8 New Intelligent Traffic Solutions for Copenhagen
How ITS improves mobility in the Green Capital 2014
Last year, the city of Copenhagen offered companies and knowledge institutions the chance to participate in a structured collaborative innovation project, from November 2013 to April 2014, for the development of New Intelligent Transport Systems. The main goal was to develop a unified concept for traffic management systems for big cities; a concept which will also contribute actively to Copenhagen’s targets for greener mobility and zero carbon emissions by 2025.
This is how a series of innovative solutions has been tested at various locations throughout the city in conjunction with 15 Danish and European companies (including some of the ERTICO Partners), and two knowledge institutions, setting up teams across a wide range of companies and expertise. During six months, monitoring equipment was installed and tests carried out to find the best possible solution for a smooth and safe flow of traffic.
The ERTICO Partners Thetis, Imtech and Aalborg University contributed actively to the demonstration of 8 solutions for smart urban mobility as follows:
1- Extra light on the cycle tracks – increasing safety for vulnerable road users through effective synergy between street lightening and traffic signals;
2- Street life in car parks – offering a modular city equipment and flexible car parking areas where empty car parking can be used for shop display activities during the day;
3- Better flow in the streets – mapping the mobility patterns of road users in order to adapt local traffic lights to specific situations in specific time of the day;
4- Box senses the street pulse – setting-up bow senses to measure traffic conditions, weather and pollution in real time to adjust traffic flow…);
5- Busses on time – offering green light priority for busses in rush hours can reduce delays up to 25%;
6- Smart mobility choice – using a mobile application to plan journeys involving all modes of transport including public; transport, cars, bicycles and car club schemes; real time information about traffic, congestion and available parking spaces;
7- Parked emptied in 20 min – traffic lights adjust a particular situation such as a concert, or a football game, to give an increased priority of large group of pedestrians;
8- Cyclists riding on the green wave – traffic information aimed at cyclists to encourage the usage of bicycles, reduce traffic congestion and consequently CO2emmissions;
The common objective of these eight very different, astonishing, and positive ideas and solutions is to increase road safety and improve mobility for cyclists, pedestrians and bus passengers.
By focusing on specific challenges in Copenhagen, they succeeded in developing technical, creative, and intelligent solutions able to meet both existing and future challenges facing road traffic.
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