The FREILOT project European launch of the pilot phase hosted and organised by the City of Helmond Van den Broek Logistics Peek Traffic and ERTICO took place on 28 October 2010 in the Netherlands.
FREILOT is an urban freight energy efficiency pilot project co-funded under the European Commission’s CIP Programme. Through the one year pilot fleet operators will use the FREILOT system in real life conditions demonstrating increased energy efficiency and other benefits.
The workshop objectives were fourfold:
• Present FREILOT to the press to create awareness about the project and achieve a significant impact on the media
• Launch the FREILOT pilot phase in Helmond with a real-life demonstration of the service
• Disseminate the results achieved so far and discuss the potentiality of the project in the context of a more efficient urban freight logistics
• Première the FREILOT video
Nearly 150 participants including many VIPs and the media took advantage of the opportunity to see how FREILOT will be piloted and then deployed in Helmond and the other FREILOT pilot cities (Bilbao Krakow Lyon). Participants were able to ride FREILOT enabled trucks and emergency vehicles drive the FREILOT simulator and engage with the FREILOT consortium.
With fourteen TV/radio spots about the Helmond event and an earlier event in Bilbao as well as stories in the print and online media the launch of the FREILOT pilot phase was a huge success. The consortium has fielded enquiries and requests to take part in the pilot from many more stakeholders. To see the TV/radio reports click here
While FREILOT was originally conceived to improve urban freight energy efficiency its benefits were apparent to other stakeholders. In Helmond the Helmond Fire Service joined the pilot allowing fire engines to be equipped with the system. In this way FREILOT equipped fire engines will be given absolute priority at traffic lights in emergencies. 
At the Helmond event it was announced that the Helmond ambulance service would also be participating in the pilot further strengthening FREILOT’s business case and aiding future deployment and expansion.
Gert Blom City of Helmond said: “The interest of the emergency services are important spin-offs which will further strengthen the Helmond after-project business case and help pave the way for FREILOT deployment in other European cities. In Helmond and Krakow we are aiming at Europe’s first sustainable implementations of cooperative services to provide daily benefits to the stakeholders.”
Eric Janse de Jonge Ambassador for Urban Logistics and Distribution highlighted the importance of FREILOT stating that it needed to come up on the political agenda and offering his help in this regard.
The project now focuses on launching the pilots in Lyon and Krakow.
The full report will be available on the FREILOT website imminently – www.freilot.eu. For further information please contact Zeljko Jeftic Project Coordinator or Henry Wasung Communications Officer or visit the FREILOT website
Link to original Article
http://www.ertico.com/the-freilot-project-european-launch/
Original Publication Date: Tue 23 Nov 2010
