deliverable d5.1: demonstration activities set up handbook

Deliverable D5.1: Demonstration activities set up handbook

handbookactivities set up

handbook

LEVENTE ZUBRICZKY

NOVEMBER, 2013

Deliverable D5.1: Demonstration activities set up handbook 1

PROJECT INFORMATION

Title: Intelligent Transport Systems in South East Europe

Acronym: SEE-ITS

EoI Reference number: SEE/D/0099/3.2/X

Programme: South East Europe Transnational Cooperation

Starting date: September 28th, 2012

Duration: 24 months

Web site: www.seeits.eu

PROJECT PARTNERS

No Name Short name Country

LP

Centre for Research and Technology Hellas

- Hellenic Institute of Transport CERTH-HIT Greece

ERDF PP1

Patras Municipal Enterprise for Planning and

Development S.A. ADEP S.A. Greece

ERDF PP2

AustriaTech - Federal Agency for

Technological Measures Ltd ATE Austria

ERDF PP3 Hungarian Transport Administration HTA Hungary

ERDF PP4

Bulgarian Association Intelligent Transport

Systems ITS Bulgaria Bulgaria

ERDF PP5 Intelligent Transport Systems Romania ITS Romania Romania

ERDF PP6 University of Ljubljana UL Slovenia

ERDF PP7

Institute for Transport and Logistics

Foundation ITL Italy

EU ASP1 Hellenic Intelligent Transport Systems ITS HELLAS Greece

EU ASP2 ITS Hungary Association ITS Hungary Hungary

20% ASP1 Italian ITS Association TTS Italia Italy

10% PP1 Albanian Association of Urban Transport SHKTQ Albania

10% PP2

Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences,

University of Zagreb FPZ Croatia

http://www.seeits.eu/


DOCUMENT PROFILE

Document status: Final version

Deliverable code: D5.1

Deliverable title: Demonstration activities set up handbook

Work Package: 5

Preparation date: 29/11/2013

Submission date: 01/04/2014

Total pages: 292

Dissemination level: Public

Author: Levente Zubriczky

Contributors: Evangelos Mitsakis, Panagiotis Iordanopoulos

Abstract: The current report presents the role of the demonstration

activities in the development and deployment of ITS solutions,

providing a detailed description of the activities related to the

demonstration activity execution and their evaluation


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The objective of WP5 is to implement ITS demonstrations through feasibility studies and the

development of interoperable traffic management systems and intermodal traveller

information services along corridors and urban networks in seven areas of the SEE region.

The SEE-ITS demonstration activities will provide data for the impact assessment of ITS, in

order to prove their benefits. These results will, at the same time, contribute to the co-

operation, harmonization and interoperability of the ITS implementations in the SEE area, by

allowing all related stakeholders to identify potential benefits and deployment prospects of

similar ITS solutions in other cities, regions and countries.

The current deliverable presents the role of the demonstration activities in the development

and deployment of ITS solutions, providing a detailed description of the activities related to

the demonstration activity execution and their evaluation. The main scope is to define a

handbook with the most significant guidelines for the demonstration activities and to describe

in detail the seven demonstration implementations scheduled in the project.

A major task was to include the elaboration of detailed specifications for the equipment

purchased during the activity. The report also contains the details of the purchase and the

setup of this equipment.

The structure of the report is based on the template 5.1 prepared by CERTH-HIT and filled

by the project partners. The following countries were participating in the activity: Greece

(CERTH-HIT) as the project leader, Hungary as the demonstration leader, Greece (ADEP

S.A.), Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, and Italy as project partners.


CONTENTS

1. Introduction __________________________________________________________ 17

1.1. Objectives and scope _______________________________________________ 17

1.2. Use of guidelines ___________________________________________________ 19

2. Field Operational Tests _________________________________________________ 20

2.1. The role of Field Operational Tests (FOTs) ______________________________ 20

2.2. Funding framework ________________________________________________ 22

2.2.1. FOTs in Europe _______________________________________________ 24

2.2.2. Testbeds in Europe _____________________________________________ 29

2.3. FOT work plan ____________________________________________________ 31

3. Evaluation of Field Operational Tests _______________________________________ 34

3.1. Evaluation components ______________________________________________ 35

3.1.1. Data flow ____________________________________________________ 36

3.1.2. ITS functions to be evaluated _____________________________________ 38

3.2. Evaluation methodology _____________________________________________ 40

3.3. Evaluation report __________________________________________________ 42

3.4. Introduction to the FESTA methodology ________________________________ 43

3.5. Comparison of alternatives ___________________________________________ 45

3.5.1. The involved actors ____________________________________________ 45

3.5.2. Temporal dimension ____________________________________________ 45

3.5.3. Spatial dimension ______________________________________________ 46

3.5.4. Sensitivity analysis ______________________________________________ 46

3.6. Large databases management and analyses ______________________________ 47

3.6.1. Data sources __________________________________________________ 47

3.6.2. Data monitoring _______________________________________________ 47

3.6.3. Data privacy __________________________________________________ 47

3.6.4. Data analyses _________________________________________________ 48

4. Description of the Thessaloniki pilot site ____________________________________ 49

4.1. General description of the city/region __________________________________ 49

4.1.1. Urban transport network ________________________________________ 50

4.1.2. Regional, national transport networks and international connections ______ 53

4.2. Existing ITS systems and services ______________________________________ 54

4.2.1. Central and urban ITS infrastructure _______________________________ 56


4.2.2. Peripheral ITS infrastructure _____________________________________ 60

4.2.3. Modelling infrastructure _________________________________________ 61

4.3. ITS services implemented in Thessaloniki _______________________________ 66

4.3.1. Technological solution __________________________________________ 67

4.3.2. Justification of the ITS service selection _____________________________ 68

4.3.3. Location of the pilot ____________________________________________ 69

4.4. Pilot organization and execution_______________________________________ 70

4.4.1. Presentation of the actors involved in the pilot activities ________________ 70

4.4.2. Timeplan of the activities & how the results will be extrapolated to the whole year 70

4.4.3. Evaluation and monitoring tools ___________________________________ 71

4.5. Future deployment of ITS in the region after the pilot phase ________________ 75

4.5.1. Stakeholders engagement process _________________________________ 76

5. Description of the Patras pilot site _________________________________________ 77


5.1.1. Region of Western Greece – Transportation Profile ___________________ 79

5.1.2. Transport Environment at the city of Patras _________________________ 81

5.1.3. The Patras Suburban Railway (Proastiakos) __________________________ 84


5.3. ITS services implemented in Patras ____________________________________ 88

5.3.1. Justification of the ITS service selection _____________________________ 89

5.3.2. Location of the pilot ____________________________________________ 89

5.4. Pilot organization and execution_______________________________________ 90

5.4.1. Presentation of the actors involved in the pilot activities ________________ 91


5.4.3. Evaluation and monitoring tools ___________________________________ 92

5.5. Future deployment of ITS in the region after the pilot phase ________________ 93

5.5.1. Stakeholders engagement process _________________________________ 94

6. Description of the Vienna pilot site ________________________________________ 95



6.3. ITS services implemented in Vienna ____________________________________ 98

6.3.1. ITS services by category _________________________________________ 98

6.3.2. Justification of the ITS service selection ____________________________ 106


6.3.3. Location of the pilot ___________________________________________ 108

6.4. Pilot organization and execution______________________________________ 110

6.4.1. Presentation of the actors involved in the pilot activities _______________ 111


6.4.3. Evaluation and monitoring tools __________________________________ 113

6.5. Future deployment of ITS in the region after the pilot phase _______________ 114

6.5.1. Stakeholders engagement process ________________________________ 115

7. Description of the Hungarian pilot site _____________________________________ 116

7.1. General description of the city/region _________________________________ 116

7.1.1. Transport situation in Hungary and Pest County _____________________ 118

7.1.2. Eurovelo in Hungary ___________________________________________ 121

7.2. Existing ITS systems and services _____________________________________ 123

7.3. ITS services implemented in Hungary _________________________________ 124

7.3.1. Detailed engineering specification on smart-phone application __________ 124









8. Description of the Dragichevo pilot site ____________________________________ 136


8.1.1. Country level general description _________________________________ 137

8.1.2. The Municipal (city) level general description _______________________ 150


8.2.1. Overview of the existing and feasible sensor technologies _____________ 157

8.3. ITS services implemented in Sofia ____________________________________ 160










9. Description of the Romanian pilot site _____________________________________ 184


9.1.1. Description of Timis county _____________________________________ 186

9.1.2. Description of Bucharest city ____________________________________ 198


9.2.1. Timisoara Public Transport Management System- PTMS ______________ 201

9.2.2. Bucharest Traffic Management System- BTMS ______________________ 205

9.2.3. Motorways Traffic Management and Information System ______________ 208

9.2.4. RoRIS System on the Danube-Black Sea Canal _______________________ 209

9.2.5. TrafficGuide – Traffic Information System __________________________ 212

9.3. ITS services implemented in Romania _________________________________ 214









10. Description of the Emilia-Romagna pilot site ______________________________ 229

10.1. General description of the city/region _______________________________ 229

10.2. Existing ITS systems and services ___________________________________ 231

10.2.1. GiM (Gestione informata della Mobilità) _________________________ 232

10.2.2. Info traffic _________________________________________________ 233

10.2.3. Travel Planner ______________________________________________ 234

10.2.4. On line flows _______________________________________________ 235

10.3. What ITS services will be piloted ___________________________________ 237

10.3.1. Why have these ITS services been selected _______________________ 242

10.3.2. Location of the pilot _________________________________________ 243


10.4. How it will be piloted ____________________________________________ 244

10.4.1. Presentation of the actors involved in the pilot activities _____________ 246


10.4.3. Stakeholders engagement process ______________________________ 248

10.4.4. Evaluation and monitoring tools and experience of the involved partner/region. _______________________________________________________ 248

10.5. Further deployment of ITS in the region after the pilot phase _____________ 249

10.6. Objectives and scope ____________________________________________ 250

10.7. Use of guidelines ________________________________________________ 251

10.7.1. Forecast and real-time event information (TIS-DG02) ______________ 251

10.7.2. Traffic conditions information (predictive and real-time) TIS-DG3 _____ 252

10.7.3. Travel time information (TIS-DG05) ____________________________ 253

10.7.4. Co-modal traveller information services (TIS-DG07) _______________ 254

10.7.5. Incident warning (TMS-DG05) _________________________________ 255

10.7.6. Access to abnormal and dangerous goods transport (FLS-DG02) ______ 256

10.7.7. Variable Message Signs (VMS) harmonization (SA-DG01) ____________ 257


LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: FOT projects in Europe ............................................................................................. 24

Table 2: Testbed regions in Europe ........................................................................................ 29

Table 3: Indicative data flow characteristics ............................................................................ 37

Table 4: Indicative evaluation indicators .................................................................................. 38

Table 5: Raw data sample ........................................................................................................ 72

Table 6: Regional Population – Western Greece .................................................................... 77

Table 7: Population Density in Western Greece ..................................................................... 78

Table 8: Time plan of the Patras pilot ..................................................................................... 91

Table 9: Time schedule of HTA ............................................................................................ 132

Table 10: Bulgarian Motorways ............................................................................................. 138

Table 11: European Agreement on E-roads (AGR) on main international traffic arteries .... 140

Table 12: Average Annual Daly Traffic of NRN .................................................................... 143

Table 13: Length of the road sections by AADT ................................................................... 144

Table 14: Boundary intersections .......................................................................................... 149

Table 15: RATB statistics ....................................................................................................... 199

Table 16: Activity time plan ................................................................................................... 247


LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Steps of the development of an ITS solution ............................................................ 20

Figure 2: Funding schemes and their relation to the steps of the development of an ITS solution .................................................................................................................................... 22

Figure 3: Projects related to ITS solution under the different funding schemes ..................... 23

Figure 4: ITS testbeds in Europe ............................................................................................. 29

Figure 5: Time plan for the execution of demonstration activities .......................................... 31

Figure 6: Level of evaluation required at each stage of the new services development ......... 34

Figure 7: Indicative data flow and evaluation components ...................................................... 36

Figure 8: Indicative data flow for the provision of real time travel time ................................. 36

Figure 9: Evaluation framework............................................................................................... 40

Figure 10: Evaluation methodology proposed by the FESTA handbook ................................. 44

Figure 11: Thessaloniki location .............................................................................................. 49

Figure 12: Modal distribution for daily trips in Thessaloniki .................................................... 50

Figure 13: Urban area served by OASTH ............................................................................... 50

Figure 14: Suburban area served by OASTH .......................................................................... 51

Figure 15: The basic axis of Thessaloniki’s METRO (red line) and its future extensions ........ 52

Figure 16: Greek Railways ....................................................................................................... 53

Figure 17: Traffic and mobility management systems in Thessaloniki ..................................... 55

Figure 18: Existing bluetooth detectors network .................................................................... 56

Figure 19: Field equipment – CCTV for traffic management and incident detection ............. 56

Figure 20: Field equipment - Radars for traffic detection ........................................................ 57

Figure 21: Field equipment – Traffic measuring sensors ......................................................... 57

Figure 22: Field equipment – Adaptive signal controllers ........................................................ 57

Figure 23: Field equipment – Variable Message Signs ............................................................. 58

Figure 24: Software for remote traffic camera management .................................................. 58

Figure 25: Software for dynamic traffic management.............................................................. 59

Figure 26: Software for signalized intersections control ......................................................... 59

Figure 27: Traffic Management Centre ................................................................................... 59

Figure 28: Public Transport routing services provided by www.mobithess.gr ....................... 61

Figure 29: Car routing services provided by www.mobithess.gr ............................................ 61

Figure 30: Environmental friendly routing services provided by www.mobithess.gr ............. 62

Figure 31: Touristic information services provided by www.mobithess.gr ............................ 62

Figure 32: Real traffic information services provided by www.mobithess.gr .......................... 63


Figure 33: Environmental information services provided by www.mobithess.gr ................... 63

Figure 34: Architecture of the Intelligent Urban Mobility Management System ..................... 64

Figure 35: Screenshots of the Public Transport services provided by the Easytrip project .... 64

Figure 36: Screenshots of the journey time services provided by the Easytrip project .......... 65

Figure 37: Screenshots of the navigation services provided by the Easytrip project .............. 65

Figure 38: Travel time estimation ............................................................................................ 66

Figure 39: New bluetooth detectors network ........................................................................ 69

Figure 40: Time plan of the Thessaloniki pilot ......................................................................... 70

Figure 41: Methodology for the estimation of travel time ...................................................... 73

Figure 42: Thessaloniki road map ............................................................................................ 75

Figure 43: Inland transport networks in Greece, including TEN – T ...................................... 79

Figure 44: Area coverage of the bus network of Patras .......................................................... 82

Figure 45: Major arterial system of Patras (under completion) ............................................... 83

Figure 46: Route diagram of the Patras Suburban Railway (the train route in blue, the corresponding ΤΡΑΙΝΟΣΕ bus line to University Campus in red) ........................................ 84

Figure 47: An aerial view of the bridge .................................................................................... 85

Figure 48: Trip – time isochronal curves from Patras, before and after the opening of the bridge ....................................................................................................................................... 85

Figure 49: Patras Central paid-parking zone ........................................................................... 87

Figure 50: Travel time estimation ............................................................................................ 88

Figure 51: Estimated Positions of the Bluetooth detectors ..................................................... 89

Figure 52: VMS traffic signage .................................................................................................. 98

Figure 53: Possible app screen of “In-vehicle signage” ............................................................ 99

Figure 54: Possible Demosite Vienna HMI ............................................................................ 103

Figure 55: Framework architecture overview ....................................................................... 104

Figure 56: Demosite Vienna - motorway triangle S1-A23-A4 ............................................... 109

Figure 57: Map of Pest County and Danube Ben .................................................................. 116

Figure 58: Development program of road network .............................................................. 119

Figure 59: Total length of motorways in Hungary ................................................................. 120

Figure 60: Eurovelo routes .................................................................................................... 121

Figure 61: Map of Eurovelo-6 ................................................................................................ 127

Figure 62: Hungarian part of Eurovelo-6 ............................................................................... 127

Figure 63: Ferry on the river Danube .................................................................................... 128

Figure 64: Geographical Location of Bulgaria ........................................................................ 137

Figure 65: Trans European corridors .................................................................................... 139


Figure 66: E-roads network in Bulgaria ................................................................................. 140

Figure 67: National road network of Bulgaria ....................................................................... 142

Figure 68: Average Annual Daly Traffic of NRN ................................................................... 144

Figure 69: Bulgarian NRN by AADT...................................................................................... 145

Figure 70: Traffic volume distribution by road categories ..................................................... 145

Figure 71: Goods by road and rail transport ......................................................................... 146

Figure 72: Automobile fleet in Bulgaria 1990-2010, source: National Statistical Institute .... 147

Figure 73: Daily traffic flows summed over both directions (vehicles per day) .................... 151

Figure 74: Problematic routes (delays in minutes) and problematic ..................................... 152

Figure 75: most problematic accident locations (source: traffic police and fire brigade) ...... 153

Figure 76: Location of traffic lights in Sofia ............................................................................ 154

Figure 77: Current and planned green waves ....................................................................... 156

Figure 78: Example of Internet traffic information services .................................................. 161

Figure 79: Site candidate one – map location ........................................................................ 166

Figure 80: Site candidate one – Sensor locations .................................................................. 167

Figure 81: Site candidate one – West Point ........................................................................... 167

Figure 82: Site candidate one – East Point ............................................................................ 168

Figure 83: Site candidate one – North Point ......................................................................... 168

Figure 84: Site candidate two – map location........................................................................ 169

Figure 85: Site candidate two – Sensor locations .................................................................. 170

Figure 86: Site 2 –Point 2....................................................................................................... 171

Figure 87 : Site 2 – Point 1..................................................................................................... 171



Figure 90: Site candidate three – map location ..................................................................... 173

Figure 91: Site candidate three – Sensor locations ................................................................ 173

Figure 92: Site candidate three – The roundabout ................................................................ 174

Figure 93: Site candidate three – View from north ............................................................... 174

Figure 94: Site candidate three – View from east ................................................................. 175

Figure 95: Site candidate three – View from south ............................................................... 175

Figure 96: Site candidate three – View from west ................................................................ 176

Figure 97: The Bluetooth Traffic Detection .......................................................................... 177

Figure 98: Cloud Info Solution ............................................................................................... 178

Figure 99: Development of motorways in the regions of the demonstrator ........................ 184

Figure 100: Development of roads in the regions of the demonstrator ............................... 185


Figure 101: Development of railway lines in the regions of the demonstrator ..................... 185

Figure 102: Timisoara location .............................................................................................. 186

Figure 103: AEM and Continental Timisoara Company ........................................................ 187

Figure 104: Faculty of Medicine and Automatic control and Computers ............................. 187

Figure 105: Connecting Timisoara to European Corridors ................................................... 188

Figure 106: The road infrastructure in Timisoara city ........................................................... 189

Figure 107: Modal share for daily trips in Timisoara city ....................................................... 190

Figure 108: Urban area served by RATT ............................................................................... 190

Figure 109: Network of regional transport (road and rail) ................................................... 191

Figure 110: Railway network connecting Timisoara .............................................................. 192

Figure 111: The bus network of Timis County ..................................................................... 195

Figure 112: Trips by mode of transport in Timis County ...................................................... 196

Figure 113: Bucharest aerial picture ...................................................................................... 198

Figure 114: Example of a Variable Message Sign used in Timisoara PTMS ........................... 201

Figure 115: RATT Control Office .......................................................................................... 202

Figure 116: Timisoara PTMS system architecture ................................................................. 204

Figure 117: Timisoara PTMS AVL schematic......................................................................... 204

Figure 118: Bucharest Traffic Control Centre ...................................................................... 205

Figure 119: Bucharest Public Transport Management - PTM ............................................... 206

Figure 120: Bucharest PTM schematic .................................................................................. 207

Figure 121: Motorway Variable Message Sign ....................................................................... 208

Figure 122: RoRIS architecture .............................................................................................. 209

Figure 123: RoRIS AIS infrastructure ..................................................................................... 210

Figure 124: Traffic flow and incidents for Bucharest to Constanta link ................................ 212

Figure 125: Timisoara-Danube/Constanta pilot corridor ...................................................... 214

Figure 126: Connection graph of the demonstrator corridor ............................................... 217

Figure 127: Timisoara Pilot locations..................................................................................... 218

Figure 128: Timisoara PTMS Control Centre location: (a) map and (b) the building ........... 219

Figure 129: Timisoara-Danube/Constanta pilot structure ..................................................... 220

Figure 130: Timisoara-Danube/Constanta demonstrator timeline ....................................... 223

Figure 131: E-R road transport network .............................................................................. 229

Figure 132: Info Traffic .......................................................................................................... 233

Figure 133: Travel Planner .................................................................................................... 234

Figure 134: On line Flows 1 ................................................................................................... 235




Figure 137: A14 Bologna - Taranto ....................................................................................... 238

Figure 138: A1 Milano - Bologna ........................................................................................... 238

Figure 139: A13 Bologna - Padova......................................................................................... 239

Figure 140: Example of DG panel code for trucks ................................................................ 240

Figure 141: Bologna highway node ........................................................................................ 243


ANNEXES

Annex A: FIELD OPERATIONAL TESTS

Annex B: EVALUATION OF FIELD OPERATIONAL TESTS


ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY

KPI Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

- -


1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Objectives and scope

The objective of this deliverable is twofold. The first part aims at providing useful guidelines

for the preparation, operation and evaluation of Field Operational Tests while the second

part describes seven demonstration implementations within 6 countries of the South East

Europe region that will be held within the SEE-ITS project.

The seven demonstration activities are briefly presented below:

Site 1: Vienna (ATE). The demonstration activities will focus on cooperative traffic

management. The goal is to merge existing systems (www.anachb.at) with complete

new mobility approaches in the area of cooperative systems. The demonstration will

show hand-held systems pres`enting traveller information based on existing state-of-

the-art TIS systems with having cooperative information from the Testfield

Telematics embedded. This would be a big step towards Cooperative Traffic

Management Solutions.

Site 2: Patra (ADEP S.A.). The demonstration activities will focus on information

provision to travelers, with optimal use of road and traffic data, on main local and

regional corridors and in conurbations, data security and protection, and liability

issues and European ITS cooperation and coordination. The demonstration area

covers urban and peri-urban corridors and the activities foresee data security,

protection & liability system design as well as the supply and installation of

equipment, the development of standardized interfaces to traffic management based

on DATEX and the development of driver information applications for the web.

Site 3: Timisoara and Danube river area (ITS Romania). The demonstration activities

will focus on two main objectives:-ITS deployment for road networks in Timisoara

city and Timisoara county. This will include the connection between national road

network traffic management and monitoring and urban traffic management as well as

demonstrations of public transport information systems. -Demonstration of a

multimodal transport link between inland waterway transport on the Danube River

and road transport. The ITS architectures will be defined based on the FRAME

architecture for ITS road transport and the architecture of River Information Services

(RIS) for inland waterway transport. Also a concept on how to use the DATEX

format for the exchange of information between transport modes will be developed.

For both demonstrators the ITS architectures will be defined for a real-time web-

based information system.

Site 4: Area of existing Hungarian part of EuroVelo 6 (HTA). The demonstration

activities will focus on intermodal travel planning services for cyclists, including actual

road conditions, POI and real-time timetable information (railway, ferry and other

public transport vehicles where bicycles are allowed). Services will focus on web and


mobile clients. Development will be based on the database and functionality of

existing KIRA and KENYI systems.

Site 5: Emilia Romagna (ITL). The demonstration activities will focus on web-based

multimodal trip planning information provision. The three sets of core activities will

be as follows: The first set will concern the optimal use of road, traffic and travel

data. The second set concerns the harmonization of ITS systems. Finally, the third set

of core activities concerns the policy exercise on ITS in a long term sustainability

perspective.

Site 6: Sofia (ITS Bulgaria). The demonstration activities will focus on the optimal use

of traffic and travel data, continuity of traffic management ITS services on main local

and regional corridors and in conurbations of the area and on road safety aspects

related to the deployment of ITS.

Site 7: Thessaloniki (CERTH-HIT). The demonstration activities will focus on

advanced traveler information services based on optimal use of real time traffic data.

The outcome of the data fusion combined with the use of Dynamic traffic assignment

and simulation software for the estimation of traffic condition of the road network in

the near future will ensure the provision of the real time information regarding the

traffic condition of the road network to the end users.


1.2. Use of guidelines

The guidelines have been prepared aiming at presenting the main role of the demonstration

activities within the research activities and to identifying their main actors and activities.

Three basic tasks are presented, which include implementation, operation and evaluation

activities, from which a detailed work plan is presented.

The partners responsible for demonstration activities should develop detailed work plans

including all the activities presented in these guidelines and clearly identifying the roles of

the participating partners as well as the timeplan of the foreseen activities.


2. FIELD OPERATIONAL TESTS

A FOT is defined by the FESTA handbook as “a study undertaken to evaluate a function, or

functions, under normal operating conditions in environments typically encountered by the

host vehicle(s) using quasi-experimental methods”, while the EC officials define FOT as

“large-scale testing programmes aiming at a comprehensive assessment of the efficiency,

quality, robustness and acceptance of ICT solutions used for smarter, safer, cleaner and more

comfortable transport solutions, such as navigation and traffic information, advanced driver

assistance - and cooperative systems”.

2.1. The role of Field Operational Tests (FOTs)

Field Operational Tests (FOTs) are the fourth and fifth (pilot tests and large-scale demos)

steps of the deployment of a new concept or idea. Figure 1 below shows the traditional steps

followed between the conception of the idea and the full-scale implementation and

commercialization of the final product.

Figure 1: Steps of the development of an ITS solution

Source: EEG TEMPO Euro-Regional Evaluation Guidelines, 2005

The EasyWay1 project proposes the following classification of FOTs:

Pilot project: technical focus on meeting the specifications on a wide area

Implementation project: evaluation of socio-economic impacts of the proposed

solution

Demonstration project: focus on scalability combining the above two categories

After the conception of the idea and the development plan, a prototype of the proposed

system is built and tested in a controlled simulated environment. When the prototype has

been tested and all bugs have been detected and fixed, various pilot test scenarios in

1 http://www.easyway-its.eu/


controlled real conditions are executed. The following steps are based on the testing of the

developed product in non-controlled real world environment, from small scale

implementations in isolated intersections to large-scale implementations in large urban and

interurban areas. These demonstration activities result in the development of business

models for the commercialization and full-scale implementation of the final product.


2.2. Funding framework

Various EU funding mechanisms have been developed for handling and promoting each one

of the above steps. Figure 2 below shows this relation.

Figure 2: Funding schemes and their relation to the steps of the development of an ITS

solution

Source: “EU-JAPAN COOPERATION WORKSHOP ON ITS” by Vincent Blevarque

The idea or concept is developed by the Research projects funded by the Framework

Programmes, such as the CVIS2 project. The assessment of these new ideas is funded also by

the Framework Programmes, such as the FOTsis3 projects. Finally, the pre-deployment is

done within projects funded by the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, such as the

FREILOT4 project.

Various European projects handling with the development and deployment of ITS solutions

have been funded in the above framework. The most important ones are presented below.

2 http://www.cvisproject.org/

3 http://www.fotsis.com/ 4 http://www.freilot.eu/


Figure 3: Projects related to ITS solution under the different funding schemes



2.2.1. FOTs in Europe

Various projects have executed or are executing FOTs in European cities within the above

funding schemes. The most related to the SEE-ITS project FOTS are briefly listed below,

presenting the funding framework, the duration and the tested ITS.

Table 1: FOT projects in Europe

Project acronym Funding

framework

Duration Tested ITS

PReVENT FP6 February 2004

- January 2008

Advanced Driver

Assistance Systems

(ADAS)

EASIS Electronic Architechture

and System Engineering

for Integrated Safety

Systems

FP6 January 2004 -

March 2007

Integrated Safety

Systems (ISS)

AIDE Adaptive Integrated

Driver-vehicle InterfacE

FP6 January 2004 -

January 2008

Advanced Driver

Assistance Systems

(ADAS)

GEONET Geo-addressing and

Geo-routing for

Vehicular

Communications

FP7 February 2008

- January 2010

Networking

mechanism as a

standalone

software module

which can be

incorporated into

Cooperative

Systems

iTETRIS An Integrated Wireless

and Traffic Platform for

Real-time Road Traffic

Management Solutions

FP7 July 2008 -

January 2011

Advanced tools

coupling traffic and

wireless

communication

simulators

CVIS Cooperative Vehicle-

Infrastructure Systems

FP6 July 2006 -

June 2010

Cooperative

Systems

SAFESPOT Cooperative Systems for

Road Safety

FP6 February 2006

- January 2010

Cooperative

Systems for safety

applications

COMeSafety Communications for

eSafety

FP6 January 2006 -

December

2009

Cooperative

Systems for safety

applications


ITSSv6 IPv6 ITS Station Stack for

Cooperative Systems

FOTs

FP7 February 2011

- January 2014

Open-source ITS

Station stack for

Cooperative

Systems

SUNSET SUstainable social

Network SErvices for

Transport

FP7 February 2011

- January 2014

Urban mobility

management using

the latest ICT

technologies

FESTA Field opErational teSts

supporT Action

FP7 November

2007 - May

2008

Evaluation of key

ICT functions

eImpact Socio-economic Impact

Assessment of Stand-

alone and Co-operative

Intelligent Vehicle Safety

Systems (IVSS) in Europe

FP6 January 2006 -

June 2008

Intelligent Vehicle

Safety Systems

(IVSS)

PRE-DRIVE

C2X

PREparation for DRIVing

implementation and

Evaluation of C-2-X

Communication

technology

FP7 July 2008 -

June 2010

Integrated

simulation model

for cooperative

systems

DRIVE C2X DRIVing implementation

and Evaluation of C2X

communication

technology in Europe

FP7 January 2011 -

December

2013

Cooperative

Systems

ECOSTAND Coordination Action for

creating a common

assessment methodology

and joint research

agenda with Japan and

the USA on ITS

applications focusing on

energy efficiency and

CO2 reduction

FP7 November

2010 -

October 2013

Methodology for

assessing the effects

of ITS on energy

consumption and

CO2 emissions

TeleFOT Field Operational Tests

of Aftermarket and

Nomadic Devices in

Vehicles

FP7 June 2008 -

November

2012

Speed information,

Traffic information,

Road weather

information and

'Green driving'

support


FOTsis European Field

Operational Test on

Safe, Intelligent and

Sustainable Road

Operation

FP7 April 2011 -

September

2014

Emergency

Management,

Safety Incident

Management,

Intelligent

Congestion

Control, Dynamic

Route Planning,

Special Vehicle

Tracking, Advanced

Enforcement,

Infrastructure

Safety Assessment

CONNECT Co-ordination and

stimulation of innovative

ITS activities in Central

and Eastern European

Countries

May 2004 -

March 2009

Distance Related

Road Pricing

(DRRP) systems,

traffic information

services and traffic

control activities

MOLECULES Modelling of low

emissions combustors

using large eddy

simulation

FP5

AMITRAN CO2 assessment

methodology for ICT in

transport

FP7 November

2011- April

2014

Development of a

CO2 assessment

methodology for

ICT measures

COMPASS4D Cooperative Mobility

Pilot on Safety and

Sustainability Services for

deployment

CIP - PSP January 2013 –

December

2015

Road Hazard

Warning

Red Light Violation

Warning

Energy Efficient

Intersection

COGISTICS Cooperative Logistics for

Sustainable Mobility of

Goods

CIP - PSP January 2014 –

December

2016

Intelligent truck

parking, priority

and speed advice,

Eco-drive support,

CO2 footprint,

Multimodal cargo

COOPERS Cooperative systems for

intelligent road safety

FP6 February 2006

– January 2010

I2V and V2V

communication

issues


PRESERVE Preparing secure V2x

communication systems

FP7 January 2011 –

December

2014

Security and privacy

susbsystems for

V2x systems

eCoMove Cooperative Mobility

Systems and Services for

Energy Efficiency

FP7 April 2010 –

March 2013

Eco-driving support

and eco-traffic

management and

control

Other national projects5 are listed below:

Belgium

o ISA trials

Denmark

o INFATI

o Pay as you speed

o ITS platform

o IMIKASK

Finland

o ISA trial

France

o LAVIA

o CO-DRIVE

o COSAL

Germany

o Aktiv

o AIM

o simTD

The Netherlands

o AOS

o Assisted Driver

o CCC

o DTICM

o LDWA

o RoadWise

o RIC

o Sensor City

o SPITS

o Smart-in-Car

o Brabant In-Car

Sweden

o BasFOT

o DREAMi

o ISA trial

5 More details can be found at http://wiki.fot-net.eu


o MOTION

Spain

o SISCOGA

UK

o ISA trial


2.2.2. Testbeds in Europe

Figure 4 below presents the local distribution of FOTs in Europe (2011). It can be observed

that the SEE region is not participating in these kind of projects, which makes clear the

necessity of promoting the use of ITS in the SEE region.

Figure 4: ITS testbeds in Europe


The most significant tesbeds are presented in the following table:

Table 2: Testbed regions in Europe

City -

Country

Projects ITS solutions Active Institutions

Chalmers-

Sweden

FESTA, SeMIFOT,

EuroFOT

ADAS Volvo

Gothenburg-

Sweden

DRIVE C2X,

Trondheim-

Norway

CVIS, smartferight,

SAFESPOT,

CityMobil, CALM

Standardization (ISO-ETSI),

road safety, efficiency /

infrastructure performance,

reduced environment impact,

infotainment

Norwegian

University of

Science and

Technology,

SINTEF

Helmond-

Greece

CVIS, FREILOT,

COMPASS4D

Cooperative services

(passenger)

PEEK, Helmond

municipality

Thessaloniki-

Greece

COMPASS4D,

COGISTICS, SEE-

Cooperative services (both

passenger and freight)

CERTH-HIT,

Region of central


ITS ATIS Macedonia

The South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme plays a significant role in the

above solution deployment chain. On the one hand it has a geographic role which can

potentially promote the deployment of ITS in the SEE region, on the other hand it is

deployment and policy oriented, which can be located at the final step of the above chain.


2.3. FOT work plan

The demonstration activities are usually composed by four basic elements:

Planning and design: this element is responsible for the definition of the issues that

will be addressed by the implementation of a new service as well as the methodology

that will be followed for their study.

Technical configuration: this element is responsible for the configuration of the

components of the system that will be installed and their adaptation with the local

settings of the demonstration site. The new system should be integrated with existing

systems in order to establish synergies between them.

Organizational adaptation: this element is responsible for the adaptation of the

planning and design to the local reality, analyzing local requirements and

particularities while redesigning the methodology in order to adapt it to the local

specifications.

Execution of the pilot: this element is responsible for the execution of the

demonstration activities and the data collection for monitoring and evaluating during

and after the demonstration.

The usual time plan for the execution of the above activities is the following:

Planning and design

Technical configuration

Organizational adaption

Use of the system

Figure 5: Time plan for the execution of demonstration activities

The activities are executed following a serial process, but there is a need for overlapping

them in order to make transfers between activities more smooth and effective. The

organizational adaptation should take the planning and design and adapt it to the local reality,

while the use of the systems should start after the technical configurations. The overlapping

on both transfers makes possible readjustments of the planning or the technical

configurations if asked by the organizational adaptation and the use of the system

respectively.

The above elements can be related to the three main activities of the demonstration activities

which are usually followed by the FOTs.

Implementation of the ITS, which is mostly composed by all technical configurations.

o The ITS services should be adapted to the user requirements.

o The architecture of the system should be defined, taking into account the

integration with existing systems and services.


o Data collection issues should be taken into account when implementing the

systems, which should be decided in collaboration with the partners

responsible for the other two activities (operation and evaluation).

o Guidelines on the use of the system should be provided to the end users.

o Installation of the ITS equipment and technical verification.

Operation of the demonstration activities.

o Organizational adaptations for the provision of the services and the data

collection.

o Functional verification of the services.

o Execution of the pilot activities in accordance to the design done by the

partners responsible of the evaluation activity.

o Monitoring of the demonstration activities with periodic checks for data

quality and quantity issues (defined by the partners responsible of the

evaluation activity).

o Data collection and transfer to the partners responsible for their analyses.

Evaluation of the services performance.

o Planning and design of the demonstration activities.

o Development of the assessment tools to be used for the evaluation of the

impact of the ITS services.

o Data analysis.

o Performance of simulations if needed in order to calculate the indicators than

cannot be obtained by the data collected during the demonstration. Most of

the network related indicators should be calculated by simulations due to the

difficulty on collecting network related data.

These three activities should be executed in parallel rather than in sequential due to their high

interdependencies.

The above activities are realized by the project core partners and each local demonstration

team. These local teams are usually composed by the following stakeholders:

Technology providers: they are responsible for the provision of the technical

equipment and solutions to be tested. They are usually horizontal partners of the

project rather than related to a specific demonstration activity or site.

Services providers: they are responsible for the local adaptations and installations of

the technical equipment as well as for the development of the services related to this

equipment. Most of the times they are also responsible for the integration of the new

equipment into the already existing Traffic Management Centers or similar and the

monitoring of the services during the demonstration activities.

Public authorities: they are usually the responsible for the purchase, installation,

maintenance and operation of the equipment during the project. Therefore they are

the owners of the equipment and responsible for their maintenance and operation

after the project, which is essential for the continuation of the provision of the

services.


Research institutions: they are usually responsible for the planning, design and

organization of the demonstration activities. They are also responsible for the

monitoring methodology and the evaluation of the services.

Final users: they are responsible for the use of the system within their daily routines.

They are also related to the organization and evaluation activities since both their

requirements and their view on the performance of the system (expressed through

questionnaires) are fundamental for the success of the further deployment of the

services.


3. EVALUATION OF FIELD OPERATIONAL

TESTS

The evaluation activities aim at understanding the impacts of the system and quantifying their

benefits. A secondary or indirect objective of the evaluation is the optimization of the system

operation and design. This comprehension on the impacts of the system and its benefits is

fundamental for convincing politicians and decision makers about the necessity of deploying

ITS.

Evaluation activities represent an important part of the work to be done when demonstrating

new products and services. This effort decreases as the product deployment draws to a

close, as it is presented in figure 6 below. The evaluation of the first steps is related to

technical issues while at the last steps evaluation is basically related to the economic and

environmental impacts of the system.

Figure 6: Level of evaluation required at each stage of the new services development

Source: EasyWay Euro-Regional Project Evaluation Guidelines, 2005


3.1. Evaluation components

The basic components of the evaluation activities are presented below:

Sensors are responsible for measuring all the transport-related values which will be

used for the calculation of the indicators. They can be measure individual values of

each vehicle, network performance values (through TMC or simulation) or users

acceptance (trough questionnaires).

Measurements are the values measured by the sensors and recorded by the data

loggers. The characteristics of the measurements (exact definition, frequency,

units…) should be clearly defined within the evaluation framework activity.

Data loggers are responsible for recording the measurements of the sensors in a

specific and harmonized format defined within the evaluation framework.

Databases are responsible for handling the data recorded by the data loggers. The

data management issues (both physical and operational) should be also defined within

the evaluation framework.

Processing tools are responsible for the development of the methodologies to be

used for the calculation of the indicators and the estimations.

Estimation tools are responsible for providing the estimation methodologies for the

calculation of secondary transport-related values based on the measurements.

Indicator tools are responsible for developing the methodologies for the calculation

of the indicators based on the measurements and the estimations.

Impact tools are responsible for the definition of the impact to be evaluated by using

the calculated indicators.


3.1.1. Data flow

A data-flow scheme containing the above components is presented below:

Figure 7: Indicative data flow and evaluation components

A more detailed data flow is presented below, which is the use case of the Thessaloniki pilot

site activities.

vehicle

BT

VMS

vehicle

BTMC1MAC ID

MC2MAC ID

TMCMCTS1

MAC IDStimestamps

MCTS2MAC IDS

timestamps

Web services

TTTFTravel timeTraffic flow

TT2Travel time

TTRTravel time

Routing

(visual)Travel time

Figure 8: Indicative data flow for the provision of real time travel time


Table 3: Indicative data flow characteristics

Code Name Description Source Data packet

MC1 MAC ID MAC ID of the vehicle Private

cars

Unique MAC ID of

the BT device

MC2 MAC ID MAC ID of the vehicle Private

cars

Unique MAC ID of

the BT device

MCTS1 Vehicle position and

time

MAC ID and timestamp of each

individual vehicle detected BT

detectors

MAC ID, BT

detector ID and

timestamp

MCTS2 Vehicle position and

time

MAC ID and timestamp of each

individual vehicle detected BT

detectors

MAC ID, BT

detector ID and

timestamp

TTTF Route traffic

conditions

Travel time for the predefined

route and traffic flow detected

along the route

TMC Travel time and

traffic flow

TTR Network traffic

conditions

Travel time at various routes of

the city Web

services

Personalized route

and travel time

information

TT2 Route travel time Travel time for the predefined

route TMC Travel time and

route id


3.1.2. ITS functions to be evaluated

Various ITS functions can be evaluated within the FOTs, most of them included in the

following categories:

Information services

Demand management

Traffic control

Fleet and transport management

Incident management

Driver support functions

Enforcement

The above impacts should be evaluated by using a set of indicators. The table below presents

a list of the most common impacts, evaluation indicators and the evaluation methodologies

used for their calculation. The impacts are classified in economic (Ec), Social (S) and

Environmental (En).

Table 4: Indicative evaluation indicators

Impact Indicator Evaluation methodology

Transport demand

(Ec)

Total number of trips Traffic counts, surveys

Network utilization

(Ec)

Vehicle-kilometers, vehicle-hours Traffic counts,

simulation

Network utilization

(Ec)

Ton-kilometers, ton-hours Traffic counts

Transport efficiency

(Ec)

Reduction of travel time / delay / queues / stops Traffic observations,

simulation

Transport efficiency

(Ec)

Effectiveness / productivity / capacity / speed / fuel

consumption

Traffic observations,

simulation

User acceptance (S) User acceptance Questionnaires

Road safety (S) Number of accidents / near accidents / traffic

violations

Field observations,

Police databases

Trip quality (S) Number of stress, increase of comfort / level of

service

Questionnaires

Trip quality (S) Travel time predictability (deviations from

expectations)

Surveys, field

observations

Trip quality (S) Vehicle-kilometres travelled in congestion

(passenger km, vehicle km, ton km, person h, ton

h)

Traffic observations,

simulation

Transport

sustainability (En)

Mode choice Field observations,

questionnaires

Environmental

externalities (En)

Noise / pollution / emissions Field observations

The benefits are usually estimated by the measurements of various key performance

indicators, usually related to social, economic and environmental issues. The indicators can be


collected through interviews, surveys, questionnaires, direct measurements or models. It is

important to allocate all the above indicators to both the final beneficiaries and the investing

stakeholders, since most of the times these roles are assigned to different actors. There is a

need for providing clear and direct benefices also to the investing stakeholders in order to

build a feasible and realistic Business Model.


3.2. Evaluation methodology

Two types of evaluations are foreseen: ex-ante evaluation or a priori assessment and ex-post

evaluation or a posteriori assessment, which occur before and after the demonstration

activities respectively. The ex-ante evaluation tries to estimate the benefits that the system

might have in theory, while the ex-post evaluation measures the benefits that the system has

in reality.

The evaluation framework proposed in the MAESTRO guidelines (2002) is composed by 3

project phases and 3 evaluation phases. They are the following:

Define the objectives

Project phase 1 : Site selection and Pre-design

Evaluation phase 1 : Initial evaluation (definition of expected impacts based on pre-

design)

Project phase 2 : Design

Evaluation phase 2 : Ex-ante evaluation (estimation of impacts based on design)

Project phase 3 : Implementation

Evaluation phase 3 : Ex-post evaluation (actual impacts from implementation)

Figure 9: Evaluation framework

Source: MAESTRO guidelines (2002)

The evaluation methodology itself is composed by 6 stages according to EVA (1991) and

CONVERGE (1996):

Identify the final users of the services. The final users of the ITS solution are usually

private/public fleet operators or individuals.

Select the most relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPI). These indicators should

be related to and significant for the final users identified in the first stage.

Define the methodology for collecting and analyzing the data. The data can be

collected by direct measurements, simulations or questionnaires. Statistical analyses

should be done in order to guaranty that the results of the sample are representative


Define the data needs in order to calculate the KPI. Various data sources must be

taken into account: the fleet, the traffic management centers, the fleet management

centers, local sensors…

Prepare the analysis and monitoring tools. These tools should be ready after starting

the implementation works in order to define extra tasks to be done during the

installations. If more data is needed for the tools it should be introduced during the

installations, and not after them.

Collect data, monitor the demonstration, perform the analyses and evaluate the

results. Monitoring of the demonstration performance is a fundamental task in

order to early detect possible malfunctions but also low participation of the users,

which could have negative impact in the evaluation of the results.

There are different categories of assessments, aiming to answer different questions:

Technical assessment of the system performance: It does what it has to do from the

technical point of view?

o Field observations

o Pilot tests

o Simulation

Impact assessment: What are the impacts to safety, technical, economic or social

issues?

o Statistical comparison of before-after situations

User acceptance assessment: Do they like the system? Are they willing to pay for the

system?

o Questionnaires

o Interviews

Economic/financial evaluation: What is the payback period or the internal rate of

return of the investment?

o Quantification in monetary terms of the economic impacts

Social evaluation: Are there enough social or environmental criteria supporting the

implementation of the system?

o Quantification of all the impacts

Market assessment: Is there enough demand or supply for the system?

o Business models definition


3.3. Evaluation report

The typical contents of an evaluation report are the following:

Description of the solution to be studied

Definition of the goals of the evaluation and expected impacts

Define the research framework (delimitation of the spatial and time limits)

Identify the KPI

Data collection, filtering and selection

Modeling and analysis

Interpretation of results


3.4. Introduction to the FESTA methodology

The evaluation methodology of FOTs has been improved along various projects, such as EVA

1991, CONVERGE 1998, MAESTRO 2001, TEMPO 2005 or FESTA 2008. The named

projects are briefly presented below:

EVA 1991: Evaluation process for road transport informatics. EVA Manual. (Funded

by the Commission of the European Communities DGXIII Programme DRIVE)

CONVERGE 1998: Guidebook for Assessment of Transport Telematics Applications

(funded by FP4)

MAESTRO 2001: Monitoring Assessment and Evaluation of Transport Policy Options

in Europe (funded by FP4) – general guidelines for evaluating transport pilot and

demonstration projects

TEMPO 2005

FESTA 2008: Field operational test support action (funded by FP7) - Handbook for

Developing and Assessing Field Operational Tests

Other national initiatives aiming at developing guidelines for the evaluation of ITS projects

include the Updated guidelines for evaluation of ITS projects (Finland, 2001-2002).

The FESTA project was funded by one of the first FP7 calls within the Challenge 6: ICT for

Mobility, Environment Sustainability and Energy of the Information and Communication

Technologies Priority. The project aimed at the supporting of the FOTs with the provision of

a handbook of good practices, covering aspects such as the time-line and the administration

of a FOT or the integration of the acquired data and estimation of socio-economic benefits.

The methodology proposed within the first FESTA in 2008 project has been updated within

the second FESTA project in 2011. The current evaluation steps in a FOT proposed by

FESTA are the following:


Figure 10: Evaluation methodology proposed by the FESTA handbook

Source: FESTA Handbook for Developing and Assessing Field Operational Tests (update 2011)

The left side of the V-scheme contains the preparation activities for setting-up the test; the

bottom part represents the data acquisition during the use of the systems; the right side

represents the data analyses and the interpretation of results.

The preparation phase follows a research-oriented approach. Firstly the functions to be

tested are defined, the use cases are described and the related research questions listed. The

uses cases should describe daily situations where the system is expected to respond

according to the specific functions while the research questions should be statistically testable

and evaluate the performance of the functions within the use cases. Secondly hypothesis,

performance qualitative or quantitative indicators and measures and sensors should be

defined. The hypothesis should answer the research questions through direct measures or

indirect estimations/calculations of the related indicators.

The analyzing phase should provide with values of the indicators in order to accept or reject

the hypothesis and therefore answer to the research questions. The results are usually scaled

up to assess socio-economic impacts of the system to the whole region if further deployed.

The questions that FOTs aim to answer are quite general and the answers should be

supported by the specific and testable hypothesis.


3.5. Comparison of alternatives

The evaluation methodology produces a set of measured/estimated benefits which should be

compared to the implementation, maintenance and operation costs in order to evaluate the

feasibility of the proposed service both in comparison to the provision of other ITS services

and/or to the do-nothing scenario. Initially, most assessment methodologies were based on

traditional Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBA), which are based in the economic quantification of all

costs and benefits. The EVA project (1991) recognized the need for other type of analyses,

such as the Multi-Criteria and Cost Effectiveness Analyses. The Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA)

is able to take into account costs that cannot be quantified in monetary terms while the Cost

Effectiveness Analyses (CEA) are used when the monetary values of the benefits are not

equivalent.

The CBA compares the total expected cost against the total expected benefit, both

expressed in monetary terms. All monetary flows are adjusted for the time value of money in

order to calculate their net present value.

The MCA compares all the alternatives and selects the one that best achieves a compromise

between all objectives. There is a need for establishing weight factors for each criterion,

which can be different depending on the stakeholder.

The CEA is similar to the CBA, but with the difference that uses the ratio between benefits

and cost instead of their difference in monetary terms.

3.5.1. The involved actors

The costs and benefits are related to the involved actors in the transport services, which are

listed below:

End users: the end users are the drivers which will be directly benefited by the

services (individual performance)

Other travelers: the other travelers will be indirectly benefited from the use of the

services by the end users (system performance)

Citizens: the citizens will be indirectly benefited from the reduction of the

externalities (safety and environmental issues)

System operator: the system operator usually assumes the acquisition, installation,

maintenance and operation costs of the services

3.5.2. Temporal dimension

The above analyses are time dependent, especially the CBA, which produces economic

indicators such as pay-back period or the internal rate of return. The benefits should be

calculated for both short and long term runs. This parallelism with the economic terms can be

understood as the benefits due to the use of the services (short run) and the benefits due to


behavioral changes due to the existence of the services (long run). There are the following

three categories:

Short-term effects: new traffic operation patterns (higher/lower speeds)

Medium- term effects: new demand patterns (trip frequency, trip mode, trip route)

Long- term effects: new land-use patterns (residential and business re-location)

3.5.3. Spatial dimension

The obtained results should be extrapolated from the local implementation to the whole

network in order to understand the real effects of the services. This extrapolation is usually

based on models, where various market penetrations of the services (both at user and

infrastructure level) can be tested.

3.5.4. Sensitivity analysis

The sensitivity analysis provides useful results in relation to the impact on the results from

variations or uncertainty in the parameters, which can be used for dedicating more effort in

measuring/estimating/analyzing the parameters which impact is higher and less to the others.

The results of the sensitivity analysis can be also used for comparing various alternatives in

terms of distribution of results instead of just comparing two numeric results, which will

generate more robust comparison methodologies.


3.6. Large databases management and analyses

The FOTs generate enormous quantities of data, which usually are collected by different

organizations from different data sources and in different formats. There is a need for taking

into account the issues related to the data in the planning and design phases of the

demonstration activities in order to make easier the data collection, monitoring and analyses.

The architecture of the services should take into account the data collection and storage,

which can be centralized or decentralized. The format of the collected data must be defined

before the start of the demonstration activities in order to have a unique format in all the data

collected and reduce the workload on the data analyses.

All data should be merged in order to obtain the indicators defined in the evaluation

methodology.

3.6.1. Data sources

Various data sources can be used for collecting data for the evaluation of the performance of

the services. The most important ones are listed below:

Traffic detectors: loops, radars, cameras

Individual tracking devices: Bluetooth detectors, floating car data

Individual performance sensors: on board units connected to the CAM of the vehicle,

vehicle sensors

3.6.2. Data monitoring

Data monitoring is an essential task for assuring that the collected data will be useful in both

quality and quantity terms. From the quantity point of view, the data collected should be

enough for providing conclusive and valid results, which means that the collected sample

should be large enough. From the quality point of view, the data collected should be correct

and usable.

Methodologies for the monitoring and the correction of the demonstration tasks (in case that

there is a problem with the data) should be defined during the planning and design phase,

identifying the possible technical and organizational problems. For example, if the quantity of

data collected is low there are two possibilities: the system is not recording properly

(technical issue) or the equipped vehicles are not passing by the demonstration zones

(organizational issue).

3.6.3. Data privacy

Since the data collected is related to individual users, privacy and anonymity should be

guaranteed. The users should be identified by alphanumeric codes and the access to the

relation between the real names and the alphanumeric codes should be strongly restricted.


3.6.4. Data analyses

The analyses should be done for comparing the indicators of the database with the indicators

of the functional period. It is important to take into account the acceptance of the users when

generating the indicators, which can affect significantly the results. Comparisons within the

same period should detect non-expected behaviors, such as drivers with low acceptability of

the advices provided by the services. The methodology should be validated in terms of

variability, which means that, if comparing different datasets form the same period there is a

significant difference on the indicators it means that their variability is larger than expected

and it should be taken into account when presenting the benefits.


4. DESCRIPTION OF THE THESSALONIKI

PILOT SITE

4.1. General description of the city/region

Thessaloniki is the largest city of the Region of Central Macedonia as well as the second

largest city in Greece. It plays an important social, financial, and commercial role in the

national and greater Balkan region. Situated in Northern Greece, Thessaloniki accommodates

more than one million inhabitants in its greater area and covers a total of 1.500 km2 with an

average density of 665 inhabitants per km2.

Figure 11: Thessaloniki location


4.1.1. Urban transport network

The fleet of vehicles (private cars, heavy vehicles and motorcycles) of the city exceeds

775.000. The number of daily trips in Thessaloniki is near 2.500.000, from which 51% and

39% are done by Private Transport (PT) and Public Transport (PuT) respectively. Figure 12

below shows the modal distribution of the city.

Figure 12: Modal distribution for daily trips in Thessaloniki

The current Public Transport network is composed by more than 600 buses and 100 bus

lines, covering almost all the agglomeration area of Thessaloniki (Figure 13) and part of the

wider region (Figure 15). The PuT provider is the Organization of Urban Transportation of

Thessaloniki (OASTH), which serves both urban and regional transportation needs.

Figure 13: Urban area served by OASTH


Figure 14: Suburban area served by OASTH

The Public Transport Network will be enriched by the construction of the Thessaloniki

Metro, expected to be completed during the following years. The first metro line will connect

the Railway Station (located in the city centre) to Nea Elvetia (at the Eastern site) with a 9.5

km line and 13 platform stations. Two extensions are already foreseen in a second phase, one

to Stavroupoli at the West Side and another one to Kalamaria at the East side, while three

more extensions are already planned (Figure 15).


Figure 15: The basic axis of Thessaloniki’s METRO (red line) and its future extensions


4.1.2. Regional, national transport networks and international

connections

Regional and intercity transport services are provided by both the national intercity buses

operator and the suburban railway connection. The suburban railway connects Thessaloniki

to Larissa (≈ 186km) and Thessaloniki to Edessa (≈ 94km), while the buses connects

Thessaloniki with almost every important city in Greece. Three interurban bus stations are

distributed in Thessaloniki, one inside the city for the connection Athens-Thessaloniki, one in

the East of the city for the connection Chalkidiki-Thessaloniki and the largest terminal at the

west part of the city for all the regional and national connections (except Chalkidiki).

As regarding to the national rail network, Thessaloniki is the most important nodal point of

the national railway network running through northern Greece. The region’s rail network

runs from east to west connecting the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace with Western

Macedonia; from the borders of Bulgaria and FYROM (Pan European Rail Corridor X) in the

north; and to central Greece, Athens and the Peloponnese in the south. The Greek railway

network covers the backbone of Greece connecting Patras – Athens – Thessaloniki –

Eidomeni.

Figure 16: Greek Railways

The International Airport “Macedonia” (SKG Airport) is located 13 km far from Thessaloniki

city center, providing national connections to Athens, Kalamata (Peloponnesus) and major

islands (e.g. Kerkyra, Crete, Mykonos, Skiathos, Thira, Samos, Mytiline, Chios) as well as

international flights to Italy, Russia, Austria, Rumania, Serbia, Egypt, Turkey and Germany.

The most important connection is the Thessaloniki-Athens, with more than 600.000

passengers per year.


4.2. Existing ITS systems and services

The wider area of Thessaloniki, the last years, poses great attention on the promotion of

sustainable mobility schemes with parallel reinforcing efforts (subway system, car-restricting

parking policies, walking/cycling paths, urban mobility centre, pre-trip and on-trip real time

information), contributing in this way in the realization of policy makers visions for Greek

cities; the development of green and smart cities for ensuring future livability.

A strategic objective of the city and all related stakeholders is to establish Thessaloniki within

the Smart Cities framework currently envisaged by the EU, promoting the use of the city as a

test bed city for assessing both the performance as well as the impacts of advanced

cooperative mobility systems. Various projects (e.g. Urban Mobility Management System,

Ring-road ITS and COMPASS4D) have provided the necessary intelligent infrastructure for

the city of Thessaloniki, with advanced technologies and systems for monitoring and managing

mobility and traffic parameters in real time. Three integrated traffic and mobility management

systems operate in the city, covering the peripheral ring road, the wider metropolitan area

and the city centre.


Figure 17: Traffic and mobility management systems in Thessaloniki


4.2.1. Central and urban ITS infrastructure

The central ITS has been equipped with 10 Bluetooth Devices Detectors for providing traffic-

related information through 5 VMS installed at the entrance to the area but also through

internet and mobile-based services.

Figure 18: Existing bluetooth detectors network

The Traffic lights along the principal arterial of the central ITS region operate under the fully

adaptive mode OMNIA and are connected to the TMC managed by the Region of Central

Macedonia. The OMNIA platform provides a uniform interface for all the traffic-related

systems of the center of Thessaloniki. The system is composed by 12 traffic controllers, 6/8

surveillance cameras, 57 AUTOSCOPE cameras, 11 radars and 5 VMS. The local

management of the 12 traffic lights is done by the SPOT software at each traffic controller.

UTOPIA is responsible for the traffic lights management. The system provides real-time

monitoring of the traffic conditions as well as signal phase optimization along Tsimiskis Street.

The optimization is supported by MISTIC, a platform dedicated to the validation,

normalization and synchronization of the collected traffic data.

Figure 19: Field equipment – CCTV for traffic management and incident detection


Figure 20: Field equipment - Radars for traffic detection

Figure 21: Field equipment – Traffic measuring sensors

Figure 22: Field equipment – Adaptive signal controllers


Figure 23: Field equipment – Variable Message Signs

Figure 24: Software for remote traffic camera management


Figure 25: Software for dynamic traffic management

Figure 26: Software for signalized intersections control

Figure 27: Traffic Management Centre


4.2.2. Peripheral ITS infrastructure

The peripheral Ring Road of Thessaloniki, the traffic management of which is under the

responsibility of the Region of Central Macedonia, is equipped with a traffic monitoring and

event detection system. The event detection and management system of the peripheral ring

road of Thessaloniki provides information related to the presence of events or bad weather

in the road through 5 VMS panels. The events are detected through 22 traffic cameras, which

are connected to the TMC through 3 WIFI points, while local connections are basically done

by optic fiber.

The central ITS and the peripheral ITS areas are equipped with 14 cooperative units for

providing energy efficient and road hazard services to the taxi fleet of the city. Various taxis

and private cars have been equipped with cooperative units for providing/receiving these

services.


4.2.3. Modelling infrastructure

In parallel to roadside infrastructures, various state-of-the-art dynamic traffic models have

been developed for the entire city at a highly detailed level, both at supply and demand level.

These have been deployed by the Region of Central Macedonia (RCM), the authority

responsible for traffic management in the city. Outputs of the dynamic traffic model are used

both for operational mobility and traffic management purposes as well as for advanced

traveller information services (www.mobithess.gr).

Figure 28: Public Transport routing services provided by www.mobithess.gr

Figure 29: Car routing services provided by www.mobithess.gr


Figure 30: Environmental friendly routing services provided by www.mobithess.gr

Figure 31: Touristic information services provided by www.mobithess.gr

http://www.mobithess.gr/


Figure 32: Real traffic information services provided by www.mobithess.gr

Figure 33: Environmental information services provided by www.mobithess.gr

The above mentioned infrastructure has been integrated and it is managed by Region of

Central Macedonia (RCM) while the services have been developed and are provided by

CERTH. The figure below shows the stakeholders involved in the Urban Mobility and Traffic

Managements Centers, which are the components of the Intelligent Urban Mobility

Management System.


Figure 34: Architecture of the Intelligent Urban Mobility Management System

The mobility services have been extended to the cross-border region between

Greece and Bulgaria and are currently provided through smart devices by the Easytrip

project.

Figure 35: Screenshots of the Public Transport services provided by the Easytrip project


Figure 36: Screenshots of the journey time services provided by the Easytrip project

Figure 37: Screenshots of the navigation services provided by the Easytrip project


4.3. ITS services implemented in Thessaloniki

The focus of the pilot activities in Thessaloniki will be the provision of real time travel time

for the most important routes of the city through internet, mobile-based applications and

VMS panels. The travel time will be estimated by an algorithm developed by CERTH-HIT for

the provision of real time travel time using point-to-point detectors.

The detectors will track the MAC identities of the car devices equipped with Bluetooth at

static locations within the network. The travel time estimation on the most significant routes

will results on the provision of traffic-related information to the drivers, which will take

better decisions about their route since they will be informed in real time about the traffic

conditions of the city streets. For each of the selected routes real time information about of

travel time through smart phones or cooperative devices will be provided.

Figure 38 below shows the travel time measurements and the estimators used for the

provision of travel time along one of the predefined routes within the city.

Figure 38: Travel time estimation

The expected impact of the information provision is the reduction of the congestion on the

most significant routes within the city, providing information about the traffic congestion for

alternative routes at the critical decision points of the city.


4.3.1. Technological solution

The devices to be used have the following characteristics:

Hardware

Atmel AT91SAM9G20 microcontroller

@400MHz

32 MB RAM and 8 MB Flash

Micro SD card 2GB

GPS receiver

16 isolated analogue inputs

8 digital inputs and 8 digital outputs

2 USB

A power down mode with wake-up on

timer or external input allows very long

operation on battery power

Software

Linux kernel 2.6.31.x

Data logging software that logs

analogue and digital inputs

The system has a web interface

for configuration and data

retrieval, accessible through a

direct USB connection to a PC, or

through GPRS

Environmental and Power requirements

Input voltages from 7 to 50 VDC

Operating temperature -20° to 70°C

Storage temperature -40° to 85°C

Vibration 10-1000 Hz Sine and random @

1-1.5 GRMS

Sustained vibration EN 60068-2-34 & EN

60068-2-36

Network Interfaces

GSM/GPRS Modem (approved

R&TTE and GCF)

2 Embedded mini-PCIs

IEEE802.11p /ETSI ITS-G5

featuring simultaneous operations

on 2 channels

Antenna

o Frequency 5.4-5.9GHz

o Gain 9.0dBi

Pmax 50W

Dimensions

H x L x W = (8.3 x 25.2 x 18) cm


4.3.2. Justification of the ITS service selection

The selected ITS service will be integrated into the already existing network of Bluetooth

detectors. The new devices will on the one hand extend the geographical area where the

drivers are tracked providing travel time for new routes, on the other hand will increase the

density of detectors in the city center providing better accuracy in the tracking of the vehicles

and the estimation of travel times. The new devices will enrich the quality and quantity of the

data used for the real time calibration of the traffic models of the city, therefore the

information and routing services provided by using this model will be more reliable.

The data collected by the Bluetooth detectors is used for estimating the travel time of the

most significant routes of the city. This data is integrated by the Traffic Management Centre

data module with data from loops, cameras and radars. After the data fusion, all the real time

traffic-related data is used for calibrating the traffic model and providing information and

routing services.


4.3.3. Location of the pilot

A total of 22 paths are covered by the current Bluetooth detectors network, which track

more than 900.000 million devices per week, corresponding to more than 2,3 millions of

detections and 620.000 trips per week.

The network of Bluetooth detectors will be carefully designed aiming at providing reliable

information for the most significant routes in Thessaloniki. The current mobility patterns of

the city will be taken into account when defining the network of detectors in order to

provide useful information to the maximum number of drivers. The figure below shows a

draft location of the detectors based on the experience of the traffic planners of the city.

Figure 39: New bluetooth detectors network


4.4. Pilot organization and execution

The pilot activities will be leaded by CERTH-HIT with the support of the local partners

(technology providers and local authorities).

4.4.1. Presentation of the actors involved in the pilot activities

The participants in the Thessaloniki pilot are representing all the mobility related stakeholders

of the city:

Public organization: Region of Central Macedonia (RCM), which hosts the Traffic

Management Center of the city and is responsible for the management of the traffic

lights of the city.

Research insitutions: Center for Research and Technology Hellas – Hellenic Institute

of Transport (CERTH-HIT), which is responsible for the pilot and evaluation activities

and owner of the detectors.

Final users: All drivers and citizens will be users of the system. The number of visits

to the mobility portal of CERTH-HIT is roughly 2.500 per month.

4.4.2. Timeplan of the activities & how the results will be extrapolated

to the whole year

The duration of the pilot will be of 8 months. The tenders for the acquisition of the necessary

equipment have been published in March 2013 and the purchase will be finalized by July

2013. The equipment will be installed during July 2013 and the system will be tested and

verified during August 2013. The pilot will have a total duration of 7 months, between

September 2013 and March 2014, where all data will be collected and the pilot performance

monitored in order to assure the quality and quantity of the databases. Before the end of the

pilot the evaluation activities will start, defining the methodology for evaluating the data,

performing the monitoring of the pilot and after the end of the pilot phase analyzing the data

collected. The activities of the pilot are presented in the figure below.

Tender preparation

Tender publication

Set up of the demonstration activities

Offers evaluation

Mar

ch 2

01

3

Ap

ril 2

01

3

May

20

13

Jun

e 2

01

3

July

20

13

Purchase and installation

Au

gust

20

13

Sep

tem

ber

20

13

Verification and integration to

CERTH/HIT traffic model and TMC

Mar

ch 2

01

4

Pilot operationData collection

Pilot monitoring

Evaluation

Feb

ruar

y 2

01

4

May

20

14

Figure 40: Time plan of the Thessaloniki pilot


The traffic conditions during the months covered by the pilot operation are representative of

the whole year; therefore the results will be easily extrapolated to the whole year.

4.4.3. Evaluation and monitoring tools

The Bluetooth detectors will be integrated in the already existing network of point-to-point

detectors of Thessaloniki, enriching it in both spatial and reliability aspects. The methodology

used for estimating the travel time is presented below.

4.4.3.1. Methodology for the estimation of travel times

The raw data will be collected in real time by CERTH-HIT and processed in order to provide

real time travel time information to the users through VMS and mobile applications. The data

will be used also for the real time correction of the travel times of the routes of the network

in order to provide more accurate routing and information services.

The raw data has the following format:

Unit id

Timestamp

MAC ID


Ro

w_

Dat

a_I

D

iTra

velID

Dat

aDat

e

Dat

aDat

eti

me

Mac

Ad

dre

ss

Rec

ord

_ID

Dev

iceD

ate

Tim

e

Step

_C

od

e

Arc

_ID

Syst

em_

ID

Gra

bb

erID

Gro

upG

rab

ber

ID

25375330 16 30/5/13 13:36:23 F4:8E:09:FF:0D:D0 31054157 1369910183 756 -1 1 302992 1

25375329 16 30/5/13 13:36:13 B8:F9:34:3A:2A:BA 31054156 1369910173 756 -1 1 302992 1

25375328 16 30/5/13 13:36:13 CC:05:1B:FE:CE:2F 31054155 1369910173 756 -1 1 302992 1

25375327 16 30/5/13 13:35:55 20:13:E0:B1:F0:33 31054048 1369910155 755 -1 1 302992 1

25375326 16 30/5/13 13:35:51 9C:18:74:9A:36:FE 31054047 1369910151 755 -1 1 302992 1

25375325 16 30/5/13 13:35:23 6C:0E:0D:D5:EA:4E 31054046 1369910123 755 -1 1 302992 1

25375324 16 30/5/13 13:35:21 F8:5F:2A:F6:10:D4 31054045 1369910121 755 -1 1 302992 1

25375323 16 30/5/13 13:35:20 3C:F7:2A:81:AB:3A 31054044 1369910120 755 -1 1 302992 1

25375322 16 30/5/13 13:35:19 6C:A7:80:28:A7:CC 31054043 1369910119 755 -1 1 302992 1

25375321 16 30/5/13 13:35:18 48:DC:FB:C6:72:83 31054042 1369910118 755 -1 1 302992 1

25375320 16 30/5/13 13:35:15 54:9B:12:56:96:19 31054041 1369910115 755 -1 1 302992 1

25375319 14 30/5/13 13:48:52 00:26:69:DF:96:8D 31055125 1369910932 768 -1 1 302990 1

25375318 14 30/5/13 13:48:51 94:00:70:04:C0:20 31055124 1369910931 768 -1 1 302990 1

25375317 14 30/5/13 13:48:39 34:C8:03:EC:14:87 31055123 1369910919 768 -1 1 302990 1

25375316 14 30/5/13 13:48:30 00:1E:A4:FC:E9:83 31055122 1369910910 768 -1 1 302990 1

25375315 14 30/5/13 13:48:27 FC:C7:34:B1:69:82 31055121 1369910907 768 -1 1 302990 1

25375314 14 30/5/13 13:48:14 00:22:65:8D:F5:C4 31055120 1369910894 768 -1 1 302990 1

25375313 14 30/5/13 13:48:04 A8:F2:74:E2:C0:08 31055119 1369910884 768 -1 1 302990 1

25375312 14 30/5/13 13:47:57 5C:B5:24:68:13:04 31055067 1369910877 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375311 14 30/5/13 13:47:57 04:18:0F:B7:E8:32 31055066 1369910877 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375310 14 30/5/13 13:47:57 00:25:66:E5:3F:3B 31055065 1369910877 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375309 14 30/5/13 13:47:56 E0:A6:70:46:09:DD 31055064 1369910876 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375308 14 30/5/13 13:47:53 5C:17:D3:68:E6:70 31055063 1369910873 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375307 14 30/5/13 13:47:41 24:21:AB:17:8B:EA 31055062 1369910861 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375306 14 30/5/13 13:47:34 6C:D6:8A:7B:75:50 31055061 1369910854 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375305 14 30/5/13 13:47:24 00:12:1C:AB:F2:A6 31055060 1369910844 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375304 14 30/5/13 13:47:18 30:38:55:77:54:89 31055059 1369910838 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375303 14 30/5/13 13:47:14 00:1C:D6:9B:FF:62 31055058 1369910834 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375302 14 30/5/13 13:47:12 6C:A7:80:6A:01:60 31055057 1369910832 767 -1 1 302990 1

25375301 14 30/5/13 13:46:58 E0:A6:70:08:04:E2 31054982 1369910818 766 -1 1 302990 1

Table 5: Raw data sample

The raw data is stored in the local databases of the units and send to the CERTH-HIT

database through GPRS connection each 30 seconds. The data is then filtered and processed

in order to estimate travel time in the routes.

The methodology for the estimation of the travel time is presented in figure 41.


Figure 41: Methodology for the estimation of travel time

The above algorithm is hosted by CERTH-HIT, who provides the results of the travel time

estimation to the Traffic Management Center of the city. Installation works and technical

adaptations will be done by CERTH-HIT, while the maintenance costs of the detectors will

be split between CERTH-HIT and the regional authority responsible for the traffic lights. The

system will be operated by CERTH-HIT, also responsible for the data collection and

evaluation.


4.4.3.2. Monitoring of the pilot performance

The values that will be monitored are the following:

Number of detections per unit: this indicator will monitor on the one side that the

unit is recording data and in the other side the number of vehicles passing by the

intersection. If the unit stops recording vehicles will possibly mean that it is not

working and there will be the need to fix it. The number of detected vehicles will

indicate the traffic flow in the intersection and therefore the potential users to be

informed about travel times.

Number of valid trips per path: this indicator will monitor the tracking of vehicles by

two consecutive units and therefore the flow on the path formed by these two units.

These tracked vehicles will be the population for the estimation of the travel times,

which has to be statistically significant in order to provide reliable real time travel

time estimations.

Average values and standard deviations of the estimated travel times for each route:

this indicator will provide a good overview on the dispersion of the data that is being

collected by the units. This analysis will be useful for calibrating the methodology

used for estimating travel time and therefore providing more accurate estimations.

Number of queries to the provided transport-related services by the citizens of

Thessaloniki: this indicator will provide an estimation of the interest of the drivers for

using the mobility services provided by CERTH-HIT during the pilot operation.

Deviation from travel time estimations by using Floating Car Data: this indicator will

be used for validating the methodology. There is a fleet with more than 1.000

vehicles providing FCD to CERTH-HIT which can be used for validating the

estimations done by using the vehicles detected by the units.


4.5. Future deployment of ITS in the region after the

pilot phase

The infrastructure installed within the SEE-ITS project is part of the road map leaded by

CERTH-HIT and the Region of Central Macedonia for equipping the city of Thessaloniki with

smart technologies and services. The related projects are briefly presented:

HIT portal (2005-2009): provision of transport-related data of the whole country as

well as tools for analyzing and processing this data.

OASTH (2008): provision of real time information on waiting time at Public

Transport stops.

Mobinet (2007-2009): provision of mobility information based on historical data for

the city of Thessaloniki through internet.

Intelligent Urban Mobility Management System of Thessaloniki (2009-2012):

provision of real time mobility-related services for the city of Thessaloniki through

internet.

Easytrip (2011-2013): provision of real-time mobility related services through mobile

phones, navigators and tablets.

COMPASS4D (2013-2015): pilot operation for the evaluation of the impacts of the

provision of cooperative services to the drivers of Thessaloniki.

Figure 42: Thessaloniki road map

The provided services are used by the following stakeholders:

Research: CERTH-HIT uses this data for calibrating both in real time and offline the

traffic model of the entire city.


Administration: Region on Central Macedonia uses the estimated travel times for

calibrating the adaptive traffic lights algorithm of the main arterials of the city and

providing a better level of service to drivers.

Private sector: private companies will use the travel times estimated by CERTH-HIT for

providing better routing and information services to the professional fleets or individual

drivers through their navigation systems.

4.5.1. Stakeholders engagement process

The stakeholders that could be interested in the piloted services will be periodically informed

about the evolution of the pilot. They are basically the following:

Public Transport operator: the real time information about the congestion in the city

streets can be used by the Public Transport operator for managing the headways of

the buses while the offline information about travel time on the routes followed by

the buses can be used for the redefinition of the frequencies of the routes.

Private fleets: delivery companies can take advantage of the real time information

about the congestion of the streets by routing and re-routing their vehicles if

necessary.

Taxi companies: the provision of real time travel time and traffic congestion in the

city streets is very useful to the taxi drivers since they can use this information for

avoiding congestion, providing a better level of service to their clients, saving fuel and

reducing the emissions of pollutants.

Individual drivers: the information on travel time on the most important routes of the

city can be used by the individual drivers for making better choices when deciding

what route to follow, where to go or what time to start.

Public administration: the provision of travel times on various routes within the city

network can be used by the responsible of the TMC for adapting existing or creating

new traffic control strategies in order to provide a better level of service to the

citizens.


5. DESCRIPTION OF THE PATRAS PILOT SITE


The population of Region of Western Greece is 680.190 inhabitants according the last Greek

census of 2011. It is ranked 4th biggest region in Greece concerning its population,

concentrating the 6,75 % of the total population of the country. In the next table there is the

population distribution in the three regional units and the changes from 1981 till 2011.

Table 6: Regional Population – Western Greece

Regional Unit Total Population Average Change

1981 1991 2001 2011 1981-

1991

1991-2001 2001-

2011

Aitoloakarnani

a

219.764 228.180 224.429 209.500 8.416

(3.8%)

-4.895 (-

2.1%)

-14.929

(-6.7%)

Achaia 275.193 300.078 322.789 310.580 24.885

(9%)

26.176

(8,7%)

-12.209

(-3,8%)

Hleia 160.305 179.429 193.288 160.110 19.124

(1,2%)

12.911

(7,2%)

-33.178

(-17,27%)

Regional

Population

655.262 707.687 740.506 680.190 52.425

(8%)

34.732

(4,9%)

-60.316

(-8,1%)

Greece

Population

9.740.417 10.259.90

0

10.964.02

0

10.787.69

0

519.483

(5,3%)

679.871

(6,6%)

-152.081

(-1,4%)

The Regional Units of Western Greece are all belonging to the ten most populated regional

units in Greece. The regional unit of Aitoloakarnia is the unit with the biggest size in Greece,

while Achaia and Hleia are the 15th and 23rd correspondingly. In the next table the current

population and the size of each regional unit is presented, calculating the density and the

ranking in Greece.


Table 7: Population Density in Western Greece

Regional Unit Population Area (km2) Density (people/ km2) Ranking

Aitoloakarnania 224.429 5.461 41,1 36

Achaia 322.789 3.271 98,7 5

Hleia 193.288 2.618 73,8 10

From this table it is concluded that the two regional units of Achaia and Hleia have very high

population density, while Aitoloakarnania has a lower that Greek average population density

(83,3 people/km2).

The regional unit of Aitoloakarnania along with Regional unit of Hleia showed a reduction of

their population during the period 1971-2011 and this reduction has its bigger size during the

last decade (2001-2011). The population of Aitoloakarnania today is 19 thousands inhabitants

smaller than its corresponding population of 1971, while the population of Hleia is 4.000

inhabitants less. On the other hand the regional unit of Achaia is increasing its population

during the last 40 years but at the last decade it decreased too like in the other two units.

Within all this period of 40 years the regional unit of Achaia has been increased at 70.000

inhabitants, because of the presence of urban or semi-urban areas that includes.


5.1.1. Region of Western Greece – Transportation Profile

The Region of Western Greece (RWG) includes the western part of Peloponnisos (Achaia –

Ilia) and the south-west part of mainland Greece (Aitoloakarnania). The urban area of Patras

(with an approximate population of 250.000 inh.) is the administrative center of the region,

whilst its influence as an economic, educational and public service center extents well over

the regional limits.

Figure 43: Inland transport networks in Greece, including TEN – T

The city of Patras is located at the strategic cross point of the western N- S transport axes of

the country and the E-W axes at north Peloponnesus, connecting the western parts of the

country with Athens. Its port historically has been an important transport node. In the recent

decades is has developed as the major combined Ro – Ro port connecting Greece to Italy and

the Western Europe. Recently it shares this role with the port of Igoumenitsa, (following the

completion of the Egnatia Road). As part of the freight and passenger networks between

Greece and Europe, the port of Patras will continue to serve the Athens metropolitan area,

the south mainland and Peloponnesus as well as the Aegean islands and Crete.

The port has been developed historically along the center of the city. Quay and space

limitations - resulting to capacity constraints - and environmental considerations, supported


by traffic demand projections, led to the decision of building a new installation at the southern

part of the city (now named as South Port (to distinct from the old North Port) which is in

operation since July 2011 (see photo).

Other important port installations in the RWG are:

The Port of Aigion (Achaia), a small commercial port, now serving some specialized

loads. Improvement works are under way.

The port of Killini (Ilia) is an important port, connecting the mainland with the islands

of Zakynthos and Kefallinia. It is also serving small freight demand.

The port of Katakolon is the largest cruise ship port of Western Greece, (due to its

proximity to Ancient Olympia)

The port facility at Astakos (Etoloakarnania) is the largest and most intriguing

private port facility in the country (owned and operated by a private operator). It

has emerged as a container port since 2008.

Extensive transport infrastructure improvement projects are under way in now days in the

RWG:

The OLYMPIA ODOS (Olympia Motorway) project is the major motorway

project under construction, planned to connect Athens with Patras, Pyrgos (at Ilia)

and connect to Athens – Kalamata MOREAS Motorway (see map). Construction

was launched in 2008 under a concession contract with an international

consortium. Works progressed until early 2011, when slowed down and finally

stopped (one year ago) as a result of the economic resection. Renegotiation talks

for recommencement of works are under way between the interested parts .

The IONIA ODOS (Ionia Motorway) project is also under construction, planned to

connect Patras with Ioannina (Region of Epirus – cross point with EGNATIA

ODOS) and Albania. The project is planned to be completed by 2014.

The Athens – Korinthos - Patras railway line Improvement (part of the Patras –

Athens – Thessaloniki Railway Corridor Project – R_PATHE) is under

construction. Replacement of the metric with standard gauge width, electrification

rehabilitation or construction of new stations and a modern train management and

control system are parts of the project. Most parts of the line are planned for

completion by the end the 2007-13 Programming Period. However, the major

issue of the track alignment through the city center of Patras is still not decided and

the most probable scenario is that by that time the new port of Patras will not be

rail connected.


5.1.2. Transport Environment at the city of Patras

The city of Patras suffers severe traffic problems, especially at the central area and at the

main arterial roads. The main factors contributing to the burden of traffic environment Patras

are:

A) The increasing mobility requirements

The average daily number of trips the average length and average time has increased

dramatically. In the period 1972 - 2012, the area of Patras city - plan grew eightfold, whilst

the population only doubled. As far as the trip demand and supply balance is concerned, the

“suburbanization process” which has been resulted from the urban sprawl, was not

accompanied by a respective increase of the capacity of roads or public transport. This trend

appears to continue in the future. Resent estimates (2008) calculate the number of daily trips

within the urban area to the range of 450.000 per day.

B) The increase of vehicles

The private car property index the region has increased dramatically (from 243 pcars per

1000 inh. in 1993 to app. 380 pcars per 1000 inh. in 2008)

C) The decline of the urban transport system of the city

Urban transport services are provided by a private operator (Astiko KTEL Patras), who runs

a fleet of appr. 110 buses. Quality of service is low (sparse network, old buses, limited

reliability, expensive fares, outdated marketing policies, etc.). (It should be said though that

the operator is not the only one to take the blame, since the legal framework of urban

transport in the Greek peripheral cities has not yet been conformed with the EC regulations

as far as competition and subsidization, thus leaning to minimum margins for profitable

operation to the operator). The decline of the level of service has been reflected to the

decline of ridership (less than 12 million passengers per year), i.e. an average of 50 trips by

public transport per inhabitant per year (when most Western European cities surpass the 170

- 200). Expressed as a percentage of total trips, the share of the urban public transport trips

doesn’t exceed 8 % of the total trip demand.


Figure 44: Area coverage of the bus network of Patras

D) Deficiencies of transport / traffic policy and demand management

A coherent planning to address mobility issues is missing, (as a result of fragmentation of

responsibilities among several authority levels, limited role of the local authorities, absence of

feedback and evaluation processes, limited financial resources, etc.).

Realizing these deficiencies, the Municipal Authority has decided to put more emphasis on the

mobility issues, as part of the reshaping the organogram of the municipal services, which has

to be completed under the rules of the newly introduced municipal government structure

(the “KALLIKRATIS Project” – 2011- under which the five municipal authorities of the urban

area of Patras have merged to one). This is supported by the newly implemented Master Plan

of the city – 2011- which puts the emphasis on two key issues:

Completion of the major urban arterial system (see map)

Priority to projects supporting sustainable mobility (improvement of public transport,

bike infrastructure – a bike network of 33 km has been approved for construction

starting at 2013).


Figure 45: Major arterial system of Patras (under completion)


5.1.3. The Patras Suburban Railway (Proastiakos)

The Patras Suburban Railway [PSR], operated by TRAINOSE , the operations branch of the

National Railway Organization - OSE), runs on the metric intercity rail track. Intercity

operations on the track have been cancelled since 2010, as full rehabilitation, widening and

electrification works are in progress at the Athens – Patras rail corridor, which is part of the

Patras – Athens – Thessaloniki – Evzoni Rail Corridor, the backbone of the rail system of the

country. The Suburban Rail Line operation is the only rail activity in the wider Patras area

today, as it will remain until the works at the Kiato – Patras part of the Corridor are

completed.

Started in summer 2010, the line has gradually developed to a significant part of the transit

service in the urban area, offering high reliability, comfort and a versatile and affordable

package of fares to the customers. Today it operates over a &,& km. segment of the line,

with 6 stops. It is served by Rail Bus type vehicles, with a capacity of 200 passengers each,

operating in 2 or 3 vehicle trains. The quick and comfortable connection of the city center to

the University Campus through a bi-modal service (train and corresponding bus, also

operated by TRAINOSE) has been a major advantage of the Line.

The operational advantages of [SRL] have been proved enough to skyrocket its ridership from

2.000 passengers per month in the first months of operations to over 100.000 passengers per

month today.

Figure 46: Route diagram of the Patras Suburban Railway (the train route in blue, the corresponding ΤΡΑΙΝΟΣΕ bus line to University Campus in red)

The Rion-Antirrion Bridge

The Rion – Antirrion Bridge named after the prominent Greek politician and prime minister

(1876-80) Harilaos Trikoupis, who was the first to envision it, is a “dream-that-came-true”

for generations of people of Western Greece. Awarded with the Outstanding World Civil

Engineering Award of AASHTO for 2005, the bridge is the largest is the world's longest multi-

span cable – stayed bridge, 2,880 m in length, and has dramatically improved access to and

from the Peloponnese, which could previously be reached only by ferry or via the Its width is


28 m it has two vehicle lanes per direction, an emergency lane and a pedestrian walkway.

This bridge is widely considered to be an engineering masterpiece owing to several solutions

applied to span the difficult site. These difficulties include deep water, insecure materials for

foundations, seismic activity, the probability of tsunamis, and the expansion of the Gulf of

Corinth due to plate tectonics.

Figure 47: An aerial view of the bridge

The operation of the bridge has affected dramatically the access characteristics of the

connected areas due to travel time savings. A study carried out at the School of Architecture

of the U. of Patras (Research project on the revitalization of the sea front and the port area,

Un. of Patras, Prof. V. G. Pappas, 2009) produced some impressive results: the “captive area”

(accessible from Patras within a certain time span) has been more than tripled, and the

demand patterns for services, shopping, and housing have been respectively affected,

strengthening the role of the city as the metropolitan center of the Region of Western

Greece.

Related Sources:

Interreg IVC Pimms Capital, Regional Action Plan 2012 & Study for RWG- Patras Transport Profile (N. Milionis,

Transport Engineer, 2012)

Figure 48: Trip – time isochronal curves from Patras, before and after the opening of the bridge



The city of Patras during the last years, has gradually changed its transportation profile with

the completion or beginning of new projects that aiming at the sustainable mobility and

improvement of the quality of life of the citizens. Municipality of Patras acting as the main

stakeholder that develops and implements the Urban Development Policy, is involved in a

series of interventions that complement one to each other and all together consist an

integrated approach for Patras in order to operate as a Smart City with the usage of advance

technologies or systems, in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. These platforms or

systems are described next.

Signaling system

A Control Center for the Traffic Light system that was firstly introduced at the early ‘90s with

a capacity to operate wireless with 30 out of the 109 signal controllers installed the city. The

Region of Western Greece, has initialized a new project of modernization of the existing

signaling system with a modern Control Center, that will use of open communication

protocols. The new system is planned to cover the whole area of Western Greece and will be

funded by the Regional Operational Programme 2007-13. The city of Patras will benefit the

biggest part of the investment and it will be the operational centre of the new modern

system. It is estimated that the project will reach the 2 Meuro.

Street parking

A Street parking control scheme has been installed in the central area since 2007. It uses

conventional technology pay-and-display devices (“parking meters”), on which payment is

acceptable only in cash. The system covers an estimated capacity of 1.500 parking seats. The

system is operated by the Technical Services of the Municipality and controlled by the

Municipal Police. The control procedure is based on manual surveillance by officers who

move on feet. Although the system was highly successful in the first period after

implementation (in terms of obeisance and prevention of illegal parking), it suffers a

considerable decline during the last two years. As a result, the Municipal Government is

considering several options for reviving it, including decrease of the payment rates,

establishment of dedicated areas for area habitants, more strict enforcement, etc.


Figure 49: Patras Central paid-parking zone


5.3. ITS services implemented in Patras

The focus of the pilot activities in Patras will be the provision of real time travel time for

central routes of the city through internet, mobile-based applications and VMS screens. The

travel time will be estimated by an algorithm developed by CERTH-HIT for the provision of

real time travel time using point-to-point detectors.

The detectors will track the MAC identities of the car devices equipped with Bluetooth at

static locations within the network. The travel time estimation on the most significant routes

will results on the provision of traffic-related information to the drivers, which can decide

about their route since they will be informed in real time about the traffic conditions of the

city streets. For each of the selected routes real time information about travel time through

smart phones or cooperative devices will be provided.

Figure 50: Travel time estimation

The expected impact of the information provision is the reduction of the congestion on the

most significant routes within the city centre, providing information to the travellers about

the traffic congestion for alternative routes at the critical decision points of the city.



The selected ITS services are based on Bluetooth technologies and they are selected as

technology because it is easy to install, without specific permissions or allowances. It is the

first ITS system in the city of Patras that aim to monitor the traffic in several routes in the city

center. There are also similar projects that have been planned from Municipality of Patras and

in the near future are going to complement the pilot service of SEE-ITS project with extra

Bluetooth devices or communication services.


Figure 51: Estimated Positions of the Bluetooth detectors

The network of Bluetooth detectors will be carefully designed aiming at providing reliable

information for some significant routes in the city of Patras. The current mobility patterns of

the city will be taken into account when defining the network and positions of detectors in

order to provide useful information to the maximum number of drivers. The figure above

shows a draft location of the detectors based on the experience of the traffic planners of the

city.



The Bluetooth detectors will be integrated in specific locations in the Northern and Southern

part of the city of Patras. Initially there is going to elaborate a feasibility study about the

locations and the efficiency of the Bluetooth devices.

In the next stage the Bluetooth devices are going to be installed along with a central system

that will monitor the operation of them but also will collect all the traffic data in a central

information system. This system will be able to communicate with other Traffic Management

systems of Municipality of Patras, exchanging traffic data but also with the CERTH-HIT, in

order to use its travel estimation algorithms and relative features.

The central system will be installed next in Municipality of Patras and several use cases and

scenarios will run in order to test the availability and good operation of the whole system.



The participants in the Patras pilot are representing all the mobility related stakeholders of

the city:

Public organization: Municipality of Patras and ADEP S.A., which will host the Traffic

Management Centre of the city and integrate the pilot with other ITS

Research institutions: Centre for Research and Technology Hellas – Hellenic Institute

of Transport (CERTH-HIT), which will contribute for the algorithm offering but also

as technical advisor.

End users: All drivers and citizens will be users of the system.


to the whole year

The duration of the pilot will be of 7 months. The tenders for the acquisition of the necessary

equipment will be published in late August 2013 and the purchase will be finalized by

September 2013. The equipment will be installed during September 2013 and the system will

be tested and verified during October 2013. The pilot will last from September 2013 to

March 2014, where all data will be collected and the pilot performance monitored in order to

assure the quality and quantity of the databases. Before the end of the pilot the evaluation

activities will start, defining the methodology for evaluating the data, performing the

monitoring of the pilot and after the end of the pilot phase analyzing the data collected. The

activities of the pilot are presented in the table below.

Table 8: Time plan of the Patras pilot

Activity Jun13 Jul13 Aug13 Sept13 Oct13 Nov13 Dec13 Jan14 Feb14 Mar14 Apr14 Apr14

Tender

preparation

Tender

Publication

Offer

Evaluation

Purchase

and

Installation

Pilot

Operation

Pilot

Evaluation

The traffic conditions during the months covered by the pilot operation are representative of

the whole year; therefore the results will be easily extrapolated to the whole year.



The raw data will be collected in real time by Municipality of Patras & ADEP S.A. and

processed in order to provide real time travel time information to the users through VMS and

mobile applications. The data will be used also for the real time correction of the travel times

of the routes of the network in order to provide more accurate routing and information

services.

The raw data has the following format:

Unit id

Timestamp

MAC ID

The raw data is stored in the local databases of the units and send to the CERTH-HIT

database through GPRS connection each 5 minutes. The data is then filtered and processed in

order to estimate travel time in the routes. The values that will be monitored are the

following:

Number of detections per unit: this indicator will monitor on the one side that the

unit is recording data and in the other side the number of vehicles passing by the

intersection. If the unit stops recording vehicles will possibly mean that it is not

working and there will be the need to fix it. The number of detected vehicles will

indicate the traffic flow in the intersection and therefore the potential users to be

informed about travel times.

Number of valid trips per path: this indicator will monitor the tracking of vehicles by

two consecutive units and therefore the flow on the path formed by these two units.

These tracked vehicles will be the population for the estimation of the travel times,

which has to be statistically significant in order to provide reliable real time travel

time estimations.

Average values and standard deviations of the estimated travel times for each route:

this indicator will provide a good overview on the dispersion of the data that is being

collected by the units. This analysis will be useful for calibrating the methodology

used for estimating travel time and therefore providing more accurate estimations.

Number of queries to the provided transport-related services by the citizens of

Patras: this indicator will provide an estimation of the interest of the drivers for using

the mobility services provided by city of Patras during the pilot operation.



pilot phase

The infrastructure installed within the SEE-ITS project is part of an integrated strategy of the

city of Patras in order to install smart technologies and services in the city center. The related

projects are briefly presented:

Advanced mobility management information system based on ICT (SUMMIT)

The city of Patras, through its development enterprise (ADEP S.A.), is a Lead Partner of

project SUMMIT that is financed by the O.P. Greece-Italy 2007-2013. The project aims to

develop new intelligent systems that assist the driver to avoid accidents, to provide drivers

with real time information to avoid congestion, and optimise a journey or the engine

performance to improve energy efficiency but also with the study of Route optimization

systems for local public transport.

Project “Kathodigos”

The city of Patras, through its development enterprise (ADEP S.A.), is a Partner of project

‘Kathodigos’ that is financed by General Secretariat for Research & Development, Greece.

The project aims to implement a Pilot system of real time traffic monitoring with wireless

sensors and cameras. Moreover, Parking spaces status is going to be monitored with wireless

sensors and an integrated ITS system wil be finally delivered.

Modernization of the public transportation by using real time information systems

The project aims to install VMS screens in more than 50 bus stops for giving information

about estimation of arrivals of buses, the bus routes, combinations with regional rail or other

transportation means. Real time information of the public transportation through mobile

devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, GPS's etc.) will be also provided. The project is

financed by Operational Programme “Enhancement of Accessibility”, Greece.

Smart Roads (Kanakari St. & Korinthou St.)

The project aims to traffic and Incidents monitoring by installing several wireless devices

(bluetooth and wifi sensors, infrared cameras etc.). A Central Control System will be also

installed for the operation of the whole system and wireless sensors will be put in 200 Parking

Space in the streets Kanakari and Korinthou for monitoring the availability and the status of

them.The project is financed by Regional Operational programme of Western Greece 2007-

2013.





Public Transport operator: the real time information about the congestion in the city

streets can be used by the Public Transport operators for managing the headways of

the buses while the offline information about travel time on the routes followed by

the buses can be used for the redefinition of the frequencies of the routes.

Private fleets: delivery companies can take advantage of the real time information

about the congestion of the streets by routing and re-routing their vehicles if

necessary.

Taxi companies: the provision of real time travel time and traffic congestion in the

city streets is very useful to the taxi drivers since they can use this information for

avoiding congestion, providing a better level of service to their clients, saving fuel and

reducing the emissions of pollutants.

Individual drivers: the information on travel time on the most important routes of the

city can be used by the individual drivers for making better choices when deciding

what route to follow, where to go or what time to start.

Public administration: the provision of travel times on various routes within the city

network can be used by the responsible of the TMC for adapting existing or creating

new traffic control strategies in order to provide a better level of service to the

citizens.


6. DESCRIPTION OF THE VIENNA PILOT SITE


While road traffic produces more than 18% of the greenhouse gases in the EU, only 0.5% of

the CO2 emissions come from European rail. Across Europe, traffic jams cost about 1.5% of

the GDP every year. These figures emphasise the necessity for adaptive and modern traffic

management in urban environments. In the subject area of ITS Austria holds the position of a

trendsetter. In the last ten years, the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Technology and

Innovation (BMVIT) has invested around 100 million Euros in research and development of

modern mobility technologies. The Austrian Industry is international strongly positioned and

possesses a leading research institution. According to an extrapolation within a study

conducted by Brimatech the Austrian ITS industry generates an annual turnover of 2.2 Billion

Euros.

In comparison with other European capitals, the objective of Public Transport being

affordable has already been achieved in Austria. The annual ticket in Vienna is priced at 365

Euros while it is 657 Euros in Paris, at least 710 Euros in Berlin and even 1.456 Euros in

London. Furthermore Vienna has not only achieved the highest ranking for general quality of

living, in a list compiled by American climate strategist Boyd Cohen in 2012, Vienna was

named as the number one “Smart City” in the world – leaving behind cities like Toronto,

Paris, and New York. According to Viennese public transport operator Wiener Linien four

out of ten ways in Vienna are covered with public transport. The modal split of 2012 for

Vienna substantiates this allegation: With 39% public transport holds the biggest share in

Vienna, followed by distances travelled by foot (28%) and individual motorised transport on

the third place with a share of 27%.



When well-known companies join together rather than competing, there is usually something

big on the way. Together with Austrian road operator ASFINAG and the federal ITS agency

AustriaTech, illustrious names such as Kapsch TrafficCom, Siemens, Swarco and Efkon are

working together on the implementation of cooperative systems in the project “Testfeld

Telematik”. The 5.5 million Euro project is funded by the climate and energy funds – an

important federal initiator for sustainable technologies.

The test route in the urban areas of the Austrian capital Vienna includes Austria’s busiest

road, the motorway A23. Within this project, numerous ITS services feed from the live

systems working on this route are being tested and displayed on different mobile devices,

including for example accident and traffic jam warnings, information about road works, and

the display of road signs inside the vehicle. In the context of better road management,

another project goal is to encourage people to use public transport more often. Therefore

the recommendations also incorporate detailed information about the location and current

occupancy for Park & Ride. This allows the stimulation of modal shift.

But the hardware will not only be utilised to provide content to the users, it will also

anonymously collect relevant vehicle and environmental data. At the ASFINAG headquarters,

the data from both mobile and roadside devices will be used to generate an integrated

picture of the traffic situation in the urban area.

Austrian scientists and project developers have been researching multi-modal traffic

information and cooperative systems in national and EU funded projects for years. “Testfeld

Telematik” builds upon the knowledge acquired so far and incorporates insights from ongoing

projects such as VAO, GIP.at and GIP.gv.at. The aim of “Verkehrsauskunft Österreich”

(VAO) is to create one inclusive and unified data base for transport information services for

the whole of Austria, which can also recommend multi-modal routes and is based on yet

another two projects called GIP.at and GIP.gv.at.

The transport infrastructure data platform “ Graph Integration Platform ” (GIP.at) will

represent the first high quality intermodal traffic graph of Austria. With regard to climate

targets and reducing CO2 emissions, all possibilities are being explored. VAO is a very

significant project, creating the technical and organisational principles for a multimodal real-

time information system. Coordinated by Asfinag and sponsored by climate and energy funds,

this gives users easy access to travel information about public transport.

GIP.at combines all of the databases and geographic information systems, in which the

transport infrastructure in the public sector is controlled and collected. GIP identifies the

entirety of software, data, and policy, which work together for the industry and for the

modernisation of transport analysis. The aim of the project is to build up an integrated

regional reference system for the transport network in Austria. The digital map of transport

links should include all modes of transport, and transport information and management

should be recent, reliable, and should be operated on one common platform. Safety-relevant


implementation, for example accident data, should also be on the up-to-date map and can be

drawn upon as a reference. The infrastructure operators arrange the continuous updating of

the database. The allocated databases will be synchronised at regular intervals, and added to a

map of Austria. Information about the urban area will also be shown on the GIP, as will

information about car parks, car-sharing places, and public transport stations and stops. In

order to efficiently avoid traffic jams, the lower order road network will also be integrated in,

i.e., motorways, main roads, and suburban or rural roads will all be considered as options. In

the future, navigation systems from commercial suppliers will be able to access the

information hosted on open platforms, and thus can be improved. In contrast to the partly

redundant applications, which are available today, the mobility services of the future will

access one common database, and “communicate with one another”.

Since October 2002, the traffic information centre of Austrian federal broadcaster ORF

operates a comprehensive and freely accessible RDS-TMC service in Austria. This service is

broadcasted by the stations Ö1, Ö3, FM4, and the nine regional stations (Ö2).

The data are created and coded by the traffic information centre of Ö3 and broadcasted via

RDS-TMC. The editors receive accident and traffic jam messages from ASFINAG’s traffic

management and information system, from the police, road maintenance depots and about

20,000 so-called Ö3vers (registered traffic jam messengers). The editors evaluate and

process information before they are coded into digital traffic messages.

TMC traffic messages are located using the Austrian Location Code and the standardised

ALERT-C Event Code. The Location Code comprises all motorways and main roads as well

as the most important urban roads of the nine state capitals and also Dornbirn, Leoben,

Schwechat, Steyr, Villach, Wels and Wr. Neustadt. All traffic messages that are educible with

the LC-catalog will be encoded to a TMC-message and broadcasted in case of a delay.

By May 2008, 91% of all traffic messages broadcasted by ORF were also TMC-messages.

93% of all intraurban messages can be located via Location Code.

The Austrian Location Code is owned by ASFINAG and regularly maintained by ASFINAG,

the Ö3 traffic information centre and ÖAMTC.

The area has been equipped with the following technology which needs to be adapted

according to the SEE-ITS needs:

Transmitting / receiving facilities along the 45 kilometres of the demo site

Cooperative “Nomadic Devices” (comparable to an On-Board Unit)

Adapted processes and algorithms in the traffic control and traffic information centres

Test centre for data storage related to user behaviour and scientific reprocessing of

the experimental process.


6.3. ITS services implemented in Vienna

The following ITS services will be demonstrated during the Vienna pilot phase:

6.3.1. ITS services by category

6.3.1.1. In-vehicle signage

The service will inform drivers about dynamic road signs. The shown messages will comprise

the information displayed on variable message signs in the test area at A2/A23, A4, S1.

Figure 52: VMS traffic signage

(© AustriaTech)

Steps:

1. Traffic information is available at the SEE-ITS server.

2. The mobile applications requests information valid in a certain area around its current

position.

3. Symbols are shown on the map as long as they are within a certain (configurable)

distance to the current position of the mobile device.

4. When the distance to the location of the road signs falls below a certain threshold the

information is presented via a pop-up message.

5. More detailed information can be shown on request.


Figure 53: Possible app screen of “In-vehicle signage”

6.3.1.2. Hazardous location notification

The purpose of the service Hazardous-location notification is to warn drivers from upcoming

hazards as broken down vehicles, oil on the road, wrong-way driver, or lost goods. This

service allows warning the user also when there is no VMS or other warning sign deployed on

the track.

Steps:

1. Traffic information is available at the SEE-ITS server.


position.






6.3.1.3. Traffic jam ahead warning

This service will warn drivers when they are approaching the tail end of a traffic jam and thus

help to avoid rear end collisions. This service allows warning the user also when there is no

VMS or other warning sign deployed on the track. Therefore the user can be warned in an

effective way, where ever a traffic jam is detected.

Steps:

1. Information on traffic jams is available at the SEE-ITS server.


position.






6.3.1.4. Road works warning

The use case road works warning informs drivers of road works on the

route ahead. The purpose is to inform the driver in advance to increase

awareness and to inform of potential dangerous conditions. The driver is

also able to adapt the speed of the vehicle early enough. Additionally,

the user is informed about the length of the road works section.

Steps:

1. Road works information is available at the SEE-ITS server.


position.






6.3.1.5. Park & ride information

When driving near the park & ride facilities in the test area, information on the availability of

the park and ride facility as well the name of the exit leading to the park & ride facility is

provided. With this information the driver can e.g. in case of heavy traffic decide to switch to

public transport.

Steps:

1. Park and ride information is available at the SEE-ITS server.


position.






6.3.1.6. Floating Car Data

Aim of this service is to use vehicle as sensors to provide information on the current traffic

situation. The application sends periodically information on the current position, speed, and

heading to the SEE-ITS server. This data can be used in a next step for improving the

precision of traffic information. The users are also able to deactivate this service.

For the demo site Vienna three main aspects are considered:

1. End-users

End-users will be able to use an application which provides the 6 cooperative services

listed below. First draft mock-ups are presented below:

Figure 54: Possible Demosite Vienna HMI


2. Framework for developers

An important part of the demo site Vienna pilot is to provide a solution which is easy

transferable to interested European regions. Therefore developers will be provided a

software framework which is there to automate processes that are usually distracting

developers from the core purpose of their apps. It should also provide a clean API

while enabling deep configuration when necessary. The map part is also based on

Open Street Map to allow an easy adaptation.

Figure 55: Framework architecture overview


3. TPEG Server

TPEGs can be created using the backend interfaces provided or imported from a

local archive or text file. One important aspect is that of import adapter support. A

mechanism will be provided which allows developers to hook up their own import

adapters. As part of this demonstration, one such adapter will be created, which will

import data from ASFINAG servers, for the purpose of demonstrating the SEE-ITS

concept in Vienna.

The server will be based on the following core technologies:

Ruby 2 (Programming language)

Rails 4 (Web Framework)

PostgreSQL (Database management system)

Any additional libraries and assets will be made readily available, or easily installable

with the provided dependency specification.



In previous projects most of these services have been defined as day one use cases. Most of

the selected services have a safety aspect which is important for the Austrian ministry and the

Austrian motorway operator ASFINAG. Additionally the basic information for providing these

services is available.

CoSY TF Link – first day applications

The EasyWay Cooperative Systems Task Force identified the end user services and systems

with sufficient maturity for preparing, piloting and evaluation during EasyWay by the EasyWay

partners for eventual large-scale deployment as first priority services in close cooperation

with the other stakeholders such as the commercial automotive and device manufacture

industries, user organisations and other relevant partners.

The selection was carried out as a desktop analysis by the partners who scored the possible

cooperative systems and services (as listed comprehensively by earlier R&D projects,

standardisation bodies and European test sites) according to agreed criteria. The selection

comprised two phases. First, the task group identified the services relevant or very relevant

for EasyWay. Second, the services regarded as relevant for EasyWay were assessed on the

basis of a number of criteria. The most important criteria were the ones on TERN relevance,

contribution to road operators’/authorities’ objectives and policy impacts.

As a result, the task group proposed the following services for EasyWay first priority

cooperative services:

Hazardous location notification

Traffic jam ahead warning

Road works warning

Decentralised floating car data

Traffic information and recommended itinerary

In-vehicle signage (incl. speed management)

Automatic access control/parking management (incl. Intelligent Truck Parking)

It is important to note that the selected priority services still require a positive business case

and all major deployment issues would need to solve for them before the EasyWay partners

can conclude that these services are the actual priority services ready for piloting and

deployment. This will be ensured in the other work packages of the Cooperative Systems

Task Force.


ITS Corridor

In June 2013 the transport and infrastructure ministers of Austria, Germany, and the

Netherlands signed an agreement to deploy first cooperative intelligent transport systems on

a corridor from Rotterdam via Frankfurt am Main to Vienna. The first services planned to be

provided on this corridor are road works warning and probe vehicle data. This was another

reason for the Austrian SEE-ITS Demonstrator to provide these services as well.



The demo-site essentially covers mainly the motorway intersection A2/A23-A4-S1 as well as

the interface to the urban road network in the Vienna area with a length of about 45 km.

These road sections are operated by the Austrian highways agency (ASFINAG). The demo-

site was originally created for the Austrian project “Testfeld Telematik” (telematic testing

field), also used for the demonstration of cooperative systems at the ITS World Congress

2012. In SEE-ITS this test field will be used for the demonstration.

As A23 is the most heavily used motorway in Austria with 180.000 vehicles per day (VCOE,

http://www.vcoe.at/de/presse/aussendungen-archiv/details/items/vcoe-untersuchung-

suedosttangente-ist-meist-befahrene-autobahn-oesterreichs-18032013), it is also more likely

for users to experience e.g. traffic jams.


Figure 56: Demosite Vienna - motorway triangle S1-A23-A4

(Map: © OpenStreetMap contributers, http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright)

http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright



The implementation of the Vienna pilot will be carried out in the following steps:

Elaboration of concept for demo-site Vienna

o Basic demo-concept for Vienna will be developed in cooperation with the

Austrian motorway operator Asfinag.

o Concept will be the basis for the procurement process

Procurement process

o Collection of offers

o Assessment of received offers based on different criterias (price, quality of

technical solution, project management)

Development and set-up of the TPEG Server

o Development of the concept for the SEE-ITS TPEG demoserver

o Set-up of the server for the execution of the demosite

Development of software framework and end-user application

o Detailed definition of the selected use cases

o Design of mock-ups for the end-user application

o Development of software framework

o Development of end-user application software by use of the framework

Testing of software framework and end-user application

o Validation of the developed components and of the whole system

o Feedback for development concerning functionality, necessary modifications,

etc.

Presentation

o Preparation of the software framework for presentation to the project

partners and interested software developers

o Preparation of the user handbook for the user-test phase

Test-user involvement

o Acquisition of test-users

o Execution of user-tests

o Interaction with test users

o Final adaptation due to feedbacks from test users

Evaluation

o Development of the evaluation methodology (external support planned)

o Evaluation of the test results

o Elaboration of lessons learned and recommendations



The software framework for the pilot will be provided by efinity which has experience in

cooperative systems since several years. They have been selected from five interesting offers.

ASFINAG as the Austrian motorway operator will provide the necessary data for the services

at the Vienna pilot. ASFINAG is actively involved in several projects in the area of cooperative

systems and smart mobility. Test users will be involved according to the demo requirements.

A recruitment process will be developed.



to the whole year

After discussions with the motorway operator ASFINAG interested companies will be asked

to provide offers for the implementation of the Vienna demosite. The best offer will be

selected until July. A demo meeting is planned every two weeks to discuss the current status

and the next steps. The first version of the software application is planned for end of

October. Based on the first version the pilot testing will be started. In January 2014 selected

test users will test the application and provide feedback which will be further evaluated.

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dez Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Demonstration activities set-up

Elaboration of concept for demo-site Vienna

Procurement process

Demonstration activities execution

Development and set-up of the TPEG Server

Development of software framework and end-user application

Testing of software framework and end-user application

Presentation

Test-user involvement

Demonstration activities evaluation

Evaluation

2013 2014



The application includes also a feedback module with which the feedback of the up to 50 test

users will be collected and then evaluated. This collected data needs to be sent to a server,

and it must be possible to inspect the data. Specifically, it is also of high importance that a

possibility exists to inspect, analyse and respond to user generated feedback. This backend

will serve that purpose and also serve as a demonstration of how this backend can be built

and hooked up with the framework API. Based on the outcome of the pilot general

recommendations will be provided.

Based on the developed evaluation methodology recommendations will be elaborated and

distributed to interested stakeholders.



pilot phase

As the region will be part of the Cooperative ITS Corridor Rotterdam – Frankfurt – Vienna

the SEE-ITS software framework allows to easily implement additional cooperative

applications. Recommendations and lessons learned will be developed in the beginning of

2014 and can be used for follow up demonstrations. Cooperative services developed for the

Austrian demo-site can easily be transferred to other regions in Europe due to the open

source character of the framework.



As the software framework will be open source it is of interest for motorway operators,

cities, and service providers who can use the cooperative systems software framework for

their areas. An important part of the demo site Vienna pilot is to provide a solution which is

easy transferable to interested European regions. Therefore developers will be provided a

software framework which is there to automate processes that are usually distracting

developers from the core purpose of their apps. The framework will be presented and

explained in a dedicated workshop.

The application will help drivers in Austrian demo area by driving more safe and efficient.

Their feedback will be collected via pop-up questions and by interviews (e.g. questionnaire).


7. DESCRIPTION OF THE HUNGARIAN PILOT

SITE


The pilot will be implemented on route eurovelo-6 which crosses Pest County and the whole

country as well. Therefore the testing will be accomplished in the area of Pest County and

Danube Bend.

Figure 57: Map of Pest County and Danube Ben


Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is

bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to

the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital and largest

city is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union

Pest County

Pest County is a county in central Hungary. It covers an area of 6,393.14 square kilometers,

and has a population of 1,213,090 (in 2009 without the population of Budapest). It surrounds

the national capital Budapest and the majority of the county's population live in the suburbs of

Budapest. It shares borders with Slovakia and the Hungarian counties Nógrád, Heves, Jász-

Nagykun-Szolnok, Bács-Kiskun, Fejér and Komárom-Esztergom. The River Danube flows

through the county. The capital of Pest County is Budapest (administratively separate).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landlocked

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pannonian_Basin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_metropolitan_area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_metropolitan_area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%B3gr%C3%A1d_County

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heves_County

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1sz-Nagykun-Szolnok_County

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1sz-Nagykun-Szolnok_County

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1cs-Kiskun_County

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fej%C3%A9r_County

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kom%C3%A1rom-Esztergom_County

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube



7.1.1. Transport situation in Hungary and Pest County

Hungary has a highly developed road, railway, air and water transport system. Budapest, the

capital of the state and Pest County as well serves as an important node in the public

transport network.

Railway:

The Hungarian railway system is centralized around Budapest, where the three main railway

stations are the Eastern (Keleti), the Western (Nyugati) and the Southern (Déli). Southern is

the most modern but the Western and Eastern are more decorative and architecturally

impressive. Other important railway stations countrywide include Szolnok (the most

important railway junction outside Budapest), Tiszai Railway Station in Miskolc and the

stations of Pécs, Győr, Szeged and Székesfehérvár.

Tram and metro:

Four Hungarian cities have tram networks, and the four cities are Budapest, Debrecen,

Miskolc and Szeged . The Budapest Metro is the second-oldest underground metro system in

the world, and its iconic Line 1 (dating from 1896) was declared a World Heritage Site in

2002. The system consists of three lines (the fourth being under construction). Budapest also

has a suburban railway service in and around the city (HÉV).

Motorways:

Hungary has a total length of approximately 1,314 km (816.48 mi) motorways. Motorway

sections are being added to the existing network, which already connects many major

economically important cities to the capital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_State_Railways

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Railway_Station_(Budapest)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Railway_Station_(Budapest)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Railway_Station_(Budapest)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiszai_Railway_Station

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miskolc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9cs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gy%C5%91r

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szeged

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sz%C3%A9kesfeh%C3%A9rv%C3%A1r

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tram


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debrecen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miskolc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szeged

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Metro

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_transit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_1_(Budapest_Metro)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_rail

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%89V


Figure 58: Development program of road network


A good example to see the amount of development in transport system (especially in terms

of motorways’ total length) is the following diagram:

Figure 59: Total length of motorways in Hungary

Air transport:

There are five international airports in Hungary. Budapest Liszt Ferenc, Debrecen, Sármellék

(also called Hévíz-Balaton Airport for its proximity to Lake Balaton, Hungary's number one

tourist attraction), Győr-Pér and Pécs-Pogány. The national carrier, Malév Hungarian Airlines

operated flights to over 60, mostly European cities, but ceased operations on 3 February

2012. There are plans to start a new Hungarian airline in the near future, but the details are

not public yet.

Waterways:

The river Danube flows through Hungary and Budapest on its way to the Black Sea. The river

is easily navigable and so Budapest has historically been a major commercial port (at Csepel).

In the summer months a scheduled hydrofoil service operates up the Danube to Vienna. BKV

also provides public transport with boat service within the borders of the city. 3 routes

(marked D11-13) connects the 2 banks with Margaret Island and Hajógyári-sziget, from

Római fürdő (Buda side, North to Óbudai sziget) or Árpád Bridge (Pest side) to Rákóczi

Bridge, with a total of 15 stops. Several companies provide sightseeing boat trips and also an

amphibious vehicle (bus and boat) operates constantly. The Pest side is also a famous port

place with an international ship station.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Liszt_Ferenc_International_Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debrecen_International_Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1rmell%C3%A9k_International_Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Balaton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gy%C5%91r-P%C3%A9r_International_Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9cs-Pog%C3%A1ny_International_Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal%C3%A9v_Hungarian_Airlines

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Csepel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofoil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BKV

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Island

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d_Bridge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A1k%C3%B3czi_Bridge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A1k%C3%B3czi_Bridge


7.1.2. Eurovelo in Hungary

The European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) is coordinating the development of a network of

high-quality cycling routes that connect the whole continent. The routes can be used by

long-distance cycle tourists, as well as by local people making daily journeys. The name of

this network is EuroVelo currently comprises of 14 routes and it is envisaged that the

network will be substantially complete by 2020. The length of the network totalling over

66,000 km of which about 45,000 km is already in place.

Figure 60: Eurovelo routes

Two of the network’s routes Eurovel-6 and Eurovelo-11 cross Hungary and another line

Eurovelo-13 is leaded next to the boarder.

Hungary has developed dramatically in recent years in response to the increasing demand for

cycling. Today, Hungary has more than 2,000 kilometers of cycle track with another 200 in

Budapest. In addition, cycling services have risen to European standards, with repair shops,

and hotel, camping and catering outlets dotted along the cycle tracks. Cycling is now

permitted in a number of hilly and woodland regions, including national parks, but it is

important to know that cyclists must keep to marked routes.

http://www.eurovelo.org/home/ecf/

http://www.eurovelo.org/routes/


Since the 1990s there has been an increasing social demand for a healthy way of life along

with an environmental consciousness, so cycling has become part of society's active lifestyle.

Budapest region by bicycle

Budapest may not yet be a perfect cyclist paradise, when compared to some Western-

European cities, but is slowly getting there. The cyclist subculture has been increasingly

present for few decades now; moreover, Budapest has been home to Europe's biggest

cycling demonstration, Critical Mass, where in 2008 more than 80 000 people participated.

Bikeways are separated from the road in the downtown, but they may be used as car-park or

pedestrian zones.



There are two existing ITS services available in Hungary developed for cyclists. The first one

is an internet application called “útvonalterv.hu” accessible for any internet user by the

following address:

http://www.utvonalterv.hu

The operator and developer of the web page is “Topolisz Studio”. The Studio has developed

a professional geographical information system that can be used to provide route planning

between two or more points both for those travelling individually and for those who are using

public transportation services.

On the web page one can choose among five different modes of transport which are the

followings: car, taxi, public transport, bicycle or pedestrian. After choosing cycling transport

mode and adding a destination the application will suggest an optimal route to reach the

targeted area. It also measures the travelling time and length of the path.

The other available ITS service is KENYI operated by HTA (Hungarian Transport

Administration) and developed specially for cyclists. KENYI accessible for all internet users on

the address below:

http://www.kenyi.hu

The application is first of all a bicycle road register but also contains route planning function.

The main difference between the two services that KENYI focusing only on the bicycle roads

whilst útvonalterv.hu has wider range of database to fulfill the needs of different kind of users.


7.3. ITS services implemented in Hungary

The pilot service will be a free end user smart phone application. The purposes of the

application are to help bikers’ navigation in the pilot area and to demonstrate the utility of the

existing web services and databases too.

7.3.1. Detailed engineering specification on smart-phone application

Source database:

BKK (Budapest Transportation Center) GTFS timetables

MÁV (Hungarian National Railways) GTFS timetables

Danube Ferry GTFS timetables

HTA-KIRA database

Functions/ Characteristics:

Mobil application:

Offline operation based on local data

On user-initiated data update from online web server

Route planning by considering the user’s GPS position from the nearest public

transport station until the destination

Route planning from a selected public transport station

Constant navigation to the stop/station as well as during transit between stops

Displaying the expected traveling time and the route description

Distance measurement

Traveling time estimation and taking into account if the targeted station is still

accessible

Operation of GPS receiver and compass of the device

Hardware requirement:

The application must operate on the devices meeting the following criteria:

On common operating system of which version number is not older than one

and a half years

Supporting the resolution of 800x480, 1280x720, 1920x1200

1 GHZ or higher processor

Minimum 1 GB of RAM

Minimum 1 GB of available hard disk space

Server application:

PostgreSQL operating database by using the logic of GTFS format

GTFS importation function (for timetables data update)

GTFS exportation function (for maintenance)

Available platforms:


Android

iOS

Firefox OS

Ubuntu

7.3.1.1. Expected impacts and results of the implementation

For this implementation we expect that we can demonstrate the importance and the usability

of our database (KIRA) on different fields which will be the main source of the application.

The pilot can raise the reputation of KIRA within our company and also among our partner

organizations.

We also expect that the popularity of cycling and healthy life style can be extended

throughout such an application.



Lately several server side developments have been arranged:

KIRA: National Transport Information System and Database (integrated transport

network graph with wide range of attribute data)

KENYI: National Bicycle Road Database upgrade and data refresh

Public Transport module to KIRA.

Now it’s time to develop applications for the public end user side to utilize the benefits of the

existing databases and services. The SEE-ITS smart phone mobile app will be one of these.

As far as we see there is already a significant demand for such a service.



The location of the pilot will be the Hungarian part of Eurovelo-6 line.

Figure 61: Map of Eurovelo-6

Figure 62: Hungarian part of Eurovelo-6

Eurovel-6 is one of the most popular cross European cycle routes created by the European

Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) in 1994. The line starts at the Atlantic Ocean and finishes at the

Black See by crossing eight countries (France – Switzerland - Germany – Austria – Slovakia -

Hungary - Serbia – Romania) throughout 3563 km length. The route is well marked with

signs. About 70% of it is on dedicated traffic free cycle paths. The remainder is on quiet

country lanes and 95% of the surface is super-smooth asphalt.


The Hungarian section is about 470 km long leading next to the Danube from Rajka till

Mohács. It is not a coincidence that this route called the “path of the rivers”.

Possible way of bicycle transportation in the region:

Bicycles can be transported by train within Hungary for a small surcharge on routes marked

by a bicycle icon on the timetable. Bicycle carriages are also indicated by a similar icon, and

bikes can also be transported in the spaces at the ends of each carriage.

Furthermore bikes can be transported on the suburban train (HÉV) in Budapest.

The other possible transport connection is ferry, available on Danube as well during

Eurovelo-6 route.

Figure 63: Ferry on the river Danube



Steps of the development

1. Preparation: Create detailed function list

2. Public procurement for development

3. Detailed system and design plan from the winning developer

4. Development

5. Testing and documentation

6. Distribution

System architecture


- BKK (Budapest Transportation Center)

BKK is the Budapest transport controlling organization. This national company is

responsible for the operation and direction of Budapest transport system. BKK also

takes important part in the development of Budapest transport.

BKK will share major information (on the area of Budapest) which could be a part of

the pilot’s database.

- KTI (Institution for Transport Sciences Non-profit LTD.)

The KTI is a priority public benefit company. Together with its predecessors KTI

goes back more than 70 years into the past. The state-owned KTI is one of the

research bases of the Ministry of National Development. KTI's partners come from

KIRA (map, routing)

KENYI (bicycle info)

KIRA PT MODULE

(timetable)

SEE-ITS Mobile App

(biker navigation)

( )

SERVICES


both the public and private sector and are under the professional guidance of the

State. KTI - with its total research activity - plays a significant role among transport

research institutes in Hungary and within Europe as well.

KTI will provide information and timetables on coaches and railways

- KMSZ (Hungarian Cycling Federation)

KMSZ was founded in order to assist the implementation of Hungarian Cyclist

Program. The goal was to create an organization which will be capable of uniting the

civil society organizations’ credibility and strength with the private sector’s support.

KMSZ’s short-range targets are the followings:

To increase the proportion of cyclists; to increase the size and profitability of cycling

tourism; to increase the cycling sport participation in recreation.

KMSZ will support HTA in the dissemination of the completed smart phone

application. The organization will also assist the project in the testing and operating

period.

- MÁV (Hungarian National Railways)

MÁV is responsible of the operation and maintenance of the major part of Hungarian

national railways.

MÁV will provide timetables and further information to wider the knowledge of the

pilot’s database.

- Ferry operator companies

Different local companies operate ferries on river Danube. They will provide the

necessary timetables which will be uploaded into the pilot’s database.



to the whole year

HTA will follow the upcoming phases during the accomplishment of the pilot:

a) Providing detailed hardware requirements

Status: completed

b) Purchasing hardware for testing period

Status: completed

c) Providing detailed demands about the software

Status: completed

d) Public procurement process

Status: completed

e) Evaluation of the procurement

Status: completed

f) Software development period

Status: in process

g) Testing period

Status: not started yet

h) Pilot evaluation

Status: not started yet


Table 9: Time schedule of HTA

2013 2014

Jun

e

July

Au

g

Se

pt

Oct

No

v

De

c

Jan

Fe

b

Ma

rch

Ap

ril

Ma

y

Jun

e

July

Demonstration activities set-up

a

Providing detailed hardware

requirements

b

Purchasing hardware for testing

period

c

Providing detailed demands on

the software

d Public procurement process

e Evaluation of the procurement

Demonstration activities

execution

f Software development

g Testing period

Demonstration activities

evaluation

h Pilot evaluation



The mobile app will be distributed through app store(s). Download statistics, ratings and

software function usage by users will be monitored.

It is important to get as much feedback as possible therefore:

Mobile app will have a forum on the web where users can share their experiences about the

application and discuss their needs. The results will be taken into consideration at further

mobile app developments.



pilot phase

Server & database background and the mobile app as well will be capable to handle

nationwide information.

In case of the pilot’s success the services are planned to be extended for all bicycle roads of

Hungary.

Making the application to be capable of using as much database and existing information of

HTA as possible could be also a goal in terms of future development.

Business plans for the commercial exploitation:

The product will be accessible at app store(s) for free of charge. Any user will be able to

download it without paying for.



Stakeholders

a) Public – Travelers using bike as a major transport option

o local cyclists (travelling in order to approach their workplaces)

o tourists

o cyclists with recreational purposes

b) Cycle organizations – Any public or private company can be interested in order to

extend their services or databases.

Promotion

a) events and conferences

HTA participates in many events and conferences throughout a year where HTA will have

the opportunity to promote the completed pilot and share the information with other

companies.

b) internet

The most evident way to promote the pilot for public is the internet. HTA will contact the

cycle organizations asking for their cooperation in terms of promotion by using the

companies’ web pages or other related forums.

c) press

Another way to gain notoriety for the pilot is the press. HTA may issue a press release to

introduce this application for public.


8. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAGICHEVO PILOT

SITE


As far as the pilot project in Bulgaria is associated with use of ITS for the road traffic counting,

the general description directed to the road traffic. Other modes of transport are not subject

to the project and not be considered in this paper.

The main goal of the pilot project is to showcase the tool for traffic volume, travel time and

speed counting and that would be beneficial both parties the National Road Administration

and Sofia Municipality too. This purpose invokes to see the scope of the pilot project on two

levels:

Country( national road network ) and

The Municipality / City


8.1.1. Country level general description

Geographically, Bulgaria is situated on the eastern edge of Europe, bordering the Black Sea,

Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Bulgaria’s favorable geographical location

provides excellent conditions for bridging West and Central Europe with the Near East, West

and Central Asia. On the other hand, improving the transport connectivity with the

neighboring countries will lead to considerable amount of new opportunities for additional

routes and changes in the old routes. In addition, a number of Trans-European Transport

Network (TEN-T) corridors and trade-oriented axes, as defined by various European Council

(EC) Directives, pass through Bulgaria. The detailed description and explanation for these

corridors by mode of transport will be made at a later phase of the development of the

strategic master plan. The Figure below illustrates the geographical location of Bulgaria

Figure 64: Geographical Location of Bulgaria

Bulgaria has been subject to rapid economic development from the year 2000 onwards,

Bulgaria’s gross domestic product (GDP) increasing more than 46% from 2000 till now. In

addition, there has been a significant movement of people from rural to urban areas. There

has also been rapid development of the tourist industry, particularly in the Black Sea coastal

resort areas around Burgas and Varna.

Despite the improving economic situation, Bulgaria’s population has been falling at more than

1% per year. This is partly due to a low birth rate, but also because workers are migrating

out of Bulgaria in search of better employment and living prospects elsewhere. With

Bulgaria’s accession to EU, opportunities for migration have been enhanced. It is therefore


important for Bulgaria’s long-term prosperity that it develops quickly, so that businesses and

workers can be encouraged to remain there.

ROAD TRANSPORT

According to art.3, par.1 from the Bulgarian Road Act the road network in the country

consists of republican (national) and local roads.

The national roads are the motorways, speedways and the roads from first, second and third

category. The republican roads ensure the transport connections of national importance and

form the national road network (NRN).

The local roads are the municipal and the private roads, open for public use. These roads

ensure transport connections of local importance and are linked to the republican roads or to

the streets. According to their administrative-economic importance in the transport scheme,

the local municipal roads are categorized into first, second, and third category.

The NRN are managed by Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) and by National Company

“Strategic Infrastructure Projects” (NCSIP) at the MRDPW in the cases, envisioned in the

Road Act. The municipal roads are managed by the mayors of the relevant municipalities. The

private roads are managed by their owners – legal entities or physical persons.

The list of the NRN is approved with Decision No 945 from 01 December 2004 of the

Council of Ministers, amended and supplemented with Decision No 666 of the Council of

Ministers, promulgated in SG No 61 on 10.08 2012. According to it, the motorways in

Bulgaria are the following table:

Table 10: Bulgarian Motorways

Motorway Lenght*

(km)

А – 1, Sofia – Plovdiv – Stara Zagora – Yambol - Burgas (Trakiya MW) 361

А – 2, Sofia – Botevgrad – Shumen – Devnya - Varna (Hemus MW) 433

А – 3, Pernik – Dupnitsa – Sandanski - border with Greece (Struma MW) 156

А – 4,– (Plovdiv – St. Zagora) - Harmanli – Svilengrad - border with Turkey

(Maritsa MW)

117

А – 5,– Varna – Burgas (Cherno more MW ) 110

А – 6, Sofia – Pernik (Lyulin MW) 19

*Note: The length of the motorways is according to RIA 2012 data.


The Trans European corridors in Bulgaria are shown in Figure 65.

Figure 65: Trans European corridors

The first category roads, included in the Trans-European road network, are nine: Road 1 /Е-

79/, Road 2 /Е-70/, Road 3 /Е-83/, Road 4 /Е-772/, Road 5 /Е-85/, Road 6 /Е-871 and Е-773/,

Road 7; Road 8 /Е-80and Е-85/, and Road 9 /Е-87/.


Figure 66: E-roads network in Bulgaria

Figure 66 shows the E-road network in Bulgaria that is listed in Table 11.

Table 2.

Table 11: European Agreement on E-roads (AGR) on main international traffic arteries

Number of European road and the

road section starting from /ending

at (border city, place)

A = Motorway

NR = National

Road

Length

(km)

Year of

agreement

with the EU

E-70: Ruse – Shumen NR2 114.0 (2002)

E-70: Shumen - Varna A2 83.8 (2002)

E-79: Botevgrad - Sofia A2 36.0 (2001)

E-79: Sofia - Kulata NR2 169.9 (2002)

E-79: Vidin - Botevgrad NR1 193.3 (2005)

E-80: Sofia-Plovdiv - Orisovo A1 165.2 (2001)

E-80: Kalotina - Sofia NR8 48.7 (2002)

E-80: Orisovo - Haskovo NR8 58.3 (2002)

E-80 (E-85): Haskovo - Svilengrad NR8 62.4 (2002)

E-80: Svilengrad – Kapitan Andreevo NR8 21.3 (2002)

E-83: Byala - Pleven - Botevgrad NR3 198.6 (2002)

E-85: Ruse - Byala NR5 51.6 (2002)


Number of European road and the

road section starting from /ending

at (border city, place)

A = Motorway

NR = National

Road

Length

(km)

Year of

agreement

with the EU

E-85: Svilengrad – Orminion NR8 3.5 (2002)

E-85: Byala – Veliko Turnovo – Stara

Zagora - Haskovo NR5 241.9 (2008)

E-87: Romania - Shabla - Varna -

Burgas – Malko Turnovo - Turkey NR9 367.8 (2008)

E-772: Yablanica – Veliko Turnovo -

Shumen NR4 268.4 (2008)

E-773: Popovica – Stara Zagora -

Sliven - Burgas NR66 233.5 (2002)

E-871: Skopie - Kustendil - Pernik NR6 80.4 (2008)

Source: Economic Commission for Europe of the UN

The length of all sections of E-roads in Bulgaria is approximately 2,400 km, representing

12.4% of the total length of NRN.

As of 01.01.2012 the total length of the NRN is 19 512 km and of them:

The motorways are 458 km, 2,3 % from the NRN;

The Іst class roads are 2 970 km, and of them 272 km are with four traffic lanes, 15,2

% from the NRN;

The ІInd class roads are 4 030 km, and of them 152 km are with four traffic lanes,

20,7 % from the NRN;

The ІIIrd class roads are 11 766 km, and of them 64 km are with four traffic lanes,

60,3 % from the NRN;

The road junctions (RJ) are 288 km long, 1.5 % from the NRN

Distribution of NRN illustrate on figure below.


1. MOTORWAYS – 2..3% FROM NRN - 458 KM

2. FIRST CATEGORY - 15.2 % FROM NRN - 2 970 КМ

3. SECOND CATEGORY - 20.7% FROM NRN - 4 030 КМ

4. THIRD CATEGORY - 60.3% FROM NRN - 11 766 КМ

5. ROAD JUNCTIONS - 1.5% FROM NRN - 288 КМ

Figure 67: National road network of Bulgaria

The density of the Republican Road Network by road types is as follows:

Motorways – 4.13 km per 1000 км2, compared with about 28-32 km per 1000 км2

for the developed countries from EU /Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Holland/ and 14-

20 km per 1000 km2 for the medium developed countries of the union, such as

Slovenia, Austria etc.;

Speed roads /four-lane/ roads – 3.82 km per 1000 km2, compared with 16-26 km

per 1000 km2 for the majority of the European countries;

First, second, and third category is 172 km per 1000 км2, comparable with the

average density of the EU member states.

Considering the geographic location of the country and the circumstance that through its

territory pass five /incl. TETC No 7 – Danube River/ of the defined ten Trans-European

transport corridors, the small share of the motorways and the speed roads may be qualified

as essential deficiency of the Republican Road Network.

1

2

3

4

5


The road structures are important and inseparable part of the road infrastructure, while the

value of the bridges is many times higher compared with this of the road pavements. The

total number of structures along the NRN below 5 meters /culverts/ is 38 812, with a total

length of 511 926 meters. Structures higher than 5 m – different types of bridges and

structures, as well as the tunnels, have been distributed by category as follows:

Table 3. Annual reports of the District Road Administrations, RIA

STRUCTURE BY

TYPE OF

MATERIAL

ROAD CATEGORY

TOTAL

МW

І

category

ІІ

category

ІІІ

category

Road

junctions

solid/steel pcs. 338 879 728 1608 205 3758

m 26 409 36 004 23 497 44 798 4202 130 708

wooden pcs. - - - 3 - 3

m - - - 91 - 91

Narrow Bridges - 8 53 282

TOTAL pcs. 338 879 728 1611 205 38161

m 26 409 36 004 23 497 44 889 4202 135 001

TUNNELS pcs.

8

double 8/3+5/ 10 6 - 32

TOTAL М 4 808 1 615 1360 452 - 8235

According to the active normative documents, General profile counting on the republican

road network is carried out each fifth year /ending at zero or five/. The traffic intensity by

road categories, according to the carried out General profile counting is provided below,

excluding the sections within the settlements. The data in table No.3 shows a steady increase

of the average 24-hour intensity by years.

Table 12: Average Annual Daly Traffic of NRN

Road

category Average Annual Daly Traffic*

Projec

tion

for

1990 1995 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2020*

MW 12 334 11 164 10 967 12 993 13 825 14 849 16 131 16 568 19016 19794 18 949 26 530

І

category 3 244 5 394 4 764 5 202 5 893 6 474 6 309 7 083 8 263 8 021 6 829 9 560

ІІ

category 2 182 2 758 2 497 2 904 3 073 3 379 3 500 4 035 4 205 4 344 3 781 5 210

ІІІ

category 1 157 1 497 1 456 1 757 1 831 2 016 2 123 2 416 2 402 2 213 1 813 2 540

*The projection for traffic increase until 2020 is from 15% for the Municipal roads according to data

until 2000 and up to 40% for the motorways and the speed roads.

Source: RIA – CIRTNENS


Figure 68: Average Annual Daly Traffic of NRN

Table 13: Length of the road sections by AADT

AADT Length of the road sections, on which counting is carried

out, by road category

km

MW І category ІІ category ІІІ category

Up to 500 96.676 292.479 1396.194

501 – 1000 105.201 616.943 1767.289

1001 – 2000 191.800 1038.738 1673.337

2001 – 3000 399.541 622.285 526.049

3001 – 5000 17 730.186 578.460 202.669

5001 - 10000 69.600 910.849 331.848 126.181

above 10000 230.015 174.418 132.252 17.280

Source: RIA – CIRTNENS

0

5.000

10.000

15.000

20.000

25.000

30.000

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2020

МW

І-st category

ІІ-nd category

ІІІ-rd category


Figure 69: Bulgarian NRN by AADT

Figure 70: Traffic volume distribution by road categories

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

MW І category ІІ-category ІІІcategory

до 500 501 - 1000 1001 -2000 2001 - 3000 3001 - 5000 5001 - 10000 above 10000

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

до 500 501 -

1000

1001 -

2000

2001 -

3000

3001 -

5000

5001 -

10000

above

10000

MOTORWAYS І CATEGORY ІІ CATEGORY ІІІ CATEGORY


Important factor for the taking of decisions for proper financing of the transport sector

besides the traffic intensity, are the transported loads by the different types of transport. The

statistical data, providing the breakdown of the transported loads between the railway and

the automobile transport is given in the next graphics, from which it is obvious that the

shipments accomplished by the automobile transport are more than 9 times higher than

those made by the railway transport.

According to these data, the shipments accomplished by the automobile transport of loads

and people are increasing despite the introducing of measures for traffic redirection to other

types of transport.

Figure 71: Goods by road and rail transport

0,00

50,00

100,00

150,00

200,00

250,00

300,00

SHIPPED LOADS BY AUTOMOBILE AND

RAIL TRANSPORT 1990-2010, MILLION

TONNES

Automobile Railway


This data confirms the trend for increasing the average annual traffic by the different road

categories, and this loading on the motorway sections and on the Ist category roads is the

most significant and has the biggest influence in the operational state of the pavements.

Simultaneously with that, the trend towards increasing the total weight of the heavy trucks

and their impact on the road pavements should be considered for the data analysis.

It becomes clear from the NSI data that the operational load of the road network is

increasing and that of the railway network is decreasing, despite the large investments, made

in the railway network. 8.5-9 times more loads are being shipped along the road network.

Figure 72: Automobile fleet in Bulgaria 1990-2010, source: National Statistical Institute

0

500.000

1.000.000

1.500.000

2.000.000

2.500.000

3.000.000

3.500.000

1990 1995 2000 2005 2006* 2010

total number of MTV


NB:The reduction of MTV during 2006 is due to officially terminated registration of MTV,

which have not been re-registered on time.

The road deterioration and the operational load of the road network are impacted to the

highest degree by the heavy-duty trucks, and we need to take into account the following

essential changes since 1990 to date, namely:

The transit through Bulgaria has increased many times, especially after the accession

of Bulgaria to the European Union on 01.01.2007.

The number of the heavy duty trucks inside the country has doubled from 1990 to

2009 from 146 000 in 1990 to 301 000 in 2010 – i.e. 206 %;

The total weight and the loading capacity of the heavy-duty trucks are also increasing;

The number of the automobiles has grown almost twice, mainly at the expense of the

motorcycles and mopeds.

It should be noted that during the recent years it has been reported that in the EU as a whole

there is an increase in the number of the automobiles, as well as an increase in their power in

all aspects. The projections for future increase of the shipment of loads and passengers are

the biggest for the “automobile transport” sector compared with the remaining types of

transport.

Taking into consideration factors, such as the permanent increase of the total number of cars

and the improvement of their dynamic indicators, is of great importance for the proper

planning and the achievement of sustainable development of the road network in the

Republic of Bulgaria.

The new technical parameters of the motor transport vehicles require the building of roads,

which meet the contemporary needs and high loadings.

A big part of the Bulgarian roads are amortized, with technical parameters not meeting the

European requirements and with reduced flow capacity

Bulgaria is bordered to the west by Serbia and FYR Macedonia to the south by Greece and

Turkey to the east by the Black Sea to the north with Romania. As a result, Bulgaria is a

transit country for many trans-European connections. Next table presents the cross-border

points in Bulgaria.


Table 14: Boundary intersections

Boundary intersections Position on E-road

1 Malko Turnovo – Derekioi (BG - TR) E 87

2 Kapitan Andreevo – Capukule (BG - TR) E 80

3 Svilengrad – Ormenion (BG - GR) E 85

4 Kulata - Promahon (BG - TR) E 79

5 Gueshevo – Deve Bair (BG - FRM) E 871

6 Kalotina - Gradina (BG - YG) E 80

7 Vidin - Kalafat (BG - RO) E 79

8 Ruse - Gurgu (BG - RO) E 85

9 Varna -Veche (BG - RO) E 87


8.1.2. The Municipal (city) level general description

Sofia, like the biggest attractor and most important city in the country was chosen for

demonstration of the possibilities of this pilot project. All other cities, regardless of small or

large always learned lessons from Sofia experience and try to apply good practice.

Sofia is the capital city of Bulgaria and the largest urban center in the country with a

population of approximately 1.3 million people. Sofia has experienced significant growth over

the past few years. As is typical of many large urban areas throughout the world, rapidly

increasing populations strain existing transportation infrastructure to the point where

extreme congestion is prevalent for six to eight hours a day. The economic effects of such

congestion levels are significant to say nothing of its impact on the environment and general

quality of life.

To address this issue, the city of Sofia developed the “MASTER PLAN of the city of Sofia and

Sofia Municipality”. The Master Plan includes a program to improve urban transportation, and

specifically the improvement of traffic and parking conditions within the central area of Sofia.

Traffic management systems have been identified as key components to improve the capacity

and efficiency of the urban transport system.

Over the last decade, the importance of traffic management has been recognized as an

effective tool in reducing traffic congestion without the need for large-scale investment in

transportation infrastructure, and its related impacts on existing land users. These traffic

management measures are intended to ease congestion and improve traffic flow and safety

allowing a management-intensive approach rather than a capital-intensive one.

The spatial developments of Sofia result in a subsequent growth in traffic flows in the urban

network of Sofia. Due to this traffic growth, more and more intersections have been and will

be signalled with traffic lights.


Figure 73: Daily traffic flows summed over both directions (vehicles per day)

Source: Ministry of transport & Sofproect

Because of the rapid growth of traffic, car drivers experience more delays on the streets and

at the signal controlled intersections. It turns out that major delays for car traffic occur:

Mainly in central Sofia;

On parts of ring road.

In central Sofia, many intersections are manually controlled from traffic towers. This manual

control is needed:

Because of the large and increasing volumes of traffic, and

Because the signal timings of the traffic signals are not appropriate for the actual

volumes of traffic.


Figure 74: Problematic routes (delays in minutes) and problematic

Both aspects illustrate that it is necessary to improve traffic control in order to make a better

use of the transport infrastructure and resources and to obtain a reduction of traffic pollution

in the central Sofia area. But on the other hand, manual traffic control also has negative

aspects. It results in higher delays on other parts of the network that are not manually

controlled.

The Public Transport system in Sofia consists of a tram, trolley, metro and bus network.

Public Transport, and in particular trams, trolleys and buses, also experience increasing delays

in Sofia. This is a serious problem, because a good public transport system is also necessary to

reduce the growth of car traffic in an urban network and to guarantee the accessibility of

large areas in the city.

Because of the increasing amount of traffic, there is also an increasing number of accidents in

Sofia. It is identified that:

Most severe accidents, with casualties, occur on the arterial roads;

In the central Sofia area, minor accidents with car damage occur the most.


Based on these observations, traffic safety is not a big concern in central Sofia, but it is more

an issue on major arterial roads.

Figure 75: most problematic accident locations (source: traffic police and fire brigade)

In the operation of public transport, the following problems are identified:

The operating speed of trams and busses are low;

The vehicles encounter long delays at most traffic signals;

Delay for Public Transport occurs mostly on roads surrounding and leading to the

central area (City Centre) of Sofia.

The variation in travel times is large; this causes problems to accomplish their

timetables; also, there is a poor regularity at tram and bus stops along various routes.


Figure 76: Location of traffic lights in Sofia



Existing ITS systems

NRN

Sofia Municipality

The Sofia Municipality has 316 traffic light controllers on different intersections in the city:

211 are old devices, 92 are new (recently replaced) devices, and last year, 13 new

signalized intersections were added;

Controllers control signal groups grouped into “stages”, and also non-vehicle

movements such as pedestrians. The maximum number of signal groups that the

controller can handle is 64;

the timing plans of the controllers are described by a fixed stage diagram (cycle time,

splits, offsets);

coordination between controllers on green waves is performed via electrical offset

pulse;

Network traffic control is performed on green waves. These green waves have one

fixed time program for the whole day. There is one green wave (Alexandar Malinov)

that has three different timing plans for different periods of the day.

On critical intersections traffic can be controlled manually by the policeman in a

traffic control tower on the intersection. Normally, every day during morning peak or

evening peak the policeman takes over control from the controller and switches

stages manually from the tower by hand. If necessary, information is communicated

to the policeman in the next traffic tower by radio signal communication;

In time based coordinated mode, the controller can have 8 time-of-day schedule

entries per 24 hours, but in practice only one schedule is used. A dedicated

telephone cable is used for transmitting an electrical offset pulse to the controllers;

The controllers have priority operation mode, i.e. the so called “special phase” (in

case of VIP delegations, ambulances, fire brigades cars etc.);

The Public Transport Company has a Fleet Management System in operation. With this

system, based on GPS communication of tram vehicles, they can track the location of the

trams. This information is received by a central server at the office of the PT Company. On

the central server, an application is running to calculate if a vehicle is on schedule or not. This

information is, at this moment, not being used for demanding Public Transport priority at

signalized intersections.


Figure 77: Current and planned green waves

Existing ITS services

The first activity on work package 5 were a number of meetings of the ITS Bulgaria staff

involved in the SeeITS project with the goal of selecting the required external expertise.

Based on the essence of the project and its goals a number of requirements were defined.

The engineers should have general knowledge of ITS and particular expertise and experience

with traffic sensor technology and traffic data transmission and processing. Additionally good

communication skills and knowledge of English are a must.

Transport Research Institute (TRI) an ITS Bulgaria member

Todor Anastassov – Traffic engineer and consultant with many years of experience in

international projects, experience with sensor technology and successful implementation of

Bluetooth sensor technology in the city of Dobrich and Kresna rural road.

Asen Milanov

Secretary General of ITS Bulgaria – an IT engineer and ITS expert with experience in sensor

technology like inductive loops, piezo strips, pneumatic sensors and others.


8.2.1. Overview of the existing and feasible sensor technologies

A brief analysis of the currently available and proven technologies was made. The scope

included: inductive loops, piezo stripes, laser sensors both horizontal and vertical, combined

ultrasonic Doppler radar, volume classifiers, various video detecting technologies and

Bluetooth sensors. Considering the local characteristics and the goal of the project the above

mentioned technologies will be evaluated according the following criteria.

Sensor technology evaluation criteria:

1 Technology maturity

2 Usefulness of the produced data – accuracy, number of vehicle classes, relevance of the

data

3 Power requirements – very important factor considering that the dominant part of the

Bulgarian road infrastructure is not electrified

4 Invasiveness toward the road surface – road owners/operators are prohibited by the

guarantee conditions of the construction companies to alter the road

5 Requirements for additional supporting infrastructure – Can significantly increase the total

cost of installation or in some cases can be impossible to mount due to technical and/or

legal issues.

6 Total cost – should fit into the budget

7 Communication capabilities

Inductive loop counters

Advantages:

Inductive loop counters are one of the oldest and well proven technologies. Single loop

counters can classify up to 7 classes of vehicles based on their length, which is sufficient for

the goals of the project. It is low power device - in the milliwatt region and thus can be

installed without the need of an external uninterruptible power supply, like solar panels, fuel

cells and s.o. . A small size battery is enough to power the sensor for a period in the

proximity of an year. This is an important feature considering that with some minor

exceptions there isn't electrification on the majority of the bulgarian roads. Additionally the

sensor doesn't require direct view of the road and can be housed in an adjacent cabinet next

to the road. The price of the equipment is comparable to the an indicative of 2000 euro per

point for up to 4 lanes. It has a good integrated communication part - modems.

Disadvantages:

The onliest disadvantage of the technology is the fact that it is invasive which results in legel

issues as the road owner is prohibited to alter the road in its guarantee period. Technically

this results in additional complexity and cost of installation, need for temporary traffic

management and the negative long term effect on the road.

Piezo strips


The situation with the piezo strips is identical with the above described for inductive loops.

The only difference being the shorter life of the piezo stips, which compared to the duration

of the project is irrelevant and the bigger diversity of vehicle classes recognized.

Laser sensors

Advantages:

Laser sensors are also well proven technology. They are noninvasive, contactless, have a long

life and the recognized vehicle types could be up to 40. They have a relatively low power

requirements - somewhere under 2 watts.

Disadvantages:

This sensor types require additional supportive infrastructure like gates. If it is not available it

is technically complex, costly and sometimes due to safety and other regulations not always

possible to build. This all additionally contributes to one of the major disadvantage of the

technology – cost. A single lane sensor costs in the proximity of 1000 to 1400 euro, which

considering the additional infrastructure cost exceeds the project budget per point. Quite

often they require additional units to manage the serial signal output (RS232) or modems to

transmit the IP datagrams.

Combined laser doppler and ultrasonic sensors

This type of sensors is the most advanced type of sensor technology to date. It can deliver

more information with higher accuracy than just the laser sensors. Its major disadvantages are

even higher than the laser technology cost of single lane detecting unit and the bit higher

power demands.

Video technology

Advantages:

Video sensors are an established traffic measurement technology. They are noninvasive,

contactless and have a long life with practically no maintenance. Although they require some

elevation above the road, this is bearable considering that the majority can be mounted on

close to every adjacent object with sufficient height. With indicative cost from 1500 – 2100

euro per point for 2 to 3 lanes, depending on the functionalities they fit into the budget.

Disadvantages:

One of the key disadvantages is the limited number of classified vehicle types – not more than

three.

Although not being a very low power device with average consumption of 3 to 6 Watts it

could be powered with solar panels. Not all cameras of that type have communication

equipment, which means added technical complexity and cost. Single unit/point video sensors

for intersection detecting all the traffic, including turnings, are too expensive to fit even with a

single unit.


Bluetooth

Advantages:

The bluetooth traffic sensors are the newest, but a very promising technology. They are

noninvasive, can detect on more than 10 lanes – way more than it could practically be

needed. All that with just one sensor making it a very cost effective solution. A unit itself

costs around 1800 to 2500 euro and usually has all the communication equipment integrated.

It requires no addition infrastructure and no direct view of the road. The sensors being pretty

compact can easily be concealed in an adjacent cabinet (traffic light controller box, street

lighting power boxes and s.o.) in the proximity of the road. Bluetooth is the onliest other

technology, except the extremely costly ANPR that can output average speed of travel and

the percental separation of the traffic flow. The sensors operate and represent the traffic like

a network. The road side units have a very low consumption – less than 1.5 watts and can be

powered with solar panels. Additionally the majority are well integrated with server software

for data storage and visualization.

Disadvantages:

The onliest disadvantage is that bluetooth sensors can not classify the passing vehicles and do

not measure the intensity of the traffic flow - just its travel time


8.3. ITS services implemented in Sofia

Travel Information Services provide drivers and travelers with current or estimated road

and/or public transport status information, i.e.: delay times at congested road sections, length

of traffic queues, road incidents, road works, and bus arrival and departure (delayed) times.

Travel information services help the drivers to make optimized decisions on their travel

departure time, or their travel route, and avoiding travel delays or road congestion. By

informing drivers and travelers on road conditions, the Road (traffic) operator can influence

travelers’ choices and minimize impacts on expected or already problematic sections of the

road network: less road congestion, less environment impacts and improved road safety.

Typical Traveler Information systems in urban environments include:

Pre-Trip travel information

Internet based: Road traffic delay times, Queue length, (Multimodal) Route

planners, video image

Radio and TV traffic bulletins

Telephone traffic info service

On trip travel information service

RDS-TMC information via Radio and Route Navigation systems

Variable Message Signs (VMS) with information of road accidents, road

works, travel times and queue length, route advise

Internet and Telephone (same as pre-trip)


Figure 78: Example of Internet traffic information services

Based on the current implementation plans in the city of Sofia two main Traveler information

Services were identified, which should be implemented that have a direct interconnection

with Sofia’s Traffic management system: Variable Message Signs and Internet based Road

Traffic information

Variable Message Signs

VMS signs are a traffic management tool used by road managers to warn and advise drivers

for traffic and road situations during the trip. Currently the Sofia Municipality has installed 2

or 3 VMS signs and there are plans to install 5 or 6 more until the end of this year, but clear a

functionality strategy for this system is not yet available.

The Sofia Municipality should develop a VMS sign strategy integrated in the overall Traffic

Management strategy, i.e. in coordination with the other systems and traveller information

services.

The VMS strategy should include the following main steps:

Definition of the type of information to be presented in VMS signs per desired

function: warnings (incidents or congestion), advice (route guidance), control (speed

limits) or information (travel time or weather). Each type of information requires the

availability of different data collection and detection systems, as well as operation

capabilities within the traffic control centre. Also different types of VMS display

boards should be applied according to the desired functionality.


Definition of the positioning of VMS signs within the network. Based on the study of

the current and future flows in the network estimation of impacts, the “most

valuable” positions can be defined for each sign and also according the type of

information to be displayed. In order to have some impact on drivers decisions the

position of VMS should not only be restricted to the city centre but also be studied

the possibility to inform drivers close to the main entrances of Sofia. For these cases,

a coordinated action with the national road director agency should be required.

Definition of the content of the traffic information to be displayed including the

assessment of traffic data to be collected by the existing or planned detection system.

When necessary additional requirements for detection or data collection systems

should be defined. For example, information to be displayed about traffic accidents

ahead on the road will require a continuous visual monitoring using camera

positioned on the roads for that purpose.

Definition of the roles and responsibilities for the different stakeholders involved in

the VMS operation

Internet based Road Traffic information

Internet is an efficient and popular distribution channel for traffic information. Before starting,

or during a trip, travelers can verify road and traffic conditions and adjust their route or travel

mode choice accordingly. Such service improves not only road traffic conditions but can also

promote the use of public transport.

It is our recommendation to develop a road traffic information internet service, including

information on current and planned traffic conditions. This service can be based on the

current traffic data collected with detection systems, supported by data processing and on-

line modeling techniques. The maintenance and operation of the website should be included

in the traffic management system. The website can also be enhanced with a city route planner

service, depending only on the availability of local geo-mapping information.

The Sofia Public transport company has already an information internet website which is

being improved with services schedules and information on actual travel times. This service

can be complemented with road traffic conditions, for example delays and road works,

collected and distributed by the Sofia traffic management system.

The type and quality of the Sofia Travel Information services above mentioned will be

determined by the availability and quality of their main already existing and planned

supporting systems: Data collection, Central data processing and Information distribution.

These components must be specified and integrated with other functionalities (urban traffic

control) of the Traffic Management Systems of Sofia.

A phased implementation plan for current and future Traveler information services must be

defined, taking into account current initiatives, available resources and technologies, and

expected level of impact on the project objectives.


Following the project's vision of being a pilot, to demonstrate the full capability of a given

technology and to stress on traveler information and institutional data exchange, a network

with a minimum of three or four sites is required. Based on the available part of the budget

for on-site sensor equipment and the number of locations, two technologies emerge as

feasible: inductive loops and Bluetooth sensors. The advantages are:

relatively low cost of sensors and installation

low power devices that can be powered on batteries for the loop sensors and solar

panels for the Bluetooth sensors – both proven in praxis

no additional constructions required (except some channels for the loop wire)

available expertise and experience for both sensor types ( the two external experts)

available and proven server side software

The inductive loops are a well proven solution, but has the disadvantage of being intrusive

related to the road surface and here the Bluetooth comes as a complementary solution.



The Bluetooth channel is used for data transmission for a limited amount of data; the channel

is efficient and cost effective. Bluetooth communication is used by mobile telephones, hands-

free sets, GPS navigators and more. All these Bluetooth emitting devices leave a unique digital

footprint. As the vehicles circulate the Bluetooth Sensor will pick up these signals and track

the path of the vehicles. With a significant percentage of the passing vehicles providing a

Bluetooth signal the sensors will provide very, very accurate traffic information.

We choose Bluetooth technology because it has the following advantages and functionality:

Low power consumption; 1.8W (12-24 VDC)

Flexibility; DIN-rail, 3U rack, pole, mast arm

Urban; small and easy to mount

Range; more than 100 meters

Connection; GPRS – Ethernet

Simple Diagnostics;

Clock synchronization; GPS - GPRS – Ethernet

Central software; international patent pending unique algorithms

Live exact travel time information 24 hours/day

Detailed origin/destination information 24 hours/day

Raw data storage for maximum flexibility

Ad-hoc studies with free choice of percentiles, sensor combinations, max journey

times & storage intervals

Detailed origin/destination information 24 hours/day

Individual speed studies

Compare different routes between A and B

Compare days of the week, workdays or holidays

UTMC Standard DATEX II

Export data to Excel

This is a very cost effective solution because:

Automatic configuration

Low cost multi-lane sensors

No road closure

Fast and easy installation

Limited maintenance

Furthermore, a member of the ITS Bulgaria has applied it successfully in two places - urban

(Dobrich) and outside the city – on the first class road through Kresna Gorge.



There are a number of important factors that play a role in the selection of the site. Our

evaluation is based on the following criteria:

Importance of traffic information: To draw the seeked interest of users and

experts the pilot should provide both important and practically useful

information. This reduces the best site candidates to highly used and possibly

newly built traffic knots for whom no studies have been conducted.

Power supply: This is a major issue, because the rural roads in Bulgaria (with

some minor exceptions) do not have electrification. Even on some suburban road

where there is a possibility to electrify a site, it is connected with extensive civil

work, which is costly prohibitive.

Sensor specific requirements: Some sensor types must be mounted above road.

This means either an existing construction – a bridge, pedestrian passing or gate

will be used or a new one should be build. This could be an obstacle due to: a)

legal and technical reasons – permissions, road safety issues, regulatory

requirements or lack of space b) costly prohibitive civil work. Other major

consideration is that the road authorities are not allowed to make changes on

newly built roads while they are in their guarantee period, which automatically

excludes the intrusive regarding the road surface sensor technologies.

Communication: Generally this is a less of a problem, considering that on a good

portion of the Bulgarian roads there is a GSM 3G connectivity, which is sufficient

for the majority of the sensor technologies with some exceptions in the video

detection segment. The rest of the traffic network has at least GSM 2G, which

could also cover the requirements.

Guarded facilities: Physical securing the sensors both against the elements and

vandalism is also an issue. The use of existing cabinet or housing can save

regulatory expenses, reduce total cost of installation and give the possibility for

better sensor technology and/or more locations.

Possible Sites:

Site candidate one – South Ring Sofia south-east part

Site candidate two – South Ring Sofia south-west part

Site candidate three – Dragichevo Roundabout


Site candidate one – South Ring Sofia south-east part

This site is located on the newly expanded South Ring Road of Sofia. It is of interest for both

the municipality as the traffic urban commuters and the Road Infrastructure Agency as being a

high speed road.

Figure 79: Site candidate one – map location

Power supply is available from the street lighting poles where the sensors will be mounted,

without the need of extra infrastructure. The site offers the possibility of a triangular

positioning of the sensor with a traffic counting camera on the north point where the road is

single carriageway.

North Point: Alexander Malinov boulevard №80 with GPS coordinates

N42.6365, E23.37011

East Point: Sofia South Ring from the Alexander Malinov boulevard ( 41+740

km) to the 40+240 kilometer

West Point: Sofia South Ring from the Alexander Malinov boulevard ( 42+230

km) to boulevard “Simenovsko shose” ( 45+360 km )


This triangle type of configuration will allow a union of the data from the two types of

technology. The Bluetooth delivers the travel time and the percentile separation of the traffic

flow, while the camera delivers the volume of the flow. With appropriate software processing

in the server part a very accurate image of the real traffic conditions can be calculated.

Figure 80: Site candidate one – Sensor locations

Figure 81: Site candidate one – West Point


Figure 82: Site candidate one – East Point

Figure 83: Site candidate one – North Point

After the initial design was clear, we proceeded further with the legal and technical part. The

construction plans were evaluated to estimate the power supply network of the street

lightning. After the technical side was cleared, an application for allowance was deposited at

the Sofia Municipality in mid-August 2013. Although they had a legal term of one month for

an official answer, we received unofficial decline (phone call) in the beginning of October

2013, with the explanation that it is against their practice to mount object on the lighting

poles. After that we contacted one of our members in association with the proposal to install

the sensors on the same location in the cabinets of the traffic light controller for whose

maintenance they were responsible. A second application for allowance was deposited at the

Sofia Municipality to the vice mayor of transport in the beginning of October 2013 to

installing them in the traffic light controller cabinets. In a week time it was again unofficial

decline (phone call), this time there was something wrong with the location. This led to the

selection of the second site candidate.


Site candidate two – South Ring Sofia south-west part

Figure 84: Site candidate two – map location

This site is located on the older section of the newly expanded South Ring Road of Sofia and

the E79, a part of the Trans-European network. It is a major route in the south and south-

west direction from Sofia. Additionally it is heavily used by commuters from the town of

Pernik 17 km away in the south-west direction.

The plan was to install only Bluetooth sensors in the cabinets of the traffic light controllers.

The intersection is on the bul. “Nikola Petkov” and bul. “Tzar Boris III” with GPS coordinates

N42.665101 E23.25991.


Figure 85: Site candidate two – Sensor locations


.

.

Figure 87 : Site 2 – Point 1

Point 1: Boulevard "Tzar Boris III" and "Aleksandar Pushkin" street is

650 meters away from the intersection to the north-east, with

GPS coordinates N42.668346, E23.266495. The traffic light

controller box is located 2 meter away from the road.

Figure 86: Site 2 –Point 2

Point 2: Boulevard "Nikola Petkov" and "Ljubljana" street is 600 meters away from the intersection to the north-west with GPS coordinates

N42.669065, E23.25501. The traffic light controller box is located

12 meter away from the road.


Point 3: Boulevard "Tzar Boris III" and "Planinets" street is 600 meters away from the intersection to the south-west, with GPS coordinates N42.66264 E23.25388. The traffic

light controller box is located 1 meter away from the road


An application for allowance was deposited at the Sofia Municipality for site candidate two in

the beginning of October 2013. In a week it was unofficially declined without explanation.

Later the official decline for the first application for allowance for site candidate one

deposited in mid-August 2013 was received on the 13. November 2013, although the

municipality had a legal term of one month to answer.

After the obvious lack of cooperation from the Sofia Municipality, we decided to switch to

public roads under the administration of the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA). Another site

candidate was selected, technical documents prepared and an application for allowance was

deposited at the RIA. They kindly gave us principal permission in just under three weeks.

Site candidate three – Dragichevo Roundabout

The Dragichevo Roundabout is located 15 km away to the south-west from the site candidate

two - South Ring of Sofia south-west part and 1 km away from the east part of the

neighboring town of Pernik. It is heavily used by commuter and is on the Trans-European

network E79, E871, A3 and A6 highways. GPS coordinates are N 42.5999, E 23.1238.


Point 4: Boulevard "Nikola Petkov" and "Aleksandar Pushkin" street is

700 meters away from the intersection to the south-east, with

GPS coordinates N42.660115, E23.264945. The traffic light

controller box is located 6 meter away from the road.


Figure 90: Site candidate three – map location

The plan for the installation is four Bluetooth sensors on each entry/exit of the roundabout

mounted on the poles of the street lighting. Due to mains power available only in the dark

part of the day, a small uninterruptable power supply unit will be powering the sensors.

Figure 91: Site candidate three – Sensor locations


Figure 92: Site candidate three – The roundabout

Figure 93: Site candidate three – View from north


Figure 94: Site candidate three – View from east

Figure 95: Site candidate three – View from south


Figure 96: Site candidate three – View from west



We have plan to install 4 Bluetooth sensors on the 4 arms of Dragichevo roundabout. Base on

the BT technology we receive automatically the right travel time and speed between sensors

and origin – destination matrix.

The way is shown to the next figure.

Figure 97: The Bluetooth Traffic Detection


The cloud solution for user information is shown on the next figure

Figure 98: Cloud Info Solution



The main actors are the following:

Road Infrastructure Agency

Municipality of Sofia

Municipality of Pernik

The above participants mainly provide infrastructure and provide appropriate permissions for

installation. They have no previous experience in building similar systems. The ITS Bulgaria

implement the pilot.



to the whole year

ITS Bulgaria has met all the pre-requirements to finish the installation until end of September

2013. Both the external experts, experienced with that particular sensor technology and the

needed hardware and software are locally available. A delay was caused due to administrative

issues with the local authorities. According to the changed plan, installation should be finished

in two weeks time after the resolving of the administrative problems – supposedly by the end

of December 2013. After that the initial project plan will be followed.



After the registration and transfer of data - they are stored in MSQL database. We use

specific algorithm for data processing and filtering of false signals. Then via cloud technology

we show travel time and O-D matrices onGoogle Maps.

We compare our final results about volume, speed and travel time with traffic counting data

received every year by Road Infrastructure Agency.



pilot phase

This pilot project aims mainly to show the RIA and the Municipalities options for registration,

transfer and visualization of traffic data in real time. We expect after this demonstration each

prospective employers or vendors to consider the advantages of Bluetooth technology and

integrate it into their projects for the development of systems for traffic management and

information to the road and street users.

In the next year the RIA should implement a major project for traffic sensors installation on

the motorways, first and second class roads. Once they become familiar with the BT

technology – they can make a better assessment and specification of what and where to be

installed.

As previously explained, there are significant problems with traffic management in Sofia. The

Pernik, as the closest and also not so smaller town is no exception. In this respect, the

benefits to both municipalities will showcase the actual use of an innovative solution for

monitoring traffic and providing information in real time over the internet to the transport

users.

Last but not least, always there are problems in communication between Municipalities and

the National Road Administration, when an object is a common stretch of road. With the

provision of data simultaneously to the RIA and Municipalities will be encouraged cooperation

between these organizations in order to further alleviate traffic and provide better service to

citizens.





Road Infrastructure Agency

Municipality of Sofia

Municipality of Pernik

Traffic Police

Road Users

We promote the pilot through ITS Bulgaria web site and organize round table for discussion

and comments.


9. DESCRIPTION OF THE ROMANIAN PILOT

SITE


The demonstrator will be implemented in three main regions of Romania: Vest (West),

Bucuresti-Ilfov and Sud-Est (South-East). Bucuresti-Ilfov includes the capital Bucharest and it

is the smallest of the three. However the population is significant, totalling about 2.5 million

inhabitants.

The following graphs present the development of motorways, road and rail networks in all

selected regions (source: Eurostat).

Figure 99: Development of motorways in the regions of the demonstrator

The graph in Fig. 1 is based on data collected up to 2011 so it shows a total length of

motorway in Sud-Est Region of only about 50 km (which relates to the section of the A2

between Cernavoda and Constanta) even though now the entire A2 motorway from

Bucharest to Constanta is finalised.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Kilo

me

ters

Motorways

Sud-Est

Bucuresti - Ilfov

Vest


Figure 100: Development of roads in the regions of the demonstrator

It can be seen that the length of the road network is lowest in the Bucuresti-Ilfov Region but

compared against the size of the region it translates into a much higher density of the road

network.

Figure 101: Development of railway lines in the regions of the demonstrator

The railway system is also well represented in these three regions and the differences

between Bucuresti-Ilfov and other regions are again generated by the size of this region.

0

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4.000

6.000

8.000

10.000

12.000

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Vest


9.1.1. Description of Timis county

Timisoara City

Timisoara city is the capital of Timis county, important economic pole and the biggest town in

Western Romania. Timisoara city is located on the border with Hungary and Serbia: 571 km

from Bucharest, 450 km far from Vienna and less than 700 km far from 13 capitals of different

European countries. It has an extended direct influence area of more than 5000 km2, making

it the biggest city in Euro region. The area of the administrative territory is 130 km2 and the

population is 312,113 inhabitants. Total street length is about 534 km. The total number of

vehicles in the city exceeds 125,000, including private cars, heavy vehicles and motorcycles.

Figure 102: Timisoara location


The local industry provides more than 3% of the national industrial production and it is very

diverse comprising light industry, textile, food, auto components, high tech and software

companies. The good quality of the agricultural soil provides for a good potential for

developing the food industry. International financial services are also present: 20 different

banks as well as insurance companies. Foreign investors from 78 different states are

represented in Timisoara. The total value/capita is 4.5 time bigger than the national average,

making 6.74% of the total national amount and more than 80% of the total amount of the

Timis county.

In terms of education in Timisoara there are many different schools (primary, secondary, high

schools) in different languages; 8 universities; 44 different faculties (more than 42.000

students) and 23 research centres. Labour force consists of a skilled human resource which is

mainly young population (58% are between 20-60 years).

Figure 103: AEM and Continental Timisoara Company

Figure 104: Faculty of Medicine and Automatic control and Computers


Regarding infrastructure and transport, Timisoara has easy access to 4th & 9th European

Corridors and it is an important railway hub. Timisoara also has an International Airport and

the Bega Inland Waterway Canal.

Figure 105: Connecting Timisoara to European Corridors

The city is divided by the river Bega and the railway line running from East to West. The

outer ring road is incomplete, covering only one quarter of the circumference of the city. So

in order to travel from North to South the only option is to go through the city centre.

The road infrastructure comprises the inner city streets as well as rings and belts partiality

open (heavy vehicles traffic is still present in the central areas of the city). There are also a

number of parking places available however they are not sufficient considering the existing

number of cars.


Figure 106: The road infrastructure in Timisoara city

The airport does not have a railroad link but it is linked by a two lane street to the road

network. Freight transport by railways transits the city through the centre.

Timisoara travellers are served by well established public transport services, operated by the

public transport company RATT. The company owns some 113 buses, 50 trolleybuses and

150 trams. It operates on 9 tram lines, 7 trolleybus lines and 22 bus lines. The public

transport fleet is in a continuous process of renewal. The existing public transport network in

the city suffers due to the absence of dedicated road lanes, lack of traffic signal correlation

and lack of traffic signal prioritisation for public transport vehicles.

The number of daily trips in Timisoara reaches about 250,000. As it can be seen in the

following chart, the private car has is preferred with a percentage of 36%, followed by public

transport with 42% and walking with 22%.


Figure 107: Modal share for daily trips in Timisoara city

RATT, the Organization of Urban Transportation of Timisoara, is up to now the only public

urban transport provider for the hub. RATT serves both urban (36 lines) and regional

transportation needs (metropolitan transport, 4 lines). The urban service area, which is

depicted in the following figure, covers almost the whole agglomeration with frequent

services.

Figure 108: Urban area served by RATT


Regional transport consists of busses (40 private operators with over 120 regular bus lines,

and over 130 special bus lines) and rail transport -National Rail Operator SNCFR (provides

local and regional trains: 16 lines with 67 trips/day) and Regional Rail operator RegioTrans

(local trains: 21 lines and 52 trips/day).

Figure 109: Network of regional transport (road and rail)

Intermodal connectivity inside the hub of Timisoara involves the connectivity among the

Railway Stations Timisoara Nord and Timisoara East, the Airport and the Intercity Bus

Stations.


9.1.1.1. Railway network

The railway network of Banat region (a part of which is Timis county) is one of the oldest and

most developed railway networks in Romania, having the highest network density (90.5 km

per 100 km2). The city of Timisoara is the most important railway node in South-Western

part of Romania.

Timisoara is connected to all the important cities in Romania, most of the smaller towns in

the region and with two international railway lines to Budapest and Belgrade.

The railway public transport is organized and managed at national level. The local authorities

(including those at county or regional level) have no competencies in these matters. The

network of the railway lines which are in operation at this moment is presented in Error!

Reference source not found.. In the figure one could observe the lines which are operated

daily (including all the lines, not only at county level) and the number of the trips per day.

Figure 110: Railway network connecting Timisoara


Most of the network is operated through regional and inter-regional trains by the Romanian

National Railway Society (SNCFR), which is state owned. Nevertheless, an important number

of lines are also operated by the private owned company RegioTrans. More specifically,

SNCFR operates a number of 16 lines having 67 pairs of trains per day, while RegioTrans

operates on 21 lines having 52 pair of trains per day, all of them being regional units with

smaller transport capacities and relatively low speeds.


9.1.1.2. Intercity Buses services

The road public transport with buses and coaches in the county (with the exception of the

inter-regional, urban and metropolitan transport) is under the authority of the County

Council and is regulated through formal Decisions of the County Council. There are three

different groups of transport. The first one is the normal lines which have a public schedule

and are open to all the public. The second is the so called special scheduled lines, which are

lines to transport the workforce to workplaces based on special conventions and they are not

open to the general public. The third is the school bus transport system which is operated

with vehicles owned by the Ministry of the Education or the local authorities.

In the case of the normal scheduled public transport, there is a County Passenger Transport

Plan which was adopted by the Decisions of the County Council number 17/2008. Through

this plan there are 120 public transport lines defined (containing the routes, the number of

pair of vehicles per day, the active vehicles which are operated on the lines, the transport

capacity and the transport schedules) which are attributed to companies through public

procurement procedures. The lines are presented in a – d:

a) Normal scheduled lines which are connected to Timisoara

b) Normal scheduled lines which are connected to other towns

c) Special scheduled lines

d) School bus lines.

The special scheduled lines are regulated by the County Council if there is a demand from

companies which have to transport their workforce to the workplaces. Most of them are

relatively big companies, with hundreds of employees, working in two or three shifts. Most of

them live at a relatively big distance from the workplace (typically at around 10 to 50 km). At

the moment, there are 138 lines, operated by 27 companies. The structure of the network is

presented in c, including the transport capacity of the lines.

The school bus network is regulated by the County Council too and its function is to

transport at daily bases the students living in small rural localities to the designated school

centres, normally whichever is the closest. That network is presented in d, based on the last

two years’ data.


(a) (b)

(c) (d)

The commuter (sub-urban) bus network of Timisoara city is organized under the umbrella of

an association called The Metropolitan Transport Society of Timisoara. The establishing

protocol was signed by the mayor of Timisoara and the mayors of a number of small villages

and commuter towns in the proximity of Timisoara. As a consequence, the RATT (the Public

Transport Company of Timisoara) began to operate lines on some links with good results.

The division of trips by modes of transport is as follows: most used are individual cars - 71%

from total trips, then bus transport with 22.8 % of total trips and finally rail transport with 6.2

% of total trips.

Figure 111: The bus network of Timis County


Figure 112: Trips by mode of transport in Timis County

Deficiencies currently existing in the urban transport are expected to be mitigated by

implementing the strategy set by Vision 2030 - Timisoara. Vision 2030 - Timisoara is a

coherent strategy regarding the means in which the transportation network can develop, not

only in the city, but also in the suburbs where more and more people who work in Timisoara

live, come to school, pass their leisurely time or do their shopping.


9.1.1.3. Timisoara Airport

Timisoara International Airport "Traian Vuia" is the most important regional airport from the

western part of Romania, covering an area with 2 million inhabitants. Number of passengers

increased in the past years from 753,934 in 2006 to 900,000 in 2009. The forecasted volume

for 2015 is 1,250,000 passengers (for 150-200 flights/day). Timisoara Airport has 35 parking

spots for medium and large passenger aircrafts and 4 parking spots for large cargo aircrafts.


9.1.2. Description of Bucharest city

Bucharest is the capital and also by far the largest city in Romania, with a central area of some

228 km² and a population of 2 million. The city and the surrounding metropolitan area (365

km²) are undergoing considerable economic development and changes since Romania gained

EU membership in January 2007. The development of new offices, hypermarkets, car

showrooms and other commercial premises is particularly evident at Băneasa, when

travelling to the city centre from the International Airport (Henri-Coandă). Băneasa also has

its own airport, which is now being used by some low cost airlines flying into Bucharest from

other European locations.

Traffic growth in terms of publicly owned vehicles is increasing and the lack of both on-street

and off-street parking is contributing to traffic congestion extending beyond peak commuting

periods. Over the past 10 years, traffic has been increasing at a rate of 10% pa such that

there are now recognised to be 1 million registered vehicles. The city is divided by the river

running through it and unfortunately it is still only possible to travel North to South and also

East to West via the city centre, due to an incomplete outer ring road. The outer ring road

has only one lane in each direction so suffers congestion due to inadequate capacity and

signalised junctions along its length. Plans have been recently established for a new outer ring

road for heavy traffic, offering improved connections with the three existing highways, the A1

to Piteşti, A2 to Constanta and A3 to Ploiesti.

Figure 113: Bucharest aerial picture


Bucharest travellers are served by well established, public transport services, operated by the

autonomous public transport company RATB. The company owns some 1400 busses, 500

trolley busses and 500 trams. There is also a small Metro Bucharest subway, comprising 5

lines and 44 stations. The public transport fleet is in a continuous process of renewal. Usage

of public transport is recognized to be high, particularly at peak times, but is declining as the

economy improves and people acquire their own cars. The existing public transport network

in the city suffers due to the absence of dedicated road lanes, lack of traffic signal correlation

and lack of traffic signal prioritisation for public transport vehicles.

Here are some statistics regarding the Bucharest Public Transport Company – RATB.

Table 15: RATB statistics

1 Service Area (km2) 1811

2 Available vehicles

Trams

Trolleys

Busses

2260

507

302

1451

3 Number of transport lines

Trams

Trolleys

Busses

161

25

20

116

4 Network length (km)

Trams

Trolleys

Busses

740

143

76

689

5 Transport lines length (km)

Trams

Trolleys

Busses

1946

243

159

1544

6 Number of bus stops 2835

7 Number of voyages per year (millions) 790

8 Daily vehicle travel (km veh. /day)

Trams

Trolleys

Busses

187.22

205.22

166.35

185.33

9 Average daily passenger number (millions)

Trams

Trolleys

Busses

2.6

1.2

0.2

1.2


9.1.2.1. Bucharest Airports

Bucharest is also an important air traffic hub. There are two international airports in the north

of Bucharest. During 2012 the two international airports in Bucharest recorded a total traffic

of 7,547,465 passengers, 1.33% more than in 2011.

On both Henri Coanda International Airport and Baneasa-Aurel Vlaicu International Airport

were recorded 98,592 aircraft movements (landings and takeoffs) in 2012. Last year, 84% of

the total number of passengers were traveling from Henri Coanda Airport as the origin or

destination airports in EU Member States, while 68% were to/from airports in the Schengen

states.

On Henri Coanda International Airport are operating 32 airlines carrying passengers to 68

destinations. On March 25th 2012 Blue Air, Wizz Air and Germanwings have transferred all

flight operations from Baneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport to Henri Coanda

International Airport.



9.2.1. Timisoara Public Transport Management System- PTMS

RATT busses, trolley-busses and trams are equipped with on-board vehicle location units and

driver displays as part of the PTM sub-system deployment. The on-board PTM equipment is

communicating with an Automatic Fare Collection system, a system that is also introduced on

the entire RATT transport fleet.

Figure 114: Example of a Variable Message Sign used in Timisoara PTMS

Timisoara trams, trolley-busses and busses, with few exceptions, share road space with

private cars and other vehicles. Currently, a Timisoara UTC is being implemented which will

make it possible to prioritize Public Transport Vehicles.

PTMS provide the means of dynamically monitoring the location and status of Public

Transport Vehicles to determine performance according to prescribed route schedules and

to quickly identify any operational problems. PTMS of Timisoara is an innovative and complex

system which has two major subsystems: intelligent ticketing system and Automatic Vehicle

Location by GPS (AVL).

The ticketing system is based on contactless cards. Apart from the banking cards, these don’t

have a magnetic band and the connection with the terminals from the vehicles and the ones

from the commercial centres is done without contact, through proximity. Due to the

incorporated microprocessor the cards allow for an improved paying scheme: not only fixed

number of travels but also pre-pay travelling accounts and the payment according to the

distance. Furthermore, some stored personal data allows a more correct identification of the

persons that benefit from facilities of the public transportation, as well as the recovery of the

account in case of loss or destruction of the card. The uploading through the banking system

(POS or e-banking) as well as the use in other local public services – for example for paying

the parking fees, can be developed further.


The Automatic Vehicle Location System by GPS (AVL) transmits information from individual

vehicles over a digital radio voce data network to the Control Centre and remote RATT

Control Office.

Figure 115: RATT Control Office


The most important subsystems of the automated vehicle location system (AVL) are:

1. Fleet management system (central dispatching, resource planning, activity monitoring,

and system administration) is based on access rights at different levels and an

interactive web based interface which stores and archives the data received from the

vehicles of the fleet.

2. The passenger information system, which determines and transmits information

through VMSs located in the stops. The information is transmitted via GSM/GPRS,

with a refreshing rate of 30 seconds.

3. The subsystem formed by the on-board equipment: on-board computers and energy

consumption measurement equipment.

4. The passenger counting equipment which is on-board the vehicles. It offers

information on the time and space distribution of the actual level of usage. The

counting is done through infrared technology for both flows of passengers, on and

off.

5. The communication subsystem

It consists of mobile communications (GSM/GPRS), dynamic locating based on GPS,

Wi-Fi communication with the Control Centres, and Fiber-Optic data connection

between Control Centres and Control Office.


Figure 116: Timisoara PTMS system architecture

Figure 117: Timisoara PTMS AVL schematic


9.2.2. Bucharest Traffic Management System- BTMS

Bucharest Municipality has implemented a modern Traffic Management System as part of a

European Bank of Reconstruction and Development funded plan to improve the city historic

zones and to manage ever increasing demands on the road network within the city. Traffic

signal schemes have been introduced in the past on a required basis and junctions upgraded

independently and in isolation of one another. The BTMS project includes a requirement to

carry out physical improvements at a number of junctions as well as the introduction of a

traffic adaptive UTC sub-system. The UTC sub-system provides coordination between

signalized junctions to optimize the network in response to traffic demand and also give traffic

signal priority to selected late running Public Transport Vehicles. The metropolitan road

network includes the inner ring road and the North – South routes that pass directly through

the city centre. It is intended that these routes will form the initial Bucharest UTC controlled

area of approximately 180 junctions.

Figure 118: Bucharest Traffic Control Centre

The Traffic management system is developed as an Integrated System Solution combining

different traffic adaptive UTC and PTM solutions and CCTV monitoring systems. The system

has a high degree of system integration, both within the Control Centre and in terms of using

shared digital communications infrastructure within the city.

System integration at the Control Centre is aimed at providing a common user interface and

value added services to support the tasks of the Control Centre operators and maintenance

staff. A large display screen is used in the Control Room to display system status information

in graphical form and selected CCTV images. The provision of a common look and feel

Graphical User Interface for all operator functions is an important system requirement. This

impacts on operator training needs and is aimed at operators being able to efficiently manage

and maintain the system. The common Graphical User Interface supports UTC, PTM and

CCTV viewing and interaction and also other supervisory applications on operator

workstations. An integrated Control Centre Supervision System (CCSS) is used which


includes system support modules like Traffic Control Strategy Selection, Performance

Monitoring, Reporting, Fault Management and Communications Network Management.

CCSS also includes a Traffic and Travel Information module to provide network and service

information to the travelling public via the internet.

Figure 119: Bucharest Public Transport Management - PTM

RATB busses, trolley-busses and trams are equipped with on-board vehicle location units and

driver displays as part of the PTM sub-system deployment. The on-board PTM equipment is

communicating with an Automatic Fare Collection system, a system that is also introduced on

the entire RATB transport fleet.

PTM provide the means of dynamically monitoring the location and status of Public Transport

Vehicles to determine performance according to prescribed route schedules and to quickly

identify any operational problems. The PTM sub-system cooperates with the UTC sub-

system and traffic signal controllers to provide priority to selected e.g. late running Public

Transport Vehicles. PTM includes Automatic Vehicle Location by GPS, the information being

transmitted from individual vehicles over a digital radio (TETRA) voice/data network to the

Control Centre and a remote RATB Control Office. The PTM sub-system will also offer

potential of future expansion to include bus stop information displays and in-vehicle displays.

Bucharest UTC / CCTV schematic

UTC/PTM/CCTV

integrated system

CCTV camera

UTC

FIBRE NETWORK

TSC CCTVPTV demand

network node

Loop

DetectorO/H

Det

Traffic

Signals


Figure 120: Bucharest PTM schematic

Traffic Surveillance CCTV cameras are installed at each of the UTC controlled junctions.

CCTV images are transmitted digital format to the Control Centre for viewing and recording.

A Fibre-Optic data communications network is installed within the city to serve both UTC

and CCTV sub-systems. A multiple ring network with outstation nodes at traffic junction

cabinets will provide redundancy in case of cable damage or equipment fault. The Control

Centre, Municipality Office and RATB Office are also nodes on the Fibre-Optic network in

order to participate in control and monitoring of the system.

Bucharest PTM schematic

Public Transport Vehicles

with AVL system

and information display

UTC/PTM/CCTV

integrated system

GPS

TSCTSC

PTM

RADIO DATA

NETWORK

TRANSPORT

PLANPTV Priority

at Signals

UTC

FIBRE NETWORK

UTC

FIBRE NETWORK


9.2.3. Motorways Traffic Management and Information System

The system is implemented on the A2 motorway that connects Bucharest to Constanta. The

data is collected at the Monitoring and Information Centre in Bucharest. The system

implements intelligent infrastructure for motorways using a diversity of monitoring and

traveller information technologies. It is designed as a test base and technology platform for

future nationwide implementation.

Figure 121: Motorway Variable Message Sign

The technologies used in the system include:

Weight in motion, size measurement, classification and tracking of compliance system

Video monitoring system

Incident detection system – with video analysis

Number plates recognition and monitoring/penalty vignette system

Traffic meter:

o inductive loops

o image analysis

o radar technology

o infrared and ultrasound technology

Measuring, road weather forecasting and warning system

Information system through variable message signs


9.2.4. RoRIS System on the Danube-Black Sea Canal

The administrator of the Danube-Black Sea Canal is the National Company Administration of

Navigable Canals (ACN). ACN is one of the two RIS Authorities from Romania and it is

operating a RIS system on the Danube-Black Sea Canal.

A general structure of the RoRIS on the Canal, in terms of information collecting and

processing, is presented in the figure below.

Horizontally the system is divided into three layers. The topmost one deals with aggregation

and redistribution of data collected from all system components and sensors. The middle

layer deals with information processing, database storage and management. Finally, the

bottom layer deals with information distribution to the operators using the software

applications that form the core of the system.

Figure 122: RoRIS architecture

The RoRIS on the Canal has the following major components:

Infrastructure subsystem

Communications subsystem

o VHF (Very High Frecquency) communications;

o AIS (Automatic Identification System) communications;

o Optical fibre infrastructure;

o Microlink Network.

IT infrastructure subsystem

Video monitoring subsystem


Dedicated applications for traffic management

o Electronic ship reporting international

o ECDIS

o Lock Management

o Dangerous Goods Monitoring

o Closed Circuit Television CCTV

o Calamity Abatement

o Reporting and statistics

o Financial

Security and infrastructure management

o Dedicated Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

o Centralized Fault Management System

The infrastructure subsystem consists of all the communication towers and buildings that

provide support for the entire RoRIS system.

The communications subsystems ensure the flow of information between different

components. They also include a major component for traffic management and monitoring,

the AIS subsystem. It consists of AIS radio transponders that are installed on board vessels

and a land based network of AIS stations that receive the signal. The transponders provide

vessel position and identification data so it is possible to track the position of any vessel and to

display it on a digital inland navigation chart. The general structure of the AIS subsystem is

presented in the figure below.

Figure 123: RoRIS AIS infrastructure


The IT infrastructure subsystem consists of all the IT equipments necessary for the system.

The video monitoring system consists of CCTV cameras placed in different strategic locations

on the Canal in order to monitor the traffic, locking and port operations.

The dedicated software applications are the core of the system through which all the traffic

monitoring, information and management services are provided.

Finally, the security and infrastructure management subsystems provide for user management

and authentication as well as components monitoring and management.


9.2.5. TrafficGuide – Traffic Information System

TrafficGuide is a Traffic Information System for interurban roads and Motorways in Romania

and for Bucharest City streets. TrafficGuide project is developed by Electronic Solutions in

partnership with Romanian authorities. The system gathers traffic data from all available

sources: incidents, road works, and traffic flow data from sensors. These are fused and

enhanced with flow data extracted from Floating Car Data and then distributed using

different channels.

Main information available are: works related to the rehabilitation and maintenance of roads,

closed roads, accidents, and other restrictions. In addition to information about restrictions,

data on traffic flow and speed is available on the main roads.

The information comes from official sources such as the National Company of Motorways

and National Roads, Police “Infotrafic” Centre and Bucharest Traffic Management System.

These data are combined with data received from various traffic sensors and data extracted

from monitored vehicle fleets.

Figure 124: Traffic flow and incidents for Bucharest to Constanta link


Road Traffic Data for both Bucharest and A2 Motorway from Bucharest to Constanta will be

collected from TrafficGuide System.

The traffic information will be distributed using a Web Portal, mobile applications and RDS-

TMC broadcast. The traffic data can be exported to other systems using standard DATEX II

protocol.


9.3. ITS services implemented in Romania

The Romanian demonstrator will focus on Multimodal Traveller Information Services. The

actual implementation will consist of a web-based journey planning application involving

information about the following modes:

Public transport

Urban and inter-urban road transport

Railway transport

Inland waterway transport

The services that will be pilot implemented will follow a corridor approach starting from a

location in Timisoara and ending at a location in Constanta, as depicted in the figure below.

Figure 125: Timisoara-Danube/Constanta pilot corridor

A web-based application will be developed that will allow the user to get information about

travel times on the selected corridor at any time, using different combinations of transport

modes. The application will be designed to provide real-time data, however if it is not

available for a certain mode of transport, then static data will be used.

From Timisoara the journey planning will start with using a public transport service to get

from the defined location to the railway station. The demonstrator will interface with the

public transport management system (PTMS) of Timisoara in order to get real-time data

about travel times of local transport. The user will have the possibility to select the quickest

route or the one with the lowest number of interchanges.

The next link of the voyage will be a train from Timisoara to Bucharest. The application will

provide information about available connections with the possibility to select a priority for the

cheapest route or the fastest. The system will also allow the user to select the amount of

time he/she is willing to wait for transport mode changes.


After arriving in Bucharest the user is expected to take a car and drive from the railway

station towards Constanta. The application will provide real-time data on the traffic

conditions in Bucharest and on the Bucharest-Constanta motorway. Based on this the

estimated time of travel will be calculated and displayed.

The link between Bucharest and Constanta will be split in the city of Cernavoda. This means

that the user will have the possibility to stop in the port of Cernavoda and from there board a

vessel (passenger or ferry) to sail on the Danube-Black Sea Canal all the way to Constanta.

The system will be connected with the RIS system of the Administration of Navigable Canals

(ACN) in order to get real-time information about:

vessels available and arriving in the port of Cernavoda

travel time from Cernavoda to Constanta

The Timisoara-Danube pilot will be a proof of concept for multimodal journey planning

involving three modes of transport, as well as connections between urban and inter-urban

transport links. The objective of the pilot is to develop a system concept and the necessary

algorithms for a multi-modal journey planning service. The pilot will demonstrate how ITS

systems for different modes of transport can be interoperable in order to provide seamless

services along a transport corridor. Based on the results of the pilot, the necessary measures

for a large scale implementation of such services will be identified and documented.



The main idea of the Romanian demonstrator is to provide multimodal traveller information

services in Romania and to prove the extension of the demonstrator at European level.

The result of the project will be a multimodal trip/link fully supported with information from

various management and information systems. This multimodal trip will be split into sub-trip

and two adjacent sub-trips will be connected by node/terminal (multimodal nodes or

terminals).

The system will provide information about a trip between the western part of Romania (the

border with Hungary) and eastern part (Constanta port and Black Sea Coast) using different

transport modes and linking information from all modes in a single multimodal platform based

on web and cloud computing services.

The first system, which is working and can provide traveller information, is Public Transport

Management System in City of Timisoara. The trip, which will be demonstrated in the

project, is split in sub-trips. One sub-trip for each transport mode (transport system) involved

in the demonstrator. The first sub-trip is a public transport one and this sub-trip will be

supported (from traveller information provision point of view) by PTM System of Timisoara.

The code allocated for the first sub-trip is “ST1-pt”. The first node is established between

urban public transport and railway system and the code is “N1-pt.r”.

The second system is the information system of public transport railway operator which will

provide information about trains (position, ETA, travel time etc.). The second sub-trip is a

railway one and the associated code is “ST2-r”.

The third system involved is a road transport system (with both components: urban and

interurban/motorway) between Main Railway Station in Bucharest and the Danube port of

Cernavoda City. The second node is located in Bucharest and has the code: “N2-r.rd”. The

main source of information for this third sub-trip/link (ST3-rd) is the web based information

system www.trafficguide.ro and it will provide information from various sources like:

Bucharest Traffic Management System, National Road Administration and so on.

The fourth transport system involved in the demonstrator will be selected by user from two

systems:

Danube-Black Sea Canal – inland waterway transport system together with RIS

system installed on this channel;

A2 Motorway between Cernavoda and Constanta – road transport system together

with ITS installed on this motorway.

The code allocated for this fourth system is “ST4-w” for the water transport and “ST4-rd”

for the road link.

http://www.trafficguide.ro/


The node in Cernavoda is coded: “N3-rd.w” or “N3-rd.rd” depending on the sub-trip

selected by user.

The start point and the end point will be noted as terminus and will have the code T1 (start

point) and T2 (end point) respectively.

Figure 126: Connection graph of the demonstrator corridor

T1 T2 N1pt.r N2r.rd N3rd.w/rd

ST1-pt ST2-r ST3-rd

ST4-w

ST4-rd



The general overview of the pilot location and its transport connections is presented in the

picture below.

Figure 127: Timisoara Pilot locations

In Timisoara area the pilot will be interfaced with the Public Transport Information System -

PTMS. PTMS provides real time information on service lines and timetable of public transport

vehicles for connections with railway stations Gara de Nord (north station) or Gara de Est

(east station).

Main information available are: transit line, arrival time and travel time.


(a)

(b)

In Bucharest area the pilot will be interfaced with the TrafficGuide Information system.

TrafficGuide provides real time information on traffic conditions and various temporary

restrictions.

Figure 128: Timisoara PTMS Control Centre location: (a) map and (b) the building



The Timisoara-Danube pilot will be implemented using modern IT technologies. It will

function as a web-based application hosted on a cloud computing infrastructure. The

application will interface, over secure Internet connections, with the following external

systems:

Public Transport Management System of Timisoara

Railway Passenger Transport Management System

Road Traffic Monitoring and Information System developed by the TrafficGuide

project

RIS system on the Danube-Black Sea Canal

The general structure of the pilot is presented below.

Figure 129: Timisoara-Danube/Constanta pilot structure


The PTMS System of Timisoara is administrated by RATT (Timisoara Public Transport

Company) and will provide the following information:

Public transport line, or combination of lines that will route to the two railway

stations in Timisoara (Gara de Nord or Gara de Est);

Arrival time of the next vehicle in the station, for the selected line;

Travel time from the departure location to the railway station.

The RIS system on the Danube-Black Sea Canal is a traffic monitoring and management

system that provides the Administration of the Canals with information about:

Vessel data and position

Vessel voyage from port of departure to port of destination

Vessel cargo

Lock status and traffic conditions

The demonstrator will interface with the RIS system in order to collect the following data:

Vessels available in the port of Cernavoda or Constanta

Departure times of vessels and their estimated time of arrival at the destination

Lock status

The information about available vessels will be used in order to decide if at a certain time the

traveller has the option to take a passenger vessel or a ferry between Cernavoda and

Constanta. If vessels are available the application will display the departure time and will

calculate the travel time. The calculation will also take into account the estimated waiting

times at the two locks – Cernavoda and Agigea – along the route.

The Railway Passenger Transport Management System will provide the following

information:

Trains departing from railway stations Gara de Nord or Gara de Est with destination

Gara de Nord Bucharest Rail Station;

Departure time;

Travel time from Timisoara to Bucharest.

The demonstrator will collect from TrafficGuide real time information on traffic conditions

and different existing restrictions on Bucharest – Cernavoda – Constanta route. The

information will include:

Traffic restrictions: closures, accidents, road works;

Data on traffic flow – average speed on different road sections.

This information will be used to calculate the route by car from Bucharest to Cernavoda and

then to Constanta and also to estimate the travel time based on real traffic conditions.



The participation in the Timisoara- Danube pilot is represented by all the related

stakeholders of the city:

Public transport authorities involved:

o RATT - Timisoara Public Transport Company (Regia Autonoma de Transport

Timisoara – R.A.T.T.)

The Municipality of Timisoara endorse the development and deployment of

ITS like Public Transport Management System and Traffic Management

System. Also the Municipality of Timisoara developed a Sustainable Urban

Mobility Planning (SUMP) based on VISION 2030 Timisoara. VISION 2030

Timisoara also foresees the implementation of an integrated system of traffic

management and control and video surveillance of the intersections.

o CFR Calatori – Railway Passenger transport Company

CNADNR - Romanian National Company for Motorways and National Roads

ACN - Administration of the Navigable Canals - the administrator of the Danube-

Black Sea Canal

Romanian Transports Ministry – as policy maker



to the whole year

The development and set-up of the demonstrator will take place from beginning of August

2013 until mid September 2013. Then it will be tested and verified until November 2013.

The procurement will be split in two components. One is for the software development of

the web application, its database and all the interfaces. The other one concerns the supply of

cloud services for the necessary hardware and storage space as well as internet connectivity.

The demonstrator will run from mid November 2013 until March 2014. While the

demonstrator is running various users will be involved and their experience will be

documented based on a set of questionnaires. During the last two months testing procedures

will be prepared and tests will be carried out in order to assess the performance of the

system. The activities of the demonstrator are presented in the figure below.

Figure 130: Timisoara-Danube/Constanta demonstrator timeline

The pilot will demonstrate how multi-modal voyage planning services can be implemented.

There is no need to extrapolate the results for a whole year. Rather the objective will be to

extrapolate the results for a larger territorial coverage than the corridor chosen for the

demonstrator. The pilot will run for a sufficient amount of time in order to assess this

objective. So based on the data collected from the monitoring of the pilot and also the final

tests, conclusions and recommendations will be identified for a full scale, country-wide

deployment of multi-modal voyage planning services.



Traffic information services provides travellers with forecasted traffic conditions as well as

information about current traffic conditions in order to support them in choosing the best

route to travel. This information will be displayed on a website with dynamic maps for pre-

trip and on-trip information.

The result will be the multimodal routing services as pre-trip and on-trip applications. Pre-trip

application will be a web based system to provide end user with the predominantly static

information related to the desired route. On-trip will give information based on the real time

data.

Test Plan

This task focuses on the elaboration of a methodology for assessing behavioural and

acceptance aspects of the travel information services as well as the method for evaluating the

traffic and environmental impacts. The planning of necessary preparation steps as well as the

test case specification will be part of this task.

As part of the data collection methodology the following activities will be carried out:

Definition of measureable indicators of the demonstrations based on the services

and systems that will be implemented in relation to the users as well.

Identification of the impacts to be assessed

Identification of performance indicators

Validation Plan

Discussions will be carried out with the most relevant actors, in order to determine the best

way to apply these services.

The opinion of stakeholders will be acknowledged, in order to commonly agree on the

services and features that are to be developed in each sector.

Taking into account all these factors a technical validation plan will be setup. This plan will

include end users single components and validation criteria for service provisioning. Moreover

it will be considered in the Evaluation phase in order to validate the project results.

End-to-end system tests will be performed, together with system validation and monitoring

during the demonstration phase. Demonstration operation will require operation of all

specified HW and SW technologies – current/newly developed within the project. This

operation will lead towards the provision of the multimodal routing services as the pre-trip

and on-trip applications.

Pre-trip application will be a web based system to provide end user with the predominantly

static information related to the desired route. On-trip will give the routing advices based on


the real time data. This kind of application will be implemented, from the end-user point of

view, either as the stand-alone e-service or the web based application.

Continuous control of the system functionality will be ensured. Data collection for the

evaluation purposes will be ensured to evaluate the system. Technical, LOS, end-user and

other points of view will be considered to have comprehensive set of data for the evaluation

purposes.

A final user survey will be performed, as the main tool of service evaluation. Results will

evaluate the user acceptance data per service tested that serve as a basis for further

recommendations as well as roll-out strategies and business planning.

Based on the results of the user acceptance and stakeholder reaction data, conclusions and

limitations will be drawn. This will take place on a theoretical and a practical level, giving

recommendations for both researchers and practitioners.

The impact assessment of the system functionality will be evaluated in different categories:

Technical and operational system functionality, system availability, performance

of data exchange facilities implemented (files transferred and messages etc.)

Check of traffic, PT transport, Rail transport, RIS data (comparing values

estimated by models against those directly measured on the field),

Organization and consequences of the implemented system architecture for the stakeholders

involved.



pilot phase

The services piloted in the project will be used to develop a national architecture for multi-

modal traveller information services. Throughout the duration of the demonstrator ITS

Romania will analyse with its members the possibility for them to further develop the results

of the pilot and implement the services as a commercial application. Also discussions will be

initiated with the authorities providing traffic data (Public Transport Authority of Timisoara

and Administration of Navigable Canals) in order to agree upon a protocol for further

provision of these data after the pilot ends.

The main idea of the demonstrator is to provide a basic structure for further development of

a multimodal information system in Romania. The first step is to create the link between

different systems and to test this cooperation among the systems (the level of demonstrator).

The second step is to extend the demonstrator at city level to provide the information and

routes inside of the city (in this case: Timisoara, Bucharest, Cernavoda and Constanta). The

third step is to extend the routing process at interurban level (to find the best route outside

of the city). The fourth step is to integrate other urban system as providers of information.

This integration will be done on the base of the experiences of Timisoara, Bucharest,

Cernavoda and Constanta. The fifth step is to create a national platform which is able to

integrate various types of information systems from different transport modes and to provide

multimodal information for trip. Another important characteristic of this multimodal

information platform is the connection with other national platforms providing information at

regional and European level.

The extension of the demonstrator has the following dimensions:

Geographic coverage: urban, interurban, national, regional and European;

System integration: different traveller information providers will be integrated in

the system;

Transport modes integration: road, railway and inland waterway transport

systems;

Technological extension and development: Internet technologies, cloud

computing, mobile devices and interfaces;

Service integration: information, management and emergency services.

Another important aim is to make a set of recommendations for the adoption of multimodal

traffic information services. Impact and reliability of exploitable project results are significantly

enhanced by early involvement of key stakeholders into drafting an intermediate exploitation

plan as well as clearly-structured validation procedures. These recommendations are based

on inputs from the stakeholder analysis performed, the lessons learnt from the demonstration

site as well as the experiences of the involved stakeholder groups.


Methodologically this task will involve also outside partners and opinion leaders from ITS,

political decision makers and industrial key individuals. As a consequence this goes explicitly

further than just to increase the project visibility, stimulate the interaction and contacts with

potential end-users and foster the dissemination of results. This task will be managed with a

particular emphasis on both academic and user-oriented dissemination activities.



This demonstrator covers the community of urban and interurban transport operators (road,

railways, RIS and PT) and the public at large.

The main interested stakeholders are:

Transport authorities and administrations involved:

o RATT - Timisoara Public Transport Company (Regia Autonoma de Transport

Timisoara – R.A.T.T.)

o CFR Calatori – Railway Passenger transport Company

o CNADNR - Romanian National Company for Motorways and National Roads

o ACN - Administration of the Navigable Canals - the administrator of the

Danube-Black Sea Canal

Romanian Transports Ministry – as policy maker

The public at large that consists, in this context, mainly of car drivers and local communities

that are offered multimodal travel options. Their awareness will be raised through the local

general press, with “local press” comprising in the first instance papers that may only be

distributed in and around a single city, but may also include papers with regional or even

national distribution. Furthermore, the public is represented by motorist organizations, who

will be invited to participate in the project events.


10. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMILIA-ROMAGNA

PILOT SITE


RER is a large territory with more than 4,3 million inhabitants and 400,000 companies, spread

across 9 Provinces (Bologna - BO, Piacenza - PC, Parma - PR, Reggio Emilia - RE, Modena -

MO, Ferrara - FE, Forlì – Cesena - FC, Ravenna - RA and Rimini - RN) and 348 Municipalities.

In detail, the region is characterized by the presence of several medium-sized cities and a

territorial continuity of the urban settlements. With its strategic geographic position and solid

industrial and urban context, RER is characterised by a strong road traffic among the dense

transport network. The Map shows the regional surface (grey), provinces’ borders (white)

and the main road network (red, orange, green).

Figure 131: E-R road transport network

The RER was the first Italian region to develop an Integrated Regional Transport Plan

(PRIT98), which is now in the updating phase (PRIT 2010-2020 Documento preliminare -

June 2013). Road safety in particular plays a central role in the revision of PRIT 1998, not

more just as a goal of intervention "added", but as an objective that must permeate across the

different actions of the plan, from the backbone infrastructure, to the formation of a new

culture and, in general, to management policies of mobility. In particular, there is the problem

http://mobilita.regione.emilia-romagna.it/allegati/prit/conferenza-di-pianificazione/DocumentoPreliminare.pdf

http://mobilita.regione.emilia-romagna.it/allegati/prit/conferenza-di-pianificazione/DocumentoPreliminare.pdf


of crossing heavy vehicles transporting goods. In fact, largely because of the central position

of the region, in recent years we are witnessing a significant growth of crossing flows (north-

south direction) of road freight transport (+45% from 2000 to 2005) with an incidence

compared to flows which have their origin-destination Emilia-Romagna, which went from a

quarter to a third and a projection that shows a tendency to reach 40% in 2020.

Freight traffic data

The following data show the freight traffic situation in Emilia Romagna in term of intra-

regional traffic, flows with origin/destination in the region, and crossing traffic. The situation is

so resumed:

• Intra-regional traffic 149,839,917;

• Traffic originating in the Emilia Romagna region and that whose destination,

respectively 54,763,828 and 59,750,766;

• The freight transport which passes through Emilia Romagna region was 71,451,894.

Freight flows are of particular relevance for ITS implementation and considerations are

reported onward along this document.

The above mentioned data precede the economic crisis but demonstrate the complexity of

the logistics environment in Emilia-Romagna, as well as the logistics importance of the region

in Italy. With this prospective scenario, the ITS technology may well give a substantial support

in many ways, of which one is to support the goods road transport safety. The “Documento

preliminare June 2013” of PRIT 2010 – 2020 already finds out a general vision about the use

of ITS in order to improve regional competitiveness, increase the connection efficiency of

nodes, reduce freight transport by road and encourage freight transport by rail.

In the next paragraph we’re going to shortly report on RER’s existing ITS systems and

services, with the purpose to demonstrate that RER hasn’t done enough in term of dangerous

goods transport road safety.



Present operating existing regional ITS systems and services deal with both passenger and

goods transport: infomobility and control of the public transport fleets (GIM project),

information of transport traffic along main roads (info traffic), multimodal travel planning

(travel planner) and the tool to monitor heavy vehicle transit (FlussiMTS). In short we’re

going to describe each hereinafter.


10.2.1. GiM (Gestione informata della Mobilità)

In the recent years, Public Transport policies have developed many different services for

citizens, such as ‘infomobility’, which provides travellers with information on the Public

Transport services available in their location. ‘Infomobility’ refers to procedures, systems and

devices based on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS) that improve the mobility

of persons and goods by collecting, processing and distributing information. Infomobility

applications can be used both by mobility operators and by the final users for all modes of

transport. National project GIM focuses on ITS for private and public mobility. The aim of this

project is to improve all available ITS systems for both private and public uses. The GIM

project foresees the installation of Automatic Vehicle Monitoring (AVM) systems in each bus

in the whole Emilia-Romagna region and the consequent installation of electronic signs at bus

stops. The infrastructural measures that GIM is setting up can increase the quality of the

information to the public transport users and help updating travel planners so that they

become dynamic thanks to real-time travel information. Another important result sought

with the GIM infrastructural measures is increased efficiency and attractiveness of public

transport. More info can be found at GIM Info.

http://mobilita.regione.emilia-romagna.it/autobus-e-mobilita-urbana/sezioni/progetto-g-i-m-gestione-informata-della-mobilita


10.2.2. Info traffic

It provides information of real time traffic data along the main routes: e.g. cases of incidents,

closed legs etc..; it shows national data by privileging highways data information. More can be

found at: http://mobilita.regione.emilia-romagna.it/traffico_rer

Figure 132: Info Traffic

http://mobilita.regione.emilia-romagna.it/traffico_rer


10.2.3. Travel Planner

This service allows you to calculate routes and plan trips with public transport in the region of

Emilia-Romagna. More can found at http://travelplanner.cup2000.it/rer/bin/query.exe/i

Figure 133: Travel Planner

http://travelplanner.cup2000.it/rer/bin/query.exe/i


10.2.4. On line flows

The online consultation provides data flows detected by the detection system of regional

traffic flows in Emilia-Romagna. The system, developed by the Region, the Provinces and

Anas, consists of 278 stations in operation 24 hours 24 installed on highways and main

province. More info can be found at (http://servizissiir.regione.emilia-romagna.it/FlussiMTS/).

Hereinafter three pictures, the first describes the streets’ network with 278 stations, the

second home page where the user can submit a request to the system and the third the

example of resulting table with information of traffics on specific ways.

Figure 134: On line Flows 1


10.3. What ITS services will be piloted

The panorama depicted in the previous paragraphs denotes lack of regional ITS systems

dealing with the management of the road transport flows. The situation is more critical if we

focus on dangerous goods transport.

Emilia-Romagna Region, General Direction Infrastructural Networks, Logistics and Mobility

Systems has recently individuated the dangerous goods transport matter as one of its

interests to tackle with for the coming years. The General Direction is in fact aware of the

lack of technological infrastructures, innovative services and governance solutions for DG and

believes is worth starting the analysis of the status of the art and take decisive actions to mind

the gap.

As the status of DG’s information management is currently very low by regional key players

and RER itself, the decision on the pilot’s core activity is to be taken considering several

aspects:

State of the art about the DG management at regional and national level

Individuation of the actors to involve at regional level

Collection of actors’ interest

In addition it is worth saying that a practical approach, evaluating interests vs time necessary

to implement this soft pilot, must be followed to decide what to do in the context of the

project (time) life.

By provisional meetings with DG key players in the region, emerged that information on DG

is not sufficiently known, managed and shared among them and this can represent a problem

in term of security (safety also) for the territory. On the base of it, ITL and RER agreed to

study a precise action of intervention by evaluating several solutions and key players’

interests.

As said, ITL’s soft pilot will focus on ITS solutions for DG management. The pilot is “soft” as

the purchase of specific equipment or technology is not planned during the project life even if

the feasibility of the solution will take into account the use of specific technologies and

equipment.

The technical solution will be drafted in general lines into this report as one consistent part of

the work is indeed to evaluate the most interesting, efficient and effective technical solution

to implement after the end of the project.

The technical solution aims to monitor the DG transport flows using the Highways network

in correspondence of the ‘Bologna node’ – Emilia Romagna - Italy. Bologna is in fact an

important crossroads of north-south and east-west road transport axis as it links South and


North of Italy but also eastern Adriatic with Western Tyrrhenian seaborne. Specifically, the

Bologna node is the point of meeting of these highways:

- A14, linking north west with south east Italian territory (Bologna - Taranto),

Figure 137: A14 Bologna - Taranto

- A1, linking north with south of Italy (Bologna – Milano and Bologna - Napoli)

Figure 138: A1 Milano - Bologna


- A13, linking Bologna to Padova

Figure 139: A13 Bologna - Padova

It is clear that Bologna node is of national importance as it collects and split all the highway

national road traffic crossing the region and of regional importance as well as it also captures

most of the regional traffic with origin or destination in the regional territory. As consequence

of this tricky situation the following problems arise and need to be limited to guarantee an

adequate security and safety level of attention:

1. the node is positioned in a high density demographic area characterised by many

private homes, enterprises or other industrial/commercial places and by adjacent

local roads traffic (‘ tangenziale di Bologna’ and local streets).

2. the node is a strongly congested point of transition of passengers’ cars and heavy

vehicles as it is a obliged national passage for north-south east-west traffics with

therefore a potential higher percentage of DG heavy trucks than in any other street

of the region and a more risky accident generator due to high congestion of traffics.

3. the node easily becomes a bottleneck due to traffic congestion and in case of DG

accident it implies block of traffics not only along the highway and around the area of

the Bologna node, but also it affects the entire regional traffics network.

TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION

The planned general idea for the technological solution wants to monitor the flow of trucks

transporting dangerous goods passing through the Bologna node. The solution should detect

and distinguish between two types of traffics: the DG traffics crossing the node and that

having origin or destination in the node. The focus of the intervention is based on the

recognition of the trucks transporting DG goods, which are recognizable by the orange


panels they exhibit as requested by ADR European normative. In fact ADR (formally, the

European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road

(ADR)) is a 1957 United Nations treaty that governs transnational transport of hazardous

materials. "ADR" is derived from the French name for the treaty: Accord européen relatif au

transport international des marchandises Dangereuses par Route). In practice ADR imposes

that vehicles carrying dangerous goods have to be fitted with orange signs, where the lower

number identifies the transported substance, while the upper number is a key for the threat it

may pose.

Figure 140: Example of DG panel code for trucks

Therefore specific optical recognition systems (OCRs) may be the solution, as they scan the

orange panels’ information.

The optical recognition of such codes means knowing (1) the type of substance transported

and (2) the risks occurring. At the moment this information are not known by regional key

players as dedicated ITS systems don’t exist.

Technological details are part of the study and will be depicted in a later stage. Nevertheless

the technological project must consider: the devices and software to read the orange panels’

codes, the systems and networks to transfer, archive and re-use the information on DG

among several actors.

The expected impacts are of:

regional interest as through this work we’re planning to involve the main regional key

players dealing with the dg management processes, it is prevention or intervention in case of

accident. Moreover more regional actors may benefit of this solution and will require to take

part in the future to the share of these DG information for several reasons. The latter of

course is not set yet and will be investigated in the time period of the pilot implementation.

technical, organizational, social and environment interest. Technical, since the

technical solution doesn’t exist now and it is a starting point to better plan more ITS

integrated systems for dangerous goods management in Emilia Romagna region;

organizational, as more key players are involved to easy the creation of a network of

interested key players and the channels to permit them exchanging DG information in a

standardised way and open way; social and environment, as the DG management is of social

interest as incidents can be very dangerous for the society and finally of environmental

importance considering the release of DG materials on the transport ways can directly imply


damages for the surrounding environment that sometimes can be also considered real

disaster for the surrounding ecosystem.

The synthesis of mid-term expected impacts and results are depending on the results of the

study but can be summarised in two main topics:

Improved regional Policies on ITS, Policies intervention actions in line with EC

Directive and Action Plan.

A Design of the Regional ITS System for Freight (part of it).


10.3.1. Why have these ITS services been selected

The justification of the selection for this ITS solution is indeed the totally missing regional

dangerous goods’ transport management systems. In fact, while we know more on

regulations for dangerous sites, as a specific regulation exists (see reference info on Seveso,

and by the very recent Italian publication commissioned by the Italian ministry about mapping

Hazards of a major accident in Italy 2013 edition (see the Report)), less we know from the

point of view of the transport regulation apart from ADR and national traffics laws.

ITL and RER will take in charge this challenging activity of opening the way for a discussion

panel on DG at regional level. Will depend on the analysis regarding the technical feasibility

the specific and detailed ITS solution to propose going to integrate the general overview

given in the previous chapter.

These foreseen ITS services have been selected to respond public regional key players’ need

to monitor the trucks carrying dangerous goods through the Bologna node. In fact the basic

information on dangerous traffics readable on the orange panels (the substance and the

danger) are used by specific regional players for different purposes, for instance: planning,

preventing, monitoring, intervening and making statistics. Moreover, by sharing these

information on traffics the regional key players may also better integrate knowledge and

procedures to overcome so delicate matters and consequent dangerous problems.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/seveso/

http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/rapporti/mappatura-dei-pericoli-di-incidente-rilevante-in-italia-edizione-2013/view



Bologna is the location of the pilot for two main reasons: it is the location of the analysed

highway infrastructure and it is premise of the main regional key players interested to

collaborate on this delicate and challenging matter (e.g.: RER, Civil Protection, ARPA and Fire

guards).

By the way, the starting point of the analysis on Bologna node can be better understood

showing more in details the highway system around Bologna. As it can be seen from the map,

taken from this link http://www.autostrade.it/ by zooming in the specific area, around

Bologna 3 highways pass, namely A1, A14, A13 connecting respectively Milan and Naples,

Milan and Taranto and Bologna with Padua, this means that if we desire to monitor the DG

traffic around the node, the technical solution must be in charge to monitor all these

transport axis/directions and the entry/exit data in correspondence of the tolls station.

Figure 141: Bologna highway node

http://www.autostrade.it/


10.4. How it will be piloted

At the first stage, in the framework of SEE-ITS pilot activities, these 3 main strands of

activities on dangerous freight management were thought,

DATA USE:

o Policy and operational use that can be done of the data collected within

ITS systems

o Mapping and integrating different data sources (traffics, nodes logistics

data)

o Supply chain integration to better plan, execute and monitor logistics

chains

HARMONIZATION OF ITS SYSTEMS

o Design a coherent framework of ITS applications

o Proposals for interoperability and harmonization of these systems

POLICIES

o Contribution to the Regional Integrated Transport Plan 2010-2020 that is

under update.

and the demo execution planning was set up as it is described below (according to the

presentation done during the kick off meeting of the SEE ITS project).

DEMO EXECUTION planning,

Demo preparatory phase: stakeholders mobilization, work plan details,

monitoring and evaluation plan

ITS mapping at the nodes and transport links levels

Analysis of data & information, purposes of existing ITS

Technology and standards – interoperability analysis

Optimal data use analysis:

o For policy purposes

o For supply chain management

Harmonization standards definition

Designed of an harmonized ITS system at regional level (consistent with a supra-

regional scale)

Pilot evaluation

Mainstreaming into Emilia-Romagna PRIT 2010-2020

After some meetings and discussion with the regional government the plan is now revised as

described in the following sections.

Analysis of ITS system for dangerous goods in Emilia Romagna region:

o Coordination with RER on direction to take and regional actors to

involve

o Mapping of existing ITS for DG management


o Available information (SOURCES, DATA) on DG generated by ITS at

logistics Nodes and along transport Links

o Actors in charge of DG information management at regional level

o Data to manage: which the scope?

o Public and private actors

o Regulatory framework (National and Regional level)

o Interoperability level analysis among systems (Public vs Private)

Harmonization of ITS systems:

o Specifications and project / no implementation and use of equipment

(during SEE-ITS time frame)

o Focus: interoperability among existing systems

o Respect of roles and competencies among public and private actors

o Benefit analysis coherent with:

EU ITS Directive

Direttiva 2010/61/UE “ADR 2011 Accordo Europeo relativo al

trasporto internazionale delle merci pericolose su strada

POLICIES (focus on regional policies)

o Contribution to regional policy, in particular Mainstreaming into Emilia-

Romagna PRIT 2010-2020

o Hints for sustainability and follows up after the SEE-ITS project end

Regarding the architecture of the system and the methodology for its integration in the

existing traffic management centers (if any), as previously said, at the moment no technical

system is in place nor detailed decision has been agreed with the key players. However we

can say that we already have sufficient background elements to think that concentrate on

OCR recognition systems for orange panels reading is of crucial importance. It means that the

system should consider the realisation of a distributed and peered network system based of

intelligent cameras to decode panels along the highway, PCs for archiving traffics data and

Operation centre for traffic data management and elaboration further than the networked

links to transfer information. All these details will be part of the feasibility study to be carried

out by ITL during the pilot implementation period.



ITL and RER are involved in the pilot activities: ITL with an active technical and coordinating

role, while RER has been supporting ITL in the activities and pilot set up since the project

beginning. Still under verification is the involvement of some experts and the support of the

main regional key players.

ITL has already activated contacts and participated to local face to face meetings with some

main regional players to preliminary understand the status of the art on DG management and

collect needs and suggestions on which ITL can work on during the pilot. In particular

preliminary identified actors were ARPA - CTR stabilimenti a rischio di incidente rilevante,

Vigili del Fuoco direzione regionale and Protezione Civile Emilia Romagna – PCER and

Autostrade per l'Italia. DIREZIONE 3° Tronco – BOLOGNA which all can have a role in the

DG management.

A further idea which is still under elaboration consists in the organisation of a permanent ITS

“table” on the dangerous goods management with the key regional players that see also the

availability of General Direction Infrastructural Networks, Logistics and Mobility Systems of

Emilia Romagna region as steering partner.



to the whole year

Provisional time plan of the activities till the evaluation of the impacts and ideas for

sustainability after the project end with the involvement of RER and other actors involved.

Table 16: Activity time plan

ACTIVITY DEADLINE

Revision of public regional actors to be involved Mid - Oct. ‘13

Regional group set up, to support the pilot activities Mid - Nov. ‘13

Analysis of the ITS state of the art, availability of data and ITS

regulatory framework February/March ‘14

Design of ITS system for dangerous goods management March/April ‘14

Assessment on policy framework May/June ‘14



It is still under definition. Already on board is Emilia Romagna regional government. Further

stakeholders will be defined together between ITL and RER. The key players that have been

interviewed could be involved in the analysis, but in particular they will be clearly involved in

the discussion panel.

10.4.4. Evaluation and monitoring tools and experience of the involved

partner/region.

The methodology for the evaluation of the results and the monitoring of the key performance

indicators during the pilot is not defined yet.


10.5. Further deployment of ITS in the region after the

pilot phase

The regional government is exactly working in the direction of evaluating future

technical/organisational improvements and tackle the financial sustainability action plan. No

way to predict the activities to be done as it is based on on-going results during pilots.

Nevertheless, the interest of the General Direction Infrastructural Networks, Logistics and

Mobility Systems of Emilia Romagna region is to open the way for a long term discussion on

dangerous goods transportation by involving other actors.


10.6. Objectives and scope

The goal of this report is to provide a detailed view on the preparatory activities that will

ensure the success of the execution of the pilot demonstration activities.

Each project partner involved in 5.1 activity gave detailed description on the area of the pilot

site where the ITS demonstration is implemented. Statistics and characteristics related to

social, economic, environmental and transport issues are presented in reference to the demo

sites.

The report addresses information about the exciting ITS systems and services which are

related to the implementations. The transport policies of the regions make a major effect on

ITS deployments are described in the first sections as well.

The following chapter is focused on the technical details, the expected impacts and results of

the implementation.

The justification of selection is also an important issue in terms of the current ITS systems and

transport solutions already working in the regions.

The next chapter presents detailed work plan which would be followed for the pilots of the

proposed ITS solutions. Detailed time-plans showing the duration of the base line and all the

pilot phases are presented for each pilot.

Involved actors and stakeholders are mentioned as a separated section that could be

interested in the services and the activities that will take place in order to promote the ITS.

Finally the methodology for the evaluation of the results of the pilots and the monitoring of

the key performances are described as well as the further deployment of ITS in the region

after the pilot phase.


10.7. Use of guidelines

The aim of the guidelines is to harmonize ITS services on TEN-T roads. The deployment

guidelines provide guidance to the project partners in charge of the implementation of ITS

services.

During the implementation of the demonstration activities the following guidelines had been

used:

10.7.1. Forecast and real-time event information (TIS-DG02)

This Deployment Guideline intends to provide information to those who are involved in

traffic forecast and real-time event information. Provision of forecast and real-time event

information contributes to the general goals of the road authority. The Guideline elaborates

the need for information, both forecast and real-time. Unexpected events are normally

related to dangerous situations; information about these events is disseminated to prevent

accidents and influence route choice and therefore make the road network safer and more

efficient. It is important to disseminate this type of information as quickly as possible.

Providing information on expected events allows for more pre-trip decision-making both on

the itinerary and/or mode of transport.


10.7.2. Traffic conditions information (predictive and real-time) TIS-DG3

Traffic Conditions Information Services means the provision to road users of traffic conditions

on identified road segments of the TEN-T network and interfaces. This predictive or real-

time information could be released pre-trip and on-trip. Different media could be used for its

provision: roadside information panels, Variable Message Signs (VMS), websites, radio’s/TV’s,

mobile phones, navigation computers, etc.

The service is dedicated to road users and may include common information as well as

personalized (individual) information; it focuses on road traffic information.


10.7.3. Travel time information (TIS-DG05)

Travel Time Information Services means the provision to road users of Travel Times on

identified road segments of the TEN-T network and interfaces. This real-time, accurate and

refreshed information could be released pre-trip and on-trip. Different media could be

required for its provision: roadside information panels (Variable Message Signs - VMS),

websites, radio’s/TV’s, mobile phones, navigation computers, etc.

Travel Time Information Services notably contribute to the improvement of traffic efficiency.

They support travelers while selecting cost- and time-effective trips. Hence, large scale

deployments contribute to the reduction of traffic congestion. Travel Time Information

Services also contribute to road safety improvement and to a depletion of environmental

impacts. Efficiency could be related to Travel Time (shorter trips) and modal both leading to

a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to safer trips.


10.7.4. Co-modal traveller information services (TIS-DG07)

Co-modal traveler information services offer in parallel comparative information of different

modes/means of transport (multi-modal) and/or the combination of different modes/means of

transport within the same route (intermodal).

Co-modal traveler information services can foster a modal shift towards more environment-

friendly modes/means of transport and lead to a more efficient network operation as well as a

better utilization of the transport infrastructure. The end-users are enabled to select an

appropriate and efficient mode/means of transport or an inter-modal combination of different

transport modes/means. Thus, the end-users receive comprehensive information on

alternative routes and public mobility is facilitated.


10.7.5. Incident warning (TMS-DG05)

Incident warning enables to warn in advance about dangerous spots, traffic or environment

and weather-related conditions and/or in case of accidents, work sites or objects on the

carriageway. Communication of warning messages is oriented towards drivers and may be

provided through infrastructure - vehicle interface or vehicle - vehicle interface, using either

audio or visual media.

Incident warning is a prior traffic control measure and aims at preventing or avoiding both

road accidents and consequences of road accidents (rear-end collisions in an accident scene).


10.7.6. Access to abnormal and dangerous goods transport (FLS-DG02)

This service should provide an access to the necessary information and procedures regarding

specific abnormal or dangerous goods transport. The service should provide this in a

standardized way for all EU Member States, in a language understandable to the

trucker/applicant and in a time frame which is acceptable to modern logistics.

The objective of this European Core Service is to provide a portal which offers all national

characteristics for abnormal and dangerous goods transports in the Member States in a

reliable, comprehensive and interactive way, to provide all requested information needed for

particular transport permits and to inform about contact data of all relevant authorities.


10.7.7. Variable Message Signs (VMS) harmonization (SA-DG01)

This Deployment Guideline intends to support road operators in using VMS as a means for

communicating to the road user, considering the past and present development of the

European signing culture. The Deployment Guideline describes the general framework for

VMS harmonization, including detailed specifications concerning design principles and a list of

specific messages to be used when facing specific road/traffic situations. This Deployment

Guideline is closely linked to the 1968 Convention and the Consolidated Resolution 2, the

international standards concerning road signs kept by the Road Safety Forum (UNECE’s

WP.1).


Annex A: FIELD OPERATIONAL TESTS


Field Operational Tests

The role of Field Operational Tests (FOTs)

In recent decades, a large number of transport applications have been successfully developed

and demonstrated in collaborative research projects throughout Europe. Their positive

impact on traffic safety and efficiency are now widely recognized. However, market

penetration is lagging behind, probably due to a lack of awareness and understanding of their

societal benefits.

Field Operational Tests (FOTs) are large-scale testing programmes aiming at a

comprehensive assessment of the efficiency, quality, robustness and acceptance of ICT

solutions used for smarter, safer, cleaner, and more comfortable transport solutions, such as

navigation and traffic information, and advanced driver assistance. FOTs are a step towards

the market deployment of mature systems that have proven their functional effectiveness in

validation tests.

Safety benefits need to be confirmed by data gathered in real-life situations with ordinary

drivers. Field Operational Tests (FOT) are the instrument to collect such data.

FOTs also have the potential to address another issue: despite recognized benefits, the

market penetration of many safety systems still is rather low. FOTs that involve the relevant

stakeholders for deployment (e.g. freight operators, fleet managers) and raise public

awareness – with political decision makers and the general public – can significantly

contribute to a faster market take-up of effective safety systems.


Funding framework

FOT-Net is a Specific Support Action funded by the European Commission DG Information

Society and Media under the Seventh Framework Programme.

First phase 2008 – 2010, 10 funded partners, funding of 1.2 M€

Second phase 2011 – 2013, 15 funded partners, funding of 1.4 M€

Third phase:

Duration: 39 months, starting on 1 January 2011, total cost: 1.4 M€

The new support action of FOT-Net Data

This project will continue the networking activities of FOT-Net and maintain the website, the

wiki and the FESTA methodology. The prime goal of FOT-Net Data is to maintain and

increase the momentum achieved in FOT-Net and develop the strategy for sharing and

exploiting collected FOT data. FOT-Net Data develops and promotes a framework for

sharing data. It takes into account the pre-requisites necessary in the FOTs, such as legal

agreements, to enable future re-use of data.

The project started on 1 January 2014, with duration of 36 months.


FOTs in Europe

The EC funded FOT-Net support action answers the needs to gather National, European and

international FOT organizers in one strategic networking platform.

The primary aim of this network is to spread and feed-in the common FESTA methodology

which has been developed for Field Operational Tests. The FESTA project has developed a

comprehensive manual which described the various steps to be taken when organizing a Field

Operational Test. It walks the reader through the whole process of planning, preparing,

executing, analyzing and reporting a Field Operational Test, and it gives information about

aspects that are especially relevant for a study of this magnitude (administrative, logistics, etc.)

The FOT networking platform aims not only to spread this methodology, but also to further

explore the FESTA recommendations, and debate about issues which will need further

attention.

In addition FOT-Net Forum activities provide to the stakeholders the opportunity to address

common identified priorities or problems related to the execution of the FOTs and find a

solution to keep the integrity of the European FOT methodology.


Testbeds in Europe

Small and medium enterprises stakeholders and the society have a great need to research,

test and run innovative ITS solutions and evaluate the impact of intelligent transport system

(ITS) on traffic flow, safety, environment and driver behavior. The test environment ITS

Testbeds enables this, as well as monetarisation of costs and benefits, associated business

models and testing of compatibility and technical specifications.

The ITS Testbeds project, part of the European Commission’s Seventh Framework

programme, was already launched and has a volume of 1.4 million euro (Third phase). The

project will build an integrated test and simulation environment to evaluate intelligent

transport systems (ITS). It is collaboration among the small and medium enterprises, research

institutions and independent network organizations.


FOT work plan

For a Field Operation Test to proceed smoothly, a plan of action must be developed which

documents the scientific, technical, administrative and procedural activities and tasks that are

needed to successfully complete it.

The FOT work plan is intended to serve as a checklist for planning and running FOTs.

The FOT work plan in resembles a traditional “Work Breakdown Structure”, but without

timelines. It is specifically designed in this way so that timelines can be inserted at a later date

by those responsible for the overall planning and running of the FOT.

The FOT work plan provides a general guide to the sequence in which Activities, Tasks and

Sub-Tasks should be performed. Some need to happen early in the project and others at the

end. Some need to immediately precede others. Other tasks need to proceed concurrently

with others. Decisions about the scheduling of Activities, Tasks and Sub-Tasks are the

responsibility of the FOT Project Manager.

The table below lists the 22 Activities identified in the FOT work plan, and highlights the main

dependencies that exist between them.


Set

up/design Preparation Data collection Competition

Convene teams and people

Define aims, objectives, research

questions & hypotheses

Develop project management plan

Implement procedures and protocols

for communicating with stakeholders

Design the study

Identify and resolve legal and ethical

issues

Select and obtain FOT test platforms

(vehicles, mobile devices, road side

units, .....)

Select and obtain systems and functions

to be evaluated

Select and obtain data collection and

transfer systems

Select and obtain support systems for

FOT platforms

Equip FOT test platforms with all

systems

Implement driver feedback and

reporting systems

Select / implement relational database

for storing FOT data

Test all systems against functional

requirements and performance

specifications

Develop recruitment strategy and

materials

Develop driver training and briefing

materials

Pilot test FOT equipment, methods and

procedures

Run the FOT

Analyze FOT data

Write minutes and reports

Disseminate the FOT findings

Decommission the FOT

TABLE 1 FOT Work Plan


Annex B: EVALUATION OF FIELD OPERATIONAL TESTS


Evaluation of Field Operational Tests

Evaluation components

Data flow

The structuring and naming convention used in this document is visualized. This is an example

of an FOT structure of data that includes data from an electronic data acquisition system (e.g.

on-vehicle, infrastructure or nomadic device, but also services such as geographical, traffic,

and weather information), as well as subjective data collection. The Data Acquisition Unit (on

the right) comprises sensor systems requiring raw data decoding. The raw data may then be

pre-processed, in this case by low-level data processing such as simple filtering or calculation

of directly derived results. Both raw data and pre-processed data (derived from raw data) are

then stored in the same format and may be used for Performance Indicator calculations done

onboard the vehicle. This data is stored locally and can be kept locally for a shorter or longer

period of time (until batched wireless uploads or disc pickup). If deemed necessary, smaller

amounts of data can be directly uploaded to the main storage location. At one time or

another, the data will be moved from the Data Acquisition System (DAS) to the main storage.

Before, in parallel, or after the DAS collection and upload of data, acquisition of subjective

data may be performed. Subjective data is also considered acquired from a “sensor” (see

picture on left). This data is then similarly subject to manual or automatic decoding, stored

directly in the database (pre-processed or not), or used in Performance Indicator calculations.

Note that the “measures” (virtual interfaces) boxes indicate that all data below these boxes is

to be perceived in a common and generalized way. Functions above these virtual interfaces

should not see a difference.


ITS functions to be evaluated

The ITS function Information on alternative transport modes primarily affects the choice of

transport mode, but also the amount and distribution of demand, travel timing and the choice

of route. The Public transport fleet management primarily affects transport system

maintenance by facilitating the operating and planning of public transport, but often also

affects traffic behavior, e.g. through the monitoring of drivers’ adherence to timetables.

Main impacts

The provision of information on alternative transport modes results in changes in the use of

the transport network, the need for further construction and the cost of network

maintenance (network and its costs). In addition, information services affect the need for and

use of the transport fleet (fleet and its costs). Information services are used to try to improve

the accessibility and image of a transport mode (valuations, comfort and image).

Public transport fleet management primarily affects the efficiency and costs of using the fleet

(fleet and its costs) as well as the travel time and accuracy of the timetables (time and its

predictability). Fleet management also affects the quality and accessibility of public transport

services.

Transport and information society policy objectives

The impacts of information on alternative transport modes are especially significant for

companies that operate transport services. In addition to this, e.g. changes in the utilization of

infrastructure have a direct impact on social economy, and thus on the transport system level

of service and costs as well as on the information society during the creation of new

information services. Improvements in accessibility affect social sustainability.

Public transport fleet management primarily has an effect on the public transport operator’s

private economy and indirectly on social economy, i.e. the transport system level of service

and costs. The fleet management system produces much information that can be utilized, e.g.

in content services, which in turn promotes the creation of an information society.

It should be noted that the approach used is rough and based on a notion of an ITS function’s

traditional implementation method. The function’s objectives and impacts can naturally differ

even significantly from the norm in individual implementations. The impact evaluation should

always be tailored to the individual characteristics of each project. In addition, the tables are

filled out under the assumption that the transport system will be as it is currently, e.g. that the

state or municipalities will maintain the roads.


When discussing transport policy objectives, it is good to keep in mind that the effects on the

objectives overlap one another somewhat. The detriments to people and the environment

are, shown as a monetary impact on the costs of the transport system, for example.

Figure 1. ITS functions and impacts


Evaluation methodology

Evaluation is a selective exercise that attempts to systematically and objectively assess

progress towards and the achievement of an outcome. Evaluation is not a one-time event,

but an exercise involving assessments of differing scope and depth carried out at several

points in time in response to evolving needs for evaluative knowledge and learning during the

effort to achieve an outcome. All evaluations—even project evaluations that assess relevance,

performance and other criteria—need to be linked to outcomes as opposed to only

implementation or immediate outputs.

Results-based management (RBM) is a management strategy or approach by which an

organization ensures that its processes, products and services contribute to the achievement

of clearly stated results. Results-based management provides a coherent framework for

strategic planning and management by improving learning and accountability. It is also a broad

management strategy aimed at achieving important changes in the way agencies operate, with

improving performance and achieving results as the central orientation, by defining realistic

expected results, monitoring progress toward the achievement of expected results,

integrating lessons learned into management decisions and reporting on performance.


Evaluation report

An evaluation’s need for documentation depends on the extent of the project and the

evaluation. A document at its most extensive is a separate evaluation report that also includes

impact descriptions. At its shortest it is, e.g. a one-page summary that also includes the

contact information for the person who wrote the evaluation. The significant information and

bases for the calculation must always be available so that interested parties can, if they want,

do their own assessment or calculation.

The documentation of ITS project evaluations should correspond with the extent and costs of

the actual project. The documentation can often be less thorough as that of traditional

infrastructure investments. The impacts and calculations just have to be documented as

objectively as possible.

The way an ITS project evaluation summary is drawn up depends on the extent of the project

and its evaluation and the purpose of the summary. If the project is an important investment

project, the summary should be thorough and compliant with these guidelines.

In the case of smaller projects, the summary can be, e.g. a one-page abstract of the various

parts of the evaluation framework. The following structure, used widely in project

evaluations, is the recommended summary structure:

abstract (if the summary has four pages)

project description (e.g. objectives, significance, problems to be solved, physical

description, budget and readiness for implementation)

impacts divided by target area

profitability calculation and its sensitivity analyses

Feasibility evaluation.

The summary should include a date and contact information.

The project evaluation summaries of some example projects are included as appendices in

this report.


Introduction to the FESTA methodology

In the European FESTA project (Field Operational Test Support Action), a consortium of a

large number of partners, both industrial and academic, a methodology was developed to

conduct these studies. Using such a methodology helps to ensure a sound approach to

conducting studies and obtaining reliable results, but also allows for data and results that may

be compared between tests. In Figure 1 this methodology is summarized. A handbook was

written in which the methodology is described in detail [1].The methodology consists of a

process which systematically details the steps to be taken to set-up the test (the left-hand

side of the V), the actual data acquisition (the bottom of the V), and the analysis of the data

and evaluation and interpretation of the results (the right-hand side of the V). The first part of

the methodology to define the test follows a systematic research-oriented approach. After

defining the functions and systems to be investigated (for example forward collision warning),

the use cases have to be defined, specific events in which a system is expected to behave

according to the specified function, for example car following. Use cases describe the

boundary conditions under which a function is intended to be analyzed. Next the research

questions and related hypotheses need to be defined. Hypotheses should be statistically

testable. The study is then designed in detail and performance indicators are selected.

Performance indicators are quantitative or qualitative indicators, monitored at regular or

irregular intervals, and can be compared to one or more criteria (for example acceleration).

The next step determines which specific measures and sensors to use. When the whole test

is defined, the actual data acquisition can take place. Data are stored in a database and

analyzed. Analysis leads to evaluation of whether the research questions have been answered

and the hypotheses need to be rejected or not.

The outcomes of the analysis should also answer questions about the functioning of the

system, and intended and unintended behavior. Finally the results should be scaled up to

assess the socio-economic impact, answering the question what the impact would be if the

system were fully deployed in a large proportion of vehicles (or in all vehicles). At several

points ethical and legal questions should be addressed, such as the privacy of the participants,

responsibilities in the case of system failure, etc. For all these different steps in the FESTA V

methodology, detailed recommendations, both of a theoretical and a practical nature, were

developed.


Figure 2. FESTA methodology


Comparison of alternatives

The involved actors

INVOLVING PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS

An emphasis on results places an even greater emphasis on the involvement of partners and

stakeholders in evaluation exercises of all kinds. In particular, key partners should be involved

in every step of an outcome evaluation. Likewise, stakeholders affected by an evaluation

should also be involved, even if they are not directly involved in the programme or outcome.

Stakeholders might be involved, for example, through a stakeholder meeting to discuss the

initial findings of the evaluation team. Often, but not always, partners and stakeholders will

include the same actors and agencies. Indeed, partners, stakeholders and “beneficiaries” often

are coterminous, having the same interests. This is not always the case, however, so it is

important to distinguish between the three terms since, in a given context, one actor might

be a partner, another a “beneficiary” and yet another a stakeholder. In a project to

strengthen civil society’s advocacy power with Parliament, for example, the Parliament may

be a stakeholder; a donor government agency may be both partner and stakeholder; and civil

society organizations may be partners, stakeholders and “beneficiaries.”

The level to which different partners and stakeholders are involved at different steps in the

process will vary. Some need only be informed of the process, while it would be important

for others to be involved in a decision-making capacity.

Because evaluation has important capacity development and learning dimensions, decisions

about who is involved and to what degree will impact upon the results. In general the greater

the level of involvement the more likely it is that evaluative knowledge will be used. It is

important to note that greater participation of partners or stakeholders or both often implies

greater costs and sometimes can lead to a reduction in efficiency. Nevertheless, by

strategically involving stakeholders and partners, participatory evaluation can positively

influence the degree of ownership of the evaluation results and sustainability.

Tips for involving partners and stakeholders in the entire evaluation process include the

following:

Make a preliminary selection of partners and stakeholders to contact in the early

stages of evaluation planning (i.e., when selecting the outcome, defining the scope,

deciding on timing and soon);

Share the TORs and CVs of suitable candidates for the evaluation team and obtain

feedback from stakeholders and partners, who can play a valuable role in defining the

scope of the outcome evaluation;

Introduce team members to partners and stakeholders;

Invite partners and stakeholders to workshops with the evaluation team (i.e., when

they form the evaluation questions, present the evaluation report, etc.);


Organize a joint analysis with partners of relevant documentation for the evaluation

and make the analysis available for future examination by the evaluation team;

Organize joint field missions with partners when relevant;

Organize a meeting with partners and stakeholders after the first draft of the

evaluation report is produced to discuss the findings with them;

Follow-up with partners and stakeholders to help ensure that the lessons learned and

recommendations of the evaluation are internalized.


Temporal dimension

Temporal factors such as time of day, and seasonal effects have a considerable impact on the

planning of FOTs, and the analysis of data. In contrast to the weather effects outlined above,

the temporal factors can usually be predicted, and so it is usually easier to deal with the issues

successfully. The main issues to do with the time of day, week, and seasonal variations are:

Influence on driver state (e.g. sleepiness)

Disruption caused by external events, for example school opening times

Influence on traffic levels

Other temporal influences on traffic

Impact on vehicle occupants

Glare

Ambient light levels

Seasonal confounding of data collection

Influence on route choice

Pragmatics to do with drivers work and life schedules

Using time of day as a surrogate, for example, time of day can be used to specify or

control for traffic levels or ambient light levels.

Time of day and seasonal effects are different to weather issues in several ways, including:

Time of day and seasonal effects are much more predictable than weather conditions

They are often proxies – i.e. not important in themselves, but important because

they result in variation of a factor of interest (e.g. traffic levels, or level of the sun

above the horizon)

These two factors mean that a greater emphasis should be placed on planning around

relatively predictable time of day and seasonal effects, and considering their impact on the

FOT.


Spatial dimension

Geographical location

In line with above, the geographic location can be chosen because it is representative of the

intended area of use for a vehicle/system (e.g. predominantly motorway environments).

Alternatively, the geographic area can be chosen because it displays the characteristics

needed to collect the specific data you are interested in during the FOT (e.g. the choice of

mountainous and/or northern European environments in order to collect data on the use of

systems in cold environments).

The population within a particular geographical location may affect the running of the FOT.

For example, certain cultural issues, population characteristics, car ownership, use of new

technologies, and language issues may be apparent. In addition the characteristics pertaining

to the road and prevailing traffic may be of importance, including:

Road type and localities present

Traffic patterns, such as types of journeys (e.g. commuter or tourist travel), traffic

flow, traffic density, vehicle types, and frequency and sophistication of journeys

Other transport options, the availability and costs and the inducement or penalties to

encourage particular transport mode choices

Legal regulatory and enforcement environment, such as speed limits, levels of

enforcement of traffic regulations (e.g. speed cameras), penalties for traffic or other

violations, standardization (e.g. compliance of road signs with international

standards).

The geographical location may also have implications with regards to technical and other

study issues, including infrastructure and data communication issues such as:

Network/beacon infrastructure for vehicle-infrastructure communication

Network coverage/reliability for telecommunications, especially if automatic over

the-air data transmission is used instead of manual data download

Localized GPS coverage issues (e.g. urban canyons, foliage cover)

Logistical issues, both in the validation and the experimentation phase safe and secure

access to infrastructure equipments should be ensured for validation of the

functions[FW](especially in case of cooperative systems), for data download (if

remote access is not available) and maintenance. As well target vehicles should be

accessed for data download (if data is not being transmitted over the air) and for

maintenance.

The availability and quality (resolution, scope and depth of content) of electronic

maps that can integrate vehicle location for situation evaluation. Moreover, in case of

complex functions and especially for cooperative systems, high accuracy maps may be

required in order to implement these functions.

Availability of other data, e.g. from the police, highway authorities, fleet operators,

maintenance personnel.


The most important point in relation to the geographical area is that it must be chosen based

specifically on the objectives of the particular FOT, and in particular, in relation to the validity

of the data that is being collected. There are two overall considerations:

Do you need to consider a particular geographical aspect because it is relevant to the

types of vehicles and or systems being studied?

Does a geographical aspect need to be considered to ensure that the results

obtained can be generalized to the wider ’population’ of interest (i.e. external

validity)?

The starting point is to consider the overall objectives of the FOT, including the types of cars

and systems that will be incorporated into the trial. The second major consideration is that of

generalization of the results. In particular it is necessary to ensure that geographical aspects

are included to ensure that the data collected during a specific FOT can be generalized to the

wider population of interest. The third factor to consider is whether the geographical factor

is of particular interest in terms of data analysis. If it is desirable to analyze results according

the presence or absence of a particular factor, then the geographical environment(s) must

include that factor (and possibly variation thereof).

Sensitivity analysis

A sensitivity analysis should be made of the main uncertainty factors of the benefit/cost ratio.

These uncertainty factors include traffic forecasts, the budget and any uncertainty associated

with impact evaluations. Sensitivity analyses also have to examine the risks involved with the

realization of cost components, such as the financing risk. Sensitivity analyses are often

especially necessary within ITS projects, because similar projects have not been implemented

before, making the uncertainty associated with the impacts particularly great.

During sensitivity analysis, the value of a factor that affects the project’s profitability is

changed (increased and decreased) from the presumed value, and the consequent changes in

the benefit/cost ratio are examined. During sensitivity analysis, it is usually expedient to

change the value of only one cost component at a time, because otherwise it will be more

difficult to examine the results. The cost-benefit analysis can present an estimate of the

critical uncertainty factors, when the results of the sensitivity analysis are combined with an

earlier estimate of the level of uncertainty associated with each factor.


Large databases management and analyses

The strategy and the steps of data analysis need to be planned in order to provide an overall

assessment of the impact of a system from the experimental data.

There are three main difficulties:

The huge and complex amount of data coming from different sensors included

questionnaires and video to be processed;

The potential bias about the impact of the system(s) on behavior which may arise

coming from sampling issues including location of the study, the selection of a

relatively small sample of drivers, etc.;

The resort of auxiliary models such as simulation models to extrapolate from the

behavioral effects estimated and tested within the sample to effects at the level of the

whole transport system.

To be confident of the robustness of the outputs of the data analysis, one has to follow some

strategic rules in the process of data analysis and apply to the whole chain and to its five links

the required techniques such as applying appropriate statistical tests or using data mining to

uncover hidden patterns in the data.

Figure 3. ITS functions and impacts

Some specific actions are required to tackle the difficulties mentioned above and to ensure

the quality and robustness of the data analysis.

1. A pilot study is a prerequisite to check the feasibility of the chain of data collection

and treatment and to achieve a pre-evaluation of the usefulness of the system. A lot

of time can be wasted if this step is neglected because it is more difficult to restore

the chain during the FOT.

2. As there will be a lot of computations from measurements to test of hypothesis

through Performance Indicators estimations, the data flow has to be monitored in

detail but also in the large. One of the strategic rules to follow is to ensure local and

global consistency in the data processing and data handling and analysis. It is a loss to

focus on a part of the chain of treatment if there is weak link. All the precisions

gained from a particular step will be lost.

3. A lot of uncertainties will be part of the data because of the measurement and

sampling errors. Stemming from the experiment design, the sources of variability and

bias of the PIs have to be identified, where feasible, in order to control them in the

data analysis.

4. Many hypotheses have to be tested simultaneously. There is a crucial need for an

integrative assessment process which could ideally combine within a meta-model


information gathered on the usability, usefulness and acceptability of the system with

the observed impacts of the system on behavior. Furthermore, it is a multidisciplinary

task. The estimated effects obtained from the sample of drivers and data have to be

extrapolated using auxiliary models to scale them up.

5. Appropriate techniques have to be applied for each link of the chain : data quality,

data processing, data mining and video analysis, PI calculation, hypothesis testing and

global assessment. A brief description of them is provided. The techniques come

from two set of statistical and informatics tools belonging to two main kinds of data

analysis: exploratory (data mining) and confirmatory or inferential (statistical testing).

The first one is useful to process signals and to identify sequences of events. The

second is useful to test the impact by estimating the variances of the PIs' estimates

according to the nested structure of the statistical units.

Large data-set handling

An FOT often collects so much data that there are not enough resources and time to analyze

all data in the timeframe of the FOT project. There are different choices when it comes to

selection of data for analysis.

An option is to take the "space mission" approach in which as much data as possible are

collected, because the FOT provides a unique opportunity (and funding) to collect data which

may be hard to collect later on. However, before starting data collection, it is recommended

to develop a plan on how to store the data and how to make it available for later analysis or

analysis by others. This plan should specify detailed data dictionaries, open software formats,

and rules for data access and other relevant information as meta-data.

Although analysis later on and by others (in other words, re-using data from other projects)

seems a good idea, e.g. reducing the need for expensive and time-consuming data collection

phase, it also poses problems. Data may become out of date, because traffic, vehicles, driver

support and information systems change. Therefore data, which is collected today, might not

be of much relevance in ten years time, because of the changed environment and driver

behavior. However, although the context may change, the fundamentals of driving behavior

do not. Therefore whether it is possible to re-use data fruitfully depends on what is wanted

to be known about driving with a support of information system. An additional problem is

that sponsors and stakeholders may want to have fresh data and that it may not be easy to

get a project funded that analyses data from another project.

The opposite approach is to collect only a minimum set of relevant data or to trigger data

collection for the specific events of interest. Limiting data to specific events may have the

consequence that it is not possible to look at generalized behavioral side-effects. Selection of

data should be driven in the first place by the research questions that need to be answered.

With limited resources it may be useful to find a compromise between an explorative study

with naturalistic driving and a more strict experimental study in which the expected behavior

of drivers and systems are evoked in a more condensed manner, requiring less time and


providing more focused data. Usage of this selected data for other purposes and projects

might not be feasible as the selected data has been collected for certain research questions.

Even for the later analysis the specification of the relevant data can be changed (e.g. threshold

for an event) because of new findings within the analysis. An adaptation of these selected data

will be not possible, because of missing data.

To make analysis more efficient, it is recommended to take a layered approach to data

analysis, making sure that first those data are selected that are needed to provide information

on the research questions before going into a detailed analysis. Moreover it needs to be

checked, whether the selected data are appropriate to perform the analysis before starting

the actual data analysis.

The lack of resources to analyze all data is usually the lack of human resources, and not a

problem of computational resources. Thus methods for automation of the analysis are

needed in order to increase especially the processing of data (e.g. recognition of events). The

analysis of video data is generally a time consuming task, which should be considered from

the beginning with respect to planning. Data mining methods are important to tackle this

problem. An additional problem with resources is that data analysis comes late in a project. If

delays occur in the data collection phase, which is often the case, the phase of data analysis

may have to be shortened and resources will be diminished. It is therefore important to plan

the data-analysis from the beginning of the project.

The processed data for analysis is generally stored in databases. The performance of the

databases decreases with the amount of stored data. Thus intelligent approaches on data

storage need to be applied, in order to avoid unnecessary processing time. Data sets for the

analysis may be defined in advance as part of the data acquisition scheme and then processed

before storage into the databases.


Data sources

Data acquisition

Methods of data acquisition in FOTs include methods to collect background data, digitally

acquire data from sensors, and subjective data (such as data acquired from questionnaires). In

addition, data in the form of manually or automatically transcribed data and reductions of

collected data is also considered sensor acquired data (but with a manual sensor – the

analyst). In FESTA all the data sources mentioned above are considered sensors.

Subsequently can all data be acquired, stored, and processed in a generalized way.

All of these different data types are used to support the hypotheses defined for the specific

FOT [FW]. The data to be collected should be defined and based on research questions and

hypotheses.

Background data acquisition

The background data about the driver is crucial and needs to be collected integrated in the

driver interaction procedure. Due to privacy issues different parts of the background data

may or may not be suitable for storage in a database, or be used in statistical and other forms

of analyses.

Data could be gathered by interviews and/or questionnaires, by different tests, or by specific

instruments. The driver background information should be considered as acquired from a

sensor, and preferably be added into the database and to the sensor matrix.

In-vehicle data acquisition

An in-vehicle Data Acquisition System (DAS) is needed in FOTs where the focus is either to

study in-vehicle systems by collecting data from the systems in the vehicle. A suitable DAS

can differ from study to study and a specific solution cannot be recommended for all types of

FOTs. See section 3.1.2 in D2.2 for a list of different DAS solutions.

The guidelines and requirements in this document are based on experiences from FOTs using

some kind of in-vehicle data acquisition.

Nomadic devices

A nomadic device (ND) or an aftermarket device could be either part of the function/system

under test, or it could be part of the data acquisition system, acquiring specific FOT data.

Nomadic devices can also be used as data storage tools as they are easy to install and use on

different kind of vehicles. If the vehicle has a dedicated gateway for ND, this option can be

used for capture of further vehicle related data.


Using the local wireless connections, the storage capacity of ND could be extended with

large capacity hard disks. A possible drawback of a ND, when used as a DAS in itself, is that

test subjects must remember to bring the ND to the vehicle every time he/she uses the

vehicle.

Subjective data acquisition

As explained before, also subjective data are considered as “sensor” data in the scope of the

FOT methodology. All subjective data should therefore be stored and handled logically as if it

were collected from a “real” sensor. Subjective data may include data acquired from the test

subjects in different ways. Results from interviews and questionnaires are typically subjective

data.

The result from the subjective data acquisition should preferably be stored in an electronic

format. Electronic compilation of the questionnaire may be considered to reduce the overall

manual work and cost, maybe by using web based tools.

For subjective data to be stored, the following related information is required:

Date and time (hh:mm) of test start

Date and time (hh:mm) of test end

Subject ID code

If present, reference to objective data (file name, location)

Real time observation

In this context, real time observation data is data collected by an observer that directly or

indirectly (in real-time or afterwards – for example on video) is observing the drivers and

systems to be evaluated. The data acquisition process is usually relatively manual but the

results should be transferred to digital format and uploaded to the FOT database for further

analysis.

Real time observation data help provide a more detailed picture of a driver’s behavior, as well

as verifying the information gathered by other instruments. As the overall purpose of an FOT

is to collect information on as natural driving as possible, with an observer physically in the car

there is always the risk of the driver not acting the way he or she would otherwise.

Direct real time observations must therefore be carried out with great care and as

unobtrusively as possible, or avoided completely.

Additional data sources in Cooperative systems

The cooperative systems architecture implies the possibility of additional data sources.

Specifically RSUs connected to proper sensors may provide traffic information and

environment data. RSUs connected to Traffic light controller are able to provide traffic light


phases and intelligent traffic control centre dispatch traffic information and alternative routes.

It is important that all data records contain a time stamp synchronized to GNSS clock.

Acquisition of infrastructure data and other services

General aspects

The infrastructure can be equipped with sensors to detect e.g. traffic or weather conditions.

Data from such systems can be collected in raw format or in an aggregated form. If data is

collected both on the vehicles and on the infrastructure separately, it is necessary to

synchronize the two sets of data. It is recommended that GPS time is used as the

synchronization source.

Infrastructure

It is in many countries required to contact local road authorities before the installation of

equipment close to a road. Working close to or on roads may (depending on country) require

special training or licence. In some countries it is even required to use a special company or

local road authorities for any installation work close to or on roads.

Services

When using such sources it is recommended for traceability (during and after the project

ends) to record information about for example version of service, update rates and

resolution/precision of the information they have during the duration of the study. It is also

recommended to invite the service providers for discussions and possibly partnership in the

FOT.

Data monitoring

Monitoring help improve performance and achieve results. More precisely, the overall

purpose of monitoring is the measurement and assessment of performance in order to more

effectively manage the outcomes and outputs known as development results. Performance is

defined as progress towards and achievement of results. The need to demonstrate

performance is placing new demands on monitoring in country offices (COs) and programme

units.

Traditionally, monitoring focused on assessing inputs and implementation processes. Today,

the focus is on assessing the contributions of various factors to a given development outcome,

with such factors including outputs, partnerships, policy advice and dialogue, advocacy and

brokering/coordination. Program Managers are being asked to actively apply the information

gained through monitoring to improve strategies, programmes and other activities.

The main objectives of today’s results-oriented monitoring and are to:

Enhance organizational and development learning;

Ensure informed decision-making;

Support substantive accountability;


Build country capacity in each of these areas, and in monitoring functions in general.

These objectives are linked together in a continuous process. Learning from the past

contributes to more informed decision-making. Better decisions lead to greater accountability

to stakeholders. Better decisions also improve performance, allowing activities to be

repositioned continually. Partnering closely with key stakeholders throughout this process

also promotes shared knowledge creation and learning, helps transfer skills, and develops the

capacity of UNDP country offices and projects for planning, monitoring and evaluation. These

stakeholders also provide valuable feedback that can be used to improve performance and

learning. In this way, good practices at the heart of monitoring and evaluation are continually

reinforced, making a positive contribution to the overall effectiveness of development.

Monitoring can be defined as a continuing function that aims primarily to provide the

management and main stakeholders of an ongoing intervention with early indications of

progress, or lack thereof, in the achievement of results. An ongoing intervention might be a

project, programme or other kind of support to an outcome.


Data privacy

Data protection is stipulated by an EU directive of 1995 and is enshrined within the national

laws of the various member states. These national laws may state specific requirements.

There is no doubt that an FOT [FW] will give rise to data protection and privacy issues. No

disclosure of the data, in such a way as to give rise to identification of the persons involved,

can normally take place without prior consent.

This can cause problems, even when the participants have been informed of in-vehicle video

recording. If that video is subsequently passed on to a third party and the participant can be

recognised from that video, there may be a problem.

Video recording (and also audio recording) can give rise to other problems. Passengers will

not normally have given prior consent to being recorded, so it is questionable whether it is

appropriate to have in-vehicle cameras with coverage of the passenger seats. More details are

provided in Annex A, if this cannot be avoided.

The data server must be protected from intrusion, and normally any personal ID information

should be kept completely separate from the man database and stored with additional

protection such as encryption. It has to be recognised that, even when data has been

anonymized, it may be possible to deduce who has participated, e.g. from GIS data in the

database.

Data ownership and data sharing relates to stakeholder interests. Some stakeholders will

regard data as strategic or sensitive. For example data can be used to compare systems [FW],

and this is usually not in the interest of the system [FW] producers or OEMs while on the

contrary for policy-makers and road operators the effectiveness of specific systems [FW] is an

objective that is relevant. To deal with these stakeholder interests, agreements on how to

address these issues should be proposed as far as possible in advance. This can be done on

two levels:

Agreements on how to deal with data ownership and re-use as such

Procedures on how to change or introduce new research issues based on the

collected data

Address ownership of data in the tendering procedures or contracts with the (public)

organization providing the grant.

Data collected from the CAN bus represent a special case. Some of the data may reveal

information that is confidential to the manufacturer, who may not want to share these data

with third parties. Proper data filtering could be implemented in order to make available to

the relevant partners only the data that are necessary to the FOT [FW] analysis.


Data analyses

The five links follow the right branch of the development process of a FOT from data quality

control to global assessment. Different techniques of data analysis and modelling which could

be used at each step are presented here.

Step 1 : data quality analysis

Data quality analysis is aimed at making sure that data is consistent and appropriate for

addressing the hypothesis of interest (FESTA D3, Chapter 4.5). Data quality analysis starts

from the FOT database and determines whether the specific analysis that the experimenter

intends to perform on the data to address a specific hypothesis is feasible. Data quality

analysis can be performed by following the 4 sub-steps reported below (and shown in Figure

3) and provide, as a outcome, a report detailing the quality of the data to be used to test the

hypothesis of interest.

Sub-steps for data quality analysis:

a. Assessing and quantifying missing data (e.g. percentage of data actually collected

compared to the potential total amount of data which was possible to collect).

b. Controlling data values are reasonable and units of measure are correct (e.g. a 6

Km/h mean speed value may be unreasonable unless speed was actually recorded in

m/s instead of Km/h).

c. Checking that the data dynamic over time is appropriate for each kind of measure

(e.g. if the minimum speed and the maximum speed of a journey would be the

same, then the data may not have been correctly sampled).

d. Guaranteeing that measures features satisfy the requirements for the specific data

analyses (e.g. in order to calculate a reliable value of standard deviation of lane

offset, the lane offset measure should be at least 10s-long; further, this time length

may depend on the sampling rate; AIDE D2.2.5, Chapter 3.2.4).

Please, notice that the first three sub-steps refer to general quality checks; thus, if any of

these fails, data analysis cannot proceed. If a failure is encountered, it should then be reported

to the database responsible so that the possible technical error behind can be tracked down

and solved. However, the last sub-step is related to the specific analysis or specific

performance indicator considered in the following data analysis steps. As a consequence if

step 4 fails, it may not be due to a technical issue that needs to be solved but to an intrinsic

limit of the collected data.


Figure 4. Block diagram for the data quality analysis

Data quality analysis implementation is reported (below) in distinguished paragraphs for data

from on-vehicles sensors data (generally CAN data and video data) and subjective data

(generally from questionnaires) due to the intrinsically different nature of these data.

Step 2: data processing

Once data quality has been established, the next step in data analysis is data processing. Data

processing aims to prepare the data for addressing specific hypothesis which will be tested in

the following steps of data analysis. Data processing includes the following substeps:

Filtering, deriving new signals from the raw data, event[FW] annotation, and

reorganization of the data according to different time scale (Figure 9.4). Not all the

abovementioned sub-steps of signal processing are necessarily needed for all analyses.

However, at least some of them are normally crucial.

Figure 5. Block diagram for the procedure of data processing

Data filtering can involve a simple frequency filter, e.g. a low-pass filter to eliminate noise, but

also any kind of algorithm aimed at selecting specific parts of the signals. Very often a new

signal more suitable for the hypothesis[FW] to be tested has to be elaborated by combining

one or more signals. Marking specific time indexes in the data, so that event[FW] of interest

has been recognized, is fundamental to individuate the part of data which should be analyzed.

Ideally, an algorithm should be used to go through all FOT[FW] data and mark the event[FW]

of interest. However, especially when the data to be annotated is from a video and requires

the understanding of the traffic situation, writing a robust algorithm can be very challenging

even with advanced image analysis techniques and manual annotation from an operator may

be preferable. Re-organizing data into the most suitable time scale for the specific hypothesis

to be addressed has to be considered in the following steps of the data analysis.

Step 3: Performance Indicators calculation


There are five kinds of data which provide the performance indicators[FW]: Direct Measures,

Indirect Measures, Events[FW], Self-Reported Measures and Situational Variables. The scale

of the dataset and the uncontrolled variation in driving situations that occurs from driving

freely with vehicles become a seriously limiting factor unless efficient calculation methodology

is implemented. The choice of which performance indicators and hypotheses to calculate is

clearly dependent on the amount of effort required. Efficient calculation methods need to

anticipate that (a) performance indicators will be calculated on imperfect data - there is a

strong need to create special solutions for “exceptions to perfect data”, and a performance

indicators calculation requires situation or context identification - a “denominator” or

exposure measures to make a measure comparable is required to determine how often a

certain event occurs per something (e.g. km, road type, manoeuvre). The fact that test

exposure is largely uncontrolled (not tightly controlled as in experiments) means that analysis

is largely conducted by first identifying the important contextual influences, and then

performing the analyses to create a “controlled” subset of data to compare with.

The ability to find and classify crash-relevant events (crashes, near-crashes, incidents) is a

unique possibility enabled by FOTs to study direct safety measures. This possibility should be

exploited by using a process of identification of critical events from review of kinematic

trigger conditions (e.g. lateral acceleration >0.20 g). The definition of these trigger values and

the associated processes to filter out irrelevant events are of particular importance for

enabling efficient analyses.

Care should be taken to use appropriate statistical methods to analyze the performance

indicators. The methods used must consider the type of data and the probability distribution

governing the process. Categorical or ordinal data, such as that from questionnaires, needs to

be analyzed appropriately. Data on the degree of acceptance of a system (e.g. positive,

neutral, negative) can be applied in multivariate analysis to link it to behavioral indicators so as

to create new performance indicators.

Step 4: Hypothesis testing

Hypothesis testing in an FOT generally takes the form of a null hypothesis: no effect of the

system on a performance indicator such as 85th percentile speed, against an alternative such

as a decrease of x % of the performance indicator. To carry out the test, one relies on two

samples of data with/without the system from which the performance indicator is estimated

with its variance. Comparing the performance indicators between the two samples

with/without intervention is done using standard techniques such as a test on normally

distributed data. Here the assumption is that there is an immediate and constant difference

between the use and non-use of the system, i.e. there is no learning function, no drifting

process and no erosion of the effect. However, the assumption of a constant effect is often

inappropriate. To get a complete view of the sources of variability and to handle the problem

of serially correlated data, multi-level models are recommended (Goldstein, 2003). With such

models, drivers or situations with missing data have generally to be included. Elimination of


drivers or situations because of missing data in order to keep complete data set may cause

bias in the estimation of the impact.

It is assumed that data will have been cleaned up in the data quality control phase.

Nevertheless, to be sure that the estimation will be influenced minimally by outliers, one can

use either robust estimates such as trimmed mean and variance or non-parametric tests such

as a Wilcoxon rank test or a robust Minimum Mean regression (Gibbons, 2003; Wasserman,

2007; Lecoutre and Tassi, 1987). Such tests provide protection against violation f the

assumption of a normal distribution of the performance indicator.

Additional Step 4: Data mining

Data mining techniques allow the uncovering of patterns in the data that may not be revealed

with the more traditional hypothesis testing approach. Such techniques can therefore be

extremely useful as a means of exploratory data analysis and for revealing relationships that

have not been anticipated. The data collected in an FOT is a huge resource for subsequent

analysis, which may well continue long after the formal conclusion of the FOT. One relatively

simple technique for pattern recognition is to categorize a dataset into groups. Cluster

analysis tries to identify homogeneous groups of observations in a set of data according to a

set of variables (e.g. demographic variables or performance indicators), where homogeneity

refers to the minimization of within-group variance but the maximization of between-group

variance. The most commonly used methods for cluster analysis are k-means, two-step, and

hierarchical clusters (Lebart et al., 1997; Everitt, 2000).

Step 5: global assessment

This section deals with the issue of identification of models and methodologies to generalize

results from a certain FOT to a global level in terms of traffic safety, environmental effects

and traffic flow. One problem when generalizing results from an FOT is to known how close

the participants in the FOT represent the target population. It is often necessary to control

for: usage, market penetration and compliance (the system might be switched off by the

driver) and reliability of the system. The process of how to go from the FOT data to safety

effects, traffic flow and environmental effects is illustrated in Figure 9.5. In this process two

steps need to be taken. One is scaling up the FOT results, for example to higher penetration

levels or larger regions. The other is to translate the results from the level of performance

indicators (for example, time headway distribution) to the level of effects (for example, effect

on the number of fatalities). For each type of effect there are (at least) two different ways to

generalize the results: through micro simulation or directly.


Figure 6. Block diagram of scaling-up process

The direct route includes both estimation directly from the sample itself and estimation

through individual or aggregated models. Some advantages of the direct route are that it is

rather cheap and quick. The alternative is to use a traffic micro simulation model which

represents the behavior of individual driver/vehicle units. The advantages of micro simulation

are that they can be more reliable and precise and can incorporate indirect effects (such as

congestion in the network at peak times). Since traffic micro simulation models consider

individual vehicles in the traffic stream, there is consequently the potential to incorporate

FOT results in the driver/vehicle models of the simulation. Impacts on the traffic system level

can then be estimated through traffic simulations including varying levels of system

penetration into the vehicle population.

Micro simulation does not necessarily yield the impact variable that is of interest. Various

aggregated and individual models are necessary to convert for instance speed to safety effects

(e.g. via the Power Model which considers the relationship between driving speed and the

risk of an accident at different levels of severity). In addition, the modeling detail of traffic

micro simulation places restrictions on the practical size of the simulated road network.

Macroscopic or mesoscopic traffic models combine the possibility to study larger networks

with reasonable calibration efforts. These models are commonly based on speedflow or

speed-density relationships. Large area impacts of FOT results can therefore be estimated by

applying speed-flow relationships obtained from micro simulation for macro- or mesoscopic

traffic modeling.

Exhaust emission from road traffic is a complex process to describe. Models for exhaust

emissions in general include three parts: Cold start emissions, hot engine emissions and

evaporative emissions. An exhaust emission model can roughly be described as:

(Traffic activity) x (Emission factor) = Total emissions


Of course traffic activity data then has a high correlation to total emissions. Traffic activity

data includes: mileage, engine starts and parking. In addition to traffic activity data one needs

data for: the vehicle fleet; road network; meteorological conditions; fuel quality etc. If the

driving pattern is influenced by the traffic situation, such data for the FOT vehicles are directly

available. In order to estimate driving pattern changes for all vehicles by traffic situation,

micro simulation models could be used. In order to estimate emission factors for these

alternative driving patterns there is need for exhaust emission measurements or exhaust

emission models on an individual level. The recorded speed traces from the FOT vehicles can

also be post-processed through fuel consumption and emissions model to produce data on

environmental effects.

Speed has a close relation to safety. The speed of a vehicle will influence not only the

likelihood of a crash occurring, but will also be a critical factor in determining the severity of a

crash outcome. This double risk factor is unique for speed. The relationship between speed

and safety can be estimated by various models such as the Power Model (Nilsson, 2004; Elvik

et al, 2004), that estimates the effects of changes in mean speed on traffic crashes and the

severity of those crashes. The Power Model suggests that a 5 % increase in mean speed leads

to approximately a 10 % increase in crashes involving injury and a 20 % increase in those

involving fatalities. More examples of models for speed-safety relationships are reviewed in

Aarts and van Schagen (2006). In general it is important to consider under which assumptions

the models are valid. The Power Model, for example, is valid under the assumption that mean

speed is the only factor that has changed in the system. Therefore these models are more

suitable for FOTs with systems mainly dealing with speed, and even then they fail to consider

changes in the distribution of speed (shape of the speed distribution and changes in speed

variance).

deliverable d5.1: demonstration activities set up handbook

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