Today more than 30 representatives drawn from 12 cities (Bordeaux, Brno, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Lyon, Manchester, Moscow, Ostrava, Pilsen, Strasbourg, and Wroclaw) met in Glasgow at the City Council Chamber to discuss challenges and opportunities in the field of intelligent transport and smart cities.

ITS European Congress Lenny Warren / Warren Media 07860 830050 01355 229700 lenny@warrenmedia.co.uk www.warrenmedia.co.uk All images © Warren Media 2016. Free first use only for editorial in connection with the commissioning client's press-released story. All other rights are reserved. Use in any other context is expressly prohibited without prior permission.The cities were welcomed by the Lord Provost Sadie Docherty, and addressed by the Leader of the City Council Frank McAveety, Transport Scotland Director, Hugh Gillies, and Director Innovative and Sustainable Mobility, DG MOVE, European Commission. This is the first such gathering of cities at an ITS Congress.

Cities account for 75% of the European population and are the engines for the European economy.  However, they also contribute disproportionately to greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and consumption of resources. For cities to be successful they need to provide security, good quality of life and environmental sustainability for their citizens. They need to deliver this in times of austerity, with an aging population and with unprecedented population growth.

The participants to the summit from all over Europe debated these challenges and agreed on the enormous potential of Intelligent Transport Systems to address them.

Cees de Wijs, Chair of the Supervisory Board of ERTICO – ITS Europe, commented that “there is a need for European rather than local solutions to provide European wide services for the citizens and economies of scale for the industry.”

Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of the City Council said: “Transport glues all of a city’s services together.  In Glasgow, we’re already a Future City and we’re continuing to work towards being a city where all of our services are  connected for citizens’ benefit.”

The participants to the Summit noted that ITS can:

  • be used to reduce congestion and increase safety.
  • contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution
  • expand transport capacity more quickly, and using fewer resources, than extending existing physical infrastructure.
  • leverage the efficiency of both private and public funding for public transport;
  • provide users with personalised mobility solutions; including those with reduced accessibility or elderly people;
  • contribute to a more inclusive transport system for people and goods
  • be a cornerstone of future transport and mobility policies and services.

The participants to the Summit

  • Confirmed their intention to work together in addressing the mobility challenges facing cities today with efficient and sustainable ITS solutions.
  • Invited both public and private sector stakeholders to exchange experience of ITS implementations.
  • Committed to promoting the benefits of ITS deployment for their city to reduce congestion, emissions and energy consumption while enhancing safety and mobility for people and freight;
  • Agreed to support the organisation of next year’s Mayor’s Summit in Strasbourg.

The participants to the Summit expressed their appreciation for the impetus given by previous European and World Congresses that have advanced the deployment of ITS solutions to transport challenges and thanked Glasgow City Council and ERTICO – ITS Europe for having organised the Mayors’ Summit.

“After the success of this year’s Congress in Glasgow and anticipating the next ones in Strasbourg and Copenhagen in 2017 and 2018, ERTICO – ITS Europe is officially launching today the call for the tender to cities seeking  to host the next ITS Congresses in Europe for the period 2019-2021” Cees de Wijs concluded.