ITS in urban area – European Commission

Feb 2010, Two new Directorates-General have been created: DG Energy (ENER) and DG Climate Action (CLIM). The Energy DG consists of the departments in the former Transport and Energy DG dealing with energy issues and of the Task Force Energy which will be transferred from the External Relations DG. The position of Director-General will be assumed by Philip Lowe, a British national, currently Director-General in DG Competition. The departments responsible for transport policy will remain in the renamed Mobility and Transport DG (MOVE). The Climate Action DG will be created from the relevant activities in DG Environment, the activities in the External Relations DG related to international negotiations on climate change and the activities in the Enterprise and Industry DG related to climate change. Jos Delbeke, a Belgian national and currently Deputy Director-General in the Environment DG, has been appointed Director-General of the Climate Action DG.

DG MOVE includes now Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) apply information and communication technologies to transport. Computers, electronics, satellites and sensors are playing an increasingly important role in our transport systems. The main innovation is the integration of existing technologies to create new services. ITS as such are instruments that can be used for different purposes under different conditions. ITS can be applied in every transport mode (road, rail, air, water) and services can be used by both passenger and freight transport.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E581pRt3BME&hl=fr&fs=1]

In urban area, ITS supports urban policy goals in areas such as travel information, traffic and demand management, smart ticketing or urban logistics. An integrated approach is even more required in urban areas, including various transport modes and combining both technical and policy issues. The citizen should be in the centre of attention.

Good local initiatives exist but sometimes with limited scope. Cities welcome support from the European level if they can retain independence to decide on ITS deployment. Technical solutions exist and the main barriers to more integrated deployment are more organisational or financial.

Both Action Plans on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and on Urban Mobility include complementary activity on ITS for urban areas.

• The ITS Action Plan wants to set-up an ITS collaboration platform to promote ITS initiatives in the area of urban mobility.
• The Action Plan on Urban Mobility offers assistance on ITS applications for urban mobility, possibly in the form of a guidance document

In 2010 the European Commission will therefore set up a platform (working structure) of cities and their main partners to promote the deployment of ITS in urban areas. This platform will develop guidance and promote best practice exchange. Stakeholder consultations are ongoing; it is planned that the platform will start its work after the summer 2010.