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Transcript of ERTICO eMagazine February 2013
Feabruary 2013
In this Issue:
Interview with Abel Caballero
Mayor of Vigo (Spain)
Changing technology and evolving consumer demand
Future trends in personalised mobility
The “Internet of Mobility”
Building better ITS services in Europe
ERTICO eMagazineWelcome to the
Editorial
Welcome to our February edition
Dear readers,
Whether you were in Rio, Cologne or Venice or in your office wishing to be in Rio, Cologne or Venice, we hope you had a nice Carnival celebration.
In this edition of our eMagazine, we take a detailed look at the future of ITS services.
On 13 February, ERTICO flew to Barcelona to participate in the workshop on ITS and new services, organised by ERTICO and FIA (representing the Users Sector Platform). During the vibrant discussion some specific issues concerning personal mobility came up. Particular attention was given to open and high quality data for traffic information, free and fair competition and new and sustainable business models for service providers and automobile clubs. In the article Laura Johnstone looks deeper into these three big themes keeping an eye on the consumers needs.
Many of those challenges will be tackled under a new ERTICO partnership project which started at the end of January: Mobinet. The project will explore the endless potential of an ‘Internet of mobility’
and Ian Bearder
attended the Kick-Off meeting to see what the project is all about.
We also look at the year that will come with an emphasis on the ERTICO’s activities. With two Congresses coming in June in Dublin and in October in Tokyo; three new projects (Compass4D, Mobinet and HeERO2) starting; and numerous events and workshops to be planned, 2013 will be a year to be remembered. With ECOeffect, COSMO and EcoMove projects coming to an end, we also are pleased to announce their forthcoming final events, discover what and how in the article.
Speaking of new starts, another project Compass4D kicked off few weeks ago in the exotic city of Vigo in Spain. On that occasion Carla Coppola had the opportunity to speak with Abel Caballero, Mayor of Vigo and former Spanish Minister of transport. Mr Caballero explains us the importance of cooperative systems in urban mobility safety and environment.
We also would like to anticipate that the registrations for the 9th European Congress in Dublin will open at the end of this month, keep an eye on the Congress website (www.itsineurope.com) and, for the most tech people, follow the latest news on twitter @ITS_Congresses.
As always we hope you will enjoy this edition of the ERTICO eMagazine.
The Editorial Team
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The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are solely those of the authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of ERTICO or its Partners.
contents
Editorial
The “Internet of Mobility”
Changing technology and evolving consumer demand
2013 is looking better than ever
Interview with Abel Caballero
3
We needed to be at the venue for
10:30 so we could setup and prepare
everything before the guests all
arrived at 11:00.
“No problem” I thought, as I walked
off to find someone who could help
me call a taxi in French.
My optimism was short lived.
Just minutes later I discovered that
Brussels’ taxi drivers were on strike
from 10am - the exact time we
needed a lift! In fact, it was the exact
time that all the attendees from our
34 project partners would also need
a taxi. This was bad news.
Most, if not all of the guests were
arriving from other parts of Europe
so they would already be in Brussels
and I had no way to contact them.
Furthermore, most of them would be
unfamiliar with the local transport
network and unaware that they could
get to the venue on the number 83
tram or bus number 84. If only there
was an easy way to notify them...
As it was, there was very little we
could do, so we set-off early and
hoped for the best. We arrived OK and
depite the taxi strike and atrocious
weather our guests eventually
found the venue. A little-bit wet,
but otherwise in good spirits our
project team had arrived from across
Europe and Project Coordinator Paul
Kompfner was ready for business.
The kick-off meeting could begin.
As mentioned, we were about to
launch a new project called MOBiNET.
But, you’re probably wondering
what MOBiNET is, right? Well, let me
explain...
MOBiNET is a new ERTICO-led project
which plans to develop and run an
‘Internet of mobility’.
This ‘Internet of mobility’ is quite
difficult to explain, but put simply, it
will be a platform that links transport
services and end users.
By developing a set of common tools
and standards (collectively known as
MOBiNET), the idea is make to mobile
transport services, such as journey
planning, automated ticketing,
billing and vehicle tracking more
accessible and more usable.
As a ‘cloud based’ system MOBiNET
will make it much easier for software
developers to create new online
transport services (good for business)
and make it much easier for people
like you and me to use them - which
is good for consumers.
Is it necessary?
I think the travel problems we
experienced at the start of our
day highlight exactly why it is.
Modern intelligent transport
systems and services (ITS) use
mobile communications networks
The “Internet of Mobility”Building better ITS services in Europe
by Ian Bearder
On 29 January 2013, I arrived at the office a little bit early, so I could check my emails and help with last-minute
arrangements for the launch of our exciting new project called MOBiNET. I was given an important task. I was to
arrange a taxi to take me and my colleagues from the ERTICO office in Brussels to the Volvo office on the other side
of the city.
and information technology
(Smartphones, GPS trackers etc.)
to make travel safer, smarter and
cleaner. However, developing,
deploying and using these services is
still problematic.
If a simple interface existed that
could harness the power of online
communications, multi-modal
travel planners, online mapping
and automated ticketing – our
unexpected taxi strike wouldn’t
have been a big deal. Our guests
could have been quickly informed
and easily rescheduled their travel
arrangements.
Let’s take telematics as another
example. The telematics industry
provides vehicle monitoring and
information services. These services
have been developed by insurance
companies who may now offer
products based on the way that their
customers drive.
The problem is however that many
of these systems have each been
developed independently, using
different specifications and different
standards. This means that its
frustratingly difficult (not to mention
expensive) to integrate them with
other, similar services. From a
user’s perspctive, this means added
complexity and confusion, and it
often means that additional software
applications (apps) are required to
run each service.
Think about it. How would you
currently find these apps? How would
you pay for them? And would any
single app be able to complete all
the travel planning, monitoring and
billing required?
These are some of the problems
MOBiNET will try to address. By
creating a standardised platform,
MOBiNET would increase the
compatibility of transport services.
This increased compatibility means
less duplication, less duplication
means less confusion, and less
confusion naturally makes life easier.
‘Ease of access’ sits at the core of
MOBiNET.
The real project buzzwords are
well known to software developers:
compatibility, extensibility and
usability.
Jacques Amselem, CEO of Allianz
Telematics and a member of the
MOBiNET project team explained the
problems with the current market:
“The issue we have with telematics is
that all the solutions we have seen so
far are very vertical and very propriety
and this is causing some issues in
terms of business development and
customer perception. That is why we
believe that MOBiNET is the right way
to go and we believe that it is the
solution for the future development
of telematics”
Marco Annoni - Innovation Area
Manager at Telecom Italia, said his
company had joined the project
to help define a common set of
standards: “In our view, the project
is innovative because it is a common
approach which is not just targeting
common interests. In the past we
have seen many vertical deployments
based on local requirements. With
MOBiNET we are aiming to find a
solution which is more general, more
flexible and more re-usable. Once we
have a common view at a European
level it will become an enabler for
many different stakeholders.”
Breaking New Ground
As a research project, MOBiNET is
an interesting entity. Not only is it
truly trans-European, with project
partners from across the continent,
but it also aims to continue as a
working organisation at the end of
the project. This means there are
both technical and administrative
aspects that need to be considered
and the consortium will have to
set out a viable business case for
MOBiNET.
Project Coordinator Paul Kompfner,
Head of SmartMobility at ERTICO,
is under no illusion that this will be
easy: “Our ambition is to establish
MOBiNET as THE connected mobility
and transport service platform Paul Kompfner, Head of Smart Mobility at ERTICO and MOBiNET
coordinator
for all of Europe’s travellers and
transport service suppliers; it seems
a staggering challenge but we are
confident we can achieve this since
we have the right solution features
and partners to do it.”
To help deliver a working and useable
system, MOBiNET has adopted a
method of accelerated development
known as ‘agile’. This means that a
fully operational, first-generation
system will be released just 16
months after the project is launched.
Tests will take place at eight pilot
sites across Europe and the feedback
and results gained will then provide
input for the development of the
system ahead of the next product
release. Testing will be conducted
with businesses from both inside
and outside the project consortium
and potential users of the platform
are thus invited to work alongside
the project team to gain an early
experience of MOBiNET’s advantages.
If you are interested in this unique
opportunity I would be happy to hear
from you.
Finally, I am pleased to say that
despite bad weather and taxi-chaos
our kick-off meeting in Brussels was
a great success and everyone at
ERTICO would like to thank those who
attended. As always though - the real
value of MOBiNET will be crafted over
the coming months and years as the
project progresses.
I look forward to following this process
and reporting news and updates as
the MOBiNET project develops. If, in
three years time we have integrated
services which can transport me, in
the most efficient way, from place-
to-place despite heavy rain and a
taxi strike - MOBiNET will be one ‘big
cloud’ I am happy to see.
The MOBiNET platform• An online B2B
directory of Europe-wide transport data and services
• Aunifiedmobileaccounting, payment and clearing system, giving users a single account valid throughout Europe and simplifying roaming among providers
• Anopenbusinessenvironmentenablingproviderstointegrate third-party services with their own products
• Asecureenvironmentforin-vehicleandportabledevices offering users a dedicated app-store, and service providers access to MOBiNET-compliant user devices
• Abusiness-to-businesse-marketplacefortheautomatic negotiation of service agreements
• A Service Development Kit to simplify the creation of innovativeMOBiNETservicesforend-andbusinessusers.
ERTICO are delighted to welcome two new members to the ERTICO Partnership.
Michelin
Michelin are dedicated to helping to enhance sustainable mobility, and by joining ERTICO they have expressed a desire to initiate, develop and implement projects with key ITS players and to fulfil their commitment towards a cleaner, safer, more affordable and better connected mobility.
FUJITSU TEN Europe
FUJITSU TEN Europe are focused on ITS activities not only as an execution of their social responsibility initiative but with a focus on new market opportunities – especially telematics and fully connected vehicles.
We look forward to working with both companies over the coming months and years.
New ERTICO Partners
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Changing technology and evolving consumer demand Future trends in personalised mobility
The rapid advance of technology has changed many aspects of our daily lives to an extent which was entirely unpredictable just a decade ago. At the turn of the millennium, few would have foreseen our society become so inextricably entangled in the web of new communication tools which we have come to rely on so strongly in such a short period.
Mobility is no exception, and
technology here is moving perhaps
faster than in many other sectors.
Technologies which were novel just
a few short years ago are evolving
almost beyond recognition thanks to
the emergence of low-cost, open-
source tools, the decrease in mobile
hardware costs and the widespread
mobile coverage which we now take
for granted.
Services are more consumer-driven
than ever before and the vehicle is
the next frontier of the connectivity
revolution, with unprecedented
potential for new services and
features targeted at travellers. On
13 February, ERTICO Partners and
FIA members were hosted by the
RACC in Barcelona to assess the
upcoming trends in personal mobility
and to discuss the opportunities and
challenges for automobile clubs.
Three issues in particular arose in the
presentations given and subsequent
discussions: ensuring the availability
of open and high quality data for
traffic information, safeguarding free
and fair competition alongside safety
and driver privacy when it comes to
in-vehicle services, and identifying
new, sustainable business models
for service providers and automobile
clubs.
Trafficinformation
Personal navigation devices have
come a long way since their original
rise in popularity during the early
part of the last decade thanks to
the availability of GPS and the
commercialisation of map making for
this purpose, with ever more routes
mapped out and made available to
drivers at the touch of a button.
Moreover, the advent of the
smartphone has provided travellers
with thousands of possibilities for
calculating the smartest way to reach
their destination. Indeed, a quick
glance at the most popular navigation
apps page on the Apple Appstore
shows 240 apps enticing the user to
beat the traffic, avoid getting caught
out by speed cameras or find the
cheapest car park in the area.
Whilst free competition and choice
is undoubtedly good for users and
a positive force in the market, the
question of quality arises: what are
the data sources for all of these
apps, and are they really providing
high quality information that gets the
user from A to B following the most
efficient and safest route?
At policy level, the European
Commission has shown its support
for optimising the use of road, traffic
and travel data and providing a
free minimum information service
as one focus of the ITS Action
Plan. Furthermore, the need for
by Laura Johnstone
cooperation between the public
and private sectors regarding the
exchange of data, the deployment of
monitoring devices and management
of data quality was highlighted in the
guidelines for ITS deployment in urban
areas on multimodal information
recently published by the EC Urban
ITS Expert Group. Such actions should
crack open sources of reliable data
and also help to meet policy goals
by providing consumers with more
quality choices and encouraging
travellers to shift to other modes of
transport.
Automobile clubs themselves have
already made a strong foray into
the smartphone world, with many
of them providing a variety of apps
for their customers and for motorists
in general, a common one of which
is of course traffic and travel
information. But in the face of such
stiff competition, notably from those
offering similar services for free,
how can the clubs differentiate their
offering to an extent that consumers
are willing to part with their cash?
The answer again lies in the quality
of data. More and more traffic and
travel information services are based
on huge data aggregation operations,
which certainly provide plenty of
information, but as it is difficult to
verify the quality of such volumes
of data, the information provided to
the user may not always be accurate.
By focusing on ensuring high quality
data in their apps and utilising the
club brand, automobile clubs are
able to compete with the larger,
international players in this field.
Safeguarding free and fair
competition alongside safety and
driver privacy when it comes to in-
vehicle services
The implementation of the EU-wide
eCall service in 2015 is set to be the
largest deployment of an in-vehicle
telematics system ever seen. eCall
is purely a safety device, but its
implementation is widely viewed as
opening the door for many other in-
vehicle telematics based services,
ranging from b-call services and
remote diagnostics to new insurance
services and even entertainment
functions.
The possibilities in this field are
exciting, both for consumers who
have become so attached to the
smartphones and the apps that make
our lives easier - extending smart,
useful and dynamic services to the
vehicle is an appetising prospect, and
for industry which sees an opportunity
to join the connectivity boom and
utilise services to reach goals such as
increased safety and cleaner mobility.
However, there are a number of
issues to be solved in order to reach
widespread deployment of in-vehicle
telematics systems, including how
to minimise driver distraction and
develop a common HMI, ensuring the
security of data and driver privacy
and who controls the system and its
content. Even how the telematics
system will operate is up for debate;
some envisage embedded systems
as we will experience with the eCall
system, whilst others see a link
between the smartphone and the
vehicle, as has been developed by
several vehicle manufacturers and
suppliers.
It is widely acknowledged that in-
vehicle telematics services are set
to play a big role in personalised
mobility in the coming years, and for
the automobile clubs it is especially
important to ensure that consumers
have free choice in selecting the
best services - which should be
safeguarded through an open market
and free competition in the context
of the relevant legal frameworks.
Identifying new, sustainable
business models for automobile
clubs
The rise of the internet has opened
up a whole new market, with
new key players, new audiences
and new ways of doing business.
The traditional business models
of telecommunications operators
often didn’t fit with this new way
of connecting, communicating and
experiencing products or services
and as a result a new generation of
tech companies sprang into action
with innovative organisational and
business models, based on shared
content and shared revenue.
In an online world dominated by just
a small number of monoliths which Professor Eric Sampson presents a vision of mobility for 2050
7
are both able and keen to diversify
their business, traditional technology
and service providers have had to
adapt to keep up with evolving
consumer demand. Consumers have
become used to having the freshest,
most relevant information in their
hands with just a few swipes of a
touch screen, and this is especially
the case when it comes to travel
information. Identifying a clear
position in the virtual market, with
strong differentiation of products and
services from those of competitors is
key to survival.
Outside of the stranglehold of the big
players, firms tend to differentiate
on the basis of quality, and seek to
capitalise on a brand name that has
been built over years in the real
world, as we see with the automobile
clubs traffic and travel apps.
But can long established brands retain
this niche in the market in the face
of a new generation of consumers
– those who are connected almost
from birth and are more familiar with
doing business online using innovative
ways of paying for content than with
the traditional idea of simply paying a
fixed price for a fixed service?
This will pose a great challenge in
the future, and given that we have so
far been unable to accurately predict
how or to what extent our connected
society will continue to transform,
technology and service providers
need to pay extremely close attention
to developments and the emergence
of new trends in the market.
However, whilst attempting to look
forward and predict trends is both
worthwhile and necessary, it is also
risky. Just look back three decades to
the 1970s and consider the astounding
technological progress that has been
made since then – the world is almost
unrecognisable! In three decades
from now – around 2050 – what will
our society look like, and will we be
looking back at 2013 and reminiscing
about a simpler time?
Technology and service providers,
including the automobile clubs, are
embracing opportunities to provide
more diverse and higher quality
services to travellers. The success
of new services, especially from
established brands, demonstrates
that, for now at least, quality of
information and quality of service
is valued by travellers. Continued
innovation and responsiveness to
consumer demand will be vital in
ensuring this success in the future.
Finally, in order to overcome the
many uncertainties of this dynamic
and sometimes erratic sector, it
is clear that strong coordination,
exchange of information and positive,
forward-looking cooperation between
all stakeholders must be actively
pursued and promoted.
2013 is looking better than everAn introduction to the ERTICO partnership activities in 2013
After our in-depth review of what was a very exciting 2012, this month we take a glimpse at 2013 and we can say without doubt that 2013 couldn’t start better!
Three major projects, Compass4D, MOBiNET and HeERO2, kicked-off in January and you can be sure that you will hear more about them in the next years.
9
by Carla Coppola
With 31 partners and 7 pilot cities,
Compass4D is hoping to deploy
cooperative services that will make
mobility in cities safer and greener.
The particularity of Compass4D is
that different means of transport will
be involved; not only private cars
but also buses, taxis and emergency
vehicles will undergo the testing
in these 7 very different cities
(Bordeaux, Copenhagen, Eindhoven-
Helmond, Newcastle, Thessaloniki,
Verona and Vigo). The kick-off took
place in Vigo, Spain; the meetings
and media encounters will then move
to Copenhagen at the end of April,
and so forth for the next three years
until the final event in Bordeaux in
2015 during the ITS World Congress.
With its eye on the future of
transport and mobility, MOBiNET has
the ambitious goal of developing
and deploying a Europe-wide cloud
platform for ITS services. With a bulky
budget of 15.6 million Euros, this
44-month project will provide tools
for developers of next-generation
mobility “apps” for users, as well
as business enablers for providers
of all types of mobility services
and content. MOBiNET features
include single user identity and
mobility services account; Europe-
wide virtual transport ticketing;
business-to-business directory of
European services and content and
E-marketplace; and a MOBiNET “app-
store” and user interface.
2013 Spring and Autumn seasons
will be sparkling with ITS. After
the outstanding exhibition and
programme presented in Vienna last
year, ERTICO is working on two major
ITS events: the 9th ITS European
Congress in Dublin and the 20th ITS
World Congress in Tokyo.
In Europe, with the call for papers
is now closed, with over 300
papers submitted (good luck to the
reviewers), and with the registrations
to be opened at the beginning of
March, it is easy to imagine how
busy ERTICO Congress team is. The
exhibition will be up and running at
the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD)
in the heart of Dublin City on 4 June
for four full days with hundreds of
sessions carefully selected to appeal
all the ITS heads participating in the
event.
Following Dublin, we travel to
Tokyo where the Japanese hosts are
putting all their efforts to guarantee
a spectacular event in the Tokyo Big
Sight, one of the largest convention
venues of the city. As the 20th ITS
World Congress will take place from
14 to 18 October, attendees still
have a few more months before they
are stunned by the excellence of
Japanese transport systems.
On the activities side, energy
efficiency and reduction of carbon
emissions is becoming a central issue
amongst Member States as the focus
on several projects is testifying. The
ECOeffect training programme has
started its second demo-tour around
Poland, Romania and Czech Republic
to support truck drivers in finding
a more efficient way to drive and
save fuel. The third demo tour will
coincide with a big final event in
September where public authorities
will be invited to discuss and touch
with hands the eco-driving benefits.
Another two EU funded projects,
COSMO and eCoMove, will conclude
their activities in 2013 with two
final events respectively in May and
November. In the past 2 and half years
COSMO looked at demonstrating the
benefits of cooperative services in
realistic conditions by quantifying the
effect of different traffic management
systems – for example multimodal
real-time travel information systems
- on fuel consumption and traffic
emissions.
Along the same lines, eCoMove
focused its research on vehicle-to-
infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-
to-vehicle (V2V) communication
technologies to create concrete
solutions such as eco-driving support
and eco-traffic management, to
reduce energy consumption for
passengers and goods vehicles. The
project results will be presented
in Aachen, Germany, during the
project’s final event on 20 and 21
November.
eCall is still considered one of the
most EU high profile projects and it
will remain a central issue after 2015,
when all new European vehicles will
be equipped with the emergency
call service. The pilot projects
implementing the service, HeERO
1 and HeERO 2, will run in parallel
throughout the year until the 2nd
International HeERO Conference in
Bucharest in November, which will
mark the end of HeERO1 and unveil
the final results. This conference will
also be an occasion for interested
stakeholders to discuss HeERO 2
preliminary results in the 6 new test
sites in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark,
Luxembourg, Spain, and Turkey and to
participate in demonstrations on how
eCall is activated and received by the
system in the national protection and
rescue offices.
Part of the ERTICO activities involves
studies on driver behaviour and their
impact of road safety. In June 2012,
the EuroFOT project concluded that
driver assistance technologies might
have a positive effect on the driver
behaviour and, as consequence, on
road safety, traffic efficiency and
environment. This year we carry
on the research on large-scale
naturalistic driving studies (NDS)
and field operation tests (FOT) with
two projects UDRIVE and FOT-Net.
Between February and October,
several workshops will be organised
in Brussels and elsewhere to look
deeply into these studies and their
possible benefits.
Another initiative, the coordinated
and supported action (CSA) 79GHz has
set up ambitious objectives for 2013.
The project will look at speeding-
up worldwide harmonised frequency
allocations for vehicular radars in the
77 GHz to 81 GHz (79GHz) frequency
range while focusing on different
countries in Asia (Japan, India, China)
and Americas (USA, Canada, Brazil).
For technical reasons, the frequency
range between 77 and 81 GHz
provides an exceptional performance
for the Short Range Radar (SRR)
used for different applications.
Considering that European vehicle
manufacturers and their suppliers
make business at a global level,
79GHz project will provide a wide
range of benefits by avoiding the
segmentation of the overall market
by region specific frequency variants
that increases the cost of production
and reduces competitiveness. Also,
79GHz will focus on the recently
founded “IARREG - International
Automotive Radio Regulations Expert
Group” promoting the interests of
the worldwide automotive industry
concerning regulatory issues on
radio based automotive systems
and components; the use of the
appropriate harmonised frequency
bands for radio based automotive
application within the existing and
future regulatory environment; the
maintenance of appropriate existing
frequency bands.
To sum up new projects, new policies
designed for citizens’ safety and
environment protection, new business
models knocking on the door with
international cooperation remaining
a central focus for ERTICO. What has
been mentioned so far represents
only few of the planned activities
of the ERTICO partnership for 2013.
Even if this year we will have one day
less (2012 was a leap year in case you
were wondering why you were so tired
in December) we are convinced that
it will be a great year for Intelligent
Transport Systems. Be ready for the
ride.
For more information on the ERTICO partnership activities, visit the ERTICO website.
management in real time of the
traffic flow. The control room of
the traffic management and control
centre is equipped with 23 screens,
a video wall (to monitor the cameras
in the city) and 3 synoptic panels to
monitor the urban tunnels and the
traffic light networks in the city. This
control centre manages and controls
traffic light networks; the 6 urban
traffic tunnels; the access control of
the historic part of the city; and the
communications infrastructure.
I think that these concerns are shared
by many other medium-sized cities
and it is this kind of urban agglomerate
that local administrations have to
invest in now for the future. Investing
in transport and mobility not only
means improving the quality of life
of citizens every day, but also making
the city more welcoming to external
bodies and businesses. They all need
information to make their driving
safer, less stressful and more energy
efficient.
Vigo is one of the seven cities
taking part in the EU Compass4D
project. What is the advantage for
Vigo to deploy cooperative systems
for transport? Would you like to
share your expertise and cooperate
with other European cities?
In Vigo, we are aware of the fantastic
opportunity that Compass4D
cooperative technologies can
provide to improve safety and
energy efficiency and reduce traffic
congestion. Vigo is a city very much
related to the automotive business;
we have very big factories and we are
second in Europe with 500.000 cars
produced every year. We have a very
large harbour with ships for exporting
cars and we are very much interested
in the technology, having also CTAG
- the Automotive Technological
Centre of Galicia - working every
day on research, development and
innovation of traffic technologies for
different automotive companies.
Also, Vigo has invested a lot in
new route systems; it is a city set
on a mountain and having good
roads that can assure safety to our
citizens especially in dangerous
turn is fundamental. I would say
that the geographical structure of
the city, together with the efforts
on regenerating traffic networks,
makes Vigo an excellent test site for
development and testing of the three
services (Forward Collision Warning;
Red Light Violation Warning; Energy
Interview with: Abel Caballero, Mayor of Vigo
What do you think the
challenges are that cities,
and in particular Vigo, are facing
nowadays in terms of transport and
mobility? And what advice would
you give to local administrations
to improve citizen’s every-day
mobility?
Vigo has around 300.000 inhabitants
and a frenetic city life due to its
diversified economy linked to the
fisheries and automotive sectors, and
the naval industry and services. As a
consequence, every day, the urban
roads are populated with more than
500.000 people, including a significant
part of freight and logistics.
This growth of the urban planning
is of course very positive for the
city economy but it represents a
challenge for the transport network
management. In order to face these
challenges, the city council has
deployed, over the years, a huge
infrastructure for the control and
11
Compass4D Press Conference in Vigo. Rasmus Lindholm (ERTICO), Pierpaolo Tona (ERTICO and Compass4D Project coordinator), Mayor Abel Caballero and
Francisco Ferreira.
Efficient Intersection service) that
the project will implement. I am
confident that the Council of Vigo,
together with the team of local
partners involved in the project
such as CTAG, VITRASA (the city bus
company) and ESYCSA (the local
traffic and communications provider)
will play a fundamental role in
achieving the project targets.
With this basis, Vigo will certainly
become one of the city leaders in
cooperative systems, we are working
hard to create a smart city and we
are very much in favour of sharing our
experience, also through Compass4D,
with the other Spanish cities as well
as European ones. Let’s not forget
that Compass4D is deploying services
in seven cities very different from
each other.
With the current financial
crisis, several industries are
facing economic problems. Why
do you think that entrepreneurs
and administrations should invest
in the automotive industry? Do
you consider Intelligent Transport
System an additional cost or a way
to increase cost efficiency of urban
mobility?
In such a situation of global
economic crisis like the current one,
administrations and large industries
have to make a big effort, bigger than
if they were in a normal situation.
Intelligent Transport Systems are
an investment for the future for a
better life of our citizens.
What type of policies that
benefit cities do you think the
EU should focus on? What more can
be done at European level?
The EU has to create a strong link
between national and regional
administrations. We need a solid
starting point and cooperation if
we want to prove the benefits of
European policies that citizens need.
Therefore an important part of the
European Institutions work should
focus on coordinating and well
planning the future policies to invest
in our future.
The city of Vigo has 297,124 inhabitants, with an extended metropolitan population of 468,654, making it the 14th largest metropolitan area of Spain. At the beginning of 20th century Vigo had less than 50,000 inhabitants; in 2012 its metropolitan area had almost half a million, making Vigo one of the fastest-growing cities in Europe.
Vigo is one of the leading industrial areas in Galicia, with car factories, shipyards, and auxiliary industry. Situated in Vigo is Galicia’s leading employer, PSA Peugeot Citroën, which in 2007 produced a total of 545,000 vehicles, of which more than 82% were sold outside Spain.
Compass4D services will be deployed in a route that crosses the entire city centre and connects two of the main entrances to the city: AP-9 and A-55 highways. As soon as the city centre will be equipped, Vigo will have a complete area, covering urban and interurban environment, available to test and deploy cooperative services. This route was selected because the conditions for testing these services will be optimal and the city council is really interested in witnessing the positive effects of Compass4D services in this area.
There will be 17 equipped intersections and the system will be tested by 40 vehicles (buses, taxis, private vehicles and emergency vehicles).
About the City of Vigo
The Control and Management Centre in Vigo oversees the traffic flow in real time.
For more information on Compass4D, visit the website (www.compass4d.eu) and follow us on Twitter: @Compass4D
ERTICO Partnership events
Other dates for your Diary!
28February2013 ERTICO Strategy Committee meeting
Brussels (BE)
19 April2013 ERTICO Supervisory Board Meeting
Brussels (BE)
7May2013 ERTICO Forum
Brussels (BE)
21-24May2013 2nd TPEG Testfest
Munich (DE)
Dublin, Ireland, 4-7 June 2013, 9th European ITS Congress, www.itsineurope.com
Tokyo, Japan, 14-18 October 2013, 20th ITS World Congress, www.itsworldcongress.jp
Helsinki, Finland, 16-19 June 2014, 10th European ITS Congress
Detroit, USA, 7-11 September 2014, 21st ITS World Congress
Bordeaux, France, 5-9 October 2015, 22nd ITS World Congress
2013 2014 2015
World Congress2013 2014
2016
Melbourne
For further information, please contact us:
Avenue Louise 326, B-1050 Brussels Belgiumt +32 (0)2 400 07 00f +32 (0)2 400 07 [email protected] www.ertico.com