, gave me anunsettling but mercifully brieftaste of just what a horrificexperience being in the WorldTrade Center a year earliermust have been.

Madrid 2003 was an odd one.

Still the best Congress food, ithad an odd atmosphere asquite a number of delegates


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T he Voice from Brussels

As Thinking Highw ays publishers g ave m e s uch atight deadline to ens ure thatsom e of you were able toread this at the ITS WorldCongres s you will now be

cordially treated with anover vie w of EU trans port-initiatives in the pipeline,com bined with an analysisof a slowing down-phenom enon, linked totime but not to distance (soactually nothing to do withcongestion).

My point is that a self-fulfilling prophesy is takingplace, in that the European

Commission is clearlypostponing several transport-related legislative initiatives,

while at political level both theParliament and the Council of

Applyingthe brakes

Ministers are launching pressstatements by the hour thatuse the wording: ... will doour utmost to have thisproposal adopted in firstreading in the European

Parliament and by the Councilbefore the last PlenarySession preceding the June2009 elections.

Kee ping trackThough it can be argued thatsuch legislative initiatives donot matter much to your dailybusinesses, this postponementdoes matter to the Brusselscrowd, especially those that

seek to influence theEuropean Commissionsthinking and acting within atransport policy that affects all500m of us.

TOM AN TON ISSEN o n h o w Eu r o p e s

t ra n s p o rt i n i t i a t iv e s a re s l o w in g d o w n

w i t h o u t s i g n s o f c o n g e s t i o n

There are a number ofimportant initiatives that needto be followed:

The Action Plan on Urban

Mobility

A case in point, since theGreen Paper on UrbanMobility was adopted inSeptember 2007, whichsignalled the launch of apublic consultation that endedin March 2008.

Since then, the mantra hasbeen that this Green Paper willbe followed by an Action Plan(thus containing legislativeproposals, much like a White

Paper), but a few weeks ago,the Director General of DGTransport and Energy of theCommission stated that thepublication of this Action Plan

4 Vol 3 No 4 T h in k in g H ig h w a y s w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o m


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X x x x x

2008 Image Sensing Systems, Inc.

At the junction of a

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Ro b e r t Ke l ly a n d M a r k Jo h n s o n

in freight and outlines thevision of paperless informationflows accompanying thephysical shipment of goods. Itshould also help make trafficmanagement more efficient bypromoting IntelligentTransport Systems as well asfacilitate the roll-out ofinnovative services andemerging technologies suchas RFID and the possibilitiesoffered by satellite services.

Freig ht expec tationsBe that as it may, and withseveral initiatives alreadyfollowing this Action Plan (forexample on maximum

dimensions and so-callede-Freight), a general feeling isthat also in this important areaof Freight Transport theCommission is dragging itsfeet and the further outcome ofthis noble initiative is being

jeopardised by the highlypoliticised discussion on theGreening Transport Packageand the proposed review of theEurovignette Directive.

On the other hand, aninteresting legislativeproposal to look forward to

will be a Regulation on aFreight Oriented Network,to be launched in October2008. This Regulation (whichshould have direct legislativeeffect in the Member States)

will propose measures toreinforce cooperationbetween InfrastructureManagers, to allow sufficient

capacity to rail freight and toimprove the operationsrelating to rail freight transportalong international corridors.Interoperability, anyone?

The Green Pape r on TEN-T

As well an issue tackled in theaforementioned Package, theCommission is planning areview of currentdevelopments regarding the

Trans-European TransportNetwork (TEN-T) and thehighly controversial 30 priorityprojects (where theCommission has earmarked

had been delayed till at leastthe beginning of 2009.

Speaking at the EuropeanTransport Forum in Brussels(see www.europeantransport-forum.eu for reports and acontinued online discussionplatform), the Director Generalgave as reasons for the delay achange of TransportCommissioner and asubsequent changeover of thestaff within the Cabinet of theCommissioner. As everybodyin Brussels knows, this excuseis thinly veiled, since aCommissioner (and theCabinet) rarely provides anycontent into such EU initiatives.

So what would be the realreason for this delay?Disagreement betweenofficials from differentDirectorates General? Politicaldisagreement at the level ofthe College ofCommissioners?

All we know is that theCommission stressed againthat this Action Plan willrespect the principle ofsubsidiarity (meaning thatthey promise they will notoblige cities to follow EU laws,

just provide recommendationsand exchange of bestpractices), and that the mainelements will be: IntelligentTransport Systems,interoperability and thedefinition of harmonised rulesfor green zones. Naturally, thetopic of congestion charging

will also be tackled, so it is

definitely an initiative tomonitor closely!

The ITS Action Plan

As amply described in aprevious column, the ITS

Action Plan was supposed tobe the natural follow-up of apublic consultation (and aWorkshop) that ended inMarch, and was preceded byan ITS Roadmap in October

2007. In many Commissiondocuments, the previewedtime of presentation of this

Action Plan was September2008. There has been no news

A slightly more recent textadds that the Action Planshould be accompanied by alegislative proposal to set up acommittee of Member States

that will help accelerating ITSdeployment in Europe. Now,isnt that good news?

The Freight Transport Action

Plan

Here we are moving into thedomain of the massiveGreening Transport Package(though the best is saved forlast). In fact, the Commissionhad proposed a Freight

Transport Logistics ActionPlan in October 2007, whichencourages the use ofinformation andcommunication technologies

Everybody inBrussels knows

that new EUCommissionersrarely provide

personal contentfor initiatives

since. In this case, the answerfor the delay might be givenon the Commissions own

website: The initiative issupported by 5 Directoratesclosely co-operating:Directorate General Energyand Transport, InformationSociety and Media, Research,Enterprise and Industry andEnvironment.

However, it is definitelyworthwhile to follow thisinitiative closely, as it isaiming at launching andsupporting a limited numberof targeted actions to unlockthe full potential of ITS inserving EU policies in the field

of enhanced road safety,improved transport efficiencyand reduced environmentalimpact and to create themomentum necessary tospeed up market penetrationof (rather mature) ITSapplications and services.

6 Vol 3 No 4 T h in k in g H ig h w a y s w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o m


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over 5 bn investment in thosesensitive cross-borderprojects, with over 70% of thebudget going to rail-basedprojects).

Several documents state thatthis review should lead to aGreen Paper on TEN-T, wherethe Commission would reviewkey issues related to how tobetter respond to climatechange objectives and how tomeet future transport servicedemand in the most efficient

way.Interesting issues that will be

tackled include using some ofthe TEN-T funding to promotefree-flow interoperable toll

collection systems on theTEN-T network, as well as touse ITS for road transportoptimisation and co-modality.

However, though it wasstated that this review process

would kick off in October withthis Green Paper, all that isknown now is that TEN-Tdays will take place behindclosed doors, and that theGreen Paper would beforeseen by January 2009, withthe objective of legislativeproposals in 2010.

Everyone with an interest inthis Trans-European TransportNetwork should definitelykeep their eyes on this one!

The Eurovigne tte III Directive

(Gree ning Transport Package )

Coming back to the point Imade earlier, while mosttransport-related initiatives

seem to be jammed up in thenarrow alleys that link thedifferent Commissiondepartments, the proposedreview of the EurovignetteDirective is still subject of veryintense debates in theEuropean Parliament and theCouncil, with the timetable setto reach agreement before thecrucial month of June 2009.

Within the Transport

Committee, the MEPs are nowlocking their horns on issuessuch as the methodology andcalculations of the identifiedexternalities (which are noise,

air pollution and congestion,while CO2 and accidents arestill being pushed forward bySocialist and Green MEPs);caps on the maximum amountof external costs that can becharged; extending the scopeof the Directive to all roads (sonot only TEN-T) except forurban roads (as thereCongestion Charges shouldapply) and earmarking theadditional revenue toinfrastructure investments andtransport alternatives (whileavoiding that FinanceMinisters will compensate thisby off-setting the extrarevenue to decreases in the

non-earmarked transportbudget).

Two nice stand-offs areadded: mandatory versusoptional approach (the second

T he Voice from Brussels

contender is winning) andtime-based charging versusdistance-based (where againthe second option is winning,though they might becomefriends and decide to spendtheir lives together).

A que stion of tim eThe timetable proposed is thatthe Parliaments report shouldbe adopted in the TransportCommittee in January 2009,then moving to the Plenary inMarch. At the same time, theFrench Presidency of the EU

was pushing for an agreementin the Council before the endof its term at the end ofDecember.

Looking at the intense

discussions taking placebetween different politicalgroups in the Parliament as

well as between MemberStates in the Council of

T h in k in g H ig h w a y s Vol 3 No 4 7w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o m

Almost everyday a new

Position Paper isbeing launchedwith new ideas,

suggestions andobjections

Ministers. Hold your breath tosee if this timetable can be met.

On the other hand, this doesnot mean that the transportstakeholders are being quieton the issue, since almost everyday a new Position Paper isbeing launched with newideas, suggestions and/orobjections. My personalfavourite at this point is the10-page document issued bythe Austrian Federal Chamberof Labour, which is to becategorised as a trade unionand has some quite peculiarideas and suggestions on thematter.

End piec eLet me leave those number-crunchers among you withsome interesting data comingfrom the European ParliamentsTransport Committee(courtesy of the GRACE-project, www.grace-eu.org/sample.htm):

The cost of Transportrepresents 1-9 per cent of finalproduct value

Mean value for operationaltransport costs: 1/km

Mean value for fuel:30 cents/km (based onfollowing assumptions: 30 litreper 100 km, 1 per litre)

Infrastructure cost: 13-30cents/km (mean value 20cents)

Air pollution, noise, andcongestion: 4-6 cents per kmfor a Euro IV truck (2 centsmore for Euro III; 1 cent less for

Euro V) Three externalities, only if

applied everywhere wouldinduce an increase inoperational costs for freightoperators of between 3-7 percent

CO2 cost (following theIMPACT handbook): 2 centsper km

Accidents costs (followingthe IMPACT handbook): 4-6

cents per km. T H

Contact the author at either

[email protected]

or w ww.logos-eu.com


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Haddonsanti-collider

Prof Phil Charles Australian Update

Vol 3 No 4 T h in k in g H ig h w a y s w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o m8

W h a ts i s t h e o p t i m u m m e t h o d f o r tra f fi c i n c i d e n t

p re v e n t io n ? P R OF P H IL CHAR LES h a s t h e a n s w e r

Rising traffic co nge stion inurban areas has res ulted inan increase d focus on theec onomic, financial andtravel reliability im pacts.

Understanding trafficincident causation and then anincreased emphasis onprevention, has the potential tosignificantly reduce thenumber and impact of traffic

incidents.It is instructive to look at the

extensive research in thecauses of crashes and thedevelopment of a body ofknowledge on traffic safetycountermeasures and injuryprevention. There is littlepublished research into causesof traffic incidents.

Anecdotally, causes of trafficincidents include such things

as inattention, careless orreckless driving behaviour,excessive speed, poor

judgement, impairment(alcohol, fatigue, drugs etc),

distraction, poor loading ofgoods vehicles, insufficientfuel, unroadworthy vehicles,road works and adverse

weather.

Before the e ventThe modern scientificapproach to traffic safety reallybegan with Dr WilliamHaddon, who in the late 1960s

developed the first systematicmethod of identifying acomplete range of options forreducing traffic crash impacts.

The Haddon matrix (seeexample in Table 1, page 10)applies basic principles ofpublic health to the problem oftraffic safety and is an effectivetool for revealing where and

when to best conduct trafficsafety interventions to reduce

the potential for a crash tooccur and reduce the severityof those that do occur.

Adapting Haddons Matrixfor incident prevention,

focusing on the before eventphase, potential incident riskscan be assessed, as in theexample in Table 2 (also onpage 10), after analysis of dataof incident history.

Three EsThe three main approaches toprevent road crashes (thethree Es) of engineering

(measures focused oninfrastructure) enforcementand education can also beapplied to incident prevention.Countermeasures can then bedeveloped to address theidentified causes and potentialrisks.

Education: for road safetythis means driver training andincludes various education orinformation campaigns. For

incident prevention, educationcould also be extended toprovision of real-timeinformation of trafficconditions etc, plus advice on


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X x x x x

ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH

Opladener Strasse 202

40789 Monheim, Germany

Tel. +49 (0) 21 73 - 39 40 - 0Fax +49 (0) 21 73 - 39 40 - 169

export@robot .de

www.traffipax.com

Since 75 years Robot Visual Systems stands for develop-

ment of modern camera technology. Today we are the

market leader in the area of transport surveillance and

transport safety technology. Our stationary and mobilesystems should contribute to measurably reducing t raffic

accidents. This is our vision; ROBOT is working on it each

day with its highly specialised team.

ITS ALL ABOUT TRAFFIC SAFETY.

75 years ROBOT Visual Systems


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Ro b e r t Ke l ly a n d M a r k Jo h n s o n

driving safer and avoidingincidents.

Enforcement: obviouslyapplies to action to enforcethe road rules to minimisehigh-risk driver behaviour. Inmany cases traffic incidentsare also caused byinappropriate driverbehaviour, such as speeding,so a perception that a roadwayis being managed, by anappropriate level ofenforcement, will improvesafety, and also reduceincidents. Intelligent transportsystems, such as automatedcamera enforced variablespeed limits can manage the

speed of traffic, improve trafficflows, and reduce crashes andincidents.

Regulations, penalties andenforcement can also be usedto ensure vehicleroadworthiness, improve loadstability and reduce thepotential for vehicles runningout of fuel at critical locations.

Engineering : High-risklocations or blackspot is anapproach to tackle unsafesituations at locations with themost crashes. A similarapproach could be taken fortraffic incidents, identifyinghigh-risk locations throughdata analysis.

Meas ure for me asureIncident prevention principlesinclude providing a consistentand predictable roadenvironment, in terms of

functionality of the road andspeed profile.

Narrow shoulders andstructures, and tunnelsprovide hazardous situationsand increase the potential forincidents or when an incidentdoes occur increases thelikely impact. Providing widershoulders and rumble strips atthe edge of the lane aremeasure that can be used in

high-risk locations.Road works often introduceadditional hazards and risks,such as narrower lanes, lowerstandard geometry, lower

quality surface conditions anddistractions. Enforcingappropriate driver behaviour,

including lower speed limitsand ensuring good delineationof the path throughconstruction zones are keymeasures to reduce incidents.

Traffic incident preventioncountermeasures haveconsiderable potential in

reducing the impact ofincident induced congestionon major traffic routes. T H

[email protected]

Prof Phil Charles Aust ralian Update

w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o m10 Vol 3 No 4 T h in k in g H ig h w a y s

PhasesFactors

Before Crash In Crash After Crash

Human Behaviour(drivers, cyclists,pedestrians etc)

Training,experience

Behaviour &attitudes, eg drinkdriving, speeding

Use of in-vehiclerestraints eg seatbelts

Emergencyresponse

Vehicle &Equipment

Primary safety, egbraking,roadworthiness,visibility

Secondary safety impact protection

Tertiary safety victim extraction

Road Environment

Delineation, roadgeometry, surface

conditionVisibility, weather

Roadside safety,eg clear zones,

safety barriers

Restoration

Risk reduction

Before Incident Causes/Risks

Drivers

Health & fitness: vision, reaction time, fatigueBehaviour & attitudes: speeding, impairment, risk

taking, attention to driving task, distractionsInformation: traffic conditions, weather

Vehicle &

Equipment

RoadworthinessLoad stabilityOperation (fuel etc)

RoadEnvironment

Delineation, road geometry, surface condition,shoulders, traffic control devices

Structures, tunnelsRoad works

Table 1: Haddons Ma trix - Cras h Analys is o f Traffic Safety Ris ks

Table 2: Analysi s of Incide nt Cause s/ Risks


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X x x x x

ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH

Opladener Strasse 202

40789 Monheim, Germany

Tel. +49(0)2173- 3940 -0Fax +49(0)2173- 3940 -169

export@robot .de

www.traffipax.com

ITS ALL ABOUT TRAFFIC SAFETY.

75 years ROBOT Visual Systems

Since 75 years Robot Visual Systems stands for develop-

ment of modern camera technology. Today we are the

market leader in the area of transport surveillance and

transport safety technology. Our stationary and mobilesystems should contribute to measurably reducing t raffic

accidents. This is our vision; ROBOT is working on it each

day with its highly specialised team.


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Th i n k i n g Hi g h w a y s f i n a n c i a l a n a ly s t M AR GAR ET

P E TTIT l o o k s a t th e Eu ro p e a n Te r ri to r ia l

Co o p e ra t io n P ro g ra m m e a n d f i n d s th a t l i k e w i th

a n y o t h e r m a jo r p ro g ra m m e , i t s a m a t te r o f p r i o r i t i e s

Stunted

growth

Co n n e c t e d Tra v e l l e r

Vol 3 No 4 T h in k in g H ig h w a y s12 w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o m

Let s getgoing...

Every minute of every day we will have an elec-

tronic devic e w ith us. Everything we consum e, allthe media, the communications, it will be onlineand tailored and personalised and real-time andinteractive. Our computers, our phones, our TVs,well talk to them , theyll recognis e our voices andour language and our intent; Ill just say to my c om -puter get m e ready for trip to Europe in two we ek s.

And it will go and get all the trip reports and all of thenews clippings about the companies that Im going tosee and bring them down and organise them for me toread. Because the computer will understand what Imsaying and where Im going and what Im thinking about.

Today we have these big islands, people have theirphone and its got SMS messages and a contact systemand youve got your PC and its got another set of con-tacts for IM [instant messenger] and emailjust crazyall these islands of information.

Gary Bridgem an is a project manager at

ERTICO-ITS Europ e and coordinates the

i-Travel project, mo re de tails can be found at

www.i-travelproject.com . The project is look ing

for com panies involved in the travel and

transport sector w ith an interest inproviding services to the e-Marke tplace.

Catch up with the latest i-Travel news and Garys

op inion on all things re lating to travel at the i-travel

blog at http://itravelproject.wordpress.com/


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Cl i m a t e Ch a n g e


Co n n e c te d Tra v e l l e r

Wh a t i s t h e Co n n e c t e d Tra v e l le r Co n c e p t a n d h o w d o e s i t

a p p l ly to a d v a n c e d tra n s p o r ta t io n m a n a g e m e n t ? Al l o w

E RT ICO -IT S Eu r o p e s GAR Y B R ID GE M AN t o e l u c i d a t e

How do we bring these together to make them smooth?

People want really tailored information that is exactlyright for them

This vision of the future was presented recently bySteve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, in an interview forthe BBCs Money Box programme. Its definitely a visionof the future that I share with him but unfortunately Idont get invited to articulate mine on television, soThinking Highways will have to do.

How it applie sI recently took a well-deserved skiing holiday, with amidweek flight leaving at 8:30am. I had calculated that

leaving my house at 6:00am would give us ample time toreach the airport which is only 40km away.The route follows a journey I take every day and usu-

ally means I reach the motorways airport turn off, if Ileave at 6:30am, in about 30 minutes. Logic suggested

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 provensorely wrong. An accident had held the traffic up caus-ing a major delay on the motorway, with no informationof the cause of traffic jam. At first the weight of trafficseemed like the usual congested Thursday morningdrive in Brussels. Luckily we were allowed onto the flightbut only after a lot of stress.

Im sure you all have examples similar to mine andnowadays traffic information is integrated into naviga-tion systems so already there is a solution to this prob-

lem, but this isnt the whole solution and as Steve Ballmersays, in-vehicle traffic information exists in an island oftechnology.

Getting up at 5:30am I didnt feel the need to check online for the traffic information before leaving the house.


16/92

If I had done maybe I would have seen the accident andof course if Id turned on my portable navigation deviceearly enough I would have been able to avoid the trafficaccident and arrive in time to spend time shopping induty free, but I was about to embark on a journey that

was very well-known to me so again didnt see the

need.Wake up and c hec k inHowever, it is not only the delay experienced travellingto the airport that is the problem. I checked out flighttimes on the internet using different flight booking web-sites, some offered by the airlines themselves, someoffering a portal that checks all the airlines, but eventhese are not comprehensive.

Some miss out the low-cost carriers such as Ryan Airand Easy Jet, so time is spent looking at these and maybe,since we live in a technological age, Ill use a spread-sheet program to capture the different ticketing options

based on price and time of day etc. The booking proc-ess doesnt stop there either.

Next came the booking of accommodation. I lookedfor accommodation online and weighed up severaloptions before booking a cabin; once this was done Ihired skis and a snowboard, once again online.

Finally checking out the options for getting to the skiresort from the airport, bus and train times were con-sulted, even wading through the process of pretendingto book so that I can check the price for the train ticket.In the end a car was hired, once again online, directlyfrom the car hire website.

The arrival of the internet has given us the ability tobecome our own travel agent but it seems to me that thisis a double-edged sword with thesearch for information being labour-intensive and time-consuming, a wholehost of information needs to bereviewed and assessed, my credit carddetails need to be put into several dif-ferent web site forms and I received amultitude of emails confirming eachpart of my journey, which all wereprinted and stapled together to pro-duce at various points along the way.

When I started my trip, though, I lacked the on-tripinformation to inform me of when I needed to leave myhome, while in the car I lacked the ability for my traveldelay and context to be automatically taken into account(perhaps rebooking my flight to a later one to removesome of the stress induced because of the delay).

Islands in a s trea mThis real-life use case is one that the connected travellerconcept is aiming to tackle. As Ballmer says, the travelprocess exists in islands of technology and this isntrestricted to holiday booking, in Europe alone there are

over 600 public transport network internet sites and atleast 170 telematics-based real-time transport informa-tion systems.

With the information spread across several hundred websites and a multitude of hardware devices this


Vol 3 No 4 T h in k in g H ig h w a y s14

presents its own difficulty. Once you have located theinformation there is no assurance that the information

will be in a language you can understand.Such information systems are only good for the infor-

mation at the moment that you access them, real-timebus arrival information is only good while you are at the

bus stop. Its no good to the traveller deciding how totravel downtown who is not in sight of the informationnor any good for the business traveller who has turnedup at the airport in an unfamiliar country wanting totravel to his meeting or hotel.

They are in an unknown environment and as such it ismore convenient to take a taxi rather than to try to usepublic transport which may be cheaper and greener.

A connected traveller would have a virtual travelassistant connecting all key stages of the journey, espe-cially when conditions or events are difficult, abnormal,or something unforeseen is happening. By using real-time and context-specific information such as location,

proximity to transport services, journey purpose, timeof day, calendar entries etc. - a trusted travel assistantcould plan each journey booking electronic tickets, andthen co-pilot the traveller along his itinerary, alertinghim whenever there is an interesting opportunity, aproblem or a choice to be made. The personal electronicdevice that hosts such a travel assistant would act as thephysical ticket for the journey no matter what the modalchoice.

PDA-to-ZSuch a ubiquitous and pervasive service will be deliv-

ered to a customer at any time and anywhere and willhelp to link seamlessly a number of journey legs madeby different modes of transport. Furtherto this the digital assistant could act as afloating traveller probe, collectinganonymous information on the travel-lers actual context and providing this toa floating travel data pool for use bytransport and travel companies to cal-culate real-time demand on the serv-ices, what if standing in a taxi queue theassistant 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 andtroughs in traveller demand, say after a sporting event?

The connected traveller concept also addresses theneeds of traveller information and service providers.Whereas today they depend on the initiative of a travel-ler to seek out their services via the Internet or to seetheir advertisements in the media, at a station or onboard a transport vehicle, in the future service provid-ers 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 conges-tion and environmental impacts, transport operatorsand local authorities need to make collective transportservices as attractive as possible, and influence modal

w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o m

Such informationsystems are only

good for theinformation at themoment that you

access them


17/92

TUNNEL ROAD URBAN

Trafcons Automatic Incident Detection solution has led toa higher level o saetyin morethan 250tunnels!

LodeCaenepeel, Sales Director Trafcon

FROMTHEDIRECTOR OFTHEWORLD OFTRAFFICVIDEODETECTION

OUT ONTHESTREETS, EVERY SECONDCOUNTS.

FRANCE FRJUS TUNNEL U.A.E. BEIRUTAIRPORTTUNNEL SLOVENIA PODMILJ& TROJANE TUNNEL TURKEY BOLEMANPERSEMBLE TUNNELSOUTH AFRICA HUGUENOTTUNNELTHE NETHERLANDS BENELUX TUNNEL HONGKONG LIONROCKTUNNEL GERMANY SCHWARZERBERGTUNNEL

A TRAFICONFILM

WWW.TRAFICON.COM

TUNNEL ROAD URBAN

FROM THEDIRECTOR OFTHEWORLD OFTRAFFIC VIDEO DETECTION

WHEREEVER THEROAD TAKES YOU

BELGIUM ANTWERP FRANCE A28 MALAYSIA KUALA LUMPUR U.S.A. ATLANTA CHINA BEIJING RUSSIA MOSCOW IRELANDM50 DUBLINITALY BRESCIA (A4)VERONA (A31) GREECE ATHENS SWITZERLAND A12 FRIBOURG NORWAY E39 GERMANY STRELASUND

ATRAFICONFILM

OurVIP modules automaticallydetect trafc incidents suchas queues or stopped vehicles within seconds, leading toa

signifcant reduction in economical and ecological cost.JoVersavel,ManagingDirector Trafcon

WWW.TRAFICON.COM

Easyinstallation and confguration with a vehiclepresencedetectionrateover 99%is the basic starting-point or our R&D team.

Peter Jame, R&D Director Trafcon

TUNNEL ROAD URBAN

FROM THEDIRECTOR OFTHEWORLD OFTRAFFIC VIDEO DETECTION

NO JAMS. JUST DRIVING.

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

A TRAFICON FILM

WWW.TRAFICON.COM

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THEW RL O

T A FI ID O E E TI N

TUNNEL ROAD URBAN

What Hollywood is to the movie industry, Trafcon isto the trafc video detection industry: THE reerence.

Stijn Vandebuerie, Marketing & Communications Trafcon

A THRILLING TRILOGY

DIRECTED BY TRAFICON

EPISODE I EPISODE II EPISODE III

TR

AFFIC

PRO O

F


18/92


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 choicesneed to be delivered directly to users, ideally beforethey set out on a journey.

Although travellers needs are well understood andresearched, until now no satisfactory solution has beenfound that combines a simple, intuitive user interface

with a context-aware intelligent agent that can interpretand satisfy a travellers needs, together with a virtualmarketplace where users requests and providers offerscan meet.

It is important to note that the connected traveller con-

cept is not an idea to build a single repository of infor-mation which captures all the travel services available,such a system would be incredibly costly and unwieldyto support. For one who would host the servers used tostore this information?

Bringi ng the ide a to m arketThe connected traveller concept relies on building a

virtual marketplace which would exist to allow a set oftechnologies, services, interfaces, procedures and goodpractice collectively endorsed by the community andoperating 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 amultitude of virtual travel agents representing con-nected travellers from around the world come to searchfor offers of real-time information and value-addedtravel services on behalf of their ( human) customers. Asa supplier of accommodation, traffic information, airlinetickets, bus and tram arrival times, tourism informationand other commercial services, the connected travellerconcept opens up for you a one stop shop window withunlimited potential, where B2B customers will come

with their traveller clients requests and you can negoti-

ate and close a sale automatically.It is clear today that there are many methods availablefor the traveller to get information on their travel needs,it is however the merging of these many services withthe contextual aspect that is missing.

As a first step the i-Travel project is defining require-

ments and assessing system concept options for a per-sonal travel assistant service framework. The project

will analyse general business and institutional condi-tions across European travel information markets,including reviewing the available technologies, describ-ing traveller profiles and analysing the aims, use casesand processes of the stakeholder groups.

The i-Travel project started out with a vision exactlylike Ballmers: how to connect all the islands of informa-tion into one seamless service hosted on a device thatknows 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 andtransport services, technologies and stakeholders.

Identify main traveller scenarios, multi-modaluse cases of i-Travel service platform, and require-ments.

Describe main stakeholder operational andbusiness processes and needed cooperation.

Evaluate standardised technological and archi-tectural options for the i-Travel service platform to ena-ble delivery of context-aware services.

Create organisational models and businesstools for the i-Travel supplier community, and begin

acquisition of first community members. Make a feasibility and risk assessment, and pro-

pose a roadmap for seamless travel services settingout the milestones and development targets along thepath towards deployment.

Present virtual demonstration of i-Travelresults, and identify scenarios and strategies for i-Traveldemonstrations in major European and developingcountry cities.

Funded through the EC Directorate General forResearch, the project started in January 2008 and willfinish in June 2009 but will lay the ground work for future

projects to deliver the actual intelligent travel agentsoftware to enable both mine and Steve Ballmers visionof the future. T H

[email protected]

The Connecte d Travelle r Conce pt



19/92

RADARLUX Radar Systems Gmb H

Rt tgerw eg 10

D-51371 Leverkusen, Germany

Phone +49 (0) 2 14 - 20 64 94 -0

Fax +49 (0) 214 - 20 64 94 -100

inf [email protected]

www.radarlux.com

TEMPODIS placed around school zones,

roadwork sites and temporary speed

zones will remind motorists to what is

really essent ial: the safet y of pedest rians

and ot her road users.

Without prosecutions and bureaucracyand even without structural alterations

TEMPODIS calms the trafc ow.

Comprehensive st atistical i nf orm ation is

available cont act us for more inf ormation!

Som et im es som e dr ivers

need a gent le rem ind er


20/92

Stunted

growth

Th i n k i n g Ca rs


The European Commissions Smartest Cars VideoProject (SCVP) is m aking a hig h-quality, two-hourTV documentary program intended for broadcastthroug hout Europe .

The intent of SCVP is to raise public awareness aboutthe dangers on the road and the greater safety offeredby active safety systems, including systems such aselectronic stability control, forward collision mitigation,

lane departure prevention, and eCall. Under the work-ing title of Thinking Cars, the program is planned forcompletion in mid-2009. SCVP staff includes experts inITS and intelligent vehicles, as well as people withextensive experience in creating television documen-taries on technical topics. The project supports the

Awareness Pillar of the i2010 Intelligent Car Initiativeand is funded by the Information Society and MediaDirectorate within the European Com-mission.

As reported in earlier issues ofThinking Highways, SCVP is taking aimat the relatively low public awareness

of active safety systems. Led by H3BMedia, a top quality TV documentary isbeing produced under the workingtitle of Thinking Cars. The idea is toreach 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 availablewhich can potentially prevent that next crash which maylurk in your future.

My role is to manage content research and liaise withthe vehicle industry for SCVP, with H3B Medias CEOLuis 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 activesafety in a manner to enable this content to be trans-

formed into a television documentary. This processtook place during the first half of 2008.

Proven television techniques have been used in craft-ing the programme concept. While there can be a natu-ral inclination from the engineering side to present a

very direct active safety message in Thinking Cars, TVdocumentaries are by nature indirect, or else the pro-gram can be perceived as an infomercial and the viewer

quickly changes the channel. An effective TV documen-tary must interweave a variety of aspects from uniqueperspectives to maintain the viewers interest andreceptivity to the main points. In particular, the reality ofover 100 deaths per day in Europe must go beyond theintellectual and take root at an emotional level to makethe documentary memorable for viewers.

Man and m achine, interfacingIn consultation with an Industry

Advisory Council and the EuropeanCommission, a programme concept, ortreatment, has been developed

which is the blueprint for the creativeprocess. Fundamentally, ThinkingCars explores the changing nature ofthe relationship between man and

machine. Since the human is not ideally suited for driv-ing, because of perceptual limitations and lapses inattention, how can machine intelligence make up thedifference to increase road safety?

The first episode focuses on the power and limitationsof the intelligent vehicle, i.e. the car brain. The secondepisode focuses on what scientists are learning about-the nature of driving and human shortcomings - particu-

larly on how to design active safety systems to supportthe driver at the optimal level to both stay engaged andbe supported in critical situations.

Todays testing with crash test dummies - the viewerscurrent idea of car safety - serves as the jumping off

The reality ofover 100 deaths

per day in Europemust go beyond theintellectual

Th e p ro g ra m m e c o n c e p t h a s b e e n c o m p l e t e d fo r Th e

Eu r o p e a n Co m m i s s i o n s Th i n k in g Ca r s TV d o c u m e n t a r y

th a t is b e i n g p ro d u c e d b y H 3 B M e d i a . R ICHAR D B ISHOP, o n e o f

th e p r o je c t s e x e c u t iv e p ro d u c e rs , re p o r ts a s t h e p r o c e s s o f p u t ti n g o u r c o l l e c t iv e i d e a s t o f i l m f i n a l ly b e g i n s . . .

Shootingcars... H 3 B M E D I A L I M I T E D


21/92




19T h in k in g H ig h w a y s Vol 3 No 4

Crash dum my testing at Volvo Carswith the author in close attendanc e

Daim ler Brain Cap expe rime ntalse tup with door-mount cam era

Preparations to filming a c rash

recreation in CTAG Driving Simula torin Spain,whic h will show thedifferenc e active sa fety could have

made to avoid the crash com pletely


22/92


w w w . t h i n k i n g h i g h w a y s . c o mVol 3 No 4 T h in k in g H ig h w a y s20

Filming pedestrian detection/ avoidance atDaim ler with Hans

Close-up on the pedes trian detection sce nario

Capturing e me rgency braking based onforward collisio n warning at the BMW tes ttrack (left to right: sound rec ordist Ao Loo,cine ma tographer Mike Ellis and direc torRoxana Spicer)

This vehicle from an actual crash wasrepositioned on the roadside forfilming with Volvo Cars


23/92



point to introduce active safety. The treatment docu-ment (which will be available as a public deliverable)provides a comprehensive look at the elements to beincluded in the two-part documentary series. Systemsfrom a wide swathe of the European car industry willappear in the program via live-action film, computer

generated graphics and simulations.Its about the people ...

A crucial technique in the documentary is to focus on asmall number of key characters who have a personalstory relating to active safety. These are people workingin the active safety domain who have themselves beenin car crashes. This is designed to maximize their cred-ibility in the eyes of the viewer as well as to provide astrong back story. As part of the documentary, thesecharacters will experience recreations of the crashes(in simulation, driving simulators, and possibly crashtest facilities) showing how the outcome could have

been different with active safety.Elements of the first hour include: the detective world of accident reconstruc-

tion - reconstructing accidents employing new activesafety technology;

the crash proof car - the world of simulatorsand test tracks;

the elastic mind - robots, biomimicry, andother advanced research that feeds development ofnext generation systems;

the cutting edge - meeting the inventors ofnew 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 inter-faces;

the critical three seconds- findings from thelatest naturalistic driving studies including the role ofdistraction and drowsiness;

how do smart people turn into dumb drivers?- Intelligent Driver Testing with Nobel prize winners orsimilar 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 viewe rIn television programming it is absolutely essential touse a variety of creative and unexpected techniques tokeep the viewer engaged in the documentary. There-fore, other approaches to engage the viewer furtherare:

slowing down time to thousandths of a second toshow how fast a crash happens, how slowly a human

responds to it (in relative terms), and how quickly activesafety systems can take action; using visually compelling content about far-

reaching robotics and other advanced research to hold viewers attention, while relating that to the ever-

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 thereality of crashes (focusing on the person rather than

the crash itself); using naturalistic driving results to show howfrequently people can make mistakes when driving;

engaging experts in driving psychology toshow how humans are not biologically well-adapted fordriving.

Me e t ProtoThinking Cars features an animated host - a crash testdummy named Proto who goes on a journey acrossEurope to discover why cars really crash, and what sci-entists and engineers are doing to address the issue.Proto ties the documentary together and serves a cross-

cultural voice of the viewer. During the course of theprogramme it becomes clear why the most importantsafety system in the loop, despite all of our very humanlimitations, is still considered the driver. Although Protodeeply desires a crash-proof society, in the end he real-izes that this day is very far off , and steps back into thecar to do the job he was designed for. Todays activesafety systems are thoroughly interwoven into bothhours of the documentary, so that viewers become awarethat most of these systems are available now.

SCVP reached a key milestone with the launch of theproject website in September. The project structure

includes negotiations with European broadcasters toair Thinking Cars (two one-hour programmes) in late2009 or early 2010. A key strategy is the creation of asophisticated website which will be associated with theTV programme and serve as a conduit for the public toget more information about active safety systems.

Enter www.thinkingcars.com. Under the banner ofBe Well Protected in A Crash - Or Never Crash At All,the new site provides full information on SCVP as well asteaser introductions to the 13 systems, which userscan click to access an easy-to-understand synopsis. Thesystems include lane departure prevention, collisionmitigation braking, pedestrian detection, and eCall.

Animations illustrate the functions of some of the sys-tems. Once the TV documentary is finished, users willalso be able to access short video downloads of extendedtopics based on the programme. Links are provided tothe car manufacturers offering active safety, and a sur-

vey page will informally poll viewers of Thinking Carsas to their awareness and perception of active safety.

For viewers who are ready to buy the safest car theyhave ever owned, the website will also provide a guideas to which active safety systems are available on par-ticular car models.

Filming for Thinking Cars began in September 2008

at locations in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands andSpain. Look for more information on the filming processat Thinking Highways stand (1201) at the ITS WorldCongress in New York. T H

[email protected]


24/92





Th e Th o u g h t P ro c e s s


Vi c e -P re s i d e n t , B u s i n e s s D e v e l o p m e n t ,

Vo l vo Te c h n o l o g y, N o r th Am e r ic a

Jan Hellaker


25/92



Although I live inthe US, I will be

thrilled when the

World Congressfinally makes it tomy native Sweden

next year

Th e Th o u g h t P ro c e s s

Many ye ars ago I acc epted a job at Volvo within anarea that was so obscure that no one really couldexplain to me what it was. It wasnt until years later thatit came to be called ITS. I would never have guessedback then how big a part of my professional life it wouldbecome.

Being part of the e arly cooperative res earch involv-ing a ll the Europea n car m anufacturers (althought itwas more like brainstorming) was a fascinatingexperience. Today the close cooperation betweenfierce competitors and the open doors at the researchlabs in Stuttgart, Turin, Munich and elsewhere seemsquite unbelievable, but it was a very fruitful type of proc-ess that I think our industry should try again.

The first estim ates of when we would see a sig nifi-cant penetration of GPS-supported navigation sys-tems were probably off by some four to five years,

but its rem arkable how fas t this m arket has grownin the last few years. The mass proliferation of inex-pensive handheld devices is putting a lot of good pres-sure on the automotive OEMs.

Initially they completely owned the navigation seg-ment but now they need to step up and prove that thebenefits of having access to the vehicle multiplex busesand complete in-vehicle integration

will beat the arguably faster softwaredevelopment cycles of the aftermarketindustry.

When Ford Motor Com pany ac quiredVolvos car business, it certainlychanged the landscape for our ITSR&D. However, I am happy that VolvoTechnology is one of a few Volvo Groupcompanies that is still working closely

with Volvo Cars. I think its essential fora good understanding of both the potential and the pit-falls of ITS, to keep all types of applications and endusers in mind when designing your next product.

I cons ider VII as by far the m ost exc iting thing g oingon in ITS today. It took longer than anyone would haveanticipated getting the early ITS concepts for activesafety into the hands of end-users, but now that we seean avalanche of autonomous systems and features beinglaunched, the next chasm will be crossed when trulycooperative systems are deployed.

It is encouraging that - for once - we have a commonfrequency band allocated for VII between Europe andthe US, but we all know that this is only the beginning.Even from a nomenclature perspective we are still usingdifferent terms for this type of system in all corners ofthe world, be it Cooperative Systems, VICS or somethingelse. I personally tend to think that the global ITS

community needs to straighten this out; we need to beextremely crisp and clear when we communicate this toour lawmakers. They sometimes listen across the bor-ders and we need to make sure we all speak the samelanguage.

At Volvo we cons ider VII an extrem ely im portant toolin our efforts to ma ke transportation s afer and m oreefficient. Its understandable that car applications of VIIinitially have attracted most of the interest, but oneshould not forget that as far as daily mileage, mediumand heavy trucks play an extremely important role for

our society and the impact on road traffic. Someone saidthat: Cars move Americans, but trucks move America,which can hardly be disputed. Hopefully sooner thanlater 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 wasformed in 1991 and I consider the importance ofthese organizations as even bigger today. Neverbefore has there been more of a need to coordinate somany players to achieve the full potential of ITS. In thiscontext the importance of the World Congress also

should be emphasized, as they provide the ultimate pos-sibility for people from all segments of ITS to intersectand cross-pollinate. Although nowadays I live in the US,I will be thrilled when the World Congress finally makesit to my native Sweden in 2009. With four world-class carand truck manufacturers in a country of only 9 millioninhabitants, there is little doubt that next years Con-

gress will have an unprecedentedimpact on the host society.

Regardless of current and veryimportant deployment issues, the

entire ITS industry needs tore-energize its innovation efforts .Starting from scratch in the late 1980s, it

was easy to generate lots of productideas but sometimes it feels like truecreativity 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 recognizedthis, and we are sharply increasing our efforts in thefield of soft product innovations.

ITS as a whole s till suffers from the lack of a solid

com prehe nsive s ystem architecture, in particular ifyou look ac ross different countries or continen ts. Fora global OEM such as Volvo, it is very frustrating havingto meet different standards in different markets and thismay well impede the speed of continued development.My long-term vision for ITS is that we would one day getto a global, standardized communication infrastructurefor road transportation. Call it VII or whatever you like,but it would ultimately encompass all vehicles, infra-structure components, traffic management centers,maybe even pedestrians and cyclists.

My dream is that this universal network - just like the

Internet would allow tomorrows engineers to developand deploy software at Internet speed - for new trafficand transport-related features and services. T H

[email protected]


26/92





Stunted

growth

Sa t e l l i t e Te c h n o l o fy


The r et ur n

of t he

Te n y e a rs a f t e r g o i n g i n t o b a n k r u p tc y, Ir i d i u m i s

n o w b e i n g m e n t i o n e d a g a i n b y SISTER, a n EC-

fu n d e d p r o je c t th a t w i l l s t u d y th e p o te n t ia l u s e o f

s a t e l l i t e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s fo r ITS a p p l i c a t i o n s , a s

YANYING Li re p o rts

Currently, Global Navigation Satellite Systems

(GNSS) is wide ly use d in ITS but becaus e the g lobalcoverage of GNSS cannot be m atched by c urrent ter-restrial communication networks, there is a needfor a c omm unication ne twork whichwill have the same coverage asGNSS. Satellite communication isexpected to be integrated withGNSS, particularly with Galileo inthe future.

Because GNSS, mainly the USAs GPS,Russians GLONASS and EUs GALI-LEO, are globally covered, all-weather,

and real-time, they are substantiallyused in navigation, vehicle and cargo tracking, fleetmanagement, etc.

The application of GNSS has changed the face of ITSand made many of its applications and services real, or

enhance safety and security. Moreover, the emergence

of GNSS has put terrestrial-based radio navigation sys-tems, e.g. LORAN series, on the edge of elimination.LORAN can only survive as primary supplement to

GNSS. In many transport systems andservices GNSS is involved with, com-munication is essential. For example,global cargo monitoring requires loca-tion information provided by GNSSand a communication channel which isable to report the location informationto a monitoring centre.

However, while positioning services

rely on GNSS, communications stillheavily depend on terrestrial communication networkssuch as GSM and WiFi. Since terrestrial communicationnetworks have different coverage and availability, inmany cases, terrestrial communication cannot meet the

GNSS has changedthe face of ITS andmade many of itsapplications and

services real

sat el l it e


27/92



Sa te l l i t e Te c h n o l o g y


28/92

requirements, e.g. global coverage. Naturally, we wouldask the question: why are satellites not used for commu-nication for ITS as well?

The historyCompared with the navigation and positioning market,

the communication market has had a very differentdevelopment track in the last 10 years. From the late1990s to the early 2000s, the navigation and positioningmarket had experienced the upgrade from terrestrial-based systems to space-based systems, i.e. GNSS.

Particularly, after Selective Availability (SA) wasturned off on 1 May 2000, application of GPS has boomeddue to improved accuracy. However, although satellitecommunication 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 atthat time, made the first Iridium call after the communi-cation service was launched on 1 November 1998, the

Iridium satellites were considered as the next break-through in technological history. The system derives itsname from the chemical element iridium since thenumber of satellites of the system was planned to be 77,the atomic number of iridium.

The founding company went into Chapter 11 bank-ruptcy nine months later on 13 August 1999. The hand-sets could not operate as promoted until the entireconstellation of satellites was in place, causing a mas-sive 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. Thecost of the service was prohibitive for many users, par-ticularly, compared to terrestrial cellular mobile phones

whose cost decreased significantly over the last decadedue to the massive number of subscribers. Moreover,the large, unfashionable and expensive handhelddevices also discouraged adoption among potentialusers.

The initial commercial failure of Iridium had a damp-ening effect on other proposed commercial satellitecommunication projects. ORBCOMM, ICO Global Com-munications and Globalstar followed Iridium into bank-ruptcy protection, while a number of other proposed

systems never became reality.

Satellite com m unication versus navig ationIn order to understand the reason for the different for-tunes of satellites used for communication and that fornavigation, we have to look at the fundamental differ-ences between the two systems.

Satellite navigation systems were developed for mili-tary purposes and were fully funded by the government.Civil users can use the less accurate navigation signalfor free. In many cases, the free of charge service sub-stantially encouraged usage of their application.

Differing from satellite navigation systems, satellitecommunication systems were developed and operatedas commercial systems. The massive investment forresearch and development has to be reimbursed by endusers. Therefore, a high cost for subscription was


Transport is themain market of

GNSS and very few

ITS applicationscan depend on it

Sa t e l l i t e Te c h n o l o g y



29/92

Are you looking for a solution that facilitates intelligent safety and mobility applications, forming

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WAVE. Join us at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems, New York City,

Nov. 16-20, 2008. Booth 537 | www.kapsch.net

We make your traffic flow.

At 5.9 GHz WAVE.


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adopted and that subsequently limited the number ofusers. The vicious circle eventually caused the failuresof satellite communication systems.

Moreover, since GNSS is funded and operated by thegovernment, use of the systems is always encouragedby the government. US- and European Union-funded

many R&D projects were aimed at the promotion ofapplications of GNSS in different fields. Concepts, usagecases, receivers and software related to applications ofGNSS were developed within these R&D projects. Manyof them focused on promoting GNSS applications in theITS industry and the timing was perfect. In the late 1990s,many ITS services required real-time navigation andlocation. Today, transport is the main market of GNSSand very few ITS applications can depend on GNSS.

However, there were no government-funded R&Dprojects which specifically studied potentials of satel-lite communications in different fields including trans-port. Operators of satellite communication systems did

not take any actions to promote the applications in trans-port, particularly combination with GNSS services.Therefore, satellite communication systems missed the

window of deployment in ITS and gave the chance toterrestrial-based communication network.

It is envisaged that satellite navigation is a broadcast-ing service which can support unlimited number of sub-scribers and require a small antenna. Many satellitecommunication systems, e.g. Iridium, are used for two-

way communications. Therefore, their capacities arelimited and the antenna cannot be too small. In recentyears, satellite broadcast services are emerging which

share the same principles as GNSS.Despite the above differences, both satellite commu-nication and navigation systems can achieve globalcoverage which cannot be done by any terrestrial-based systems. Moreover, both systems require opensky view for use. Both might not work well in urban can-yon environment or dense forests.

Another important character of space-based systemsis that they are independent to ground infrastructure.These characteristics make them ease to be deployed ina certain area.

The independence to ground infrastructure can alsomake space-based system play an important role in

emergency rescues for either man-made or natural dis-asters. For example, satellite mobile phones were usedafter 9/11 when terrestrial communication networks

were disabled.

The current situationThe Iridium service was restarted in 2001 by the newlyfounded Iridium Satellite LLC which was owned by agroup of private investors. A similar story also occurredto Iridiums data-centric competitor ORBCOMM whichoffers global asset monitoring and messaging servicesfrom its constellation of 29 communication satellites.

ORBCOMM issued a public offering of stock in 2006 inNASDAQ 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




Satellitecommunication andnavigation systemscan achieve global

coverage whichcannot be done by

any terrestrial-based systems


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Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) has already revolutionised the world of com-

mercial road transport. Thanks to Volvos 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


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position via GPS and report its position using the ORB-COMM service but the deal did not go well and such aunit was never available on the market.

Today satellite mobile handsets provide either voiceor message services and are used widely by adventur-ers, rescuers, forest rangers, workers on offshore oil

platforms, etc. Satellite mobile handsets can be pur-chased or rented. One minute voice call costs about1(1.28) and a short message costs about 0.50.

There are few applications of satellite communicationin transport, mainly in vehicle tracking and fleet man-agement, e.g. the Blue Skys satellite communication kitfor vehicle tracking. Designed for fleets operating inremote areas with unreliable cellular coverage, the kitcombines GPS and satellite communication, ensuringreliable messaging and allows mangers to always knowthe exact location of their fleet.

Why do we ne ed s atellite com m unication?ITS communications mainly use GSM and WiFi for datatransmission, information collection and dissemination.

Although the market is generally mature, disadvantagesof terrestrial-based communication networks havebeen recognised by the ITS industry. One importantissue is that terrestrial networks cannot match the cov-erage of GNSS and this can be crucial.

Take eCall as an example. If a crash occurs at a placewhere GNSS can provide the accurate location but ter-restrial communication is not available, the locationinformation cannot be reported to the Public Safety

Answer Point. In such a case, satellite communication is

essential.Satellite communication is also essential for largescale emergency rescue operations. Terrestrial com-munication networks fully rely on ground infrastructure

which can be completely destroyed by either a terroristattack or natural disaster such as an earthquake. In suchcases, satellite communication might be the only avail-able communication methods for rescuers. Govern-ments have recognised the issue and started fundingsatellite communication even only for purpose of emer-gency rescue.

Moreover, recent developments in in-vehicle Adv-anced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) might need

software updates and patches from time to time, e.g.geographic information. Currently, such updates mightbe done via WiFi or digital terrestrial broadcast. WiFi isexpensive for large data transmission and has limitedcapacity. Digital terrestrial broadcast can only cover alimited area. Satellite broadcasting can offer a widelycovered, reliable and cheap option.

Res earch and developme ntWhile the European Union has spent millions in devel-opment 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 asemergency rescues, or global monitoring of cargos.Therefore, the European Commission started fundingR&D projects which look at the potential of combiningsatellite navigation and communication in order to

enhance applications of GNSS, particularly GALILEO.SISTER (Satcoms in Support of Tranport on European

Road), is an EC FP6-funded Integrated Project. It studiesneeds of ITS for satellite communication, analyses keyissues of deployment of satellite communication in ITSand potential market development, evaluate technical

performance of satellite communication systems fordifferent areas of ITS.Partners of the project are satellite communication

operators, space industry consultancies and manufac-turers, as well as ERTICO ITS Europe, automotive man-ufacturers, navigation service providers, etc, thus forthe first time bringing ITS and satellite communitiestogether. The three-year project started in 2006.

Currently, the project is preparing for demonstrationsin Germany, UK, Sweden, Czech Republic and Nether-lands-Belgium. The final evaluation results will be avail-able in 2009. The results of the project are expected toprovide a convincing case for ITS professionals and

policy makers. T H

Dr. Yanying Li is Proje ct Manager at ERTICO- ITS

Europe . She can b e contacted via em ail at

[email protected]


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Stunted

growth

Th e Th i n k e r


StormyweatherP H IL TAR NOFF p o s e s a p o te n t i a l ly ta x i n g q u e s t i o n :i s t h e p a s t p ro l o g u e to VIIs f u t u r e ?


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Th e Th i n k e r

During the 1990s many champions of IntelligentTrans portation System s (ITS) technolo gy felt that itsimpacts would be equivalent to those of the con-s truction of the US Interstate s ys tem . Unfortunately,as transportation age ncies cautiously adopted theuse of this technology on an as-needed basis, thisdream never materialized.

In an effort to realize the dream the Automated High-way System (AHS) program was established. This pro-gram which was initiated in 1992, represented an attemptto enable vehicle operation without requiring humanintervention. AHS was an effort to leapfrog the gradual

introduction of ITS technology by providing significantimprovements in roadway safety and capacity. This pro-gram with its 10+ year horizon was eventually cancelledby the USDOT in 1998 due to funding pressures and afeeling that the development of near-term safetysystems should be given a higher priority.

Research programs conducted both in parallel withthe AHS and subsequent to its conclusion offered alter-native approaches to the use of technology to advancesafety. In 2003 these programs coalesced into a majorinitiative known as the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration(VII) program.

VII takes advantage of the extensive instrumentationinstalled in the modern automobile to measure speed,roadway and weather conditions, vehicle location anddirection. The cumulative information received from asample of the overall traffic stream could be an invalua-

ble asset for both safety and traffic management appli-cations. The combination of applications possible bytaking advantage of on board vehicle sensors is exten-sive. Like AHS, the VII program offers the possibility of asignificant paradigm shift in terms of both the safety andmobility impacts it would have on the transportationsystem.

Unfortunately, storm clouds are now on the horizon for VII. The program appears to have lost much of itsmomentum along with the support of many within thetransportation community. The disappearance of VII

would represent another setback for the application of

technology to the transportation system, not to mentiona significant loss for its users. What has gone wrong?How can the loss of momentum be reversed? Does theprogram need to be restructured? The answers to thesequestions are vital to the future efficiency and safety ofthe nations transportation system.

So wha t exa ctly is VII?After many years of development, definition of the VIIprogram should be an easy task. Unfortunately, due tothe number and variety of participants, there is littleconsensus on the objectives, business model and archi-

tecture of the system. Participants providing planningand guidance for include various segments of the USDOT (Joint Program Office, highway operations, safety,transit, motor carriers), state governments, the automo-bile industry, aftermarket equipment manufacturers,

The disappearanceof VII would representanother setback forthe application oftechnology to the

transportationsystem


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communications providers, navigation and traffic infor-mation providers, and many others. Considering thenumber and diversity of interested parties, it should notbe surprising that consensus has been difficult toachieve but there is general agreement among themajority of participants that the objectives of VII are to:

Significantly improve safety through reductionof both single vehicle and multiple vehicle crashes Improve mobility by generating traffic and

roadway status data nationally for use by both publicagencies and motorists

Support automobile industry requirements forimproved communications with both their customersand their products

Provide enhanced commercial in-vehicle serv-ices such as downloading of entertainment and drive-through services for applications such as fast food andbanking.

Support various electronic payment applica-

tions such as electronic tolling and collection of parkingfees.

These objectives are implemented through the devel-

Th e Th i n k e r


opment of a myriad of applications that take advantageof a system made up of on-board vehicle sensors com-bined with a roadside communication, storage andprocessing infrastructure.

As indicated by the simplified Figure 1, these applica-tions are supported by an architecture that includes

two-way communications between the vehicle and aroadside unit using a protocol known as Dedicated ShortRange Communication (DSRC). The roadside units com-municate through routers (not shown in the diagram)

which direct the appropriate vehicle data to large data-bases with temporary storage that is used by a variety ofapplications.

Also not shown in the diagram is the vehicle-to-vehi-cle communications required for multiple vehicle crashavoidance.

As implied by this architecture VII has been created asa homogenous system that requires installation opera-

tions and maintenance of an extensive national installa-tion of RSUs with supporting communications anddatabase infrastructure, for its success. It also requiresstrict adherence to communications and data standardsby all participants.


Roadside Unit(RSU)

Database

Traffic Management CentersManufacturers

Routing and NavigationRetail and Banking

Etc.

On-Board Unit(OBU)

The prom ise of VIIImagine the possible safety improvements possible ifeither the driver or the vehicle knew about the possibil-ity of imminent crashes due to the presence of other

vehicles, or that vehicle speed was too high for pave-ment condition or geometrics, or that the driver is devi-

ating from the travel lane due to inattention orimpairment. The promise of VII is a significant reductionin the 6m crashes occurring in the US each year, at adirect economic cost of more than US$230billion (in2000 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 orfor the commercial benefits of the system.

Imagine the possibilities of VII for improved safety,management and operation of the roadway system, withaccess 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 toan incident, disseminate accurate travel times to motor-ists and provide improved traffic signal timing.

There is little doubt that VII offers the potential to sig-nificantly reduce both recurring and non-recurringcongestion, which currently costs the American travelerapproximately US$73billion per year.3 This conserva-tive estimate does not take into account the impact oflate shipments on the retail and manufacturing sectors

of the economy. It also ignores the benefits of significantreductions in fuel consumption and reduced emissionsthat result from unimpeded traffic flow.

In fact, US DOT publications discussing the VII pro-gram make only passing mention of its mobility benefits

which are rarely quantified, while safety is discussed atlength and is the basis on which the VII program hasbeen justified. This bias toward safety has importantimplications for the VII architecture and applicationdevelopment. In the case of the VII architecture, many ofthe safety benefits can be achieved without the need foran extensive network of roadside units with extensive

supporting communications infrastructure, since themany of the more significant safety applications rely onautonomous vehicle instrumentation (lane keeping) or

vehicle to vehicle communications (intersection crashavoidance). The current emphasis on safety unneces-

Fig ure 1. High Leve l VII Archite cture


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MOVING THE GREEN WAY

A sound environmental approach has always been an important

motivation for SWARCO and its business activities. Our sustainable

solutions show themselves in many ways and are clear expressions of

our commitment to reduce CO2

emissions and greenhouse gases.

Intelligent traffic management Our adaptive traffic control

systems reduce congestion, harmonise traffic flows and thus reduce

vehicle-related emissions.

Energy-saving signalling technology 90% power consumption

savings with our LED traffic lights and VMS are a clear signal to

minimise emissions and costs for municipalities at the same time.

Optimised production processes Our research and

Documents

Thinking Highways Europe/RoW Nov 2008