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Can ITS fight terror in Moscow?
The control of ITS in Moscow is now closely overseen by the government, with significant upgrades planned and a promise to fight terrorism. But critics fear that citizens’ civil liberties are at risk
Words | Eugene Gerden
In the wake of the St Petersburg subway bombing, which claimed eight lives on April 3, 2017, the Russian government is tightening state control of intelligent transportation system (ITS) operations in Moscow, promising it will use new powers to fight the perceived growing terror threat. This involves the transferring of control of the operation, maintenance and repair of Moscow’s ITS to the Russian Federal Protective Service (Federal’naya Sluzhba Okhrani, or FSO) one of the most powerful and closed state agencies in Russia, the activities of which are directly controlled by the Russian Presidential Administration.
The transfer of power took place after a tender for the operation of Moscow’s ITS, which was won by Sveko, a federal state ‘unitary enterprise’ which is effectively an integral part of the Russian Federal Protective Service.
The value of the contract amounted to RUB3.88bn (US$70m), which is slightly lower than its starting price of RUB4.02bn. The list of other bidders included Rostelecom, Russia’s leading long-distance telephony provider, as well as several other leading Russian IT corporations.
The tender for the operation, maintenance and repair of Moscow’s ITS was announced in April 2016 by the Center for Organization of Road Traffic (CORT), a state service responsible for the organization of road traffic in Russia. The final results, however, were not revealed until a year later.
Inset: Floral tributes
in a St Petersburg subway station after April 2017’s terror attack killed eight
Main image: Moscow’s
state-of-the-art traffic management center
Under the terms of the contract, Sveko will be responsible for ensuring the continuous operation of 3,300 road traffic detectors, 2,254 traffic lights, 166 information boards and 2,059 video cameras. If there is an overall improvement in the road traffic situation in Moscow during the 2017-2019 period, the contract could be extended.
According to an official spokesman for CORT, the Federal Protective Service (as the federal government agency concerned with the tasks related to the protection of high-ranking state officials, including the president of Russia) will be able to significantly improve the already existing organization of road traffic in Moscow and make it safer.
In addition to planned technical improvements, Sveko will focus on the reduction of the existing terror threat in Moscow, which has significantly increased in recent months. According to an official spokesman for Dmitry Kochnev, head of the FPS, this will be achieved through the installation of the most modern ITS ever seen on Moscow city roads, allowing authorities to more efficiently monitor suspicious activity, including any taking place on transport. According to FPS, Russia’s leading ITS providers are currently finalizing designs for the technologies involved. Some parts of the solution may be provided by global vendors – this is being discussed at present.
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that Moscow’s public transport, and its busiest roads and highways, may be the next target of terror attacks, but that preventing such attacks should be possible through the improvement of the city’s ITS.
A history of ITS in Moscow
The modernization of Moscow’s ITS began in 2011, when city authorities launched a tender to design a new ITS based on the standards used for the organization of road traffic in some of the world’s largest cities. Sitronics, one of Russia’s leading microelectronics companies and part of the Russian financial conglomerate AFK Sistema, won the contract, worth RUB6.26bn (US$110m).
Since 2011 the company has achieved good results, significantly reducing Moscow’s congestion levels and improving road safety. For example, the introduction of a new generation of ITS has reduced traffic jams in the city by 10%, expanded the city’s traffic density by 5-15%, increased the average speed of cars by 17%, and reduced travel time by 15-20%.
Plans for the future
As part of Federal Road Agency plans, Sveko is now creating a system for the monitoring of the condition of Moscow’s roads and is introducing automated vehicle weight control. In addition, according to Igor Astakhov, deputy head of the Federal Road Agency, by 2019 the Moscow city government plans to have finally solved the problem of chaotic parking in the city. It will be part of the current state program, known as ‘Unified
Maxim Liksutov, director, Moscow Department of Transport
Traffic managers have access to images from thousands of cameras and sensors across Moscow, from the comfort of the city’s new traffic management center
Traffic congestion is easing in central Moscow thanks to recently upgraded ITS
urban parking space in Moscow’, which involves the establishment of more than 200 parking control zones throughout the city over the next two years.
Sveko will also implement a new system of adaptive traffic management by the end of 2017, designed to improve road traffic across the city.
According to the Moscow Department of Transport, the new system will help to reduce idling time in traffic jams and further increase the average speed of traffic in the city. The new system is being created using the Omnia platform – Swarco’s state-of-the-art software solution for the integrated road transport environment.
“In addition to the initial task of optimization of transport flows, the new system will address the issue of priority travel, ensuring priority for public transport and emergency services,” says Maxim Liksutov, head of the Moscow Department of Transport. Sveko is also planning to expand cooperation with both Russian and foreign ITS vendors and providers. It is said to be in talks with Neurocom, a Russian leader in ITS and telematics, regarding the introduction of a special system designed to monitor driver fatigue. The new system will be launched among Moscow taxi drivers, but there are plans to extend its application later. Valeriy Dementienko, general director of Neurocom, comments: “The state of the driver’s health will be assessed using eye-movement analysis, muscle tone and rationality of actions that the driver must perform in certain situations (for example,when negotiating a turn signal). This combination will provide a fairly reliable way of determining the driver’s health condition, alerting him in the case of any performance dips.”
Privacy issues and criticism
In the meantime, some leading Russian ITS experts and analysts have criticized the appointment of FPS as the single controller and operator of the ITS system in Moscow. According to them, this may result in an increase in the number of cases of unauthorized access to the personal data of Russian citizens.
The experts are concerned that the control of Moscow road traffic by the Federal Protective Service could enhance the role of Russian secret services, enabling them to monitor the movements of cars and pedestrians under the guise of tracking potential terrorists.
Furthermore, according to experts from Russian ITS provider Technologia of Doroshny Dvizhenya, Sveko lacks the technical experience needed to implement such projects, meaning that it will be forced to bring in third-party contractors to fulfill the contract with CORT.
Semen Beregovoy, head of Technologia of Doroshny Dvizhenya, says, “It is currently unclear whether Sveko will be able to complete implementation a project of such a degree of complexity, taking into account that, to date, the company’s experience in this field has been insignificant. This may pose a threat to the future of the entire project.” n
