THIN KING

HIG HW AYS
EUROPE/REST of the WORLD EDITION
Volume 2 • Issue 2 • Q2/2007

EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS
The return of Fotis Karamitsos

PAY AS YOU THRIVE

What’s next for road pricing?

SITUATIONS VACANT
Phil Tarnoff’s search for
experience

A SMART FUTURE
Phil Blythe on intelligent
infrastructure

PLUS
Bus Rapid Transit • Automatic Incident Detection • Climate
change • Italy • Australia • South Africa • ERF • POLIS •
EUROCITIES • Graham Stacey • Peter Preston • Trevor Platt
the

INTELLIGENT
Advanced transportation management
policy • strategy • technology
finance • innovation • implementation
choice integration • interoperability
 
 
   
      
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All kinds of everything
“They” say that variety is the spice of life. If that’s
Kevin Borras is
publishing director
true, then we have a particularly hot issue for you
of H3B Media and
editor-in-chief of First-time visitors to my
Thinking Highways house tend to spend at least
Europe/Rest of the
World and North
the first half-hour of their
America editions. stay staring in amazement at
my wall of CDs.
I have the length of an entire
wall of my dining room, floor to
ceiling, devoted to my rather
unwieldly ‘collection’ (not that
I consider them to be a
collection - collections are
normally made up of things
you can’t actually use, like frog
ornaments and second world
war stamps). The word
‘eclectic’ tends to crop up
rather a lot in the post gawp-
conversation.
I hold my hands up to that
one. I suppose if you have
albums by Slayer, Samuel
Barber, Arcade Fire, The
Chemical Brothers and Bob
Marley in equal measure then
your musical taste can indeed
be described as eclectic (and I
prefer that to the “that many
CDs is just stupid” comment I
had last year.
The thing with eclecticism is
that it has to be tempered with
some kind of logic (mine is that
I have all 4,000+ CDs filed
alphabetically by artist and
then chronologically, which
makes buying albums by
bands that begin with A
something of a traumatic
Graham Stacey, Ira Steinhoff, Bart
Editor-in-Chief
Kevin Borras Swaans, Phil Tarnoff, Stijn Vandebeurie,
Sales and Marketing Paul Vorster
Luis Hill, Tim Guest Visualisation
Design and Layout
Phoebe Bentley, Kevin Borras Tom Waldschmidt (tom@h3bmedia.com)
Guest Designers Conferences and Events
AkZiDeNz GrOtEsK (pages 64-71)
Odile Pignier (odile@h3bmedia.com)
Sub-Editor and Proofreader
Subscriptions and Circulation
Maria Vasconcelos
Contributing Editors Pilarin Harvey-Granell
Bruce Abernethy, Richard Bishop, Andrew Website
Pickford, Phil Sayeg, Phil Tarnoff, Darryll Code Liquid
Thomas, Harold Worrall, Amy Zuckerman
Contributors to this issue Financial Director
Martin Brookstein
Barbara Bernardi, Phil Blythe, Ruth
Bridger, Phil Charles, Matt Cowley,
Francesco Falco, Steinar Furan, Andy EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING
Graham, Brendan Halleman, Olga H3B Media Ltd, 15 Onslow Gardens,
Landolfi, Miguel Martinez Olague, Donal Wallington, Surrey SM6 9QL, UK
McGuinness,José Papí, Margaret Pettit, Tel +44 (0)870 919 3770
Trevor Platt, Peter Plisner, Peter Preston, Fax +44 (0)870 919 3771
David Quin, Phil Sayeg, Daniel Scholz, Email info@h3bmedia.com
www.h3bmedia.com
Foreword Thinking
event).You could just as easily idea of rewarding good
describe this issue of Thinking driving and travelling
Highways as ‘eclectic’, he said, behaviour - and then there’s a
finally getting to the point. beautifully designed eight-
Our cover story is a page review of the latest
fascinating insight into the automatic incident detection
world of Fotis Karamitsos, market, put together by some
newly crowned Director for highly talented Swedes (and a
Logistics, Innovation, Co- Lithuanian).
modality and Maritime Where else would you get all
Transport at the European this AND an in-depth review of
Commission’s DG TREN. ITS’s the potential for Bus Rapid
prodigal son has returned and Transit systems written by a
he’s very happy to be back. BBC transport correspondent
sitting comfortably alongside
“The thing with Paul Vorster’s third report from
eclecticism is South Africa and the first
instalment of a regular feature
that it has to be where POLIS invites one of its
tempered with members (this time the Dutch
region of Noord Brabant) to tell
some kind of the world (or at least this part
logic” of it) about an innovative
programme?
Our 112-page issue also And there’s not even room to
features such high-quality more than briefly mention
contributions as Prof Phil pieces from Italy and Australia
Blythe’s detailed look at the and focuses on sustainable
Foresight programme; Phil roads, satnav anomalies,
Tarnoff’s attempt to address climate change, reliability-
the US’s startling lack of centred maintenance, EU
qualified traffic engineers is a funding, traffic counting and a
companion piece to Peter delve into Trevor Platt’s
Preston’s quest to capture the thought processes.
essence of the modern traffic The logical thread running
engineer. We also have a four- through this eclectic mix of
article piece on road pricing, stories? Read them all and
one of which focuses on the you’ll see for yourself. TH
Thinking Highways is published by H3B Media Ltd.
ISSN 1753-433X
Thinking Highways is published quarterly in two editions – North America and
Europe/Rest of the World - and is available on subscription at £30/€40 (Europe/RoW) and
US$60 (North America). Distributed in the USA by DSW 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville,
PA 17318-0437 USA. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER: send address
changes to Thinking Highways, 401 S W Water Street, Suite 201B, Peoria, Illinois 61602, USA.
Managing Director Although due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this publication is accurate
Luis Hill and up-to-date, the publisher can accept no liability for errors and omissions. Unless otherwise
stated, this publication has not tested products or services that are described herein, and
luis@h3bmedia.com their inclusion does not imply any form of endorsement. By accepting advertisements in this
publication, the publisher does not warrant their accuracy, nor accept responsibility for their
contents. The publisher welcomes unsolicited manuscripts and illustrations but can accept no
Publishing Director liability for their safe return.
Kevin Borras © 2007 H3B Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
kevin@h3bmedia.com The views and opinions of the authors are not necessarily those of H3B Media Ltd.
Reproduction (in whole or in part) of any text, photograph or illustration contained in this
publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.
www.h3bmedia.com Printed in the UK by Stones the Printers
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 1
Contents

COLUMNS 96 Graham Stacey on reliability-centred

04 Eurocities’ Mobility Forum maintenance
08 Prof Phil Charles’ Australian Update
ROAD PRICING & ETC
COVER STORY 46 Is road pricing the best way to solve
12 Kevin Borras talks to Fotis Karamitsos as “the congestion, asks Steinar Furan
Godfather of European ITS” makes a welcome
return to the Brussels hot seat 50 Andy Graham and Matt Cowley devise a road
pricing scheme based on fairness...
THE THOUGHT PROCESS
18 Trevor Platt, Strategic Business Development 54 GPSS integrity’s role in congestion charging, as
Director, Serco, UK told by Miguel Angel Martinez Olague

THE THINKER 58 Daniel Scholz and Donal McGuinness on fully

20 ITS guru Phil Tarnoff addresses the shortfall in
qualified traffic engineers
INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURE
26 Prof Phil Blythe on science and technology’s
role in the ITS systems of the future
EVENT PREVIEW
38 H3B Media’s 1st UK Road Pricing Think Tank
HOW I SEE IT
42 The changing face (and scope) of the 21st
Cenury traffic engineer, by Peter Preston
automated toll payment by mobile phone
CLIMATE CHANGE
62 The plus points of the UK’s Draft Climate
Change Bill, highlighted by David Quin
THINKING DIFFERENTLY
64 Stijn Vandebeurie looks at the state-of-play in
the automatic incident detection market in an
eight-page feature fashioned by Swedish
design consultants AkZiDeNz GrOtEsK
 D rg
on
of e N

To in W

fo
lin
T O

on et
re in at
h

ce g H ww
k
traffic levels, described by Phil Sayeg

iv ig w

’t !
e
SOUTH AFRICA

fu hw .h3
72 Paul Vorster’s keeping a close eye on how the BUS RAPID TRANSIT

tu ay bm
transport industry is helping to fuel South 100 BBC transport correspondent Peter Plisner on

re s
Africa’s 2010 World Cup plans the new concepts and technology helping to

is reg dia
improve the image of BRT systems

su is .
es te co
POLICY PERSPECTIVE
76 Sustainable roads are advantageous for the

e
environment, say José Papí, Brendan Halleman

r m
and Francesco Falco

CASE IN POINT
78 Satellite navigation systems are not exactly
flavour of the month with the trucking industry,
as Ruth Bridger discovers

POLIS BUREAU p26

82 In the first of a new, regular series focusing on
POLIS members, Bart Swaans looks at the ITALY
dynamic traffic managament measures of the 106 Olga Landolfi reports from Rome as Italy
Dutch region of Noord Brabant attempts to keep pace, at the very least, with
the rest of Europe
T-FOCUS
88 When mere traffic counting is not enough, by FINANCE AND FUNDING
PTV ‘s Ira Steinhoff 106 Margaret Pettit meets Jessica, Jeremie and
Jaspers
DRIVER INFORMATION
92 Australia’s battle to keep up with its rising 112 Advertisers’ Index
EUROCITIES’ Mobility Forum
Spend
wisely
If you’re considering investing in your infrastructure,
EUROCITIES requests that you think twice...
Before undertaking a
sizeable investment in
infrastructure, whatever the
infrastructure may be, (even
if we would prefer
investment in
environmentally friendly
means of transport), we need
to think twice.
Infrastructure investments
alone will not solve the
problem of congested
capacity in cities,
neighbourhood and trans-
European transport networks.
At the beginning of 2007
widespread confusion
surrounded the debate on the
EU financial perspectives
2007-2013 resulting in the
allocation of a very modest
budget for trans-European
Networks and some limited
gains on structural and
cohesion policy for urban
transport. The question we
would like you to find an
4 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
answer for in this column is the
following: Do you really think
that an increase in size and
infrastructure capacity can be
the optimal response to
congestion problem and more
to our current needs for a
greater mobility?
“Infrastructure
investment alone
will not solve the
congestion
problem”
We really doubt that this is
the case. The changing
situation, especially in the new
Member States, imposes a
reflection on this subject,
particularly if you glance at the
allocation of public funding for
the next period. We need to
look for another response to
congestion, a different, more
creative one. Let’s take a look
at the problem from a different
perspective. For a moment
forget about the supposedly
unbreakable link between
economic growth and
transport demand and project
ourselves into the charming
and unexplored world of
mobility management.
We can no longer reply to
the increasing demand of
mobility by constantly adding
“capacity to existing capacity.”
Instead we need to develop an
approach within cities and
between cities “which on the
basis of predicted travel
behaviours, intervenes
proactively to encourage
sustainable solutions both for
freight and citizens, to reduce
where possible their transport
demands, and encourage the
most sustainable modes to
cover remaining needs” .
Mobility management has
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 Xxxxx

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Robert
EUROCITIES’
Kelly and
Mobility
MarkForum
Johnson

become a societal need which

contributes greatly to the
development of new concepts
on how citizens move around
in and between cities. As has
been mentioned several times
before, we are perfectly aware
of the fact that mobility is not
only an increasing need but
also “a right” of “urban users”.
However, there are
thousands of approaches and
methodologies that can help to
solve this issue in a more
sustainable way and one of
these is through mobility
management.
Mobility management is the
management of demand
through a combination of
incentives and disincentives
aimed at optimising the
utilisation of transport capacity
towards the creation of
sustainable cities. Our
“mobility-affectionate”
readers can of course
recognise in this definition a
“It is purely a approach will need no small
amount of psychological
major reference to travel matter of a thinking ,thus devolving
demand management tools
such as road pricing,
better incentive and disincentive
schemes in order to convince
congestion charging understanding of people to switch from private
schemes, low emission zones,
and parking space
the needs of cars to more collective means
of transport. It is a work on
management. cities, now and in progress.

Predictive text
Now we would like our readers
to understand how problems
can be managed using a
predictive methodology.
The word management may
bring back bad memories, but
in our case, it is purely a matter
of a better understanding of
the needs of cities, now and in
the future. Nothing more,
nothing less. So where are we
going? What do we need?
Following the Adam Smith
theory of perfect substitutes,
will it be possible to say that a
car journey can be substituted
with a bike and or by walking?
Without bothering you with
macro-economics calculations,
we believe that a bike and
walking trip are much moiré
environmental and economic
rentable than a single car.
Following this innovative
the future”
approach we would be able to
touch upon work, school,
leisure tourism and foster the
dialogue between
stakeholders.
Let’s take for instance the
‘travel to work’ issue. How
many citizens really need a car
to go to work? Mobility
management is aimed at
facilitating talks between
transport operators, local
authorities and businesses, in
order to find joint solutions for
people living in the same area.
The same goes for school
travel.You might have heard of
something called ‘Walking on
Wednesday’ that has become
quite commonplace in the UK,
where chilldren form a
walking bus to go to school. As
we mentioned before, we
should not forget that this
In conclusion, we will get to
the provocative question of ‘do
you need to invest in your
infrastructure at all?’. Of
course we need investment in
infrastructure and once more
we would like to see the
European Commission more
committed to the old fashioned
intermodality principle. We
can do so much without huge
amounts of money. Be creative,
be predictive (and not
predictable) and be proactive.
Sometimes a lack of
investment might be a
challenge that will turn into an
opportunity. TH
For more information, please
contact Barbara Bernadi,
EUROCITIES’ mobility
policy officer at
b.bernadi@eurocities.eu
or visit the website at
www.eurocities.org

6 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

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Prof Phil Charles’ Australian Update
Would
you like
traffic
services
with that?
Could offering traffic incident
response services be an incentive
to rid Australia of potentially
crippling congestion?
Highway agencies today
have limited opportunities
for a direct relationship with
their customers - the road
users.
If the trend to road user
charging continues then that
relationship and providing
quality customer service will
require a significant change in
focus for agencies. Two of the
major challenges facing
highway agencies into the next
decade will be dealing with
increasing traffic congestion,
and securing funding for
infrastructure and services –
hence the growing interest in
congestion charging.
8 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
Is congestion getting worse?
Congestion used to mean that
it took longer to get to and
from work in the ‘peak hour’.
Now congestion affects more
trips, extending to more hours
of the day, creates even more
extra travel time, extends
across more of the road
network and results in reduced
reliability of travel.
Congestion has real costs for
all road users, including trucks
(both long-haul and local
pickup and delivery),
household and business
service providers (such as
plumbers, computer
technicians), emergency
services (such as police, fire
and ambulance services), and
personal travel (such as
commuters, recreation, and
shoppers), plus road-based
transit.
The primary sources of
congestion are too much traffic
for the available capacity, such
as a bottleneck, or as a result of
the unexpected reduction
capacity, such as caused by a
traffic incident. Once the traffic
flow breaks down to stop-and-
go conditions, a ‘tipping point’
is reached and the capacity is
reduced even further. Traffic
incidents can have major
impacts, resulting in gridlock
for hours. Congestion is not
only growing, it is becoming
more volatile as well.
Optional extras
There has been a flurry of
interest in traffic congestion in
Australia recently. The
Victorian Competition and
Efficiency Commission
(VCEC) published their 530
page draft report in April 2006
titled ‘Making the right
choices: Options for managing
transport congestion’.
The VCEC concluded that
‘transport congestion
(affecting road, rail and public
transport) is an increasing
problem for Melbourne that, if
not addressed, will impose
increasing costs on the
community’. The Commission
put forward a number of
options to improve efficiency,
including better management
of existing road space, better
interchanges with rail,
efficiency measures relating to
freight movements, and
location-specific use of peak–
period pricing to improve
congestion.
The Council of Australian
Governments (COAG) also
www.h3bmedia.com
Xxxxx
Prof Phil
Robert Charles’
Kelly Australian
and Mark Update
Johnson
published a report in
December 2006 titled Review
of Urban Congestion: Trends,
Impacts and Solutions. The
report concluded that
‘Congestion pressures are
forecast to rise appreciably’ as
indicated in the
commissioned Bureau of
Transport and Regional
Economic Working Paper
No 71, Estimating urban traffic
and congestion cost trends for
Australian cities (published in
April 2007).
The COAG report discussed
a range of potential
congestion measures
including traffic management,
encouraging use of transit,
integrated land use and
transport planning and road
demand management through
charges, levies, taxes,
infrastructure and service
pricing. COAG has agreed
jurisdictions will develop a
proposed package of corridor
and location-specific
congestion management
initiatives.
A clear message is that
congestion is a major
challenge facing Australian
road agencies. So what can be
done? A combination of
managing existing
infrastructure more efficiently
10 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
“Congestion is a
major challenge
facing Australian
road agencies”
through active traffic and A step in the direction of
incident management, adding developing that relationship
more capacity and moderating between a road operator and
demand through price and road users and building a
non-price measures. positive image or brand is
Direct road user charging isproviding incident response
only utilised for toll roads inservices. The public sector
Brisbane, Sydney and operated Florida Turnpike in
Melbourne. At this stage the US and the Highways
congestion charging is not Agency in the UK and private
being actively considered, but operators such as Transurban
is increasingly being referred on their Citylink toll road in
to in studies and media debate Melbourne are examples of
as part of a package of road operators that have
congestion mitigation moved in this direction.
measures. Providing traffic incident
response services is an ideal
Customer service mechanism to provide a very
Market forces already positive image of helping
determine a number of the stranded motorists or road
services we consume, users caught up in traffic
including telephone, internet queues – a win-win situation all
access, energy and water round. Using traffic incident
supply. Extending user response services to build
charging to road use seems positive customer
inevitable. The challenge when relationships with road users,
a ‘user’ pays for a service is increases the level and quality
they expect higher levels and of service and provides a
quality of service – customer pathway for the introduction of
service. road user charging.
Private toll road operators Worth considering in the
already understand the search for congestion
importance of providing a high mitigation measures. TH
level of service to their Prof Phil Charles is Director
customers to ensure patronage of the Centre for Transport
growth. Public sector highway Strategy at the University of
agencies need to address this Queensland.
issue. p.charles@uq.net.au
www.h3bmedia.com
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12 Vol 2 No 1 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

Back
in the
picture
FOTIS KARAMITSOS is back. KEVIN BORRAS spoke to DG TREN’s
new Director for Logistics, Innovation, Co-modality &
Maritime Transport about the past, the present and the future
The name Fotis Karamitsos was synonymous with
the term ITS for anyone involved in the industry in
the 1990s and first couple of years of the new Mil-
lennium.
As the charismatic, personable and instantly recog-
nisable Head of Unit for Transport Telematics and Tour-
ism at the European Commission’s Information Society
Directorate General (DG INFSO), Karamitsos was at the
helm of the good ship ITS as it sailed into uncharted
waters - projects such as DRIVE and PROMETHEUS
bringing the previously unheard of terms such as
‘telematics’ and ‘intelligent transport systems’ into the
public domain and into the European vocabulary. In
other words, Karamitsos oversaw and in many ways
shaped ITS’s evolution from research to reality, not that
the disarmingly modest native of Greece would ever
admit to anything so grand.
In 2001 he moved across to DG TREN (Transport and
Energy) to become Director of the Maritime & Inland
Transport Directorate, and that, we were mistaken
for thinking, was almost certainly going to be
the last we saw of him. However, late in
2006 a rumour began to take
shape that Karamitsos
was about to
come
www.h3bmedia.com
Cover Story
home, albeit in a more elevated capacity. After six years
away, was the prodigal really going to return? Yes, was
the simple answer to what had become a rather pro-
tracted question.
“ My responsibilities were widened last Autumn when
in addition to the Maritime issues I became responsible
for Logistics, Innovation, Co-mobility, Urban Transport
and also GALILEO,” says the clearly pleased to be back
Karamitsos. “It is great to move from time to time and it
is especially exciting when you can deal with issues that
really have an impact on people’s lives, like those in the
fast moving field of the transport of goods and people.”
A lot has changed in the intervening years, especially
in terms of policy strategy, public knowledge and
acceptance and so on - what, I wondered, was the big-
gest difference that he had noticed so far?
“A lot has changed, you’re right there, but there are a
lot of challenges that are still there. Of course, technolo-
gies have moved on – in some cases very big changes
have occurred, but these have given new opportunities
to solve the blockages we have in the system,” he
explains.
“The other day I looked back at some papers we pro-
duced in 1990 through the DRIVE Strategic Consultative
Committee and recognised that we face some of the
same issues today – congestion and the reduction of
accidents were prominent – although we have made
great strides in the safety field already. The new items
on top of the agenda are climate change and energy
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 13
Cover Story

(dependence and efficiency), on which we have to put a

priority. Freight transport was seen as strategically
important then as it is now. For freight – which I believe
is a sensible field for an early push ahead with the use of
ITS – we are coming out with an Action Plan in Freight
and Logistics this year. Next year we will move on with
an Action Plan dealing with the more general deploy-
ment of Intelligent Transport Systems & Services. “

A man very much of the people

In 1998, when I entered the ITS arena, Karamitsos was
described to me as “the most important person in the
European transport sector.” If there was one man that
could bring ITS to the masses, I was told, it was him. Nine
years on, Karamitsos still has his finger firmly on the
public’s pulse, it would seem.
“From a public acceptance perspective we have seen
a booming of navigation systems in use, both in and out
of the car,” he says.“ The GSM revolution means now that
you can use the mobile devices for all the knowledge-
based information and guidance that you could wish for.
The question of overcrowded transport networks is high
on the agenda. We can see this from the interest in Road
User Charging in a number of Member States. We are
addressing this through a Directive on Interoperability
of Electronic Fee Collection. Legislation has its part to
play, but we can also achieve a lot by cooperation
between the players in the transportation business on
the public and on the private sides. So I would defini- transport systems on the ground and in use. Then there
tively say that ITS is certainly closer to the public now.” will be meetings of the Transport Council and the Parlia-
Another knowledgeable ITS observer once painted a ment to go to, and speeches to deliver and of course
highly complimentary picture of Karamitsos when he interviews like this one. You may have noticed that in
said something along the lines of “If you imagine the recent weeks the issue of the continuation of the GALI-
industry as a car, Fotis is driving it and he knows exactly LEO project has occupied much of my time. I believe we
where he’s going and how to get there.” Now that he is are reaching a fruitful conclusion where we will see it
back in the driving seat, what represents his greatest move on with a stronger public commitment.”
day-to-day challenge?
“In a job like mine there is always a lot to do. It ranges Life in miniature
from the inevitable paperwork to the detail of progress- In the time that he has been away, ITS and telematics
ing the transport issues that we are advancing. The seem to have reached a much deeper mass market pen-
greatest day-to-day challenge for me is the need to bal- etration than it did during his previous tenure at
ance the administrative load with the DG INFSO. One only has to look at the
vital business of being involved with the “Small interests can amount of cars that have satnav as
important issues in the transport content
of the work.,” he points out.
often confuse the standard now compared to then. To
what does he attribute this marked
“It is important for me to discuss these bigger debate, take-up?
issues outside DG TREN in order to
ensure that we here can understand fully
when in fact we “We touched on this earlier but we
have seen the miniaturisation and
the prime issues of the day and deliver should be looking vastly increased capacity and avail-
some results that have real value to Euro-
pean business, industry and in particular
after Europe and its ability of electronic devices during
the 1990s and during the first years
to our citizens.” citizens’ interests” of this century. The cost to the gen-
Fotis’s rather wordy job title doesn’t eral user has come down to an attrac-
explain that much about what his exact responsibilities tive level too. If you can use your phone while you are
are. Does he have a typical day, for example? walking down the street then it seems quite natural that
“ One thing I can tell you is that a typical day is a long you should be able to find your way about more easily
one! There are always different dossiers to progress; using the same device. Satnav devices would appear to
there are meetings with Member States’ officials and be moving on from the fixed units in cars to be more
European Parliamentarians and meetings with my col- dynamic for use both in and outside vehicles.”
leagues here in DG TREN where we can discuss the As with any job that is even remotely involved with
points that will progress towards getting advanced politics and politicians, the mythical ‘red tape’ that can

14 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 Cover Story

“I would
definitively say that
ITS is certainly
closer to the public
now”

keep even the most urgently needed measures from
reaching their intended audience is a source of eternal
frustration. However, in Karamitsos’s case, time is his
biggest enemy.
“Quite simply that there is not enough time to get done
all the things that need to be done in the transport field,”
he muses. “Also, small interests can often confuse the
bigger debate, when in fact we should be looking after
Europe and its citizens’ interests. The pace of develop-
ment in ITS is such that it is important to get deployment
on the ground rather quickly to keep up with develop-
ments. Unfortunately at the moment there seems to be a
mismatch between the rate industry can develop new
systems and services and the rate at which we can
deploy them across Europe in a harmonised manner.
Perhaps your readers have some helpful views on this.
A renewed debate would be welcome!”
You heard the man - please send us your views to the
email address at the end of the article!
A little bit of history
Although it would certainly be true to say that the vast
majority of Thinking Highways’ readership will know
Karamitsos, either personally, by name, by sight or even
reputation, there are not that many who would claim to
know all that much about him. So, just who is Fotis Kara-
mitsos and how did he get here?
“It will not surprise many that I am Greek (my name is
something of a giveaway), although I have lived in north-
ern Europe for some time now. Before I came to Brus-
sels, about 26 years ago after completing my Civil
Engineering and Transportation studies in Athens and
in the UK, I worked in Greece in the public sector and in
the academic arena. At one time I was working on a pro-
gramme for the Greater Athens Pollution Control. Of
course I go back from time to time to see how Athens is
becoming a cleaner city and I must admit I also go to
enjoy the sun and the sea!
“When I arrived in Brussels I spent some years in

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 15

Cover Story
“This should be a
harmonised and
appropriate
deployment for the
opening of the 21st
century”
DG7 as the Transport Directorate Generale was then
called. Then I had the great opportunity to kick off the
DRIVE ITS research programme which was followed by
the Telematics programmes in DG 13/DG INFSO. In
these we pioneered developments in electronics and
communications right across transport. We made great
strides then in an environment which was a little less
constrained by day-to-day paperwork than today.”
One of the reasons that Thinking Highways was cre-
ated was to better reflect the noticeable shift of empha-
sis away from the idea that the technology is the be-all
and end-all of advanced traffic management.
Fortunately, for us at least, this is a view that is shared by
Karamitsos.
“There definitely has been a shift. Technology
progresses in any case - industry and innovation will
see to that. The real issues are making use of the tech-
nology – taking it up for the best use for you and me, the
public as European citizens, and I shouldn’t forget on
the freight side for European industry too. So my current
job as the Director for Logistics, Innovation, Co-modal-
ity and Maritime Transport gives me the opportunity to
build a mixed programme of legislation and encourage-
ment of deployment that will see the technologies used
to the best advantage serving policy objectives. In the
deployment of ITS we have just launched a Call for ITS in
the new Multi Annual Programme for Trans-European
Network. This Call covers not only ITS for road trans-
port, but ITS for railways and in the air sector as well.”
Soft return
The saying “never go back” doesn’t hold much water
with Karamitsos, so I wondered when he returned to the
industry where he was so influential, was he pleased
16 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
that the legacy he left behind was still very prominent,
or was there a sense that perhaps the directorate hadn’t
moved on as much as it might have done?
“Always you can be faced with things that have not
progressed as far as you might have wished for what-
ever reason. I would have liked to have seen more
deployment of ITS Services in the Member States than I
saw on my return, but the real point is that I now have the
chance – we all have the chance – to deal with that now
and increase the rate of deployment. This should be a
harmonised and appropriate deployment for the open-
ing of the 21st century.”
It seems impertinent to talk about leaving when you
have only just arrived, somewhere but in asking Kara-
mitsos about his future plans and what he hopes he will
have achieved it was pretty much unavoidable.
“I would like to see that intelligent transport services
are not talked about as something separate. They are
enablers of progress in improving transport. It is our
business to implement the European Transport Policy
‘Keep Europe Moving’. So seeing ITS melt into just being
the means of improving transport while I am doing this
job would be a worthwhile thing to leave behind.
“When we started DRIVE the best part of 20 years ago,
the idea was to find transport applications to run on the
back of telecommunications development. The auto-
mobile industry came on board because they saw many
opportunities. Indeed in Europe we are strong on both
Telecommunications and the Automobile Industry. We
had also tried to bring the policy makers on board but
with an industrial ‘flavour’ behind. We know now that
this approach has its limitations. The needs of citizens
and our economy in general must come into the fore-
front and therefore also the role of transport policy.” TH
To take part in, or even start the debate suggested by
Fotis Karamitsos, send your views to
kevin@h3bmedia.com
www.h3bmedia.com
 ON THE ROAD TO FLOURISH

Like an unfolding blossom, the Swarco Group

continues to expand its market presence and
products, services, and solutions portfolio.
Today, 40 companies in 16 countries account for
more than 200 MEUR in sales related to traffic
control materials and traffic management solu-
tions. The blossom grows and gets new petals,
for instance with transport telematics specialist
Mizar Automazione in Italy and paint factory
Swarco Vicas in Romania. The development of
the blossom involves its change, but, similar to
the solid roots of a plant, some things remain
unchanged: our commitment to road safety
with quality orientation, innovation spirit, and
the partnership approach with you.

SWARCO HOLDING AG, Blattenwaldweg 8, A-6112 Wattens • Tel.: +43-5224-5877-0, Fax: +43-5224-56070 • e-mail: office.holding@swarco.com, www.swarco.com
The Thought Process
Trevor Platt
Strategic Business Development Director,
Serco Integrated Transport
One critical feature of any ITS technology is
reliability. Using technology to support the goals of
reducing carbon emissions, congestion, and improving
journey reliability and quality must be balanced and
dovetailed with operational delivery and policy. From
an operational perspective reliability of technology will
invariably outweigh the features of new technology
innovation.
Two simple things will change the way ITS is per-
ceived in the next few years. One will be Integrating
Payment for all types of travel, including your distance
based road charge and the other is providing journey
times for your car journey regardless of whether you are
on a local authority road, a Highways Agency, Transport
Scotland, Roads Service or Welsh Assembly motorway.
Nothing comes for free. Don’t over complicate the ITS
solution, sometimes there is a tendency to over specify
the technical solution. Get it in, working, delivering
benefit and then evolve. If the solution does not evolve
it will fail. You must continue to invest.
You, your colleagues and all stakeholders must have
a clear view of where the solution is heading. Using a
golfing example, try standing on the first tee, with a
packed audience while you’re wearing a blindfold.
Where’s the ball going to go? Fore! Set out a clear vision,
plan and strategies, communicate and deliver.
Five portions of fruit and vegetables every day can
help keep your body fitter, healthier and happier.
Sitting in your car again doesn’t do it much good. I travel
around 40,000 miles a year - but working from home a
bit, using a conference call, taking the train, thinking
about the carbons to counter the cost of the train ticket,
asking to move the meeting by an hour so that I can get
into London on a cheaper fare, have reduced my annual
mileage by over 10,000, as well as my blood pressure,
cholesterol levels and so on. You still need the face-to-
face contact and the personal space of the car, but not all
the time. Think and plan more.
Six lane motorways are not my idea of heaven. I can
think of a good few song titles that come to mind. Road
To Nowhere, The Road To Hell, Highway To Hell. You get
the picture.
18 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
If you decide you want to live on the seventh floor of
a warehouse conversion in the city centre then for-
get the car and walk. It’s fine owning a big 4x4 when
you live in the city, but it’s using at the right time and in
the right way that’s important. The Conservative Party
intend to focus on getting children to school on buses to
reduce the 9am rush, which is all good stuff, but how
about more off-road cycle routes and improved pave-
ments and walking, coupled with healthier school din-
ners? Your children will all be a lot fitter and as a result
will save a shed-load of much needed cash for the health
service in 30 years’ time.
Don’t fill your plate with more than you can chew -
the feeling that you ate too much is never a pleasant
one. An ITS solution must evolve rather than be a ‘big
bang’ as the balance with operations and policy is fine
tuned. Don’t wait until you have worked out the perfect
solution and certainly don’t keep talking. Talk, analyse,
resolve and deliver, and then keep going ... more talk-
ing, analysing, learning, upgrade, modify your proce-
dures, install another piece of technology ... projects
must show appropriate cost benefit, but let’s see smaller
pieces of benefit sooner rather than later. Not another
trial!
Do we really spend nine years of our lives in our
cars? I am sure the doctor would prefer us all to walk the
kids to school, buy a new bike, etc. We see many stats on
how much congestion costs the country, the growth in
car ownership and usage, how many carbons vehicles
chuck-out, but I still struggle to find simple facts and fig-
ures that make things real to me as an individual that
would encourage me to do things differently. I am sure I
am not alone. Me saving 10,000 miles a year has done a
lot for my life, but what does that actually represent in
carbon savings and reducing congestion. Changing the
way we work and play must be done in close harmony.
Pricing can change the demand for road use, and better
information will help people to improve the quality of
their journey. TH
Trevor Platt is taking part in the Great North Run to raise
money for the National Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children. To sponsor him please visit
www.justgiving.com/TPdoesGNR
Interview by Kevin Borras
www.h3bmedia.com
 “Projects
“What ITSmust show
can do is
appropriate cost benefit,
support policy objectives
but
andlet’s see smaller
improve pieces
knowledge,
of benefit sooner
information rather
and
thanmanagement”
later - not another
trial”
The Thinker

Spreading
the gospel
KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for
surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if
we’ve come as far as we should have done…

During the past few years, a small group of zealots, lead by

PHIL TARNOFF, has been on a crusade to convince public
officials in the US that transportation operations can have as
great an impact on mobility and safety as the construction of
new facilities. In an era of shrinking construction budgets
and increased costs, the effective use of existing facilities
through improved operations must receive a high priority
from transportation agencies

20 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com


At a recent meeting of the American Association of
State Highway and Transportation Officials
(AASHTO) Subcommittee on System Operations and
Management (SSOM), senior transportation offi-
cials gave the attendees a “dose of reality.”
They indicated that the lack of emphasis on operations
was not due to their failure to appreciate their value, but
rather a reflection of a shortage of qualified personnel.
Since operations is in its infancy as a transportation spe-
cialty, experienced managers who have been promoted
to senior positions within their agency hierarchies are in
short supply. This problem is compounded by the fact
that few if any universities provide operations-oriented
curricula.
The discussions at the SSOM meeting concluded that
a training process was needed for individuals with the
interest and potential to assume leadership roles within
the transportation operations field. Traditional short-
courses, because of their limited time span cannot fill
this need, because they do not provide adequate time
for practice and reinforcement of the principles being
instructed to ensure full understanding and retention of
the subject matter.
When they exist, the offerings of colleges and univer-
sities tend to be relatively theoretical, and do not con-
sider the practical aspects of personnel management,
organization and policy, with which an operations man-
ager must be concerned. For these reasons, it became
clear that a new type of training was required, that
focused on the needs of transportation operations man-
agers. This training became known as the Operations
Academy which was funded by the I-95 Corridor Coali-
tion, and developed at the University of Maryland’s
Center for Advanced Transportation Technology.
The Operations Academy
An effective traffic operations manager must be familiar
with transportation policy, personnel management,
organization, funding, supply/demand relationships,
safety measures, traffic engineering and a host of other
topics. The challenge faced by the organizers of the
Operations Academy was to cover these subjects in a
meaningful way.
The Academy’s program was developed with the
assistance of a steering committee made up of repre-
sentatives from the I-95 Corridor Coalition, State DOTs,
the Institute of Transportation Engineers and private
industry. The committee agreed on the following set of
guiding principles:
• Emphasis on mid and senior level management: A
prerequisite for organizational focus on management
and operations requires internal support at mid and
upper levels of management. The initial program was
developed with the needs of these individuals in mind.
• Management level training: The focus on manage-
ment level personnel lead to an emphasis on non-engi-
neering subjects such as interaction with the public,
policy, performance measures, etc. Technical informa-
tion was provided in a prestudy curriculum that was
defined to ensure a common understanding of the tools
of operations by the attendees and reviewed during an
www.h3bmedia.com
The Thinker
initial classroom presentation.
• A curriculum that emphasized retention: The devel-
opment of a curriculum that covered all essential mate-
rial while providing adequate reinforcement to ensure
student retention, proved to be a challenge. This require-
ment was satisfied through classroom presentations
with reinforcement through field trips, workshops, guest
speakers, preparation of an operations template, and
class exercises.
• Lasting value to participants: While the greatest
reward received by attendees was the lasting value of
the education they received,additional tangible rewards
were also important. Rewards identified and provided
include framed diplomas, paperweights, continuing
education units, news releases provided to their respec-
tive agencies, announcements and articles in trade jour-
nals, and most important, ongoing networking with their
fellow attendees.
General structure
The Operations Academy program offered attendees a
mix of learning experiences intended to reinforce the
principles of operations through a multi-faceted train-
ing program. The two week program and the 40 hours of
prestudy were allocated as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Instructional
Structure
Format Per cent/time Hours
Prestudy 33% 40
Classroom
lectures 30% 35
Workshops 15% 18
Field visits 15% 18
Dinner/lunch
speakers 4% 5
Opening/Closing 3% 4
Totals 100% 120
The glue that integrated these disparate formats was a
process known as the operations template. This tem-
plate was developed by the class as a continuing exer-
cise used to identify key features required for effective
operations. It included items such as customer service
orientation, performance measures, organization,
demand/supply balance, etc. These items were used as
the basis of the workshops and for analyzing the opera-
tions that had been visited during the field trips.
For example, had performance measures been identi-
fied for management of the freeway service patrol oper-
ation, and were all drivers acquainted with their
existence?
Instructional content
The prestudy and classroom lectures provided the foun-
dation for the other operations academy activities. The
prestudy period was a rigorous program of self-regu-
lated home study using a variety of printed and on-line
resources. The distance learning courses offered by the
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 21
The Thinker

The March 2007 Graduating Class, with Phil Tarnoff in the back row, sixth from the right

Consortium for ITS Training and Education (CITE) were Other activities
a major component of the prestudy program. The intent The prestudy and classroom activities by themselves,
of the prestudy was to ensure that all students arrived at do not offer the hands-on experience essential to rein-
the Academy with a common understanding of the fun- forcing and internalizing the concepts being presented.
damentals of transportation engineering, safety, transit, The intent of the field studies and workshops was to pro-
intermodalism and ITS. The subjects included in the vide the needed repetition and practice while offering a
prestudy are shown in Table 2. All attendees were range of learning experiences. Field studies included
required to successfully complete a series of prestudy freeway service patrol ride-alongs, visits to two traffic
exams before they could attend the academy. operations centers (one state and one local), and a tour
of the Port of Baltimore’s container facility. At the con-
Table 2. Prestudy Course clusion of each field study, workshop groups were asked
Material to complete an evaluation of the degree to which the
facility employed the principles listed on the operations
Subject Format
template.
Traffic Operations On-Line (CITE)
Two workshops were included in the Academy’s
Traffic Engineering Text
agenda. The first workshop emphasized the application
Traffic Safety Various Reports and analysis of technical solutions to the problem of a
Planning and Policy On-Line (CITE) congested corridor. The second workshop required the
Various Reports definition of an operations unit for an existing Depart-
Traffic Engineering Text ment of Transportation. The workshops were completed
ITS On-Line (CITE) by each of the four workshop groups. At the conclusion
Freight and Mobility On-Line (CITE) of each workshop, the groups were required to prepare
Supplemental Report a brief written report and a PowerPoint presentation
Organization and Various Reports describing their solutions. The quality of the group’s
Management solution was evaluated by the instructors based on this
material including its comparison with a set of pre-
determined criteria. The class was also asked to vote on
The prestudy was just the beginning of the formal the quality of each group’s solution,
instruction. A series of seven general subjects identi- An interesting result of the iterative instruction (class-
fied as critical for operations managers, had been iden- room, field studies and workshops), is that they provided
tified by the steering committee. The curriculum shown instructors with an opportunity to assess the degree to
in Table 3 was developed by the instructors who were which the material was being absorbed by the students.
selected for their respective sessions based on their in- During the academy, it became clear that the impor-
depth experience with the subject matter. At the con- tance of risk assessment had not been understood by
clusion of each instructor’s presentation attendees were the majority of attendees.
required to take a practice exam, and complete an eval- Fortunately, time had been intentionally reserved on
uation of the presentation. A subset of questions from the agenda to address difficulties of this nature. In this
the practice exams was included in the final exam, which particular case, the subject of risk assessment was fur-
all attendees were required to pass. ther reinforced through an exercise in which the class

22 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 TRAFFEX 2007, Hall 4, Stand E1

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The Thinker
Graduates from the March 2007 Senior Management Program
Name Agency
Tom Blaine New Mexico DOT ITS Bureau
Frank Cippel, PE PennDOT
Steve Clinger FHWA
Patty Eason, PE North Carolina DOT
Jonathan Hanson New Hampshire DOT-Bureau of Turnpikes
Woody Hood MD SHA - OOTS
Daniel Jacobs MTA Bridges & Tunnels
Paul Jodoin Massachusetts Highway Department
Tim Lattner Florida DOT
Bill Legg Washington State DOT
Ling Li, PE Virginia DOT
Robert Limoges NYS DOT-Operations Division
Table 3. Courses and Presenters
Session Title
Overview of Operations (Why it’s important)
Operations as a System (Supply/Demand relationships)
Relevance and Leverage (Comparison of operations with construction impacts)
Performance Measures (What are they, when to use, how to use)
Customer Service (Importance, managing conflict, evaluating customer satisfaction)
Organization (Effective operations organizations)
Planning and Policy (Regional planning, policy, funding)
developed an actual risk mitigation plan. As a result of
this exercise, an instructional deficiency was eliminated,
and another level of reinforcement applied.
The Academy also included a number of lunch and
dinner speakers who delivered presentations on man-
agement, outsourcing, freight movement, and the roles
of FHWA and AASHTO in supporting operations. The
speakers provided an added dimension to the Acad-
emy, through their informal interactions with the class,
which encouraged in-depth class discussions. They
also covered topics that could not be included in the
mainstream curriculum without exceeding the available
time and attention span of the attendees. The speakers
were well received, and their remarks frequently gener-
ated lively and interesting discussions.
The outcome
Twenty two students attended the Academy from agen-
cies throughout the United States (Washington State to
Florida), and with a variety of backgrounds including
maintenance, traffic engineering, assistant district engi-
neers, traffic operations center management, etc. All
students successfully completed the prestudy and par-
ticipated in the entire two-week program attending all
lectures, workshops and field trips. The evaluations
received were uniformly complimentary about the pro-
gram. Representative comments included:
• “The Operations Academy provided a strong, rele-
vant program which addressed many of the problems
and issues I face on an on-going basis.” – Bill Legg,
Washington State DOT
• “The Operations Academy brought the philosophy
24 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
Name Agency
Wesley Mitchell MD SHA
Scott Nazar PennDOT
Michael Smith Niagara International Transportation
Technology Coalition
Lee Starkloff MD SHA
Gregory Stone Maine Turnpike Authority
Mohamad Tales, PE,
PTOE New York City DOT
Paul Wai Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise
Jeffrey Weatherford City of Houston DPW & Engineering
Aaron Weatherholt Illinois DOT
Tim Wolfe Arizona DOT
Presenter
Steve Lockwood, Parsons Brinckerhoff
Phil Tarnoff, University of Maryland
Phil Tarnoff, University of Maryland
Daniella Bremmer, Washington State DOT
Pat Noyes, Consultant
Connie Sorrell,Virginia DOT
George Schoener, I-95 Corridor Coalition
of conceptual operations into clear focus. It will build
future leaders that will move into decision-making posi-
tions.” – Tom Blaine, New Mexico DOT
• “This was an incredibly comprehensive program. I
will be able to apply concepts learned right away, not
only from the country’s expert in operations, but from
our peer states’ experiences as well. I will recommend
the program strongly to others in my state!” – Rob Limo-
ges, New York State DOT
One of the most significant outcomes of the Academy
was the degree of networking that has occurred since its
completion. A list server has been established on the
Academy’s website reserved exclusively for interaction
among the graduates. To this date, there has been a con-
stant stream of messages including information on poli-
cies, memoranda of understanding, sample concepts of
operations, job openings, etc. The website also includes
a slide presentation describing the academy which has
been used by its graduates to describe their experi-
ence to their own organizations. At the conclusion of the
program, attendees discussed the possibility of a class
reunion; an indication of the high level of networking
that was to occur.
Thus the Academy has developed an initial nucleus of
personnel, likely to become the senior system opera-
tors and department heads of the future. It will be inter-
esting to track their careers, as well as those of future
graduates, to determine whether the Academy has had
an impact on the integration of transportation opera-
tions into the culture of today’s transportation agencies.
All the signs are positive. TH
Visit www.operationsacademy.org
www.h3bmedia.com
 TRAFFEX 2007, Hall 4, Stand E1

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A smarter
future?
The UK Office of Science and Technology has completed a
project under its Foresight Programme to explore how science
and technology might be applied over the next 20-50 years to
the design and implementation of Intelligent Infrastructure
Systems that are robust, sustainable and safe. PROFESSOR
PHIL BLYTHE sheds some fascinating light
The Foresight Project on Intelligent Infrastructure
Systems (IIS) set out to examine the challenges and
opportunities for the UK in bringing “intelligence”
to its infrastructure – the physical networks that we
rely on to deliver such services as transport, tele-
communications, water and electricity.
The aim of the project was to explore how science and
technology may be applied over the next 50 years to the
design and implementation of Intelligent Infrastructure
Systems that are robust, sustainable and safe. For the
purposes of the scenario development and the associ-
ated State of Science and Technology Reviews that were
commissioned as part of the project, it was necessary to
limit the scope of these studies, thus the primary focus
of the project is was examine the intelligent infrastruc-
ture from the transport perspective.
In itself this gives an unprecedented opportunity for
the ITS community to benefit from research which is
looking at a significantly long time horizons and the
26 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
likely evolution and impact of intelligent infrastructure
in the transport environment. Moreover, by encompass-
ing in the study a considerations of not just the infra-
structure and how ITS may evolve, get more joined up
and intelligent over the 50 year time span, the project
also considers societal changes, how vehicles and other
transport modes may change, travel patterns, the impli-
cations of intelligence, privacy, the effects that distur-
bances such as future energy availability and climate
change may have on the infrastructure (Foresight,
2006a).
In the context of the Foresight Project, “intelligence”
refers to the application of information and communica-
tions technologies to infrastructure.Thus, for this project,
intelligent infrastructure systems are the telecommuni-
cations and data processing technologies that facilitate
more effective use of our transport networks.
While the project addressed the wider issues of infra-
structure, it concentrated its analysis on the transport
www.h3bmedia.com

infrastructure that has to meet our needs for the move-
ment of goods and people.Where appropriate the study
also considered the interactions between the transport
infrastructure and other services, especially telecom-
munications which, as the project shows, can play an
important role in transport. In an increasingly “con-
nected” world, combining the transport infrastructure
with an overlay of information technology influences
behaviour by allowing informed choices about the use
of travel.
Expand to succeed
An underlying theme of the project has been that unless
we make fundamental changes in why and when we
travel, our existing transport infrastructure can, and
must, carry more people and goods without any decline
in the quality of that service and without imposing
greater burdens on the environment or on safety. Indeed,
a sub-plot to the project was that even without signifi-
www.h3bmedia.com
Intelligent Infrastructure
cant physical expansion an intelligent infrastructure
system can deliver better service. The challenge is to
see where and how to add that intelligence, what the
barriers are to this, and what the implications of intelli-
gent infrastructure systems would be for the many dif-
ferent users and suppliers of transport services.
Thus the project, has through various means, exam-
ined the likely futures of transportation systems and the
application of information technologies and infrastruc-
ture to them and will have a major impact on govern-
ments strategic thinking regarding the role of ITS and
any coordination of future deployment. In doing so the
project is in the process of addressing the following
questions that it has set itself:
• What would a future IIS that is safe, sustainable and
robust look like?
The development of scenarios which consider under
different drivers and end points as to what is needed,
what is desirable and what we may afford and the inter-
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 27
Intelligent Infrastructure
actions between social pressures and technological
developments.
• What science and technology will be available for
incorporation into an IIS?
An assessment of current to future potential capabili-
ties and when future advances might be available.
• How may we deliver a future IIS that is safe, sustainable
and robust?
Assessing the route from our current situation to the
future, seeking to explore the critical steps, how we inte-
grate the old with the new and the roles of the actors.
• How do we optimise use of the IIS in the future?
What is optimal use (e.g. efficient energy and hydro-
carbon usage, effective service delivery and minimal
environmental impact) and what market and regulatory
models or measures would we need in place to deliver
optimal use, such as demand management, energy
shortages and direct infrastructure charging.
• What are the consequences of developing IIS?
Examining the timescales for implementation and the
impact on society, industry, the environment and
security.
Half a century hence “It is also difficult
The process of looking 50 years ahead
creates challenges for any project. It is to see how, over
very difficult to see how information such a long time
technology might develop beyond a 5-
10 year time horizon, let alone half a frame, one will
century.Businesses in particular,being invest in the
realistic in terms of profits and R&D
investment, do not naturally look at technology”
such timescales, however being a stra-
tegic think-piece for Government, occasionally taking
the forward view is important to inform future policy
and the issues Government should be considering now
to ensure benefits in the long term (energy availability
post-oil and climate change being two such global chal-
lenges at the moment).
It is also difficult to see how, over such a long time
frame, one will invest in the technology and how society
might respond to those investments. To deal with these
uncertainties, the future of IIS was investigated in three
complementary ways:
• Commissioning leading researchers to write ‘state of
science and technology ’ reviews, which set out what all
areas of science, including psychology, the physical
sciences and technology could deliver within the next
few years. The Research Reviews covered areas as
diverse as artificial intelligence and data mining,
through to how information affects our choices and the
psychology of travel.
These reviews are available in summary and as full
papers at www.foresight.gov.uk/intelligent_infrastruc-
ture_systems.
• Development of a Technology Forward Look to
review existing roadmaps for the development and
application of the technology, and to consider how IIS
might shape business in the longer term (Foresight,
2006b)
• Production of a set of scenarios that provide a range
28 Vol 2 No2 Thinking Highways
of credible and coherent pictures of the technology we
might invest in, and how society might react to those
investments.
Scenario development: smart futures
In parallel with the science reviews the project team
consulted widely to enable them to develop a number of
possible ‘futures’ for intelligent infrastructure and the
likely social, political, economic, transport and environ-
mental issues that may be present in one or other of the
future scenarios. Their remit being, to build, understand
and develop a range of plausible and coherent future
scenarios for the future development of intelligent infra-
structure systems between now and the year 2055.
The axis of the scenarios offer a form of opposing
futures. The horizontal axis are used to illustrate futures
which are either still influenced by high-impact or low
impact transport. This horizontal axis captures the driv-
ers summarised by ‘social and resource mobility’:
• The axis refers to transport, connecting some impor-
tant themes about its environmental and social effects;
• ‘High impact’ captures a world in which transport still
has a high impact in terms of carbon
emissions, waste, and other social
costs.
• ‘Low impact’ describes a world
where innovation has led to lower envi-
ronmental cost;although rate of change
varies.
Conversely, the vertical axis consid-
ers the issues associated with scenar-
ios where the citizen have either a
positive or negative view to accepting
and using new ‘intelligent infrastructure’ and their per-
ception of its risk:
• Risk accepting/risk averse allows for worlds which
have tensions between potentially benign and poten-
tially malign outcomes.
• The ‘risk accepting’ end of the axis allows explora-
tion within a world where digital natives embrace tech-
nology and networks
• ‘Risk averse’ captures a world where people are more
cautious of instability and privacy invasion
The purpose of this exercise was to use the scenarios
to illustrate how might future generations of technolo-
gies be applied in the UK over the next 50 years to
deliver robust, sustainable, intelligent, responsive and
adaptive infrastructure systems. This would enable
stakeholders to visualise how the technologies may
evolve and the sort of impacts that is may have in 50
years time and also at earlier time horizons in the ‘build’
towards 50 years hence.
For convenience the scenarios were labelled as:
• Perpetual Motion
• Urban Colonies
• Tribal Trading
• Good Intentions
It is worth pointing out that the names given to these
scenarios are designed simply to help people to remem-
ber them; they are short-hand labels that capture the
essential feature of each ‘possible future’. Shorthand
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Intelligent Infrastructure
names are also essential if the scenarios are to become
part of a strategic conversation between an organisa-
tion and its internal and external stakeholders (Fore-
sight, 2006c).
Smartdust
One of the key technology enablers for future intelligent
infrastructure was identified as small wireless sensors.
The report recognised that we are increasingly sur-
rounded by computing devices that are changing the
way we live our lives. In future, devices will be embed-
ded in everyday objects and connected to the Internet
over wireless networks. The impact of this ‘pervasive
computing’ on an intelligent infrastructure system could
be at least as great as the mobile phone and the
Internet.
Pervasive computing is already beginning to pene-
trate the transport sector, through the use of radio fre-
quency identification (RFID) tags to monitor the transit
of goods along the supply chain and through ever more
sophisticated in-vehicle systems for command, control
and communications.
RFID tags offer advantages over bar- “Vehicles will be
codes – tags can hold more data that constantly in
can be read at greater distances and
several tags can be read at the same communication
time. Some tags can even monitor their with other vehicles
environment – for example, the Con-
tainer Security Initiative of the US Cus-as well the roadside
toms Service. These tags are the infrastructure”
forerunners of a succession of ever
smaller and more capable wireless sensor devices, col-
lectively known as motes (an old biblical name for a
grain of sand), or smartdust.The ultimate aim is to imple-
ment a mote that fits into a volume of 1mm3 using nan-
otechnology fabrication.
Privacy issues have already affected the use of smar-
dust and RFID, nevertheless, while individuals worry
about the privacy implications of tagging, businesses
that use them are concerned about information security.
These sensor devices will autonomously form networks
to achieve common goals while tolerating individual
failures and changing patterns of ad-hoc communica-
tion. They will forward each other’s information and act
as bridges to the roadside infrastructure. Each device
will contain a microprocessor, a two-way radio link and
some for of sensors as a payload.
Tagging and sensors are part of a wider environment
which includes mobile telephony. However, even new
3G networks will never provide sufficient bandwidth to
support truly pervasive computing due to the high cost
of infrastructure and the limited capabilities of embed-
ded devices.
One consequence of adopting an ad-hoc wireless net-
work architecture is that computing nodes themselves
become an integral part of the communications infra-
structure, bypassing traditional network operators and
allowing unfettered third-party access to mobile devices
and their users. Indeed evolutions of the current com-
puting devices such as motes and Smartdust will revolu-
tionise wide area communications and also provide a
30 Vol 2 No2 Thinking Highways
range of extremely low cost wireless sensors which can
measure a wide range of specific parameters, such as
pollution; noise; temperature; speed and direction; and
vehicle presence - as well as provide pervasive vehicle
to roadside communications which will open up new
opportunities for configuration of road user charging
systems and the basis for charging (Blythe, 2006a).
To support the IIS project and the wider objectives of
the UK DfT studies are currently underway at Newcastle
University to evaluate this technology with a trial of pro-
totype devices deployed in the City in an ‘intelligent
road corridor.
With the appropriate level of intelligent infrastructure
in the future, wireless networks will be built using this
technology, that will enable vehicles to be constantly in
communications with other vehicles nearby as well the
roadside infrastructure. This lends itself to a very dis-
crete form of road pricing, whereby congestion or pollu-
tion hotspots can be priced higher than less effected
parts of the road network, whilst cities and road authori-
ties can charge appropriately to meet their demand
management objectives.
Wireless backbone
Since a national system is currently on
the political agenda, one can use the
premise that this could be used to fund
an intelligent wired and wireless infra-
structure for roads and streets (and
thus connecting into other infrastruc-
ture and buildings) in the built envi-
ronment. One could also argue that this
revenue-generating infrastructure could form the basis
of a backbone for other applications and services – such
as traffic control and disaster recovery.
The pervasive nature of the technology enables cars
to be ‘always connected’ to the infrastructure in the same
way that home broadband users enjoy ‘always-on’ Inter-
net access thus opening up the scope for an intelligent,
configurable ITS infrastructure that will be available for
a range of services to support travel and travellers, with
up to the minute, bespoke, pervasive information deliv-
ery. Thus travellers will perceive direct benefits from
the introduction of the technology thereby easing user
acceptance. The costs of building and maintaining the
infrastructure could be amortised over many such serv-
ices delivered by third-party providers.
Smart markets
The Foresight Intelligent Infrastructure Systems (IIS)
project largely focused on the transport domain, and
includes consideration of how the operators of future
transport infrastructure may harness the opportunities
offered to by ‘enhanced information and communica-
tion network technology (ICT) and intelligence’ to man-
age the competing claims on the transport infrastructure.
A significant challenge is the management of road-
space demand, particularly as ownership of private cars
and the use of HGVs for the distribution of goods is con-
tinuing to grow.
Despite the implementation of a range of innovative
www.h3bmedia.com
 “Not another road pricing
conference!”

www.h3bmedia.com/thinktank.cfm
Intelligent Infrastructure
traffic management and demand mitigation strategies,
and the growth of the use of ICT in transport (ITS), there
is a growing consensus that some form of road pricing is
needed for effective demand management.
The UK is now at the forefront of research, (Blythe
2006b), and the deployment of road user charging is
now in place with the successful urban congestion
charging schemes in the cities of Lon-
don and Durham. This from a legacy of
almost no experience of charging for
“TheUK
road use in the UK, except for a small Government is
number of tolled estuarial and river
crossings and some innovative flirta-
considering a
tions with congestion charging trials, national road user
such as the Cambridge congestion
charging scheme in the mid-1990s.
charging system”
The Government is also now actively considering the
feasibility of introducing a national road user charging
system to fully or partially replace fixed car-tax and
fuel-duty.
32 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
It is reasonable to consider that the charging for road
use could be implemented in some innovative way not
yet considered by the transport community, particularly
over the 50-year time horizon of the IIS project. This is
what motivated the attempted fusion of expertise on
Smart markets, Road pricing, Transport Modelling and
Complex systems that is described here.
Technological advances, such as
speed of computer processing, the real
time access to information and interac-
tive communication in a parallel and
distributed fashion, have altered the
scope and design of markets. Smart
market solutions can now use elec-
tronic information and communication
network technology (ICT) to imple-
ment market protocols. They can produce price config-
urations that integrate dispersed information on demand
and supply conditions providing either a
forward or spot market in the limited supply.
www.h3bmedia.com
 “This is the same people
saying the same things as
last time. At least I can get
some sleep...”

www.h3bmedia.com/thinktank.cfm
Intelligent Infrastructure
If the cap fits...
The ‘cap and trade’ solution was investigated for SMPRT,
as it is increasingly used as means of controlling and
pricing negative externalities from economic activity.
The core of the Smart market in road slots is a capacity to
obtain bids from potential road users that represent
their maximum willingness to pay for a limited or
‘capped’ supply of travel slots, in a given time slice
through a cordon area of the congested road network.
The parameters that determined the ‘cap’ were derived
from the VISSIM traffic micro-simulator, which was used
to probe traffic efficiency of the road system and iden-
tify an ‘optimal’ level of congestion.
In summary the study consider below how SMPRT
based solutions can be used to address the two main
negative externalities associated with road transport:
congestion and pollution. Our study was focused on
people’s movements rather than freight and our objec-
tives were:
• To outline the scope and design challenges of
SMPRT;
• To demonstrate the viability of the agent based
SMPRT model to create a virtual Smart Market;
• To import the outputs from a transport micro-simula-
tor (VISSIM) of the Gateshead road system into SMPRT,
determining a possible optimal level of early morning
congestion;
• To calibrate SMPRT against the size and patterns of
flow of people, goods and services around Gateshead in
that part of the north-east of England
The cap approach in the SMPRT uses an auction based
protocol to manage demand by setting a cap on how
many vehicles would be entitled to use the roads the fol-
lowing morning (in one hour slots) by enabling poten-
tial users (drivers) to bid for a limited number of slots.
The beauty of the approach is that the operator can set
exactly how many users there are of the network at any
one time, thus delivering a quality service for the road
network, for all those drivers who have won the auction.
Regional thinking
Such an approach is clearly unrealistic at the moment.
However, in the future when road user charging is main-
stream and well accepted, innovative ‘twists’ on basic
road pricing may be desirable to meet a particular pol-
icy objective for a particular region. For example, as
London has demonstrated, it may be necessary to
increase the price of the congestion charge (from £5.00
to £8.00 within wo years) to ensure the demand restraint
effect of the scheme is maintained, maybe introducing
innovative variations of road pricing could be another
alternative to maintain the restraining effect.
It works by enabling potential drivers to submit and
electronic (sealed) bid of what they deem they are will-
ing to pay to travel in a particular slot the following day.
If, for example X drivers wish to travel, however the cap
is set a lower value XX then the price the bidders would
pay is the lowest successful bid at the XX threshold (all
those bidders that submitted a price above this thresh-
old pay this fixed lowest bid above the cap level).
By understanding the demographics of the area it is
34 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
possible with some degree of accuracy to predict the
proportion of drivers of different socio-economic
groups and forms of employment that would be affected
by such a system. Different forms of bidding could be
experimented with including those that take into
account externalities, such as environmental costs in the
setting of the charge (Makie-Mason et al, 1995)
This gives the road operator an opportunity to cap the
traffic on the road network to an economic optimum or
some other manageable or acceptable value either
below or above the optimum, and to allow the market to
set the monetary value of the cap.
The results of the project were promising, and suggest
that in the future, as technology develops, new, innova-
tive and more targeted charging regimes could be intro-
duced in a practical manner utilising innovative
algorithms and future developments in intelligent infra-
structure (Markosie, et al, 2006).
Identifying key policy issues
One of the objectives of the Foresight Intelligent Infra-
structure project was to inform politicians and other
decision makers on the possibilities for future intelli-
gent infrastructure and what impacts it may have on sus-
tainable living, travel behaviour and how new
intelligence may improve and encourage multi-modal
transport. Some of the wider issues highlighted are
briefly summarised below:
Environmental
There are a number of environmental factors that sci-
ence and technology are capable of addressing directly,
such as noise and speed of cars. In part technology can
address pollution, similarly emissions, by optimising
vehicle engine performance. The H2 Cell is emission
free at point of use, but will only really be effective if
hydrogen generation is also. CO2 emissions may be
controlled by using emission-free energy generation
(renewables, nuclear), recycling (biomass), or cutting
travel, domestic and business energy use.
Moreover, dynamic charging for emission as part of a
future road charging scheme could become viable.
Technological capabilities
It has been argued that new technology is not the issue,
but that implementation and investment are the hurdles
to be overcome. In transportation two main ways to
apply ICT advances are: improved information to man-
age transportation & keep people informed; provide
alternatives to the movement of people and possibly
goods. Another area of technology application is the
more efficient or lower emission profille aimachinery
for a range of purposes: energy generation, vehicles,
and use in built environment.
Policy challenges
There are competing, possibly mutually exclusive pol-
icy challenges, particularly around economic growth
and observed correlations with transport and energy.
Some experts suggest that ‘decoupling’ is required,
partly enabled by remote-working technologies. Sus-
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 WAKE UP!
This is not just another
road pricing conference.
This is the 1st UK Road Pricing Think Tank organised by H3B Networx, the
events division of H3B Media, publishers of Thinking Highways and ETC, etc.

C Learn how to make your road pricing scheme publicly acceptable from
public affairs and advertising experts.

C Listen to the industry’s best speakers talk about the policy, strategy,
technology, implementation, interoperability, integration and
innovation - the issues that REALLY affect the road pricing sector.

C Take part in genuine debate and help to shape the future of road pricing.

C Find out how road tolling schemes in the UK, USA, Canada, Sweden,
the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and France were funded, financed
and operated and how that can apply to your scheme.

27-28 November
2007
... not to mention the innovative networking opportunities,
speed thinking session, gourmet dinner, Loire Valley
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Intelligent Infrastructure
Policy issues in Intelligent Transport
tainability ultimately depends upon less net emissions
and efficient use of resources. Breaking dependence on
hydrocarbons would help to address climate change,
but so can spatial planning, so can new technologies, so
can changing behaviours. ICT is a tool for change, but
with broader implications, such as privacy and tracking
to be managed.
Sustainable living
Good quality high density housing, integrated with work
places, with amenity space, is a model for sustainable
living being tried out internationally. Such Urban con-
centrations potentially have a better emission profile
than a dispersed rural model. The implications for rural
living are profound.
We can define some things we should avoid: increased
emissions; climate change; congestion; social exclusion
etc. Planning the transition needs to start now.
Changing travel behaviour
When people travel they should do so efficiently. How-
ever public transport is equated by many to low social
status and associated with high crime risk. People use
personal transport for convenience and to avoid incon-
venience, thus pervasive, personalised information
delivery will be a key tool.
People increasingly value their time. Ways of making
more effective use of that time whilst travelling, or by not
travelling, is increasingly discussed. However travel is a
basic behavioural trait, driven by the value of face-to-
face contact. Alternatives need to be designed to deliver
the same quality of experience.Transport could provide
a mobile work environment for those that need it and
allow modified ‘days’ for less congestion.
Summary
The paper has provided an introduction to the current
research study on Intelligent Infrastructure that is being
sponsored by the UK governments Foresight Pro-
36 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
gramme. The aim of the project was to pro-
duce challenging visions of the future and
advice on the likely impacts and benefits of
the various technical and policy choices
that may face the UK over the next 50 years.
The project findings were launched on 26
January 2006 with a Ministerial launch in
London. Key stakeholders from both the
public and private sector are currently com-
mitted to the taking forward of the results in
major policy and research initiatives. TH
The author is Professor of Intelligent
Transport Systems at the Transport Opera-
tions Research Group, Newcastle University,
Newcastle upon Tyne. He can be contacted
via email at p.t.blythe@ncl.ac.uk
References
Blythe, P.T. (2006a) Intelligent Infrastruc-
ture. Proc. IEE International Conference on
Automotive Electronics, The Institution of
Electrical Engineers, London, March
Blythe, P.T. (2006b) Intelligent Infrastructure and Smart
Markets. Proc. Conference on EU Prod User Charging,
Centaur Communications, London, January
Foresight IIS (2006a), Intelligent Infrastructure Futures:
Project Overview. UK DTI Publication 8153/2k/01/06/
NP. URN 06/522, London, January
Foresight IIS (2006b) Intelligent Infrastructure Futures:
Technology Forward Look. UK DTI Publication
8154/2k/01/06/NP. URN 06/520, London, January
Foresight IIS (2006c) Intelligent Infrastructure Futures:
The Scenarios towards 2055. UK DTI Publication
8152/2k/01/06/NP. URN 06/521, London, January
Mackie-Mason, J.K and Varian, H.R. (1995) Pricing
Congestible Network Resources, IEEE Journal of
Selected Areas in Communications, 13(7), pp. 1141-
1149.
Markosie, S, Allen, P. and Blythe, P.T. (2006) Smart Mar-
ket Protocols for Road Transport. UK DTI Publication,
Foresight IIS, London, July.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge and thank the OST
Foresight team for their support, particular thanks goes
to Dr Miles Yarrington, Andrew Jackson, Gordon Baker
and Christine McDougal and to Sir David King (Govern-
ment Chief Scientific advisor) and Dr Stephen Ladyman
(Minister of State for Transport) who are the key scien-
tific and political stakeholders for the project.
The author also wishes to acknowledge other mem-
bers of the Foresight expert team, whose contributions
to this paper are gratefully acknowledged: Prof. Will
Stuart, Prof. Glenn Lyons and Prof John Urry (my fellow
project experts), Mike Kenwood (Kenwoods Words),
Andrew Curry and the Futures Team (Henley Centre),
Alistair Wilson (Waverly Management), and Tony Hodg-
eson (Decision Integrity).
The author acknowledges that the reproduction of
parts of the text used in this paper has been made with
the with the kind permission of OST Foresight.
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www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 37

 www.h3bmedia.com/thinktank.cfm
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
No serious event organiser would ever attempt to promote one of its seminars solely on the back of the venue,
but in Mercedes-Benz World, we have a stunning location in store. Recently built within the grounds of Brooklands
Motor Museum, one of the UK’s first motor racing circuits, it possesses not only the finest conference facilities avail-
able (including a cinema that we will make good use of) but it also houses the biggest collection of Mercedes-Benz
and Maybachs in Europe and a magnificent array of visitor attractions.
Delegates will have full use of what Mercedes-Benz World and Brooklands has to
offer (not that you’ll have that much time to explore) and an opportunity to take
a spin on the skid pan and high-speed track in a top of the range Mercedes.
Have a look for yourself on the website: www.mercedes-benzworld.co.uk

Mercedes-Benz World, Brooklands,

Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0SL, UK
 The 1st UK Road Pricing
Think Tank
Tue 27/Wed 28 November 2007
“I’M NOT GOING TO ANOTHER ROAD PRICING CONFERENCE UNTIL ...”

...27 November 2007. Selling The Idea: The 1st UK Road Pricing Think Tank is a different kind of conference altogether. In fact, it’s not
really a conference at all in the traditional sense. Across the two days there will be intense, interactive debates, forums and problem-
solving sessions focusing on policy and politics, funding and finance, interoperability and integration, implementation and innovation.
Experts from not only the road pricing, congestion charging, road user charging and electronic toll collection sectors, but also from
the spheres of advertising, public affairs and finance will help you make YOUR scheme publicly acceptable.

THINKING DIFFERENTLY
What road pricing needs is a positive spin. Drivers need to be told why it’s a good idea and that by paying to use the roads
they are making a positive contribution to society. But how best to get this message across? Our advertising expert will
explain how to convince the public that road pricing is something they want and need.
“You are selling them a product and it’s a product they must have. Once you have sold them
the idea, you are on to a winner.”
Financial analysts and risk assessment specialists will share their experiences of how they
applied their expertise to various tolling projects and how they are relevant to yours, while
experts from the petrochemical industry will explain how the two sectors
are inextricably linked in Germany and how it’s a link that needs to be more
adroitly exploited in the UK.
Another innovative feature will see representatives from the major political parties in the UK engage in a
free-form Question & Answer session with local authorities, original equipment manufacturers and suppliers.
This ‘Town Hall’ format will be co-hosted and moderated by former BBC and Sky News presenter Nici Marx
(pictured) and Kevin Borras, H3B Media’s publishing director and editor-in-chief of its Thinking Highways and
ETC, etc magazines.

more >>>

“Selling
the Idea”
A SPEAKER PROGRAMME
TO SHOUT ABOUT
“A stellar line-up of speakers” is not usually a claim that holds
very much water. We think you will agree that in the case of the
1st UK Road Pricing Think Tank we can use the word “stellar”
with a fair degree of justification.
DAY ONE: 27 November 2007
POLICY AND POLITICS part 1
Steve Norris, former Conservative Minister for Transport, UK
Jenny Jones GLA, Green Party/Mayor of London’s Green
Transport Advisor, UK
Michele Dix, Transport for London (ex-Director, Congestion
Charging), UK
TBA, Department for Transport, UK
TBA, Liberal Democrat ransport Policy Spokesman, UK
Representatives from the event’s sponsors will be invited to
respond to the points of view put forward in the Policy and
Politics session
FINANCE AND FUNDING
Andy Graham, White Willow Consulting, UK
Bob McQueen, Senior Road Pricing Advisor, PBS&J, USA
Robert Bain, Toll Project Risk Analyst, ex-Standard & Poors, UK
Jack Opiola, Booz Allen Hamilton, UK
TBA, Banco de Santander, Spain
TBA, Midland Expressway Ltd. (M6Toll), UK
PROBLEM SOLVING
Daryl Dunbar, Director of 21 CN Portfolio Development,
British Telecom, UK
Eric Sampson, Chairman, ITS UK
Andrew Pickford, Transport Technology Consultants, UK
Jack Opiola, Booz Allen Hamilton, UK
Bern Grush, Skymeter Corporation, Canada
David Hytch, LogicaCMG, UK
Ian Catling, Ian Catling Consultancy, UK
www.h3bmedia.com/thinktank.cfm
+44 (0)870 919 3770
SPEED THINKING
Day one will be rounded off in style with a highly novel
Speed Thinking session. Similar in format to the idea of speed
dating, this session will see one representative from each of the
event’s eight sponsors answering pertinent questions from
delegates in a series of two-minute on-the-spot interviews.
When the time is up ,a bell will ring and it will be another
delegate’s turn to ask a question. Fun, maybe, but this unique and
informal networking opportunity could lead anywhere.
LOIRE VALLEY WINE TASTING SESSION
GOURMET DINNER
DAY TWO: 28 November 2007
INNOVATION AND THE FUTURE
Phil Blythe, Professor of ITS, Newcastle University, UK
Bern Grush, Skymeter Corporation, Canada
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POLICY AND POLITICS part 2
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PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE AND “POSITIVE SPIN”
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Zeina Nazer, Innova Consulting, UK
TBA, Freight Transport Association, UK
TBA, Automobile Association, UK

TOWN HALL FORUM

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How I See It

The
science of
compliance
KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for
surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if
we’ve come as far as we should have done…

42 Vol 2 No 1 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 How I See It

The traffic engineering industry has traditionally been made

up of a specialised group of professionals comprising a
mixture of mathematicians and electronic and civil engineers
all engrossed in the theory of traffic flow, stops and delays.
Now things are changing. Suddenly, the new kids on the block
are not equipped with calculators, computers, theodolites
and hard hats – they are skilled in disciplines like sociology,
politics and psychology. So are technical skills no longer
required to be part of this industry, asks PETER PRESTON

Traffic engineering has moved into a new era, where

public acceptance of a scheme is more important
than a 2 per cent improvement in traffic flow. Socio-
economic factors are now out-weighing optimisa-
tion of green wave progression. But why is this
happening?
My background is very much a conventional one:
computer science and mathematics followed by a lib-
eral dash of programming up algorithms and trying to
squeeze loop detector data down a wet piece of string.
The 20th century traffic industry was thirsty for technol-
ogy to allow the reality on the roads to catch up with the
theory of the research lab. Siemens was in the front line
of all this activity, being able to provide innovative solu-
tions to local authorities that gave them what they
wanted, with only a few hoops to jump through.
Further advances in more powerful computers,sophis-
ticated graphics aligned with parallel developments in
communications and sensors fuelled this march towards
a technology focused industry. This is all very well, but
what about the people?

Obsessive, compulsive...
In this obsession with science, the industry, suppliers,
policy makers and consultants alike forgot that a key
factor to the traffic industry is the end user – the motor-
ists, cyclists, pedestrians and public transport users and
operators who actually experience the output of our
endeavours.
This has been really highlighted in the last year by the
public’s reaction to road pricing. As soon as the British
Government announced the intention to address the
problem of congestion through national road pricing it
seemed that suddenly everyone had an opinion (hostile
to the concept if the online poll was anything to go by).

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 43

How I See It
Suddenly, privacy, civil liberties and social acceptance
have become more important to the public than a reduc-
tion in congestion, accuracy of billing data or the rela-
tive benefits of GPS and Galileo.
The issues discussed at traffic conferences on road
pricing are all about urban canyons, alternative DSRC
approaches and TIF (Transport Innovation Fund) fund-
ing, which is at odds with the national press, who are
more concerned with privacy infringement, how many
pounds per mile it will cost and how many billions it will
swallow. Perhaps the traffic professionals have got their
head in the sand – but perhaps too there is a good rea-
son for this.
A resolve to solve
Traffic products and solutions are only applicable if
there is a problem to solve, a solution available that
works, a willingness for the solution to be implemented,
and an acceptance that any side effects are tolerable.
A bit like the pharmaceutical industry addressing a dis-
ease with a new drug. It has to be effective in treating the
disease but without harmful side effects and must be
perceived to be safe and effective by
the users. “The traditional
The same applies to road pricing in
the traffic industry. There is a problem: traffic engineering
congestion. Industry is proposing approach is to
solutions to this through different types
of systems – utilising different techno- focus wholly on the
logical approaches ranging from rais- electronics and
ing bollards, through licence plate
recognition, tag and beacon to satel- mathematics
lite based GPS. The traditional traffic behind the
engineering approach is to focus
wholly on the electronics and mathe- solution”
matics behind the solution – which is
exactly what has happened.
The dramatic public backlash against such solutions
has come as a surprise to many in the industry but this is
where the boundaries of traditional engineering need
to be re-assessed to include the social aspects of the
system. The ‘drug’ in this case has been the focus of
attention and while it may be able to solve the problem,
the public at large perceive it to be an unacceptably bit-
ter pill to swallow.
The $64,000 question (x2)
Two questions arise from this. How could this have been
prevented and taking into consideration where we are
today, how should we proceed? Let’s answer them one
by one.
How could this have been prevented? It is undoubt-
edly right to have a debate on important issues such as
44 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
congestion and transport provision in our society;
however it is also important to be able to offer a
balanced view of the argument to allow an equally bal-
anced opinion to be formed. This has not happened
with road pricing. The traffic engineering lobby have
been concentrating on GPS accuracy and ANPR effec-
tiveness and have failed to create a view of road pricing
to allow an informed opinion to be promoted.
If the Government and our industry had combined
with the right communications and media at an early
stage, then perhaps the situation would be different. I
am not advocating the employment of spin doctors or
mass media campaigns – just a mechanism to put for-
ward the case ‘for’ to balance the case ‘against’.
We traditional traffic engineers like to stay in the com-
fort zone when it comes to communica-
tions, whilst the government are always
concerned about not saying the wrong
thing. The net result is a vacuum which
is crying out for information presented
in an understandable form.
And secondly...
Taking into consideration where we
are today, how should we proceed? The
way forward is not easy. Before any
progress can be made there needs to
be a repair programme to fill the infor-
mation vacuum and present a full, yet
realistic view of road pricing without hysteria or sensa-
tionalism but with enough substance to balance the
argument. The danger at present is that policy will be
dictated by web-based opinion and a fear of not being
re-elected which results in an ambiguous picture of the
way forward.
A good example of this working successfully is the
London congestion charge. The two key ingredients of
the success of the scheme have been clear unequivocal
leadership with a clear vision and strategy, and a large
marketing and PR budget to keep the users fully
informed. The technology has always been a given.
So, what is the future for the traffic engineering indus-
try? I believe it is a rosy picture. There will always be the
need for technical solutions to the ever increasing prob-
lems of the transport infrastructure.
What we have to remember is that we are not alone,
and we need to recognise that we are only a part of the
solution, looking to colleagues with the social and polit-
ical skills to create fully balanced solutions – without a
bitter aftertaste. TH
Peter Preston is marketing manager at
Siemens Traffic Controls based in Poole, UK.
He can be contacted via email at
peter.preston@siemens.com
www.h3bmedia.com
Road Pricing

Safe and
secure?
The price is
right ... isn’t it?

STEINAR FURAN wonders if

charging is the right way to
go about solving the problem
of our increasingly congested
roads

46 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 Road Pricing

Road toll charges have been following us since the

invention of transportation. From the moment some-
one figured out that it is a good idea to move, be it a
person or a commodity, somebody else realised that
this is a good potential source of income.
Through centuries, toll fares have been charged to
pay for the use of roads, bridges, gates, tunnels and fer-
ries. The reasoning behind these schemes has been
very logical; The user of the infrastructure service shall
pay his share of the cost. Applying this principle, the
construction of a new road and the subsequent toll col-
lection to pay the cost. The new road in turn attracted
more cars, which in turn caused the road to become
jammed, thus requiring even more roads…and cars…
and tolls…and so on. So is more roads the only answer to
the demand for more transportation? Or is it perhaps
the correct answer to the wrong question? Is it maybe so
that the authorities can motivate the citizens to use alter-
nate means of transportation rather than only going by
car? Could this even lead to better quality of life?
In Scandinavia, Norway and Sweden in particular, has
implemented schemes that approach the challenge of
need for more transportation in a broader perspective.
The results are promising and show that transportation
does not have to become a persistent traffic nightmare
for societies. Congestion is a universally bad experi-
ence. Unlike most of life’s other challenges, like visiting
the dentist, congestion is bad for your temper, your
health, your job, your wallet and for society in general.
Congested traffic has no positive side, so it’s a pity it is so
difficult to get rid of it. Or is it?

Kick out the jams

Most countries are seeing a huge growth in traffic. A
seemingly endless stream of new cars enter the roads
creating more and more severe traffic jams. The socie-
ties have, in most cases, responded to this challenge by
building new roads, more lanes, elevated highways and
tunnels, only to find that the supply of more road capac-
ity is rapidly consumed by an endless demand for more
roads. Many countries have now concluded that the race
between supply and demand in the end is impossible to
win. The solution to the endless problem can be as sim-
ple as managing the demand. This is an intelligent
response to a difficult challenge.
If we ask someone whether the traffic was congested
or not, the person’s response is related to his own expe-
rience. Was the traffic jammed when the driver was
using the road or not? As most of us tend to start working
at the same time in the morning and also leave for home
at the same time in the afternoon, congestion is rather
inevitable. If we observe the situation from a demand
perspective, congestion will occur once the number of
vehicles demanding the use of the road exceeds the
road’s capacity to handle them.
Depending on road conditions, this limit lies in the
range of 1,800 to 2,400 vehicles per lane per hour. Should
the traffic volume exceed this limit, the result will be
congestions and the throughput capacity of the road
falls dramatically. The dramatically reduced traffic
capacity in turn of course causes the incoming cars to

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 47

Road Pricing
pile up in seemingly endless jams. If we on the other
hand check the theoretical capacity of a road and com-
pares this with the actual demand for road availability
over a whole day, we will usually find that for many roads
there is a considerable free capacity available. The
question is this: How can we shift the demand for road
services from the rush hours to other times of the day when
the demand for road services is lower?
Penalty notice
The approach chosen by authorities in Sweden and Nor-
way has been to control congestion by combining new
roads with improved public transportation services and
an economical “penalty” for demanding the use of roads
during rush hours.
This seemingly simple solution also has another sur-
prising side-effect.While congestion unleashes an end-
less negative spiral of higher cost and less efficiency,
the use of congestion charging in combination with
improved public transport services triggers a positive
spiral of more efficient transportation and a better qual-
ity of life. The income from the congestion tax fuels the
construction of new roads and pays for the investment in
better public transportation. The reduced demand for
road services improves the general transportation envi-
ronment, making businesses in the area more profitable.
This in turn paves the way for new business enterprises
and makes the companies, as well as the area in general,
more attractive to potential employees.
48 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
Most people would prefer to live in a society where
transportation is easily available, affordable and pre-
dictable rather than living in a place where you cannot
make plans because you’ll never know when traffic
allows you to get somewhere.
So, the solution to the problem of congestion is in many
cases quite simple: Make changes to the demand for
road services, so that the demand is distributed more
evenly and not concentrated in the peak hours. Improve
the public transportation services so that this actually
becomes the primary choice of transportation for most
citizens. The experience from the Stockholm Conges-
tion Tax Programme shows this clearly, as the tax levied
during peak traffic hours caused the traffic to decrease
with more than 20 per cent, the travel time to be signifi-
cantly reduced, traffic jams to virtually disappear and
the quality of the air to improve. For a beautiful city like
Stockholm, the ability to get rid of polluting cars stuck in
jams is like unveiling a beautiful piece of art.
These simple measures can in many cases remove the
need for an extra lane or even an extra four-lane
elevated motorway.Provided that the concept of demand
management and better public transportation services
is used on a general basis, we might soon see classified
ads offering used elevated motorways.
Most cities would gladly replace an elevated motor-
way with a playground for children. ITS makes this pos-
sible and provides us with more time to live. TH
steinar.furan@q-free.com
“The income from
congestion tax fuels
the construction of
new roads and pays
for the investment
in better public
transport”
www.h3bmedia.com
 Roads Scholar

Highways are getting smarter. They look the same,
black asphalt and white lines but look a little closer.
Small weigh and speed detectors right in the asphalt,
overhead cameras and sensors to
record every move. Other more obvious
additions are there too, like message
signs that change for every vehicle!
With IRD technology, our roads can monitor, record and
communicate thousands of pieces of data every second
over wired and wireless networks. Data that you can use
to make roads stronger, faster, and safer.
Talk to the smart people at IRD,
they’ve been leading the way in ITS
for over 25 years.

INTERNATIONAL
ROAD DYNAMICS INC.

ir dinc.com
Road Pricing

Rebate,
not
debate
50 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

One of life’s small pleasures
is the magic word “discount.”
When it appears on your car
insurance renewal or
telephone bill it looks good.
“They” give you some money
back for being a good
customer. ANDY GRAHAM and
MATT COWLEY on a road
pricing scheme that could
give the idea the boost it
needs
www.h3bmedia.com
Road Pricing
“Rebate” is one of the nicest words in the English
language. It means money back for something you
paid for in advance but did not get round to using.
In contrast, “charging” is a nasty word. The nasty side
of road charging - even if it replaces road tax – has been
twisted and turned to such an extent that 1.8m people
emailed the almost-ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
about it.
The biggest challenge to road pricing is not actually
that people do not see the need for it – the warmest April
in the UK started to make people think about their future
world. The problem is that many people – even well edu-
cated ones – just “don’t get it” in terms of how they might
really pay less.They cannot make the link between using
a vehicle less and being charged less – they perceive
that they will always be charged more whatever hap-
pens. Tabloid newspaper headlines like “38p per mile
to travel“ only serve to feed this feeling.
So what if we build on this idea of a rebate – and turned
road user charging on its head? What if we made it a
rebate for not travelling at congested times – and hence
for not polluting, rather than a charge for doing so?
A taxing issue
Think about it. In the UK we already pay a fixed tax for
road use (which also allows a check of the vehicle’s
insurance and roadworthiness). What we would do in
this cunning plan is pay back some of this tax in advance
as a rebate to those who contributed less than their
quota to congestion and pollution. Road user charging
would be seen to be fair and equitable.
Now this does look initially like spin – the net value of
the charge would be the same after all. But there would
be a real incentive to change behaviour – the key driver
behind charging for congestion management. Instead
of “the less you drive the less you pay “, it would be “the
better you plan your travel, the more money we give you
back”. As congestion and pressure on the environment
get worse and road tax continues to increase, then this is
a mechanism to reduce costs for drivers who take
responsibility for how and where they drive.
And at some point, if you really do insist on using your
vehicle more than average, it really becomes a net
charge to you, no longer a rebate. This means:
• The polluter still pays more for driving in congested
conditions - those who don’t manage their miles feel it in
their pockets – and hard;
• Those who do reduce their car use will see a real
cash benefit;
• Pre-pay systems are possible – just like for mobile
phones you could add credit;
• The system can be revenue neutral or skewed to sup-
port a favourable rebate to those dependent on their
vehicle in old age, low emission vehicles, freight, etc;
• The existing road tax system can stay, with its advan-
tages of getting all the relevant paperwork about the
vehicle linked together in a way that people under-
stand.
But we can be really clever here with the technology
we need to put in the vehicles and do far more to build
up goodwill:
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 51
Road Pricing
• The discount may be linked to your vehicle – using a
lower emissions vehicle gives you a bigger discount
than a “gas guzzler”;
• The way you drive could be factored in – by looking
at what comes out of the exhaust pipe, better drivers get
bigger discounts – just like in insurance;
• The “Black box” fitted to your car that provides this
rebate will provide a wide range of services which could
include:
• Pay-as-you-go-insurance;
• Automatic paying of your congestion charge and
road tax and insurance – so the efficiency savings of one
bill will give you a further discount.
• Insurance monitoring for Young or other high risk
drivers;
• An eCall service to automatically provide local emer-
gency services with your location in an accident; improv-
ing your chances of surviving across Europe.
In the interests of fairness
Other added benefits are that vehicle manufacturer and
garage customer care will improve, through using
remote monitoring of your vehicle and remote software
downloads. Roadside repair will improve because they
will be able to respond and resolve faults quicker. A
vehicle tracking service will allow you to track you own
vehicle and generate reports for your own use. If you
lend a vehicle to your son or daughter, you can monitor
where and when he/she drives and at what speed.
Converging all of these services onto a single black
52 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
box would more than pay for costs of the hardware, air-
time and installation. Essentially the black boxes could
be given away free to the user, in the way mobile phones
are provided to entice use of airtime.
Some aspects of the technology are a given – GPS/
Galileo and wireless communications through GPRS or
zigbee. But the key leap is interfacing the unit directly to
the vehicle, using the CAN interface to provide the vehi-
cle’s identity and access to its systems. This would allow
the on-board unit to measure key environmental and
performance indicators – what is coming out of the
exhaust pipe. Hence we could move this from a charge
per mile to a charge on carbon – and show the drivers as
they go what rebate they have remaining.
The future on track
Commercial systems are available today that already
provide some of these benefits. Trakm8 provides a very
low cost tracking solution, called SWIFT, targeted at
smaller fleets of light commercial vehicles. The future is
linking these technologies into the vehicle, as policy
tools.
The “back office” used to deliver the rebate also has
some potential. We could provide the discount monthly
– along with a monthly payment of road tax, so you do
not have to wait for a year to get your hands on the money.
And we could refund this – or collect the charge - via
petrol pumps. This would help those drivers who do not
have bank accounts – instead of buying £30 of fuel (with
a hidden tax) by cash they would buy a net £30 of fuel
www.h3bmedia.com

but with a more visible rebate or charge. This would also
have the advantage of keeping fuel tax money flowing
through fuel station forecourts.
But why stop at congestion charging? Journeys made
by train or bus could add to the rebate too. Effectively
they would become carbon credits offset against road
tax . There would then be a double incentive to use pub-
lic transport instead of the car – you would gain a rebate
on the road tax and a further rebate for travelling on
public transport.
This joining up also opens the opportunities for the
clever “travel agent” I wrote about in Thinking Highways’
debut issue late last year. This was a service providing
one bill for your whole travel needs across all modes
and incorporating all charges. This again might allow
clever ways to reduce the overall cost of travel. This
approach also allows a solution for the many old, classic,
low mileage or difficult vehicles for which fitting a black
box would be tricky and not cost effective. If they have
no Canbus (or even a 12v supply), we need a
workaround.
A question of trust
So why not just allow drivers of certain exempt vehicles
to apply for the discount with self-certification ? For
example, they could simply sign the MOT certificate to
confirm the miles travelled are accurate. This may seem
very open to fraud, but income tax authorities all over
Road Pricing
the world are quite happy for you and I to tell them how
much money we made last year so they can work out
how tax we have to pay. Why? Because there are checks
and balances with employers and the threat of an audit.
The equivalent for self-certified charging is a letter
along the lines of “Ah, Mr Bond, how come we detected
your Aston Martin in London, Monte Carlo and Geneva
but you only claimed to travel 456 miles last year…”
This way we avoid fitting units to a section of low mile-
age high complexity vehicles that would otherwise be
highly cost ineffective. And we can help members of
society who just want a car for 200 miles a year in case
they need to get to hospital but really do not want all the
techno stuff.
There are some heroic assumptions here about the
way people react. Proving these through a large pilot
would measure and build customer trust. This would
need to weave in commercial services with meeting
charging policy objectives and encompass a wide range
of users. Added services like navigation need to be lev-
ered from existing popular products and services rather
than starting from scratch, to show people the benefits -
not the technology.
But the real key to success may be as simple as a
change of name – to congestion rebate not congestion
charge. TH
andy@whitewillow.biz
mcowley@trakm8.com
Road Pricing

World
piece
Integrity is the forgotten key GNSS requirement for successful
ETC implementation, says MIGUEL ANGEL MARTINEZ OLAGUE

54 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com


When talking about GPS based electronic toll
collection the issue of accuracy and consistent
billing usually arises.
Most people belonging to the GPS receiver industry
admit that current receivers are subject to errors, but
they would also state that with present accuracy figures
GPS accuracy is more than good enough to support con-
sistent tolling. Most listeners based on their own experi-
ence with GPS car navigators will have the perception
that the previous statement is quite true. Even those that
give a second thought to this subject would conclude,
with appropriate map matching algorithms based on
the redundant consistency of positions, that even when
some occasional large error happened the billing would
be robust enough to handle it. However, the assessment
of this topic is not so simple.
It is true that state of the art GPS receivers are capable
of producing pretty good error statistics. Urban tests
conducted by Transport for London during its GPS trial
campaign show that the standard deviation of GPS posi-
tion errors is about 6m for most receivers. However, the
really important question to ask when dealing with posi-
tion data that is being used to make critical decisions,
like deciding if a car was inside a charging zone, is not
about the accuracy standard deviation, but rather about
how large GPS errors can be and how often they occur.
Due to the nature of the causes of GPS errors, the GPS
error distribution is not Gaussian, nor is it well deter-
mined. This means that even if the GPS position error
standard deviation is very small, the errors can
www.h3bmedia.com
Road Pricing
occasionally be much larger and occur more frequently
than expected. If GPS errors were Gaussian, and consid-
ering an error standard deviation of 6m in urban sce-
narios, the frequency of errors higher than 50m should
be almost zero (less than 10-14). However, urban tests
carried out by Transport for London during its trial cam-
paign show that errors higher than 50m happen as fre-
quently as 0.1 per cent of the time. To assess this
behaviour it is important to understand what causes
large GPS errors.
Although the GPS satellites record of performance is
extremely good, the fact is that GPS satellite failures do
happen without warning, and more often than you may
expect. European Space Agency yearly GPS statistics
report an average of 15 satellite unadvised failures a
year (for instance during the summer of 2006 there were
three satellite clock problems, and in one of them the
induced error in some European locations was greater
than 100m).
The ionosphere is another potential source of large
errors. In fact, presently we are within a period of very
low ionospheric activity and thus GPS errors due to this
are low, however more solar activity is expected begin-
ning in 2011 and the compensation model used by GPS
under those circumstances can introduce quite large
errors (up to several tens of meters). In the case of Mul-
tipath it is important to distinguish between two types of
multipath. Common Multipath is where the direct signal
is contaminated by reflected signals. This situation can
introduce errors but not as large as the so called
Non-Line of Sight Multipath (NLOSM). When NLOSM
happens the receiver only receives and locks onto the
reflected signal and in this case the error is as large as
the additional, reflected distance travelled by the
signal. If several signals are affected by NLOSM the
resultant position can be biased by several tens of
meters and in some situations errors higher than 100m
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 55
Road Pricing
are seen. NLOSM is quite common in urban scenarios
where signals are shadowed by high buildings on one
side of the road and reflected by buildings on the other.
In addition, when NLOSM does happen, it normally
affects several positions in a row and map matching
algorithms are tricked into incorrectly matching the
wrong road to the positions.
Impact of large GPS errors on ETC
As it has been discussed, large errors of more than 30 m,
and even 100 m, do happen with a frequency higher than
most people think, however the question is: what is the
impact of this on a GPS based ETC system?
The impact of errors that are larger than expected is
twofold: the undue charging of non-users and the over-
charging of actual users. Undue charging of non-users
happens when the driver decides to avoid the toll road
or to stay outside the charging zone (for obvious rea-
sons) and due to large errors the tolling system decides
erroneously that the non-user was on the toll road or
inside the charging zone. The worst aspect of this situa-
tion is that the affected individual will notice it on his bill
very easily and this can therefore trigger social alarm
and jeopardize the whole ETC model. Even if those large
errors happened less than 0.01 per cent of the times, if
each time they happen an erroneous bill is produced
the number of persons receiving these bills would be
completely unacceptable.
Regarding the overcharging of users, i.e., to deter-
mine that a user travelled more roadway that was sub-
ject to a toll than they actually travelled, some people
argue that this is not as dramatic as the previous case of
undue charging. The reasoning behind this is that the
overcharging of users would be equally compensated
by undercharging, as the overall charging error is unbi-
ased, and the situation would be similar to the one expe-
rienced in gas stations or with phone bills. However, if
the magnitude and frequency of large errors is not lim-
ited then the amount and frequency of overcharging will
not be either.
In the case of the ABvM system that the Dutch govern-
ment is contemplating for the entire road network in The
Netherlands, a clear overcharging requirement has
been established stating that “over charging shall be
less than 0.1 per cent of all invoices”. This is a very
demanding requirement, especially if specific seg-
ments, such as congested roads, were identified in which
incremental charges were to be applied. This means
that an extremely reliable mechanism to unequivocally
identify that the vehicle has travelled each segment is a
must for the reliable and compliant implementation of
the system.
The integrity concept
At this stage it is important to understand that improving
accuracy does not solve the problem. Even if accuracy is
improved, large errors can still happen occasionally
without any warning. A very similar problem occurs in
other GPS applications where the positioning informa-
tion coming from a GPS receiver is used to make critical
decisions. This is the case with civil aviation. Civil avia-
56 Vol 2 No2 Thinking Highways
tion navigation specialists and authorities introduced
an additional performance parameter to cope with this
problem: Integrity. Integrity in this context is defined as
the capability of the system to detect and warn when the
position output has errors larger than a certain limit
(called a Protection Level).
The Integrity requirement is usually expressed as the
probability of missing the detection of the previous situ-
ation and in civil aviation that requirement was set at
10-7. Therefore the probability of making the wrong
decision and causing an accident is consequently lim-
ited to that value. The reason why Civil Aviation set an
Integrity requirement to that particular value is quite
simple: less than one accident in 10m flights is the over-
all safety requirement used in aviation. In the case of
ETC, the requirements on position Integrity is going to
depend on the acceptable probability of overcharging
of users and undue charging of non-users, but in most
cases a value around 10-6 should be acceptable.
How can integrity be achieved?
To meet this Integrity requirement in a road scenario is
even more complex than in civil aviation. In civil aviation
it is possible to meet the Integrity requirement with the
use of GPS augmentation systems that provide integrity
monitoring such as WAAS in the USA or EGNOS in
Europe. EGNOS allows limiting any error due to GPS
satellite failures or abnormal ionosphere behaviour, but
provides no guarantees in the face of Multipath. In an
urban scenario EGNOS is necessary but not sufficent -
large errors due to Multipath (mainly NLOSM) must be
detected using other mechanisms.
Is it possible then to accomplish an Integrity require-
ment for a road or urban scenario? In the affirmative
case, what size would the corresponding Protection
Level be? This last aspect is essential because too large
a Protection Level would lead to a solution that does not
permit the clear identification of whether a car was
inside the zone or road.
Since 2002 we at GMV have been researching receiver
processing techniques that permit the computation of a
Horizontal Protection Level associated with each par-
ticular position estimate. The Protection Level provided
by the receiver associated with each position varies
within the presence of local effects, number of satellites
in view, satellite geometry, and EGNOS Integrity data.
Extensive testing of the first version of the unit started
during the 2006 GPS trial campaign conducted by Trans-
port for London. The latest trials have been conducted
by GMV in Madrid, with routes travelling through the
densest urban areas. The previously stated goal of
reaching a 10-6 Integrity probability has been achieved
in the most demanding urban scenarios with Protection
Level sizes below 50m.
With these performances a reliable GNSS based ETC
system can be implemented that fully guarantees that
the probability of undue charging of non-users and the
overcharging of users is within acceptable limits. TH
Miguel Angel Martinez Olague is director of corporate
business development at GMV, based in Madrid.
mmartinez@gmv.com
www.h3bmedia.com
Electronic Toll Collection

Talking
Turkey
DANIEL SCHOLZ and DONAL McGUINNESS on
fully automated mobile phone toll payment

58 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com


What is the first thing that comes to the mind of the
informed tolling expert when thinking about han-
dling toll payments? A dedicated DSRC On-Board
unit? A prepaid smartcard to be read by a payment
machine?
Why not consider
KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at theusers
an easy, convenient payment sys-
tem that people really love to use (and with hardware
surveillance
with which they and
can impress their friends withhomeland
and chose ment security
according we’ve come as far as we should have done…
to their personal style)? These questions manual
came up recently in Istanbul, Turkey while looking at
heavy traffic and congestion on the Bosphorus Bridge
connecting Europe and Asia. The solution was simple -
the mobile phone is a very suitable means of paying toll
fares and it is convenient and secure at the same time.
Intercontinental span
But first things first. The Bosphorus Bridge is one of the
most important connections in one of the world’s largest
cities, stretching over 1000 metres between the Asian
and European parts of the city. Over 10m inhabitants
and transit traffic results in excessive traffic loads on the mobile phone number, license plate number, class of
bridge every day, producing maintainence costs and
congestion most of the day. Consequently, a toll is
required to be paid for passage.
Currently tolling is arranged in a conventional man-
ner making use of DSRC-based transactions (tag/bea-
con) while passing or a smartcard-based payment
system (OGS and KGS system) with stop and manual
user interaction. With those two systems in place there
are already some alternatives to the formerly used
manual tolling.
www.h3bmedia.com
Electronic Toll Collection
However, the reality in Istanbul proves that an on-
board unit in the vehicle – though well suited to the fre-
quent users of the bridge – is not accepted by every
user (as it is the case in all tolling systems where a type
of on-board equipment is not mandatory). The rest of the
not willing or able to take the on-board unit with
potential for digital video for
them have to use the contactless smartcard This pay-
method requirespurposes
the user to stopand and wonders
do some
interaction, resulting in limited acceptance and
decreasing the overall throughput of the toll plaza.
The result is daily congestion on all roads approach-
ing the bridge, meaning long delays for everyone. This
is where the mobile phone enters the stage. If the pri-
mary means of a rush-through payment (the on-board
unit) is not accepted, why not allow the most widely
embraced gadget of modern life to do the job?
The process of paying via phone and zipping through
the toll plaza was proposed, and in a first trial imple-
mented as follows:
• Register with the toll service provider with your
vehicle and preferred way of payment (credit card,
phone bill) by convenient and secure modern interac-
tion channels.
• Upon passing the toll plaza the automatic monitoring
system reads the license plate number, captures evi-
dential images and scans the vehicle surface to a impres-
sive 3D data representation. From this the vehicle’s class
(and the corresponding fare) is computed automatically
and reliably according to (any) given class definitions.
• The captured data is compared to the existing regis-
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 59
Electronic Toll Collection
tered users’ information and/or pre-bookings that have
been made for toll passage.
• If a valid registration or booking/payment could be
found in the system, the transaction
will take place and an SMS will be sent “All technical
to the user confirming the passage as
well as giving information on the cur-
components have
rent account or billing status. proven their
• If no valid account or pre-booking
is found the data is handed as an inci-
reliability during
dent to storage and possibly legal the six month
prosecution.
demonstration”
Gateway to success
To demonstrate the feasibility of a robust phone-based
payment system the following main components have
been installed and tested on the Bosphorus Bridge for
half a year over the 2006/07 winter and spring:
• Database server for managing user information and
60 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
Three-dimensional data is collected for each passing vehicle
pre-bookings, transactions and payment processes
(credit card, deduction from the mobile phone account
of the user). For the trial, this server was located in one
of Alphyra’s data centres in Ireland and connected to the
plaza system via a secure IP connection
• SMS connection to Telsim, one of Turkey’s largest
mobile phone operators. Users sent and received SMS
messages from the Telsim platform which in turn were
integrated to Alphyra’s payment gateway.
• Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) sys-
tems to read the vehicle registration number.
To achieve higher reading rates in all weather condi-
tions and provide data even from rear-plate-only motor-
cycle customers, state of the art algorithms, cameras
and invisible, eyesafe illumination were installed to the
front and rear view of the vehicle. The images show the
whole scene and the vehicle to allow for complete scene
inspection out of the records.
• Automated vehicle classification system for deter-
mining the vehicle class with highest accuracy and trig-
gering the ANPR camera systems.
By scanning the vehicles with laser-based sensors,
three-dimensional data is collected for each passing
vehicle. Class definitions based on all possible details
of the vehicle are processed leading to excellent clas-
sification results.
Game, dataset and match
In case a user has neither properly registered, nor pre-
booked, the roadside system produces a complete evi-
dencial dataset (license plate information and image,
vehicle profile and class) for further processing or legal
prosecution. All technical components
have proven their reliability during the
six month demonstration phase.
Be it in Istanbul or anywhere else, at a
bridge, tunnel or tollroad, when faced
with the challenges of toll enforcement
this innovative SMS-based payment sys-
tem will soon enable customers to make
their payments really simple with a cool
and stylish tool they already really like
and use: their mobile phone. TH
For more information visit www.alphyra.com and
www.vitronic.com, or contact Donal McGuinness at
donal.mcguinness@alphyra.com and
daniel.scholz@vitronic.com
www.h3bmedia.com
 Climate Change

Hot topic
AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for surveillance
and homeland security purposes and wonders if we’ve come
as far as we should have done…

62 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com


DAVID QUIN on why the UK’s Draft Climate Change
Bill will enable change for the better for fleet
managers
Many fleet managers in the UK must have shuddered
when the government announced the Draft Climate
Change Bill.
The Bill set the Government and its successors the tar-
get of cutting CO2 emissions by 60 per cent by the year
2050 and a 23-32 per cent reduction by 2020. For some
industries this may seem a minor irritation but for fleet
managers working for businesses that run entirely on
fuel consumption, this can appear to be a huge chal-
lenge.However, in reality, effective fuel management
provides not only an environmental benefit but also
reduces a fleet’s operating costs. After all, The Energy
Saving Trust estimates that fuel costs account for 20-30
per cent of the total operating costs of a fleet. So, quite
simply, if you cut on fuel costs, you invariably cut a mas-
sive part of your total costs.
Where to begin
So where does a fleet manager start to cut fuel costs?
From the very beginning fleet managers should start by
choosing vehicles which offer more effective fuel con-
sumption methods - vehicle specification including
tyres, aerodynamic styling and fuel saving devices can
all play a big role in optimising fuel consumption. The
Royal Automobile `Club (RAC) estimates that the differ-
ence between an efficient and a less efficient £10,000
(€15,000) vehicle can be around £12 a week. A substan-
tial cost to a fleet manager with hundreds of cars on the
road.
When purchasing your vehicles do try and do as much
research as possible and ensure you compare vehicles
on fuel consumption. The best way a fleet manager can
evaluate a vehicle is by basing the evaluation on whole
life costing therefore ensuring the most cost efficient
and environmentally acceptable vehicle is purchased.
Once selected, proper vehicle maintenance is essen-
tial. Simple changes such as ensuring drivers use the
right gear for each situation can have a sizeable impact
on the cost of running a fleet. The Energy Saving Trust
suggests that vehicles driving around in the wrong gear
can guzzle approximately 25 per cent more fuel than
their correctly geared counterparts. Ensuring that vehi-
cles have the right tyre pressure alone can reduce the
amount of fuel needed to get from A to B by at least 1 per
cent. Again, a small saving for a consumer but a poten-
tially huge saving for a fleet manager.
Eco-economics
Driver behaviour is also important to running and main-
taining efficient fleets so do ensure your drivers under-
stand the meaning of economical driving. People often
www.h3bmedia.com
Climate Change
wrongly assume that economical driving or ‘eco-driv-
ing’ means driving slowly or even cutting back on the
number of cars your fleet uses. In fact it actually means
lower bills, lower maintenance and lower insurance
costs so it makes business sense to ensure that all fleet
drivers are trained in how to drive more efficiently.
Fuel-efficient driving is based on smooth and steady
progress. Just by avoiding stop/start and jerky, irregular
motion caused by congestion and the dreaded traffic
jam, you can reduce fuel consumption by up to 10 per
cent. Telematics devices such as GPS or SatNav solu-
tions can be used by drivers to avoid these incidents
and delays, reducing cost by allowing drivers to antici-
pate road conditions and avoid sharp acceleration and
heavy braking.
In contrast to the less agile in-car devices, several of
today’s solutions can be run on mobile devices such as
smartphones and allow fleet managers to deploy and
redeploy vehicles quickly and efficiently.
All is not lost
The benefits of telematics can include reduced mileage
and fuel costs, greater control and increased efficiency
of vehicle deployment by delivering up-to-date infor-
mation and allowing drivers to replan routes in order to
avoid potential obstacles.
Not only does this allow fleet managers to better man-
age the vehicles but it can also lead to a reduction in
driver stress when using unfamiliar roads away from
normal locations while providing an accurate estimated
time of arrival.
According to figures released by the Automobile
Association (AA), up to 20 per cent of time spent driving
on unfamiliar roads is due to drivers getting lost. Not
only a waste in terms of employee time but also guzzling
fuel and emitting CO2 as they go.
The Draft Climate Change Bill places great emphasis
on businesses to cut down on their CO2 emissions. It no
longer makes a company’s environmental policy an
option to please shareholders or a matter of concern for
the CSR department but a legally binding obligation.
For fleet managers, the Bill should be embraced as an
opportunity to run a fuel- efficient fleet and more impor-
tantly, a cost-effective fleet.
From simple changes such as checking tyre pressures
to employing telematic devices, fleet managers can turn
their fleet ‘green’ quickly and with minimum disruption
and cost, safe in the knowledge that a green fleet is a
cheaper fleet. TH
David Quin is Marketing Director
for ALK Technologies
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 63
Thinking Differently

SOMEONE TO
WATCH OVER
ME
Automatic incident detection
by STIJN VANDEBUERIE

64 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 Every year, between 20 million and 50 million people are involved in traffic-related
accidents. Every year, over 1.2 million people worldwide die as a result of a road
traffic accident. This represents an average of 3242 human beings dying on the roads
each day around the world. Who keeps an eye on the highway? Who is watching
over us?
As traffic is becoming more and more congested in large metropolitan areas in all
parts of the world, Traffic Managers are looking for intelligent systems to accurately
monitor traffic flow to help keep highways safe. Especially in tunnels governments
are making serious efforts to significantly improve safety for the road user due to
various spectacular accidents. European guidelines are now even obliging the instal-
lation of a detection system in each tunnel longer than 1km. Safety for users and
accident response management is a top priority for newly designed and existing tun-
nels. The interaction of accident recognition, fire detection, operation and control
of ventilation, rescue as well as maintaining the infrastructure in accidental situa-
tions has to be ensured. The integration of a video detection system is seen as an
important part of this “tunnel safety puzzle” …
Thinking Differently

NO STUNTS HERE

Tunnels are probably the most dangerous motoring environ-

ments. In a tunnel, a seemingly small event (smoke, spilled cargo,
a pedestrian) can cause a traffic incident that quickly escalates into
a major tragedy. Trapped in a tunnel with no chance to escape...

More and more traffic managers are convinced that investments in

incident management are absolutely necessary. As they know, effec-
tive incident management can save lives!

Effective incident management depends entirely on fast incident

detection and fast incident verification. With each passing minute, the
risk of another accident compounding the first one rises dramatically.
The time to clear the original incident is critical.

Stopped vehicles, wrong-way drivers, tail-backs, slow moving vehicles,

fallen objects ... Traficon’s tunnel incident detection module analyses
camera images in real-time and detects all major incidents within sec-
onds. Result: the danger of the incident is substantially reduced and sec-
ondary impacts are prevented.

66 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 AUTOMATIC INCIDENT DETECTION

VIP video detection technology provides real-time aid to tunnel operators by automatically
identifying potentially dangerous situations. Within seconds, the operator in the control room
sees exactly what is happening in the tunnel, receiving information on position and type of inci-
dent. Thanks to the provided information the tunnel operator is able to take all necessary
actions. From the Tunnel Manager’s view, information obtained through Video Image Process-
ing can be classified as follows :

No Immediate Eventual Action Immediate Action

Action Required Required Required
Volume High Speed Stopped vehicle on the road
Speed High density Very slow moving vehicle
Density High occupancy Strange objects on the road
Occupancy Queue detection Smoke and fire
Stopped vehicles in niche Inverse direction
Strange objects on the road Pedestrian in the tunnel

The faster and more reliable this incident information is, the faster and more efficient
the reaction can be (by VMS panels, radio, Internet, etc).

What makes video detection technology unique with regard to tunnel safety manage-
ment? Real-time visual feedback combined with numerical data sets video detection apart
from all other detection systems. No other system detects incidents so fast and combines
this with the possibility to immediately look at the seriousness of the situ-
ation. Video detection technology today is seen as
fast, flexible and reliable.

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 67

 EASY INTEGRATION WITH TUNNEL
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

When implementing a video detection system, easy

integration with the overall tunnel management sys-
tem is an absolute must. The system needs to be user-
friendly (both regarding installation and maintenance)
and easy to implement into the existing overall tunnel
management system. A Traficon VIP detection system is a
modular system with an open architecture to improve the
easiness of integrating it in any management system. It works
on a very simple direct communication manner: from cam-
era to detector, communicated to the software platform where
it is incorporated into the traffic management system already
in use.

MOORE’S LAW

Thanks to Moore’s law and under the pressure of competition and

the demands and wishes of customers, video detection has matured
enormously during the last decade. On the one hand, more and more
new detection features were added such as pedestrian detection, smoke
and fire detection in tunnels, slow moving vehicle detection, etc. On the
other hand, continuous research, quality surveillance and increasing
number of detectors installed, and therefore field experience (for example,
Traficon has more than 40,000 detectors operational worldwide), have led
to a significant improvement of the detection performance.

Within the tunnel market, requirements for tunnel safety continue to rise.
Traffic managers nowadays request for an intelligent system allowing them to
stay in control of the situation, no matter what happens. As such, they are able to
guarantee top level safety and security for the road user. More and more traffic
managers are convinced that they can bring safety to a higher level by implement-
ing a redundant AID system.

68 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 Thinking Differently

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 69

Thinking Differently

Desig
ned b
yA kZiDeN
z GrOt
EsK

70 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 WHAT IS REDUNDANCY?

The ability of a system to keep functioning normally in the event

of a component failure (e.g. power failure, network communica-
tion failure), by having backup components that perform dupli-
cate functions. Redundant components can include both
hardware - and software elements.”

The power of such a redundant system is that it prevents losing

important data and, last but not least, the operator knows he can
count on the system 24h/24h. He remains in control of any
situation.

VIDEO DETECTION: A CURE-ALL?

Although video detection has proven to be a very reliable technol-

ogy in bringing more safety into tunnels, it is necessary to inform
that each detection technology, also video detection, has to be used
correctly. Type of camera and camera position are of vital impor-
tance for having a video detection system that 100% fulfills customer
requirements. For instance, a camera for number plate reading is
not the same as a camera for wide area incident detection and in
turn this is not the same as the camera position used for traffic
counting and classification. We often find that this is still not well
understood. Different applications require different cameras and
different camera positions!

So is video detection a cure-all? A lot depends on how it is used.

Traficon advises not to start implementing video detection technol-
ogy for traffic management and safety without a complete under-
standing of the costs and benefits associated with these systems! If
taken into account the correct guidelines and parameters, if imple-
mented correctly, video detection is very reliable and offers great
solutions to the end user.

CONCLUSION

Video detection technology - combining fast incident detection

with real-time visual feedback - is by far the most intelligent detec-
tion system currently on the market. It offers a great help for traffic
operators to manage traffic safely through the tunnel. Tip: good
preparations are the key to make your ITS-project a success. Make
sure that in the project preparation and feasibility stage you get
professional advice!

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 71

South Africa

On the
ball
KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for
surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if
we’ve come as far as we should have done…

PAUL VORSTER charts how focusing on key

transport issues is helping South Africa
to make significant progress as it prepares
to host the 2010 World Cup

72 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com


When the last whistle blew in Germany to signal the
end of the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2006 the atten-
tion shifted to South Africa and the 2010 event.
In approaching this event, there are the pessimists
who see a problem in just about everything and those
who see challenges and are working hard at finding
solutions. In a recent briefing on SWC 2010 and trans-
port issues, CEO of the SA Local Organising Committee,
Mr Danny Jordaan, informed the AGM of the Intelligent
Transport Society South Africa about the planning
parameters. The briefing served to inform ITS South
Africa members of the state of planning and identified
some challenges that we collectively are working on.
Transport has moved to a top spot on the agenda of the
public debate. It has been long overdue. Once transport
became an agenda item, the transport demands of SWC
2010 pushed this even higher on the agenda for both the
public and the private sectors.
Whilst for several decades it was perhaps a case of
denial, this debate reflects growing recognition that
transport is a driver for economic growth, not a conse-
quence of growth. Today it is recognized that the state of
transport has become a serious constraint.
It is often said that “change only occurs when pain
exceeds pleasure” and we have reached that point when
doing nothing is more difficult than actually tackling the
problem! Reaching this “tipping point” bodes well for
the future.
www.h3bmedia.com
South AFrica
With congestion already at perilous levels – ask anyone
traveling in and around cities such as Cape Town, Johan-
nesburg, Ekurhuleni and Pretoria – we need to prioritise
a two-fold challenge. One side of the coin is congestion
management. The other is to significantly improve pub-
lic transport.
For transport professionals, especially those working
in the multi-disciplinary field of ITS, a preview of FIFA
SWC 2010 identifies several important lessons: none
more important than that of institutional cooperation.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel (with a little help from
the team at the Revenue Services) has enough money in
the piggy bank to fund projects for which there is a pos-
itive business case and a proper business plan. Trans-
port infrastructure such as the rail network and the
airports stand to receive in the order of €30billion.
Airport expansion and upgrades are planned for
€2.5billion, the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme is
budgeted for at €1billion.
Gauteng Province is the heartland of the South African
economy. Covering only 2 per cent of the country’s land-
mass, it accounts for 48 per cent remuneration and 50
per cent of company turnover. The negative impact of
congestion is thus sorely felt, in particular in the
Johannesburg-Sandton-Midrand-Centurion-Pretoria
corridor. This prompted Minister Manuel to quip that if
you line all 2.9m cars in Gauteng bonnet to rear
bumper and allow for a bit of safe traveling distance, the
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 73
South Africa
The N1 Freeway between Pretoria and Johannesburg is the busiest stretch of freeway in South Africa. (Inset) Transport Minister Jeff
Radebe, as the VMS helpfully confirms, officially opens the N1 Freeway ITS Network Management Centre
total length of cars exceed the road space on which
these cars have to travel. In peak times it takes longer to
travel by car from Pretoria to Johannesburg than it takes
to fly from the Cape Town to the City of Gold. Gauteng
has 383.9 vehicles packed into every kilometre of its
7,538km road network. Its closest rival is the Western
Cape with 31.4 cars per kilometre.
Let the train take the strain
Construction of the €2.5billion Gautrain Rapid Rail Link
that will connect Johannesburg, Pretoria and the OR
Tambo International Airport is well on track. The City of
Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Roads Agency are
moving ahead with plans for the €2billion Bus Rapid
Transit system to link high-density nodes in and around
the CBD along six main corridors.
Aligned to Premier Shilowa’s strategy to streamline
Gauteng into a Global City Region (as opposed to auton-
omous Metro municipalities), Gautrain and JRA’s BRT
will form a public transport backbone for the Global
City Region. Of notable importance is the role of Gau-
train in serving as a catalyst for public transport integra-
tion and its role in stimulating the need for integrated
ticketing. These are essential elements in the endeavour
to promote public transport.
The official opening of the N1 Freeway ITS Network
Management Centre by Minister of Transport Jeff
Radebe has pushed ITS to an even higher profile. Initi-
ated by the SA National Roads Agency, this ITS project
saw the deployment of fibre optic cable along the pilot
area between Centurion and Buccleuch interchanges
74 Vol 2 No2 Thinking Highways
Photos on this page: Nardus Nel
linking CCTV cameras to the Network Management
Centre situated in the Midrand Fire Station where real-
time traffic monitoring is done and emergency response
vehicles dispatched by participating Metropolitan Gov-
ernment EMS services. The SANRAL Freeway Manage-
ment project is being deployed to a wider area with
sterling work done by the likes of the Johannesburg
Roads Agency (JRA), Ekhurhuleni and the Pretoria
Metro.
The National Department of Transport has announced
its strategy for Soccer World Cup 2010 and with budgets
unlike any previously seen for transport and ITS projects,
the next few years will witness planning, deployment
and integration on an unprecedented scale. Using ITS
technologies appropriately to add intelligence to the
transport network, in line with international best prac-
tice, is the only way to improve transport to the levels
required by the growing economy.
The higher the level of funding, the greater the respon-
sibility to spend this money wisely and develop legacy
systems that will serve the country well in many years to
come – and guard against vultures descending on South
Africa to make a quick buck and fly off again.
ITS South Africa and its members in the public and pri-
vate sectors are working to promote the development of
a balanced transport network where technology is used
in appropriate ways that can ensure interoperability.
Institutional cooperation is vital to achieve this. TH
Dr P J Vorster is CEO of ITS South Africa and can be
contacted via email at paul@itssa.org.Visit the ITS SA
website at www.itssa.org
www.h3bmedia.com
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Policy Perspective
Sustainable Roads are good for the environment, say
JOSÉ PAPÍ, BRENDAN HALLEMAN and FRANCESCO FALCO from
the International Road Federation – Brussels Program Centre
For many years motorists have been branded as the
sole culprits of all environmental damage inflicted
worldwide.
The image of the “dirty” car, weighed against that of
other modes of transport traditionally perceived as
being more eco-friendly, has contributed to the genera-
tion of one of the largest misunderstandings about the
modern role of the road transport sector.
This image, however, is undergoing a substantial
change, mainly due to the fact that a more fact oriented
approach is starting to take hold among stakeholders
and the general public. An important dimension of the
European Commission’s recent Transport Policy review,
for instance, has been the conceptual shift from demand
management to a greater focus on the supply side of
transport, where each mode needs to work harder to
contain the negative environmental effects of growing
demand. In other words, as stated in a recent European
Environment Agency report, “modal
shift towards rail and inland shipping is “The road sector
not in all circumstances an efficient way
to reduce the environmental impact”.
has nothing to fear
from an economic
Green credentials
This new “side” to the role played by
appraisal of its CO2
road transport vis-à-vis the environ- performance”
ment comes at a time when the conclu-
sions of the Stern Report and the International Panel on
Climate Change’s fourth assessment report have cast a
shadow over the future of the socio-economic fabric of
modern societies. A “business as usual” scenario in the
field of emissions, in fact, would see a surge in the stock
of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere to dou-
ble pre-industrial levels by 2035, generating an average
temperature rise of 0.2 degrees per decade.
The road sector, however, has nothing to fear from an
economic appraisal of its CO2 performance. With an
estimated 750m tonnes of CO2 emitted every year, the
monetary value of the European road sector can be put
at under €15 billion a year (assuming the figure of
approximately €20 per tonne of CO2 given by the Stern
Report). This may sound high, but it must be counterbal-
76 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
anced by €360 billion generated through road and vehi-
cle taxes in the EU-15 every year.
The European Commission’s recently adopted com-
promise CO2 package, which splits a new 130 g/km
target between car manufacturers and other road sector
stakeholders, provides for existing measures to be com-
pleted by initiatives in the field of road infrastructure,
which currently represent an underexploited opportu-
nity for energy efficiency gains.
More investment in road infrastructure is needed to
remove bottlenecks, avoid city centres and complete
missing links which together cost billions every year in
lost fuel and undoubtedly contribute to the sector’s
environmental footprint. Cases where road authorities
and municipalities have deliberately restrained capac-
ity to jugulate demand have been found to be environ-
mentally counterproductive.
Building better roads
Incredible progress in road design
has been achieved since the 70s
through innovation and regulation,
yielding what is now called sound
environmental road design and man-
agement: a combination of processes
and techniques to minimise the impact
of road construction and create “eco-
logical corridors” that can both serve the citizenship
and preserve the environment.
Among these we can find optimising route planning
through environmental impact analyses, the use of recy-
cled and environment-friendly construction material,
mitigating habitat fragmentation, avoiding water pollu-
tion, making the most of Intelligent Transportation Sys-
tems and building quieter roads.
The common thread between these complementary
approaches is that they are based on tried and tested
techniques and their impact can accurately be meas-
ured. Simulators have recently been developed to esti-
mated CO2 emissions saved in selecting different
construction techniques and supply alternatives, includ-
ing the use of primary or recycled and secondary aggre-
www.h3bmedia.com

Green
for go
gates. A recent study published by the Norwegian
research group SINTEF has also outlined that an increase
in road capacity will result in lower levels of emissions.
The European Union Road Federation (ERF), the Brus-
sels Programme Centre of the International Road Fed-
eration (IRF) also recently published a Discussion Paper
on “Sustainable Roads”.This document can be accessed
at www.erf.be/sections/positionspapers.
It is also a fact that more often than not, industry is the
main driving forces behind these innovations. This is
one of the results of the spreading of motorway conces-
sions and performance-based maintenance contracts
which act as incentive to adopt lifecycle approaches to
asset management and environmental protection. As a
result, motorway operators routinely invest 20-30 per
cent of total road construction investment in noise miti-
gation and environmental protection.
Conclusions
With climate change emerging as a global phenome-
non it is of paramount importance to carefully evaluate
all human processes to try and achieve a balanced
www.h3bmedia.com
Policy Perspective
approach towards the environment.
This is especially true of the road transport sector. We
must not be distracted, however, from the fact that, in
developing countries, access to reliable road networks
remains a prerequisite to socio-economic wellbeing,
with numerous studies establishing that isolation trans-
lates into pockets of poverty.The presence of an efficient
and reliable road transport infrastructure is still, accord-
ing to the World Bank, one of the key elements in the
economic development of nations.
As a result today more and more roads are being built
around the world, with an estimated 70m vehicles enter-
ing the market every year.These statistics have to induce
a reflection over the ever central role of road transport
in today’s economies.
This sector, in fact, is very capable of balancing the
societal needs for mobility with a positive environmen-
tal impact and in this way become truly sustainable. TH
For more information on Sustainable Roads please visit
the International Road Federation - Brussels Programme
Centre’s website at www.irfnet.eu
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 77
 The truck
stops here
KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for
surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if
we’ve come as far as we should have done…
RUTH BRIDGER investigates why satellite navigation systems
and heavy goods vehicles do not make for a successful
combination … and why this should no longer be the case
It was early afternoon and there was moderate traf-
fic on the road. A 38-tonne truck makes it way
through a small town in Hampshire and then disas-
ter strikes.
The truck hits the overhead barrier of a railway bridge,
the cab becomes jammed and partially topples over on
to its side. The result was the police having to close the
road, cordon off the area and put diversions in place for
all road traffic and in addition, a restriction of five miles
per hour was imposed on all trains travelling over the
bridge until engineers could check for damage caused
by the truck striking the bridge. Rail passengers as well
as road traffic were inconvenienced for some hours. It
took heavy lifting equipment to remove the truck and
several hours before the road was re-opened and trains
could travel across the bridge at normal speed.
Despite height detection warning signs, including
additional signage in case the first sign was missed, the
truck drove straight on. The reason? The foreign driver
was using a satellite navigation (satnav) system to get
him around southern England. The problem? Satnav
78 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
systems in the UK are designed for cars and not heavy
goods vehicles. For a car to follow the route that the
truck took would be no problem at all. No car would get
stuck under a railway bridge and car drivers can quite
happily ignore the bridge height information signs that
they pass approaching the bridge. But this information
is vital for certain types of trucks.
The growth in sat nav devices means that an estimated
4m or more are in use in the UK, with that number set to
double over the next two years. With prices at less than
£150, sat nav is no longer an expensive add-on for top-
of-the-range vehicles.
Recent stories in national and local media have high-
lighted a growing problem with larger vehicles using
unsuitable roads, sometimes causing damage and often
inconveniencing many other road users for some hours.
These include coaches in addition to HGVs, but can also
apply to vehicles as small as ambulances and home
delivery vehicles, such as those used by the supermar-
kets for Internet shopping, who cannot always take a
route that a car can travel without difficulty. Not all inci-
www.h3bmedia.com

dents are the result of using satnav, but it appears that
some are and no one knows whether this is a growing
problem or not.
Mapped to distraction
Currently, there is no comprehensive digital map data-
set for trucks in Britain. Ordnance Survey (OS) are sur-
veying about 110,000 bridges for weight, width and
height restrictions. But this information is only part of
the dataset needed for vehicles that are subject to
restrictions when using the roads. In addition to the
weight, width and height restrictions, there are also
weight per axle, and length restrictions and the far more
complicated rules relating to date and time-related
access restrictions. Other more general warning infor-
mation signs may be of more relevance to trucks than
cars, like Risk of Grounding, Lateral wind, Steep hill
ahead – with gradient information.
In Europe Navteq and Teleatlas are producing detailed
Truck Attributes datasets for France and Germany.
These include physical restrictions (for example, bridge
www.h3bmedia.com
Case In Point
heights), legal restrictions (eg, truck specific turn
restrictions), recommended truck routes, hazardous
materials restrictions, truck stops plus other points of
interest for truckers and warning information (steep
gradients and so on).
However, these datasets are for use within truck man-
agement systems that fleet managers use. These new
datasets, therefore, will be very beneficial for compa-
nies who use truck management systems but not for
individual truck drivers who are not managed in this
way.
In the UK, similar truck attribute datasets are being
compiled and should be available this year, but will also
only be available for truck management systems. The
short-term availability of a satnav unit specifically for
HGVs is unlikely. The complexity of routing algorithms
for vehicles of different sizes, weights and lengths would
be difficult and expensive to produce. And if you add in
real-time traffic information, a growing market for sat-
nav systems, providing re-routing options to take into
account the characteristics of different sized vehicles
would be almost impossible to achieve.
Bridging the gap
As a start, one satnav supplier has produced an addi-
tional download of bridge height information that could
be incorporated into a standard satnav system. This
gives a warning if the vehicle was approaching a bridge
(similar to the system of warning drivers of speed cam-
eras ahead). This would give the driver some additional
information that could stop a bridge strike, although
having to turn round or reverse away from the problem
can also cause problems.
One route, on the A624 in Derbyshire, has a bridge
three miles along the road from the junction where
trucks should have turned off. But trying to turn a truck
round to get back to that junction has meant that garden
walls and vehicles in the car park of the local pub have
been frequent victims of trucks carrying out multi-point
turns. This bridge height warning system, though,
assumes that the driver knows the height of his load and
can easily decide whether his truck can go under the
bridge or not.
In July 2004, a report was produced entitled “Preven-
tion of bridge strikes.”* It quoted bridge strike data for
April 2003 to March 2004 when 1,870 bridge strikes had
occurred. The historical reasons given to these strikes
were:
• Load moved 3 per cent
• Foreign driver 3 per cent
• Arch – truck not in centre of road 11 per cent
• Lifting arm left in raised position 26 per cent
• Driver did not know height of vehicle 32 per cent
If these historical reasons are still valid, then giving
satnav information on the height of a bridge on the road
ahead may not solve the problem. If a third of drivers
did not know the height of the vehicle they were driving,
and another quarter had not returned the lifting arm to
the correct position then nearly 60 per cent of bridge
strikes would still happen – with or without a satnav
warning system.
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 79
 “The UK
Department for
Transport says it
has few hard
statistics to
illustrate the scale
of the problem”
Freight expectations
In the UK, many county councils have already produced
Advisory Freight Route Maps of designated routes for
HGVs as part of the Freight Quality Partnerships they
have entered into with the industry. These route maps
ensure that trucks keep away from sensitive or impass-
able roads. They also minimise the impact of heavy
goods traffic on local communities.
Many councils have this information available on their
websites so that anyone can access it. This is also useful
information for the digital map makers, but until all
councils in the country have produced similar freight
route maps, any digital maps would give incomplete
and potentially misleading information to truck fleet
managers.
With more media interest and complaints to local MPs
on the increase, the subject of trucks and satnav systems
is now being widely debated. ITS UK’s Freight Interest
Group is one such forum.
The House of Commons is another as, in October 2006,
a debate on the problems of trucks and satnav was dis-
cussed at length one early evening. One MP also high-
lighted another problem with trucks using satnav – some
weight limit signs are regularly being ignored by truck
drivers, but there is nothing to stop them driving along
the road.
These restrictions are used for traffic management
purposes rather than to protect vulnerable bridges, so
there is nothing physical like a low bridge to make them
turn around. He commented: “It is easy to blame satel-
lite navigation for the problem, but weight restriction
signs exist to guide motorists, and being in possession
of satellite navigation gives them no excuse to ignore
such a sign.”
80 Vol 2 No2 Thinking Highways
Local response
In one of his responses during the debate, Stephen
Ladyman MP, Minister of State at the Department for
Transport, said that the department had few hard statis-
tics to illustrate the scale of the problem. A Department
survey of local authorities earlier in 2006 had found that
the majority of authorities had not received any com-
plaints about inappropriate routing within the previous
12 months, but of those that had received complaints
they all related to heavy vehicles and the local authori-
ties’ view was that the number of reported incidents was
rising. The survey highlighted examples of vehicles
being directed to local roads with access restrictions of
some kind and many of the vehicles were foreign.
There is a need for all stakeholders to work together to
provide solutions. This is happening, but some solutions
are very low-tech! Reading and obeying roadside sig-
nage is vital for drivers of larger vehicles but, as with
some car drivers, some seem to switch off their brain
when allowing their route to be guided by an unflus-
tered voice from the dashboard. And for drivers who
use their satnav on a weekend to take the family to a
theme park and then put the same unit in their cab when
they take their 38-tonne truck across country on a Mon-
day morning, they need to use the device with caution –
and pay attention to the road signs relevant for their
vehicle. TH
Ruth Bridger is an independent consultant and former
motoring cost and petrol price analyst with the AA
Motoring Trust. She can be contacted via email at
ruth.bridger@virgin.net
*Produced by Network Rail in conjunction with
organisations representing the freight and
construction plan transport industry.
www.h3bmedia.com
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POLIS Bureau

In the first of a new series of

articles from POLIS members,
BART SWAANS from the Noord
Brabant province in the
Netherlands reviews the
area’s dynamic traffic
management measures

In the Dutch province of Noord Brabant, the provin-

cial authority has been piloting different dynamic
traffic management solutions to keep this region of
2.4m inhabitants accessible and to improve road
safety.
The three internationally most recognised projects
are the Informative Road (dynamic roadside traffic
information), Magic Green (longer green light for lorry
traffic) and Mobile Traffic Services (actual traffic infor-
mation via following travelling mobile phones).Together
these projects are helping to deliver reliable door-to-
door travelling times, safer road traffic and sustainable
mobility in order to meet the province’s strategic goals
of accessibility, road safety and liveability.

The Noord Brabant vision

The deployment of these solutions is encapsulated in
the provincial dynamic traffic management (DTM) pol-
icy, which in turn is guided by the Mobility Memoran-
dum, the national policy document for traffic and
transport. Essentially, the deployment of dynamic traffic
management is being rolled out in three stages. The first
concerns the instrumentalisation of the roads falling
under the province’s responsibility (ie, all roads exclud-
ing national and local roads) and this will be completed
by 2010.
The second step, called Network Management, will
involve the setting up of a joint operational traffic man-
agement system by 2013 covering all roads within Noord
Brabant, including local and national roads. The final
step will consist of the delivery of real-time, intermodal
travel advice to individuals through different interfaces,
including Internet, PDA, on-board units and at public
transport points. This should be achieved by 2015.
The Informative Road
The Informative Road project was launched in 2006 in
order to inform road users about traffic-related matters.
With this information, road users can anticipate the
expected traffic situation at an early stage and respond
adequately to changes that occur. Information is deliv-
ered through dynamic roadside systems that show vari-
ous recommendations:
• Local: speed, time between vehicles, speed advice
at traffic lights and extended green lights for lorry traf-
fic. Drawis attention to cyclists, excessive vehicle weight
and malfunctioning traffic lights;
• Route: signals for approaching emergency service
vehicles, for indicating the course of the road, for facili-

82 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 Three is
the magic
number
tating crossing of the road and for showing regional
travelling times;
• Central: manual information from the road mainte-
nance authority.
The dynamic roadside information is tested on a pro-
vincial road (3.5 km) and delivered through a total of 17
signal emitters, which are triggered by means of detec-
tion loops.
An evaluation of this pilot will be carried out during
the course of 2007 from both a traffic engineering and
behavioural perspective. The behavioural component
will focus on motorised traffic and cyclists and use will
be made of written questionnaires, research panels,
interviews, video analysis and on-site observations. The
www.h3bmedia.com
traffic engineering assessment will draw on data col-
lected by the detection loops which trigger the signal
emitters, but also by the additional loops installed to
determine the local effect of the signal emitters and the
relation between the signal emitters over the whole sec-
tion of the road. Data from the three sets of traffic lights
along the test section will also be logged, eg, times,
queues,etc.
Magic Green
The Magic Green is both an ITS project in itself and also
an important functionality of the Informative Road initia-
tive. It essentially provides extended green light time at
traffic signals to freight vehicles, whose drivers are
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 83
POLIS Bureau
informed about this through the specially designed
roadside signs. The message displayed shows a truck
and a green wave icon, suggesting that trucks will be
greeted with green lights on their journey. Non-compli-
ance means the green light is not extended. The objec-
tive of Magic Green is three-fold: to improve road safety,
to improve traffic control and to facilitate freight driving
by:
• discouraging dangerous overtaking
• encouraging lower travel speeds
• avoiding dilemma zones (indecisiveness about stop-
ping or driving through changing traffic signals)
• reducing driver irritation (for all
vehciles) “The objectives of
• ensuring better freight traffic flow Magic Green are to
• providing better through-flow of
other vehicles improve road
Although Magic Green was deployed safety, to improve
primarily for road safety and traffic
management reasons, there are traffic control and
expected positive side effects in terms to facilitate freight
of noise levels and air pollution. This
will be evaluated in the near future, driving”
when Magic Green is implemented at
more locations.
Mobile Traffic Services (MTS)
This project involves the use of GSM-based floating
vehicle data (FVD) to gather traffic data on the roads in
Noord Brabant. Prior to the launch of the MTS pilot in
2003, little traffic data was provided on secondary roads,
in contrast to national roads, due to the high cost of
installing monitoring equipment, especially loops.
GSM-based FVD was therefore perceived as a cost-
effective means of gathering traffic data, not least
because mobile phones are far more prevalent than
84 Vol 2 No2 Thinking Highways
Intended graphic route information
panel with travel time information and
congestion indication
GPS for instance. The traffic data supports the dynamic
management of the road network notably through the
delivery of reliable door-to-door travel times to drivers,
which is a high priority of Noord Brabant.
A validation study of the two-year pilot (2003-4), called
‘Better View on Brabant Roads’, revealed that MTS pro-
vided high or good quality information about travel
times on most roads but fell short on inner city roads,
due to the prevalence of many other types of road users
carrying mobile phones, eg, cyclists, pedestrians, etc
and problems with map-matching because of the den-
sity of alternative roads. Results were also poor on roads
with very low traffic volumes, because
of a lack of data.
These findings pointed to the need
for a better filtering of GSM data on
inner city roads and for the use of mul-
tiple telecom providers to increase the
size of probe vehicles (the pilot sourced
data from just one telecom provider).
However, this latter option would result
in higher costs. A great deal of research
and development has been carried out
to address these two shortcomings and
a new test version of MTS was released at the end of
2005.
Additional validations were carried out. The first com-
pared MTS data with number plate recognition data on
two provincial roads. It showed that congestion is recog-
nised by MTS but travel times for a complete route are
underestimated and that over 50 per cent of travel times
reported by MTS deviated by less than 15 per cent from
the travel times produced with number plate recogni-
tion.
A cost-benefit analysis was also performed and this
made positive recommendations due to the cost-effec-
www.h3bmedia.com
CARE, COMPASSION
AND CONCERN ON
THE FREEWAY
Some of the differences between Samaritania Incorporated’s service patrol programs and others:
01 Our patrol vehicle operators have state and
national public safety certifications.
02 We provide a complete turnkey program at
not cost to motorists.
03 Provide Internet based Fleet Management
Systems.
04 Provide public safety grade AVL/GPS incident
recording/reporting systems.
05 Personnel, vehicles, equipment, AVL/GPS,
patrol dispatch centers, and public relation
programs.
06 The most experienced provider. Over
27 years providing service patrol
programs throughout the U.S.
07 Provide the widest variety of quick
clearance, motorist, and public safety
assistance.
08 Provide a variety of different custom service
patrol vehicles with and without tow
capabilities.
09 Endorsed by Departments of Transportation
and State Governments.
10 Endorsed by State Police, Fire/Rescue,
and other public safety agencies.
11 National award winning programs.
12 Consistent media recognition.
13 Rural, remote area, and urban program
applications.
Samaritania Incorporated,
10 Riverside Drive, Lakeville, MA 02347, USA
Tel: +1-508-947-3700
Fax: +1-508-947-5544
www.freewayservicepatrol.com
info@freewayservicepatrol.com
14 All program service costs included in
single patrol hourly billing rate.
15 Operators adhere to detailed conduct
policies
16 Standard Operation Procedure
Development
17 Local office and project management
18 Provide Complete Indemnification and
hold harmless agreements.
19 Provide audited financial resources.
20 Operators have perfect no-fault safety
records. Zero fatalities.
21 Private Sector funding available to
offset costs.
 Network Management, will involve the setting up of a
joint operational traffic management system by 2013
covering all roads within Noord Brabant

tiveness of MTS and the social benefits of providing

travel times to drivers. The positive validation reports
persuaded the Noord Brabant Provincial Executive to
extend the MTS pilot for a further two years. Travel
speeds and times are now collected on all roads
(national, provincial and municipal).
An action plan for the application of MTS data has
been devised, the majority of which started before or in
2006. In terms of operational applications, a real-time
traffic map was launched in July 2005 (see end note) and
Variable Message Signs (called DRIPS) showing graphi-
cal and textual information are being rolled out on the
provincial roads. These signs show travel times for two
alternative routes to a common destination and the pres-
ence of congestion. An evaluation of the impact on driver
behaviour of the information displayed on the signs is
foreseen.
From a tactical perspective, the MTS project will sup-
port the analysis of traffic patterns, especially bottle-
necks and is currently the basis of an evaluation on
incident management. Finally, in terms of strategic
applications, MTS is being used to improve existing traf-
fic models and in some cases, MTS has been shown to be
more reliable than traffic models and so is being used
instead.
The main conclusion from the MTS project shows that
this system offers huge potential for the cost-effective
collection and provision of travel times, although there
is room for improvement, especially in terms of the
amount of data collected, through GSM or through a
hybrid form of GSM and GPS (the growth in navigation
systems would facilitate this). The business model
established has proved to work well (Noord Brabant
purchases data from a business partner which is also
free to sell this to other parties) and may serve as inspi-
ration for other types of public-private partnership.

86 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

 Laser
sensors
for traffic control
The Informative Road technical concept

Noptel's CM30 distance sensor

family has been developed
“Noord Brabant is for OEM use with
keen on networking products for traffic,

within Europe to
industrial or portable
applications that
learn about the require high-speed

experiences of measurements of
poorly reflecting targets.
other local and These devices represent a perfect

regional transport choice for intelligent traffic camera triggering,

vehicle profiling or speed measurement.
authorities”
The units are small in size, of low weight and power con-
sumption, and are suitable for outdoor use in harsh envi-
Although the Noord Brabant pilot with MTS ends on ronments. They are available in different packagings, and
1 July 2007, the system will continue to deliver traffic customised operation is possible even with smaller volumes.
information, as the navigation information provider,
TomTom, has integrated this form of data collection into
its product TomTom Mobility Solutions on a national
scale.

From local to Europe

The Noord Brabant province is keen on networking
within Europe in order to share its own experiences and
to learn about those of other local and regional trans-
port authorities. Applications • Traffic light control
To this end, Noord Brabant is a member of POLIS, the • LPR camera triggering • Signal violation control
European network of cities and regions promoting inno- • Vehicle profile measurement • Criminal vehicle interception
vation in transport, and is active within its Traffic Effi- • Vehicle classification • Vehicle detection
ciency & Mobility Working Group. • Speed measurement • Tunnel entrance control
The province is also supporting the research, devel-
opment and demonstration of future traffic management
systems, through its involvement in several EU NOPTEL – AT THE FOREFRONT
co-funded projects, notably the CVIS and Safespots OF OPTICAL MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY
projects dealing with cooperative systems, in which it is
acting as a test site for several infrastructure-vehicle
For further information, please contact:
solutions. TH
The traffic map referred to in the text can be found at
http://actueleverkeersinformatie.brabant.nl
Bart Swaans is Dynamic Traffic Management
Noptel
Programme Manager, Noord Brabant Province. Noptel Oy, Teknologiantie 2, 90570 Oulu, Finland
Tel. +358 8 551 4351, fax +358 8 556 4101, info@noptel.fi, www.noptel.fi
He can be contacted via email at HSwaans@brabant.nl

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 87

T-Focus
Everything
counts
When it comes to data collection, says IRA STEINHOFF, mere
counting is not enough, as a project in Austria proves
Without even an audible click,
cars and trucks drive over the
induction loops buried under the
asphalt of Tyrol’s roads.
These traffic sensors constantly
collect data on the type of vehicles
passing over the loop and their
speeds. So how do you handle this
large amount of count data? In Aus-
tria, the Federal State of Tyrol relies
on professional software which
allows them to easily manage and
analyse count data.
Even the State of Oregon in the USA
needs a solution that allows trans-
portation planners to easily access
and evaluate traffic count data. Pro-
fessional count data analysis and
management provide a better basis
for decision-making in the field of
traffic and transportation planning.
Count data is a vital component in
traffic and transportation planning. It
is an input for the design of road
infrastructure and pavement man-
88 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
agement systems in order to resur-
face lanes and ramps in time.
Additionally, count data helps to ana-
lyse the impacts of changes on the
road network and supports decision-
making in the field of urban con-
struction. Automatic traffic counters
collect data on traffic volumes and
speeds as well as the vehicles’weight
and number of axles.
Count data analysis
There are different methods for traf-
fic flow data collection. Your data
might be supplied by permanent
traffic counters or collected manu-
ally. During the summer, drivers
sometimes see students manually
counting vehicles at junctions or on
motorway bridges.
Traffic data collected manually
only provides temporary results,
which means that it can only be
extrapolated over a longer period of
time under certain statistical condi-
tions. Manual traffic counts provide
information about the number and
type of vehicles, such as passenger
cars, lorries, buses, etc. Many
archives also store statistics based
on historic key values that cannot be
easily used for current issues.
Permanent traffic counters con-
stantly collect traffic data at specific
junctions any time on any day. Induc-
tion loops embedded in the road’s
surface are very reliable. An induc-
tion-loop trigger is a length of elec-
trical wire buried just under the
asphalt and hooked up to an electri-
cal power source and a meter for
data transfer.
It is also possible to use radar units
using microwave frequencies. The
data is transmitted to a central com-
puter via GPRS. The traffic counters
are solar-powered. Permanent traffic
counters provide detailed raw data
about the number of vehicles and
speeds, including a sophisticated
www.h3bmedia.com

Site Manager: for managing Tyrol’s count site master data
vehicle classification scheme with
up to nine different vehicle classes.
The results from permanent traffic
counters do not have to be extrapo-
lated and plausibility checks can be
performed immediately.
With the cross-section count meth-
ods one counts the number of vehi-
cles passing a specific point over a
defined period of time. Junction
counts are more complex than cross-
section counts. The traffic sensors
calculate the traffic flows at the junc-
tions, which means the number of
vehicles and lane directions. This
large amount of data has to be col-
lected centrally.
Data from different sources
Regardless of whether your data are
supplied by permanent traffic
counters, based on historic key val-
ues, or collected manually, traffic
data management focuses on col-
lecting, processing and storing count
www.h3bmedia.com
data from all kinds of sources. Thus,
traffic engineers and transportation
officials can quickly access impor-
tant high-quality key data. Moreover,
data and analyses have to be intelli-
gently stored in order to provide
useful information about long-term
road traffic developments.
Do you plan to expand the motor-
way network or to adjust signal pro-
gramming at a junction? To make the
right decision you will need a
detailed analysis of all data and
information available. Advanced
traffic and transportation planning
systems need correct input data.
Tyrol’s uniqueness
Austria’s Federal State of Tyrol has to
cope with heavy transit traffic over
the Alps. The Brenner and Inntal
motorways are the most important
routes for freight and passenger
transportation. A lot of commuters
and travellers take the narrow routes
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2
T-Focus
through the Alpine valleys. This has a
major impact on Tyrol’s traffic situa-
tion. In July 2003 the state of Tyrol
therefore decided to develop and
implement a new traffic data collec-
tion system. Data collected by some
150 automatic traffic counters is now
imported and processed every day.
Manual counts and historic key val-
ues are added as well.
Module-based detectors, which
run 24/7, are based on microwave
technology and collect data on vehi-
cles by categorising them according
to vehicle length and shape. It is thus
possible to differentiate between
different types of vehicles.
All traffic counters were installed
in Spring 2005. 45 of the existing traf-
fic counters are loop detectors in the
lane. Today Tyrol has well over 130
count cross-sections and 13 traffic
counters distributed across its
motorway and expressway network
covering about 2,300km.
89
T-Focus
A traffic database
Tyrol’s traffic data is transmitted to a
central traffic database every day.
Here it is validated, managed and
analysed. This complex task is
accomplished by PTV’s TrafficCount-
Management software.
The system automatically trans-
mits the data to a central computer
every day.
A central database processes,
analyses and stores the raw data and
key values for each traffic counter,
such as ADT (average daily traffic).
These common statistics can be
instantly used for evaluation pur-
poses.
The integrated software also
includes an automated plausibility
check. It is possible to visualise data-
base information and to correct
unplausible count data.
Since 2005 Austria’s Federal State
of Tyrol has been using the PTV Traf-
: Count Manager: for visualizing and processing traffic count data
90 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
ficCountManagement solution. A
monthly update of the traffic count
analyses is available on Tyrol’s web-
site at www.tirol.gv.at/vde. You can
access the major key values per
month for Tyrol’s most important
traffic counters as well as annual traf-
fic reports.
Saving time and costs
“Thanks to automatic traffic counters
it was no longer necessary to per-
form manual traffic counts over a
period of five years,” explains Oth-
mar Knoflach, the Tyrol project man-
ager. It was even possible to observe
the impact of Germany’s new motor-
way toll on Tyrol’s traffic volume by
using permanent traffic counters.
These results are also available on
Tyrol’s website.
Knoflach is convinced that the Fed-
eral State of Tyrol cannot cope with
future road traffic unless it perma-
nently analyses all traffic data,
including transit traffic, residents
and environmental factors.
ODOT opts in
Accessing and evaluating its traffic
count data is one of the main tasks of
the State of Oregon. The Oregon
Department of Transportation
(ODOT) therefore also uses PTV’s
TrafficCountManagement system
which enables the user to manage
traffic data from different sources
and to create meaningful analyses
and reports.
The system will be adjusted to the
specific requirements in the US, so
that it meets US standards, such as
the Traffic Monitoring Guidelines.
Users will benefit from numerous
easy analysis features and improved
user guidance through the data vali-
dation process. TH
ira.steinhoff@ptv.de
www.h3bmedia.com
 OUR CUSTOMERS
DRIVE OUR TECHNOLOGY
Transurban’s integrated approach
to tolling and customer service
means customer needs drive our
technology—not the other way
around.
With the largest electronic tolling
customer base in Australia, we’re
constantly refining our systems
to ensure our three million
customers enjoy seamless 24/7
service both on and off our roads.
CRD1072
A few of our most recent tolling and “Transurban’s business
customer service innovations include: was built on a philosophy of
innovation…The corporate
- Partnering with Australian
values reflect a strong focus on
telecommunications giant Telstra
continued innovation to maintain
to deliver customer information
a competitive edge globally.”
via SMS on Melbourne’s CityLink
Business Council of Australia
- Delivering value-added services
report, March 2006
to customers via an ‘i-TAG’®—a
cashless payment system based
on our e-TAG® device technology
For more information visit
- Working with Siemens
www.transurban.com.au
and Telstra on a trial to
prove that GPS and e-TAG
tolling technologies can be
interoperable.
Transurban technology—
Keeping customers moving
Homeland Security

Supply on
demand

Real-time driver information to complement advanced traffic

management is a priority for Australia’s major cities because
of increasing congestion, says PHIL SAYEG. Governments are
unable to build sufficient road infrastructure to keep up with
the traffic growth
With over 90 per cent of Australia’s 20m popula- • 3.5 per cent reduction in air pollution.
tion living in cities and with almost half of the These benefits were estimated to be several hundred
urban population living in just three cities on the million dollars per year. The focus on this article in real
east coast, Melbourne (3m), Sydney (4m) and time traffic information but brief coverage of develop-
Brisbane (1.5m), the market for real time infor- ments in the urban public transport and logistics sec-
mation is now at a tipping point. Several firms tors is provided.
are about to enter an embryonic market with new
real time information services. Today
As congestion is expected to rise in future, timely, Intelligent transport systems used to manage traffic are
accurate real time traffic information can play a val- focussed on traffic or transport management centres
uable role in traffic management and especially for that exist in most of Australia’s capital cities and most
management of incidents. tollways. An example of an existing traveller informa-
In a report prepared for ITS Australia in 1998 it was tion system for motorists is the Drive Time system oper-
estimated that deployment of traveller information ated by VicRoads in Melbourne. Information signs tell
systems may produce the following benefits: drivers how long it will take them to reach various free-
• 8 per cent reduction in congestion and travel way exits. As well as providing estimated travel times, a
time for cars, public transport and freight users; colour-coded indicator advises where the traffic is light
• 4 per cent reduction in accidents; and (green), medium (yellow), or heavy (red).

92 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com


Free call telephone services providing information on
road network conditions such as recurrent and non-
recurrent congestion, major planned events and other
activities causing significant changes in traffic condi-
tions is provided via the traffic control centres of all
State-road traffic agencies. Various media firms have
agreements with State-road traffic agencies for access
to their traffic management centres from which they pro-
vide traffic information to radio and television stations.
Current real-time information systems are fairly lim-
ited.Yet extensive information on real time traffic condi-
tions is already collected by road agencies and private
toll road providers from their traffic control systems.
Rapid and continuing advances in technology means
tools are now available for processing and value-add-
ing available data and disseminating real time traffic
information to provide useful context-specific informa-
tion for motorists in a pre-trip or en-route situation.
Real potential
Real-time information is an important complement to
traffic and incident management and potentially has
wider benefits than to individual motorists who, acting
on advice received, can avoid undue congestion. Rec-
ognising the potential for these wider community ben-
efits most road agencies in Australia will provide their
traffic information data at cost to firms wishing to create
new forms of traveller information service.
Our communities are now conditioned to expect
instant communication and up to date information when
and where they want it, and it is therefore expected that
road agencies will be expected to facilitate the provi-
sion of comprehensive, accurate real time information
to motorists and other road users in the very near future.
From the commercial perspective, motorists are increas-
ingly opting to purchase in-vehicle navigational units as
they have become “consumerised”, and appear more
likely than in the past to subscribe to updated mapping
features and additional information layers which could
include real-time information.
For public transport, all cities provide “We now expect
information on scheduled public trans- communication
port routes and service availability,
fares, estimated journey times and fares and information
between any origin and destination when and where we
and expected times of arrival of public
transport vehicles at stops in response want it”
to telephone and web inquiries.
High quality real time passenger information systems
(displaying next bus arrival times) for bus services exist
in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Several Australian companies have developed propri-
etary technologies for tracking of buses and taxis and
delivery of real time information to bus passengers.
These systems also provide active priority for buses at
traffic signals through communication of the bus loca-
tion to the traffic signal control centre.
Information systems and technology play a major role
in the success of the logistics industry through integrat-
ing supply-chain activities on a real-time basis. There
are numerous supply-chain service providers and on-
www.h3bmedia.com
Driver Information
Intelematics’ Brian Smith: “No one has attempted to launch a
real-time traffic service of this type in Australia before. Most
attempts have failed at the business case stage.”
line access is available to port operations, information
and vessel movements.
Tomorrow
Intelematics, a company that was founded to pioneer
the development and acceptance of advanced telemat-
ics services and is owned by the Royal Automobile Club
of Victoria, has started deploying an Australian real
time traffic service and plans using RDS-TMC (Radio
Data Signal – Traffic Message Channel) as a prime deliv-
ery channel.
The roll-out of the service in Melbourne, Sydney and
Brisbane is planned to take place in mid-2007. The firm
is seeking formal agreement with road agencies to sup-
ply real time traffic data as an input to the to its planned
urban Suna Electronic Traffic Avoidance (ETA) service.
The RDS-TMC traffic standard, the only available Inter-
national standard for traffic service provision, provides
a capability to deliver traffic data into vehicles and this
data can be used by navigation systems. Key features of
the system are:
• Wide availability of receivers (sales
of approximately 4m TMC enabled
navigation systems in Europe in 2006);
• Updated traffic information, deliv-
ered in near real time via FM broadcast
using the RDS standard (which is also
an ISO standard) or GPRS;
• Immediate knowledge of accidents,
roadworks and traffic jams;
• Filtered information only for the immediate route;
• Traffic data directly input into Navigation system ,
high safety factor;
• TMC feed will support other services including SMS,
i-mode and web;
• Based on Intelematics’ award-winning Telematics
Services Hub.
“No one has attempted to launch a real time traffic
service of this type in Australia previously. Most attempts
have failed at the business case stage,” says Brian Smith,
General Manager Traffic and Content Intelematics Aus-
tralia. Smith says that to be successful:
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 93
Driver Information
• Navigation systems require a real-time view of con-
gestion and major incidents over the entire arterial net-
work in order to provide appropriate urban guidance.
• An affordable urban TMC service in Australia is only
possible through the combination of several advanced
ITS technologies, in particular Australia’s available
advanced traffic signal control systems and specialist
traffic flow modelling technology developed by the
Australian company Custom Traffic Pty Ltd (first used in
a commercial service in Hong Kong).
• A most important source of raw traffic flow data is
derived from the loop sensor network embedded in the
road on the approach to signalised intersections. Agree-
ments with road authorities to access these data and to
develop near real-time link-by-link congestion models
are required.
• In Australia, a high proportion of travel is on urban
arterial and secondary roads. A freeway only traffic
service cannot provide the level of detail a driver or
navigation system needs to make informed choices over
which route is best. Intelematics has been working on
developing an Australian traffic service for a number of
years and due to its strong relationship with Australia’s
leading car companies a market channel is provided.
On the fringes of the transport sector, advanced
mobile information services such as i-mode (mobile
Internet and information) developed by Japan’s giant
telco NTT under the DoCoMo brand exist. Launched in
Japan in 1999, i-mode services have spread to 13 coun-
tries, including Australia, and globally has over 45m
subscribers. In Australia, Telstra launched its
i-mode service with NTT DoCoMo in November 2004.
The Eclipse Group, Deloitte’s web development arm,
is said to be close to developing a web service to help
Sydney drivers avoid traffic jams. The aim is to develop
a web-based service using Google Maps that can be
integrated into in-vehicle navigation systems. The serv-
ice is also expected to include a toll road calculator and
live video feeds from traffic cameras.
94 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
The AT Signature project : Part of a cross industry telematics
R&D effort, this project tested a number of concepts including
traffic. Intelematics have incorporated learning’s from this
into their TMC based traffic rollout.
The future
Smith says there are two basic paths where develop-
ment will take place, technology and content. There are
ongoing developments that will support an increasing
range of sophisticated traveller and traffic information
services.
In particular TMC has an upgrade path to a new stand-
ard called TPEG (Transport Protocol Experts Group)
which is designed to take advantage of new broadband
deliver channels such as DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast).
TPEG and associated standards will allow for a range of
additional services such as parking, dynamic speed
advice, safety information and general traveller infor-
mation.
The combination of low cost computing power – often
as part of the car, high bandwidth low cost communica-
tions and content availability will create opportunities
for increased services. These will range from safety,
navigation and traffic services through to entertainment.
An example of a new traffic service is is dynamic speed
information, this will allow accurate dynamic speed lim-
its to be made available to drivers, this can be directly
integrated with the car to provide warnings or other
feedback to the driver that they are exceeding the
speed limit.
Forecast traffic data will also be able to be provided
allowing a navigation system to plot a two hour journey
taking into account what the traffic will be like in two
hours for the last stage of the journey.
These are exciting times. From a road agency per-
spective, while privately provided real time traffic infor-
mation services can be expected to develop road
agencies should expect to take an active role in ensur-
ing that there are no impediments to block the provision
of the basic comprehensive raw traffic data to satisfy
market needs, and hence maximise overall benefits to
the community. TH
Phil Sayeg can be contacted via email at
: p.sayeg@uq.net.au
www.h3bmedia.com
 Xxxxx





 


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How I See It

Quality
Serco’s GRAHAM STACEY is a
of life
firm believer that reliability-
centred maintenance is the
way forward

96 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com


Local authorities are faced with an increasing
obligation to record and improve the condition of the
transport network. A strategic approach to the man-
agement of the network must address asset
condition, residual life, equipment reliability and
importantly timely actions designed to maximize
the life and value of the asset.
This challenge is often set against a legacy where little
or no information regarding the assets exists, whilst the
capital and maintenance budgets are increasingly scru-
tinised for best value. This strategic approach needs to
be built into an overall asset management plan taking
into account not just the carriageways, footpaths and
structures but also vital assets such as street lighting,
highway technologies and a lot more besides.
For highway technology this would need to focus on
improving the reliability of equipment and maximizing
the asset life through informed and cost-effective main-
tenance actions.
There is now a growing responsibility on the mainte-
nance provider to assist the customer in the risk man-
agement of the asset, through better use and analysis of
maintenance information and data. The aim is to maxim-
ise the existing network assets by informed and timely
maintenance actions,whilst ensuring assets are replaced
only when absolutely necessary. By using this model,
local authorities will ultimately be able to spend their
budgets more wisely and be confident that the contract
model is supportive in ensuring the delivery of their
required outcomes. Indeed, operators like Serco are
already helping to make this a cost-effective reality.
The challenges faced by authorities
Central government has now made it a formal require-
ment for all councils to look after their highway net-
works, which are by far the most valuable assets that any
local authority owns.
All local authorities must also produce a Highway
Asset Management Plan (HAMP), which sets out what
they want to achieve with their highway network, clearly
quantifying the value of the asset, identifying invest-
ment needs and priorities based on whole life cost and
establishing co-ordinated programmes of work.
Furthermore, the local authorities also need to report
their progress to central government with regards to the
development and operation of the HAMP in the wider
context of effective stewardship of the whole range of
transport assets in their area.
At present in England, the Department for Transport
www.h3bmedia.com
How I See It
expects that as a minimum requirement authorities
should aim to ensure no overall deterioration in local
road conditions from 2004/05 levels during the second
Local Transport Plan period (2006-2010) and that most
authorities should achieve significant improvements in
overall condition.
The challenges of HAMP
HAMP is throwing up some real challenges – for exam-
ple local authorities need to establish effective arrange-
ments for dealing with more immediate issues, such as
repairing potentially dangerous defects.They also need
to specify clear procedures and standards and provide
resources and training to ensure that these standards
are met. Failure to do so could have serious legal conse-
quences both for the authority and the individual
employees or contractors concerned. This means that
all relevant local authority members and officers must
have a clear understanding of their responsibilities in
this area, particularly in the light of Government pro-
posals to strengthen legislation concerning corporate
manslaughter.
So who is helping local authorities to meet HAMP
objectives? The UK Road Liaisons Group (UKRLG) was
set up in 2001 to bring together national and local gov-
ernment highways engineers from across the UK to
advise on roads infrastructure engineering and opera-
tional matters.The UKRLG’s four boards – Bridges, Light-
ing, Roads and Traffic Management – provide specialist
advice and support local authorities by working along-
side local highway authorities, central government and
engineering professional bodies to promote specific
codes of practice on network maintenance manage-
ment.
The reliability-centred model
To meet the HAMP objectives, local authorities first need
to fully understand the value of their assets – vital for
linking asset management to financial planning.
To do this, they need to analyse the condition of the
assets over their particular lifetimes, thereby giving an
indication of the investment needed to keep the assets
and deliver the required service over their lifecycles.
This process also helps authorities to compare planned
maintenance costs to those of any change in the condi-
tion of the network during a particular year - again, it
allows informed choices to be made on the priorities for
highway maintenance and just as importantly, how these
will be paid for. Serco considers this challenge will be
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 97
How I See It
best achieved by the authority and the maintenance
provider working within partnering ethos - working
closely together to develop an effective asset Risk Reg-
ister which addresses both the optional and strategic
risks to the network asset.
The contracting environment needs to be supportive
to deliver a shared ‘ownership ethos’ for the manage-
ment of the asset. As such authorities need to be satis-
fied that the selected contracting model can deliver this
objective.
The vast majority of the UK’s local authorities are now
well on their way to working towards the codes of prac-
tice on network maintenance management, which
include over 200 recommendations. That said, many are
also very much aware of the fact that the network needs
maintaining now, and for this reason many contractors
continue to be employed on terms that are far removed
from the ethos of HAMP. HAMP’s underpinning princi-
ple is to substantiate investment in highway mainte-
98 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
nance by demonstrating value for money in delivering
the authority’s social and economic aims over the life of
the investment – in basic terms, it is designed to help
local authorities to maintain the network as cost effec-
tively as possible.
Unfortunately, a number of authorities are still work-
ing with partners that may well be meeting agreed serv-
ice performance measures but are not guaranteeing the
outcomes under HAMPs. Why? Simply because the
focus on service performance measures is overriding
the focus on protection of assets. This means that many
local authorities’ assets are not being maintained prop-
erly, which is resulting in early degradation and costly
replacement.
So why are some local authority maintenance provid-
ers not changing their ways and advising a reliability-
centred model? In a good number of cases, they face
institutional barriers and face the challenge of tran-
scending the culture of replacement rather than repair.
Another major problem is that some providers are not –
and do not want to be – responsible for asset manage-
ment. They believe this issue is firmly in the jurisdiction
of the local authority.
A Cornish example
So what options do local authorities have? Serco is able
to combine extensive technical and commercial know-
how with a deep-seated public service ethos and has
been assisting a number of authorities with their HAMPs.
Most recently we have been working with Cornwall
County Council in the West of England to develop an
asset management model specifically for highway tech-
nology.
Working closely with the council to develop an asset
management plan for traffic signals based around the
new model within the Institute of Lighting Engineers’
technical paper TR22 which covers the asset manage-
ment of lighting columns and signposts. We see the
development of this model as the way forward and it will
inform and shape our future approach to maintenance
activities as well as driving more meaningful perform-
ance measures.
By also liaising closely with the council’s group engi-
neers, the County Surveyors Society and the UKRLG -
and fully understanding the lifecycle and depreciation
of all relevant infrastructure assets – Serco will be final-
ising a model that meets the important needs of the
maintenance strategy which ultimately could be used as
a template by all local authorities in the UK.
What does getting this right look like?
The contracting model needs to support the delivery of
the outcomes – namely the cost effective upkeep of the
highway network, and in the case of Cornwall County
Council all the technology that supports this.
The key to succeeding is a change of perspective and
mindset. Serco embraces the ‘ownership’ role and works
completely in partnership with clients – in this case local
authorities.Under the reliability-centred model,respon-
sibilities move away from maintaining assets to helping
the employer meet their outcome objectives – a shift
www.h3bmedia.com
from asset maintenance to shared responsibility for
asset management.
In the case of the Cornwall County Council reliability-
centred model, Serco is the service architect - design-
ing and managing the service whilst analysing
maintenance and operational data to drive service
improvements. Through a partnering approach we are
able to harmonise the service performance measures to
ensure we deliver and support the clients outcomes,
which on top of asset management includes such things
as CO2 emission reductions and congestion impacts.
It is vital that the technology systems to monitor and
measure asset information are effectiveness are robust.
One determining factor for Cornwall County Council
has been the success of Serco’s appointment in 2006 to a
five year traffic signals and ancillary equipment mainte-
nance contract with near-neighbours Somerset County
Council.
Serco has developed an interface between its bespoke
Technology Maintenance Management System (TMMS)
with Somerset’s Urban Traffic Control (UTC) and Remote
Management System (RMS), enabling automatic fault
reporting and performance management.
The TMMS captures and manages a range of informa-
tion including asset condition, productivity, contract
performance and fault trend analysis, enabling Somer-
set County Council to better forecast budgets for renew-
als works and make adjustments to maintenance regimes
or investments in capital renewals works. Engineers
working on the contract receive and clear faults and
capture PI information remotely via GPRS mobile data
devices.
The TMMS provides greater ownership and account-
ability for the performance of the network. Through it,
Serco works with Somerset County Council to plan a
programme of asset renewals and modification works
which will utilise the optimum performance and life
expectancy from their equipment to deliver best value. Traffic signals in a state of disrepair
Using analysis, technical and management expertise and malfunction could become a thing
of the past....
to maximise asset performance, the partner is meas-
ured against outcome performance indicators. Impor-
tantly, the partner is network-focused and not
equipment-biased.
and set new goals to meet them.
What do these outcomes look like? After preparing basic asset management plans,annual
Everything a local authority wants and needs: improved programmes of improvements will be carried out and
service predictability, robust asset management, known systems and processes will be markedly improved.
residual asset life, informed capital works, improved The highway network is the largest and most valuable
efficiencies both within the local authority and the part- community asset for which local authorities are respon-
ner’s team and finally service performance directly sible. Inadequate maintenance only stores up even
linked to central government’s desired outcomes for greater problems for the future. Whilst recent increases
highway networks. in investment have been welcomed by central govern-
Key to the success of a reliability-centred model is the ment and councils alike, a sustained long term pro-
ability to work in partnership with local authorities to gramme of investment in maintenance of the highway
identify the business drivers which lead to a strong network is absolutely vital – and this needs to be planned,
maintenance strategy, accurate assessment of asset efficiently managed and supported by effective techni-
condition and then link this to the fundamental objective cal and management experts. TH
of the inspection and maintenance policy.
It is important to remember outcome objectives will Graham Stacey is Director of Highway
not be the same today as they will be in five years, so Technology Services for Serco and can be
partners and local authorities must constantly assess contacted via email at graham.stacey@serco.com

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 99

Along the
right lines
KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for
surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if
we’ve come as far as we should have done…

Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime

Minister, once said that anybody seen on a bus
over the age of 30 had been a failure in life. It
reinforced the fact that the bus had an image
problem - one that had not noticeably improved
by 2007. However, as PETER PLISNER has been
finding out, new concepts and greater use of
technology is helping to change things
 Bus Rapid Transit

York, UK: A StreetCar wends its way past York Minster. StreetCar
is a collaboration between bus company First Group and bus
manufacturer Wright Group

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 101

Bus Rapid Transit
Often the first image that comes to mind when most
people think of a bus is a run down, dirty and uncom-
fortable vehicle which would be better placed in a
museum than on the streets carrying passengers to
and from work.
It’s true that in many parts of Europe buses are being
replaced with more modern vehicles that have cleaner
engines and passengers find them easier to get into. But
for many transport users and indeed professionals
working within the public transport field there’s still a
wide gulf between the service offered by trams and
other light rail vehicles and the humble bus.While trams
have an image that makes people want to travel on them,
buses just don’t have the same attraction.
However, a concept pioneered in America is now
being widely talked about on this side of the Atlantic.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) promises to reduce the cost of
mobility in many European countries by providing a
cheaper alternative to expensive light rail lines, while at
the same time helping to improve the image of the bus.
So what is Bus Rapid Transit? The best description
comes from US. Already a common fixture in many cities
including Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it’s been defined
as “a flexible, rubber-tired rapid transit mode that com-
bines stations, vehicles, services, busways and intelli-
gent transportation systems into an integrated package
with a strong positive identity that evokes a unique
image.”
102 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
Bradford’s kerb-guided busway
In Europe one council that’s hoping to install such a
system simplified the description further by stating that:
“it’s a bus that thinks it’s a tram.” The integrated pack-
age referred to in the States includes some or all of a
range of improvements which mostly involve the imple-
mentation of new technology to varying degrees.
Different strokes
When it comes to the use of new technology, cities across
Europe certainly do vary. In the UK most BRT planners
appear to have opted for the simple approach using
tried and tested low-tech solutions. In continental
Europe they’ve taken a different approach preferring
hi-tech solutions, some of which have only recently been
developed. Part of the reason is the differing ways in
which bus services are funded.
In the UK, buses have been deregulated and most
services (and the investment needed to keep them run-
ning) come from private companies. In other parts of
Europe large subsidies are available from both central
and local government.
One of the biggest expenses comes with the design
and purchase of new vehicles which help to create the
right image. Several manufacturers have already
designed buses specifically for BRT operations and
many are already in service throughout Europe. One of
the most talked about is Phileas, which has been run-
ning in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and Douai in
www.h3bmedia.com

France. In addition to its ultra-modern look it has a
hybrid drive system with an LPG or diesel powered
engine that drives a generator.
The generator supplies power to an electric motor on
each of the rear wheels. The body of the bus is made
from lightweight materials including plastics and alu-
minium which helps to reduce the vehicle’s power con-
sumption.
While moving, the engine, which operates at a con-
stant speed, produces more power than is necessary.
The excess energy and the energy released during
braking is converted into electric power and stored in
the batteries. It’s claimed that by using the stored power,
Phileas can travel 3km without producing any exhaust
gases, making it ideal for use in a city centre. It’s claimed
that it uses 30 per cent less fuel than an LPG bus of the
same size.
Another futuristic vehicle has recently been devel-
oped for use in the UK. The StreetCar is a collaboration
between bus firm First Group and bus manufacturer
Wright Group. It’s upped the ante as far as how modern
buses look in the UK. The StreetCar was designed for a
specific project in the city of York called ‘ftr’, short for
future. It’s evidence that, as far as vehicles are con-
cerned the gap between the UK and elsewhere is now
narrowing.
Nancy’s Guided Light Transit system
www.h3bmedia.com
Bus Rapid Transit
Looking for guidance
After the vehicle the next consideration for any local
authority or operator installing a BRT system is the pri-
ority given to the vehicles running along the route. In
many countries bus lanes are a common sight. However,
in some places they’ve gone a step further by providing
dedicated lanes for buses commonly known as ‘bus-
ways’. If busways are being used the next key decision
is whether to provide guidance systems.
Guidance technology is by no means essential to a
fully operational BRT system. Some of the most success-
ful schemes haven’t adopted any kind of guidance tech-
nology. In Amsterdam the Zuidtangent system operates
along a dedicated busway without any form of guidance.
It’s often held up as an example of what can be achieved
when you provide dedicated routes for buses.
In other parts of Europe guidance is seen as impor-
tant, particularly in ensuring the buses ‘dock’ with stops
allowing easy access both on and off vehicles. Across
Europe several different systems have been adopted. In
the UK bus companies have again preferred a low-tech
approach by using kerb guidance.
Experts maintain that it’s cheaper and represents a
tried and trusted technology, unlike some of the more
hi-tech systems in use. Guidance is provided by kerbs
on either side of the bus lane and the vehicles are fitted
(photo courtesy of Bombarider)
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 103
 Bus Rapid Transit
Photo courtesy of Siemens
Optical guidance - road markings at a junction
with special guide-wheels. Successful kerb guidance
schemes operate in the UK cities of Leeds and Bradford
and some parts of continental Europe.
Line of sight
Another popular system involves the use of cameras fit-
ted to vehicles and special lines painted on the road.
Optical guidance is a key feature of the TEOR rapid tran-
sit scheme which runs through the streets of Rouen in
France.
Optical guidance is either used across a whole route
or often just at stops to allow precision docking with
platforms. The Rouen system is provided by Siemens
which is planning on rolling it out in other cities, includ-
ing some in the UK.
Another guidance system is provided using magnetic
technology. It works by running electricity through
cables embedded into the road surface which create a
magnetic field. Data about the vehicles position relative
to the magnetic field is fed to an on-board computer,
which steers the vehicle. One of the only systems to
adopt electrical guidance is the Phileas in the Nether-
lands where by all accounts it has proved to be reliable.
One of the only drawbacks is that if a cable fails, replac-
ing it can be expensive and time-consuming.
The final type of guidance system called ‘Guided Light
Transit’ or GLT has been developed by transport group
Bombardier. It’s used in the French cities of Nancy and
Caen and is the closest thing to creating a bus that really
does look and feel like a tram.Vehicles again run on rub-
ber tyres, but also follow a central rail embedded in the
middle of the carriageway. It’s the most expensive form
of guidance being used, although it’s still cheaper to
install than conventional light rail.
Modal shift
Where buses interact with other vehicles other priority
measures are often used, particularly at traffic lights.
These systems have the capability to offer priority for
buses as they approach traffic lights. Most operate using
either Automatic Vehicle Detection (AVL) with induction
104 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
loops under sections of the road. Here there’s a large
degree of harmonisation across Europe within similar
systems operating in many cities. The use of vehicle
detection techniques means that traffic lights go to
green before buses arrive. It allows fast clearance
through congested junctions. Buses can also be given
longer green phases than other vehicles.
In many places buses have their own lanes on the
approaches to junctions. But where there isn’t enough
road space, traffic lights are phased in such a way to
allow all traffic ahead of a bus to be given a green light
so that the junction is clear when the bus arrives. Accord-
ing to many the use of bus detection has dramatically
improved the reliability of services all over Europe.
While loops detection is still preferred in most places,
some areas are now developing similar systems using
global positioning systems or GPS.
Pulling out all the stops
Stops or ‘stations’ as they’re called within the realm of
BRT are also an important factor in helping to create the
right image. Sleek designs are turning what used to be a
pole, a sign, or a basic bus shelter into an ultra modern,
distinctive and recognisable departure point. Like the
vehicles they are crucial in helping to achieve system
identity.
Designs range from much enhanced bus shelters to
sophisticated interchanges and most include facilities
to buy tickets before boarding the vehicle. Moving fare
collection off the bus means faster boarding times and
more reliable services. Although there may be different
standards across Europe, when it comes to the use of
new technology on the buses, the good news is that it is
bringing about huge improvements in the quality of
services and that’s not just good news for passengers
but also the operators who are seeing increased patron-
age levels and rising profits. Bus Rapid Transit concepts
are helping to turn the Cinderella of the public transport
market into a beautiful princess. TH
Peter Plisner is a Transport Correspondent for the BBC
and can be emailed at peter.plisner@bbc.co.uk
Driver’s view from one of Rouen’s TEOR fleet
International trade fair for infrastructure,
traffic management, safety and parking

Amsterdam RAI
The Netherlands

1.2.3.4 APRIL
2008

Intertraffic com
®
Italy

ARTIST in
residence
KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for
surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if
we’ve come as far as we should have done…

OLGA LANDOLFI on Italy’s attempts to keep pace, at the very

least, with the rapidly evolving European ITS market

106 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com


Italy is one of the European countries with a very
high traffic flow, involving 956,475m passengers
and freight transport traffic on distances of over
50 km of 210,982m tons km/per year.
With regard to modal transport, the latest statistics
about national traffic, underline the absolute promi-
nence of road transport for both passengers (92.38 per
cent) and freight (65.6 per cent) on distances of over
50 km. Forecasts show that these percentages are going
to increase within the next few years.
www.h3bmedia.com
Italy
The increasing mobility needs, which characterised
the Italian transport system during the last decades,
lead to an exacerbation of traffic congestion phenom-
ena with negative impacts on the environment, quality
of life and transport security. As a consequence, the
daily collective costs related to high traffic levels are
becoming unsustainable, especially in terms of quality
of life, security and pollution - and this also leads to a
lack of economic competitiveness of “the National
System”.
Out with the old
These experiences demonstrate that, in order to face
traffic problems, which are worldwide realities, it is
important to improve and update the existing infrastruc-
tures before focusing on the newest.
It becomes necessary to adopt a different strategic
approach, which means thinking of transport as an “inte-
grated system” in which information, management and
control can operate in synergy to improve the use of
infrastructures, vehicles and logistics platforms, through
the use of new technologies, namely Intelligent Trans-
port Systems.
Italy started to develop ITS applications in the second
half of the 1980s but successful results only started to
appear a decade later when local administrations, com-
panies, research centres and universities took part in
every European Commission Research and Develop-
ment Framework Programme. Italy’s results were com-
parable to the growth of the ITS market in other European
countries.
Cities on the move
Today, ITS solutions and services related to traffic man-
agement and mobility are being used by several Italian
cities such as Rome, Turin, Milan, Florence, Genova,
Perugia, Naples, Bologna, Brescia, Salerno. Almost
80 per cent of Local Public Transport Companies have
localisation and fleet monitoring systems which aim to
improve service supply.
Furthermore, an important contribution to ITS solu-
tions deployment is represented by the use of the
Telepass System, a road tolling system developed by
Autostrade Group,which is now present in all the national
territories and has become an example for other Euro-
pean countries.
Very significant results have also been achieved by
on-board systems development with the aim to increase
vehicle security levels, while freight transport strategic
companies and authorities have promoted several
projects in order to foster intermodality and integrated
logistics development.
Promoting the arts
As the ITS market has been growing faster and faster,
the promotion and deployment of ITS applications in
Italy require a specific definition of a framework on all
ITS applications, systems and services which can be
integrated and interoperable.
For this reason, in 2001 the Italian Ministry of Infra-
structure and Transport, as part of the National Plan for
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 107
Italy

Transport, promoted ARTIST, the project developed to

define the Italian ITS Architecture.
ARTIST’s aim is to provide public authorities, stand-
ardisation bodies, transport operators, infrastructure
managers and private companies with general guide-
lines for steering ITS projects towards interoperable
solutions in compliance with National and European
policies.
ARTIST, which represents the main Italian project to
foster ITS systems and services in Italy, is compatible
with the European Architecture KAREN through the use
of FRAME-NET network, allowing ARTIST’s schemes to
be interoperable with other ITS solutions developed in
other European countries.

Bridging the economic gap

Even though international statistics declare that ITS
applications represent a very important business
opportunity, as confirmed by the €1.2 billion European
ITS systems markets in 2001, unfortunately the market in
Italy at that time still suffered from a lack of real and
updated economic information at national level.
In order to fill this gap, in 2004 the Italian Ministry of
Infrastructures and Transport, in collaboration with TTS
Italia (the Italian ITS Association) promoted a national
survey aiming to outline a general structure of the ITS
market in Italy concerning the years 2001/2002/2003
and future trends.
The aim of this survey was to reveal an ITS market
structure involving Italian companies, which deal with
ITS applications. In particular, the aim of the research
was to reveal information about company foundation
year, starting ITS activity year, expertise area, number of
employees, working ITS employees, total turnover, ITS
total turnover, sales forecasts, customers, imports/
exports and investments on ITS research.
The survey, which involved 160 companies, under-
lines a constantly growing market with €550m sales in
2003 and an estimated €1100m sales in 2009, as the
graph below shows.
ITS on the increase
Furthermore, from the employment point of view, ITS is
a sector able to generate employment, in comparison to
the ICT market which has decreasing trends both for
total sales and employees.
Traffic management centre, Rome
The survey also involved university transport depart-
ments in order to know the funding of ITS research
received and the actors (such as the transport depart-
ment of local administrations, public transport compa-
nies, highways operators and so on) in order to know
the investments made in ITS. The survey underlined a
growing trend both for research funding and technol-
ogies investments, demonstrating that ITS applica-
tions now represent a solid reality at national level.
As ITS applications are assuming a very important
role in the national transport system and as they are
part of the national economic growth, it is important
and necessary to define a strategic plan as a reference
point which is able to reach the main goals and priori-
ties for ITS deployment in Italy in the short and long
terms, but also the necessary actions to achieve results
and have benefits through the use of the National
Architecture.
For this reason, TTS Italia is working in collaboration
with the Italian Ministry of Transport to create an ITS
Strategic Plan, which will be completed at the end of
this year. th
Visit www.ttsitalia.it for more information

Italian ITS market

ITS turnover (estimate in €m)

108 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

THIN KING
HIG HW AYS
IS PROUD TO BE THE
WORLD ITS
DIRECTORYʼS
STRATEGIC MEDIA
PARTNER FOR
NORTH AMERICA
AND EUROPE

 
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Drivers for
change
KEVIN AGUIGUI looks at the potential for digital video for
surveillance and homeland security purposes and wonders if
we’ve come as far as we should have done…
It’s all change for Europe’s cities and towns as details of the
EU’s funding programmes for 2007-2013 were announced.
Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT was
on hand to select the highlights
With the new tranche of EU funding under the legis-
lation package for the new Cohesion Policy 2007-
2013 comes a significant change in policy towards
cities and other urban areas.
Finally, it has been realised that cities and towns are
the engines for economic growth within a region and
that regional development may not be enough in itself
to improve a region’s economy. This stems from the Lis-
bon Strategy to promote growth and employment, drawn
up in 2000.
The new ‘Community Lisbon Programme’, incorporat-
ing this Strategy, supports urban regeneration, as well
as innovation as a main feature, especially increasing
investment in research and technological development
and information technology.
Over the last decade cities have mainly received fund-
ing from a special initiative, the URBAN Programme.
Mainstreaming urban projects into the Structural Funds
110 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
was planned back in the late 1990s and is finally being
integrated into ERDF (European Regional Development
Fund), the Cohesion Fund and the Social Fund.
A new urban environment strategy was proposed by
the European Commission in January 2006. With the
startling statistic that four out of five people in Europe
live in urban areas, one of the principal measures in the
strategy is the implementation of sustainable urban
transport plans.
Community Strategic Guidelines of the Cohesion Pol-
icy were given to national authorities by the European
Commission in 2006 to use for drawing up their priori-
ties, programmes and projects in all sectors. There are
three priorities in these guidelines. Of possible interest
for ITS are the first two: improving the attractiveness of
regions and cities through accessibility and preserving
the environment; and innovation – to include new infor-
mation and communication technologies.
www.h3bmedia.com

Driven by environmental and ‘energy for transport’
concerns, sustainable urban transport (involving mobil-
ity, accessibility and innovation) is regarded as one of
the four key urban issues for dealing with the huge
urban problems. Relieving traffic congestion to improve
the attractiveness of cities is obviously necessary to deal
with the problems of mobility and access. The guide-
lines for action given to the Member States for sustain-
able urban transport include the following aspects
relevant to the ITS sector, with ‘innovation’ being a par-
ticular requirement:
• Coordination between various transport modes to
increase urban mobility and the promotion of the least
polluting modes;
• Good links to major airports and to the major axes of
the Trans-European Networks for cities in peripheral
locations;
• New projects should form part of an integrated trans-
port strategy for an urban area to include road safety
and security and improvement of air quality;
• Management of congestion, transport demand and
public transport networks to improve air quality and
reduce noise
Meet Jessica, Jeremie and Jaspers
One of the important features of this new wave of fund-
ing is to greatly improve the prospect of public and pri-
vate sector partnerships. To this effect City Authorities
should now be significantly engaged in the design and
implementation of EU-funded urban actions, rather than
be managed at national level, as previously. Setting up
such partnerships will be the challenge. However, City
Authorities are well-placed to bring together public
and private sector partnerships to get projects of the
ground.
Under the new regulations for ERDF infrastructure
investment related to European networks, links between
cities and towns and rural areas and towns will retain a
vital rôle. From the ERDF, the figure for the transport
sector could be in the region of 40-50 billion euros over
the seven years.
Another important aspect relates to the Cohesion
Fund, which is split 50% for transport and 50% for envi-
ronment, which will now include urban transport in
addition to the TENs (Trans-European Transport Net-
works). The Cohesion Fund covers all ten of the new
Member States, as well as Greece, Portugal and Spain.
Over the period 2007-2013, the Cohesion Fund will total
around 30 billion euros for the transport sector to include
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Funding and Finance
EU Funding for Poland 2007-13 (€m)
Intelligent transport systems 294
Information and telecom technologies 672
Information and communication technologies
for Trans-European Networks (Transport) 200
Infrastructure connected to R&D technologies 1,600
the TENs, intermodal, urban and collective transport.
A new cohesion policy instrument, JESSICA (Joint
Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas), is
aimed at promoting sustainable investment in urban
areas designed to assist the financing of urban renova-
tion and innovation projects through grants and loans. It
is an initiative linking the European Commission with
the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of
Europe Development Bank and will encourage public
and private sector partnerships.
Two other financial instruments have been set up, JAS-
PERS and JEREMIE. Of possible interest to the ITS sector
is JASPERS (Joint Assistance in Supporting Projects in
European Regions) linking the European Commission
with the EIB and the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development in preparing major projects. JAS-
PERS will assist the authorities in Member States who
can potentially benefit from the Cohesion Fund support
to identify major infrastructure projects for submission
to the European Commission for approval.
Finally, at this stage, it is too early to assess the seven-
year budget of ERDF and the Cohesion Fund for urban
transport projects for all Member States. Assistance for
sustainable urban transport could be in the region of 15
billion euros that may provide around 1.5 billion euros
for intelligent transport systems.
However, there seems to be considerable leeway for
innovation in information and communication technolo-
gies in this sector, so these estimates could well be con-
servative. To give some indication of the size of the
market, the following example of the budget breakdown
over 2007-2013 for Poland, being the largest recipient
Member State, shows some aspects of interest to the ITS
sector.
Further details of funding for the transport sector in
Poland will follow shortly and will be reported in the
Summer issue of Thinking Highways’ Europe/Rest of the
World. TH
Margaret Pettit is principal of CLEMATIS Consulting
and can be contacted via email at
margaret.pettit@btinternet.com
Thinking Highways Vol 2 No 2 111
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Equitel ................................................................................................95
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H3B Media TransPortal................................................................ 112
IET ................................................................................................... 109
Image Sensing Systems ...................................................................05
International Road Dynamics .......................................................49
Intertraffic Amsterdam 2008 ..................................................... 105
Kapsch TrafficCom ..........................................................................07
Noptel ...............................................................................................87
O2 M2M ............................................................................ back cover
PTV AG..............................................................................................86
Q-Free ASA .......................................................... inside front cover
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112 Vol 2 No 2 Thinking Highways
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Satellic Traffic Management ...........................................................29
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Sodi Scientifica .................................................................................81
Swarco ...............................................................................................17
Telefon-Gradnja ...............................................................................09
Traficon .............................................................................................11
Transurban........................................................................................91
Truvelo ..............................................................................................95
Vitronic .............................................................................................37
White Willow Transport Intelligence ....................................... 112
World ITS Directory ................................................................... 109
WSP ...................................................................................................61
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 WSP, the
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