“Earlier this year, as a part of the 12th European ITS Congress held in Strasbourg, ERTICO and the City Council organised the second Mayors’ Summit. The aim was to have a mainly political, rather than technical, discussion on transport in cities. We wanted to learn about cities’ biggest transport concerns and the policies they wanted to implement. We asked them to identify where they had found efficient and effective solutions and generally share experiences so that we could match problems to solutions where they had been found and across Europe all cities could benefit. And we wanted to compile a list of topics where solutions, or better or cheaper solutions, were needed so that we could talk to research and development agencies and the associated funders about starting work in these key areas.”
In her own words, French politician, former Mayor of Strasbourg and French Minister of Culture, Ms Catherine Trautmann, provided the core idea of the “How to do it guide”, a set of instructions created under the umbrella of the ITS Congress, in collaboration with Khalid Nur and Tim Gammons of Ove Arup & Partners Ltd.
This document contains a brief but clear and detailed set of guidelines on how cities can implement ITS to improve environmental conditions and benefit from new business models that arise from the implementation of ITS, in order to enhance the quality of life and of services in European cities.
The document is divided into two sections, the first of which is the “Environment guide”.
Transport is associated to many negative environmental impacts, but intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) technology can indeed bring a number of benefits in terms of minimising the negative externalities of the sector. Improving traffic congestion and the driving style, reducing pollution within a geographic areas, encouraging the use of more sustainable and environmentally friendly modes of transport, and reducing the number of trips where possible are all goals which can be achieved through the implementation of efficient ITS. The report also provides suggestions about evaluation procedures and looks into the challenges that may arise.
The second part focuses on “Guidance notes on developing open data policies and business models”. Transport related data presents the building block for developing a multitude of systems and services which can improve the transport system efficiency, enhance customer experience, support desired change in travel behaviour, enable digital integration between transport modes and deliver intelligent mobility.
The report outlines some important steps on how to develop a Data policy, business models and Business models for Open Data and Public Sector Information (PSI).
The “How to do it” guide provide indeed an in depth analysis of the cost and benefits of ITS interventions.
