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September/October 2019
IBTTA Toll Excellence Awards
Recognizing the most innovative recent tolling projects
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As we celebrate our silver anniversary, thought leaders look ahead to 2044 and predict a future in which mobility will be safer, cleaner… and free | NYC congestion charge After decades of waiting, The Big Apple’s core is finally being priced. But how will Manhattan deliver the new system?
The next
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| The end of speed enforcement? The EU’s mandate of Intelligent Speed Assistance systems could mean changes in future traffic-camera functionality
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| In This Issue
Cover story
06 Twenty-five years on the road
Traffic is celebrating its birthday with some of the industry’s leading voices
We’ve come a long way, but where do our experts believe will the next 25 years take us?
News
16 Cruising the city-state
Some transportation facts about Singapore, the location for this year’s ITS World Congress (ITSWC)
Comtrans 22
Interview
19 Hajime Amano
ITS Asia-Pacific secretary general tells Tom Stone about his hopes for the region and looks ahead to the ITSWC
30
61 The long view by Larry Yermack
COVER ILLUSTRATION: SEAN RODWELL
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Jack Roper gets a sneak preview of the IBTTA’s Toll Excellence Awards, set to be presented at the organization’s Annual Meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 15-17
38 Unbreakable limits
Intelligent Speed Assistance is being mandated by the EU in all new vehicles, James Gordon investigates the implications
46 Pricing the core
New York City’s much-debated congestion charge is nearly ready for action. Paul Willis asks, what took them so long?
James Allen gets the latest on a connected intersections pilot taking place around The University of Florida’s campus
Regulars
22 Welcome to Singapore 30 Funding the future
Georgia’s dynamic proving ground, on Interstate 85, is rolling out some of the latest V2X technology in collaboration with Panosonic and Georgia DOT
56 University challenge
Features
The full lowdown on the first ever ITSWC to be hosted in Southeast Asia, doors open October 21
55 The Ray, Georgia, tests V2X
We bid a fond farewell to Larry Yermack. He leaves us with the thought that governments must continue play a central role in building successful transportation systems
69 Our man from Amsterdam Richard Butter How can we increase numbers, and diversity, of citizens taking up cycling around the world?
77 Connecting the DOTs by Kirk Steudle 46
How to meet the challenges of the first-and-last mile
85 Driving revenue by J J Eden
The importance of updating public engagement in tolling
90 Express lanes
Shortcuts to the key stories in this issue and beyond
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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In This Issue |
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Editor Tom Stone (tom.stone@markallengroup.com)
Traffic Technology International gives unrivaled insight into the world of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and advanced traffic management, delivering independent updates on the very latest hardware and software breakthroughs from across the industry, as well as looking to the future and asking, ‘What’s next?’. It helps inform investment decisions by giving facts about today’s technology, and keeps its readers ahead of the curve with insight into R&D pilots
Assistant Editor James Allen (james.allen@markallengroup.com) Senior Art Editor Anna Davie Design team Andy Bass, Louise Green Publication Manager Godfrey Hooper (godfrey.hooper@markallengroup.com)
Technology Profiles 60 Norway’s approach to free-flow tolling
72 New technology for open-road tolling
82 Traffic data and the internet of things
62 Smarter pedestrian management for events
73 Tolling enforcement in the 21st century
83 Enabling a WIM, toll-by-weight future
64 Growing smarter with mulitmodal thinking
74 Transforming transport in the USA
84 Sensors that optimize winter maintenance
66 The lessons tolling can learn from parking
76 The Olso study: How will MaaS defeat traffic?
86 Effective charging for overloaded vehicles
68 A first glimpse of realworld MaaS impacts
79 A mission to read all license plates
88 Customizable solutions for weight enforcement
70 Tackling congestion, pollution and accidents
80 A free-flow weigh-inmotion system
Efkon, Austria
AGD Systems, UK
Kapsch, Austria
Egis Projects, France
Ramboll, UK
Jenoptik, Germany
Editor’s letter
Norbit, Austria
Imperial Civil Enforcement, UK
A-to-Be, Portugual
PTV Group, Germany
CARRIDA, Germany
ADEC Technologies, Switzerland
Intercomp Company, USA
Lufft, Germany
Kistler, Switzerland
Haenni, Switzerland
76 commonplace; traffic modeling has moved from 2D line drawings to 4D digital twins; and we are all connected 24/7, whether walking, cycling or in our cars – via our smartphones, which can deliver advanced sat-nav, with live traffic information and instant rerouting. The first standalone sat-navs from the early 2000s, would set you back at least US$500, with ones built into your dashboard adding as much as US$2,000 to vehicle prices as late as 2006. Now, smartphone sat-nav apps are free. Is this just the beginning of a more equitable society? In 25 years’ time will we live in a world where technology enables large swathes of our transportation networks to be completely free? That’s certainly the idea several of our Anniversary Special thought leaders are leaning toward, you can read more from page 6. Anniversaries are a great time for looking back and assessing progress, and also for looking to the future and wondering where we are headed. We can do this with pessimism or optimism. Based on the progress of the last quarter century, I’d say there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, even if we may still be waiting for a fully autonomous vehicle fleet in 2044…
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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Cross Zlín, Czech Republic
In the Traffic Technology International archive we have the proceedings from first ITS World Congress, which took pace in Paris in 1994. When I mentioned this at an industry event recently the person I was talking to suggested I take a look at some of the subjects covered – “I bet we’re still talking about the same stuff then as we are now,” he sighed. “And it’s still not happened!” Well, he was sort of right. Twenty five years ago many of the subjects covered are still familiar today – enforcement, traffic management, traffic modeling, even connected and autonomous vehicles were under discussion in the PROMETHEUS project (PROgraMme for a European Traffic of Highest Efficiency and Unprecedented Safety), which made it seem like advanced driver assistance was just around the corner. Of course, in 1994, it wasn’t. And hardly anyone had an internet connection in their home, let alone in their car. But, fast-forward to today and while we are still talking about the same things, and many ambitions are still not fully realized, so much has been achieved. Technologies like automatic lane keeping and emergency braking are
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Production Emily Fanning
Tom Stone, editor
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Future Focus |
The
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road ahead As Traffic Technology International celebrates 25 years, we take a look back through the archives, and also look to the future, asking industry thought leaders: What do you hope will be the biggest positive change in transportation in 25 years’ time? And what should we be doing now to help bring about this change?
We just need the strength of conviction to move forward and then be poised to take advantage of nextgeneration advances as they become available for deployment
Greg Winfree, director, Texas A&M Transportation Institute
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believe the biggest positive change in the next 25 years will be in addressing the global health crisis caused by road traffic crashes, through greater use of technology. Road traffic deaths are at 1.35 million a year – that’s nearly 3,700 people per day – an unacceptably high number, which could be addressed utilizing technologies available today. V2X technologies developed by a global consortium of government researchers, academics, vehicle OEMs and others have the potential to address up to 80% of unimpaired driver crashes, according to estimates provided by NHTSA. We just need the strength of conviction to move forward and then be poised to take advantage of next-generation of advances as they become available for deployment. While it’s fair to say the first 50 years of road safety focused on helping vehicle occupants survive crashes, the next 50 will focus on avoiding crashes altogether.
Greg Winfree, director, Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Look out for Greg Winfree in our next issue as he joins the Traffic team as our new regular columnist
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y main hope is that emerging technologies and services, such as connected and automated driving and Mobility as a Service, integrated with social innovations, will provide everyone with mobility, so that they can fully exercise their capacity, enabling sustainable development of society. Inclusive society, where diverse people in diverse communities actively participate in generating value, will enhance both wellness of individuals and economic development. To realize such a society we have to engage more in societal aspects of mobility issues. Transportation of people and goods is not an objective but a means to bring people to where they have real value, and to deliver goods to where they are needed. We must investigate the real value of transportation and design societal systems that effectively achieve it.
Hajime Amano, secretary general, ITS Asia-Pacific / president ITS Japan For more from Amano turn to page 19
ILLUSTRATION SEAN RODWELL
| Future Focus
1994 The launch issue of Traffic Technology International created a stir in the same year as the first ITS World Congress, which took place in Paris. The Congress is now approaching its 26th edition, in Singapore, which means, like this magazine, it is marking 25 complete years in existence.
80%
The potential reduction in the number of crashes that could be delivered by connected vehicle technologies
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here will be much more pressure on our cities the coming 25 years. With all the climate goals and zero emission challenges, all modalities will need to communicate with each other more and more in order to achieve seamless mobility. The technology needs to be ready for it and should be ready to function for us, people who just want to have a happy, safe and healthy life. That means safe and sustainable transportation will be key and for us, the people, that means behavorial change will be needed. The beginning of this process is in providing showcases of projects in cities or municipalities as examples for other cities and countries to follow.
Richard Butter, director of traffic technology, Intertraffic Shows. For more from Richard Butter turn to page 69
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(NHTSA)
he mobility of the future will be connected, clean and easy. What does this mean? That technology and innovative developments will serve the needs of a society that expects inclusive, affordable, and automated mobility services for its people and the transport of goods. ITS systems and services are technology development at its best and will serve to fulfil these expectations for the mobility of the future. At ERTICO, the private and public sector work together to achieve precisely that.
ITS systems and services are technology development at its best and will serve to fulfil expectations for the mobility of the future Jacob Bangsgaard, CEO, ERTICO ITS-Europe
Jacob Bangsgaard, CEO, ERTICO ITS-Europe
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Future Focus | Rearview mirror
1994 A second edition followed in our launch year, featuring input from a fresh ITSWC face, ERTICO’s Eric Sampson
1995 Traffic went quarterly – three seasonal editions, followed by a bumper 352-page Annual Review
Changes in the next 25 years will be far more dramatic than the shifts we have already seen. A key element for this disruption is the increased availability of data to make more informed decisions
JJ Eden, executive director, North Carolina Turnpike
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1996 Traffic adopted its current bimonthly frequency, in addition to the giant annual review
1997 Our ITS World Congress preview focused on the event in Berlin – and even had a cover-mounted info CD!
1998 Advanced driver information systems were in their infancy in the late ‘90s. Traffic gave a taste of the future
vehicle market will emerge, as n 25 years, I see every road as a toll dependence on oil and gas imports road. The concept of tolling will decline due to increased geopolitical be in place but utilized very Q: What do you hope tensions. Ten years ago, we said we differently. Drivers, or more will be the biggest must start with legislation, studies likely passengers, will use positive change in and pilots. Today, we see mileage-based user fees in a transportation in innovations deployed continuously Mobility-as-a-Service setting, 25 years’ time? And what should we be and consumers buying smarter where users pay to get where doing now to help vehicles, actively pushing for they are going, and companies bring about this further advancement in the with fleets of vehicles (like an change? industry. Politics and policy practices upgraded Uber) will be are not keeping pace with consumer responsible for paying mobility demand. Technologies today are being usage fees much like a utility service designed to be compatible with other user today. systems to provide a connected and personal I used to say this is an evolution, not a experience that is consumer-centric. Many revolution, but that’s changing. The addition of products are now equipped with a personal first-and-last-mile solutions are revolutionizing assistant like Alexa or Siri, helping guide our current transportation markets. A quarter product use while personalizing the experience. century ago, most agencies were collecting cash Companies provide convenience while from US$100 million toll plazas. Fifteen years gathering empirical data from consumers to ago, we had agencies converting to electronic build better products in the future. It will be as tolling. Today, most agencies have or are simple as using voice recognition programs to switching to all-electronic tolling. AET sets up ask for a car to pick you up. Payment will be dynamically-priced transportation options, linked to a biometric recognition system, which reduces fixed roadside equipment where you verbally confirm the expense required for revenue collection. Reflecting on with a quick yes or no. the past 25 years, we have already seen toll collection go through dramatic changes – would we have believed back then that drivers would Road map to the future never have to stop to pay tolls? A fundamental element to autonomous vehicles Changes the next 25 years will be far more will be accurate, crowdsourced, heuristic maps. dramatic than the shifts we have already seen. A Mapping will transform from static routes that key element for this disruption is the increased guide drivers and vehicles to their destinations availability of data to make more informed into dynamically-enabled ecosystems that decisions. Emerging technologies such as optimize transportation networks and minimize electric cars and autonomous vehicles, selfdelays, conflicts and congestion. service contact centers, and better mapping There will not be a need for customer service systems will change mobility options. If we centers. Private companies will provide these don’t revolutionize the way we are preparing, services through “fully automated multi-use we will not be ready for the drivers of the future. contact centers.” Infotainment systems built into Trends in the electric car and autonomous vehicles will contain location and identification
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1999 The first LED traffic lights were being installed in the UK, while online possibilities began to come into focus
2000 At the turn of the Millennium Traffic scooped International Business Magazine of The Year at the PPA Awards
information, eliminating the need for roadside equipment and other infrastructure. Future toll agencies will be a point-of-sale entity, utilizing the guaranteed payments from the private company providers. Toll agencies will still plan, build and maintain the facilities, and ensure adequate fees are collected to cover debt service, operations and maintenance. Companies with large fleets of vehicles will pay these fees (remember upgraded Uber?), not individuals.
2001 Excitement around 3G connectivity began – a journey that has led directly to 5G systems today
| Future Focus
2002 We reported on the fourth Intertraffic Asia in Bangkok and fifth Asia-Pacific ITS Forum in Korea
Tolling agencies and their supporting vendors and consultants are very cautious and slow, slow, slow to change, or migrate technology. This reluctance to change has hamstrung agencies and technical innovation. Antiquated approaches to evaluate and purchase technology makes it obsolete before it even reaches the market. The ideas of “I own the customer,” and “we always did it this way,” must change. Everyone interacts with the customers when using their services and products, and merchants (including toll operators) must integrate with customer experience technology in an existing commercial application. Other industries continue making investments and innovations that meet customer expectations and can help shape the future of transportation. In order to adapt to new technologies and manage mobility going forward, service providers and agencies must be willing to accept the change that is coming. We must invest in data, new technologies and demonstration projects for innovation and improvements that will provide more personal mobility options, increase usage on transportation systems, and reduce capital and operating costs. We are all responsible for advancing technology that the next generation of drivers and riders will want in the future. The next 25 years will bring far more change in the industry, and we must come together to prepare and embrace it.
Vehicle ownership will no longer be status-driven but will instead be a utility that provides equal access and opportunities across all social classes
Low-cost transportation
Coupled with drones and ‘flying cars,’ disruption of transportation is inevitable. We already have cars flying in Dubai, and the self-driving of Tesla is in regular conversation. Industry progression is unavoidable, but so is the reduction in cost to the consumer. Just think, the ability to go anywhere, anytime, without car payments, insurance and maintenance. Vehicle ownership will no longer be status-driven but will instead be a utility that provides equal access and opportunities across all social classes. A reduction in the cost of transportation will provide more opportunities across all socioeconomic statuses. This will reshape the workforce in transportation logistics that makes up almost 35% of the GDP in the US and most leading world economies. In the last decade, there has been an increase of globalization due to lower offshore costs. Cheaper and more efficient transportation networks will enable local economic engines to produce and distribute goods and services in micro-economies in major cities and urban areas that facilitate selfsustaining communities.
2003 Enhanced visual simulation for traffic modeling was the precursor of today’s advanced ‘digital twins’
In 25 years, instead of accepting 37,000 deaths on American roadways and more than 1.35 million worldwide, I hope that roadway fatalities will be so rare that just one death in a car crash will be a newsworthy event Shailen Bhatt, president & CEO, ITS America
JJ Eden, executive director, North Carolina Turnpike. For more from JJ Eden turn to page 85 September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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Future Focus | Rearview mirror
2004 Our 10th Anniversary – it was hoped future in-car sat navs would cost less than their price then: US$2,000
2005 Amy Zuckerman looked at how electronic, virtual barriers were saving lives of road workers
Q: What do you hope will be the biggest positive change in transportation in 25 years’ time? And what should we be doing now to help bring about this change?
Looking ahead 25 years, I believe we will be on the final part of the journey to CAVs, with high levels of autonomy having been tested, proven and deployed on our roads
Shaun Helman, chief scientist, TRL
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2006 Phil Tarnoff accurately predicted voice-activated car systems and the AI-routeplanning world of today
he pace of change in the transportation sector is phenomenal, with a wide variety of different initiatives being constantly innovated with a view to a safer, connected, more active future. Examples including connected and automated vehicles (CAVs); ultra-low emission technologies; shared mobility; smart cities; vision zero – all aim for change and a positive future. From my perspective, I would like to see all of these innovations come to the fore safely and effectively for the benefit of end-users. Looking ahead 25 years, I believe we will be on the final part of the journey to CAVs, with high levels of autonomy having been tested, proven and deployed on our roads. There is no doubt in my mind that automated vehicles represent the future of transport and have the potential to deliver tangible, widereaching benefits in relation to reduced congestion, faster and cheaper commutes, fewer collisions and cleaner air. My other prediction for the future is that our cities and urban environments will have completely transformed. The cities of the future will be environments that promote active travel and clean air zones. They will be areas that pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable users can use safely and easily, alongside CAVs. These significant changes will, of course, mean that the regulatory landscape will also have changed, which TRL is already working on with the European Commission. At the beginning of this year, TRL developed a three-layer protection model incorporating 17 measures that include driver assistance, active safety and passive safety measures, that all work in harmony to protect road users. As we move towards a future of CAVs, these measures will adapt and change to reflect the new requirements of our future transport modes.
Shaun Helman, chief scientist, TRL
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2007 Our artist’s impression of personal drones was a spookily accurate prediction of today’s prototypes
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2008 Tolling always creates fierce debate – in 2008 the road pricing fight was beginning to heat up
think the key word in this question is ‘hope.’ While there are many things I wish will happen, the one I hope for most concerns safety. I would like to see deaths and serious injuries in all modes become a small fraction of those seen today. I believe it’s possible. In aviation deaths in recent decades are a mere shadow of what we saw less than 30 years ago. Technology will continue to play a big role in this reduction. Everything from AVs to positive train control on railroads should lead to fewer and less severe incidents. Policy will also need to play a major role with governments paying more than lip-service to making safety a priority. As for what we should be doing to bring this about – change needs to begin with us. It starts when we get behind the wheel, no matter what our role in the transportation industry. As a profession, we need to not only make it a priority but to communicate its importance to the public, elected officials, the media and more. As humans, we will always make mistakes, but hopefully that’s where infrastructure and vehicle technology will save us from ourselves. Some technological changes which can have a positive effect on safety also carry with them serious concerns such as privacy. As new technologies are developed we need to assure the public their privacy will be protected if we want them to embrace these advancements. We also need to show that this technology isn’t a cover to collect more revenue. How some jurisdictions have handled enforcement cameras is a good example of how poor decisions have led the public to see these devices as a money grab not a safety enhancement. Will what I hope will happen really happen? I think it’s possible but it will take strong resolve to make it a reality.
Bernie Wagenblast, editor, Transportation Communications Newsletter
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Future Focus | Rearview mirror
2009 Intelligent Speed Adaptation was basic in 2009, in this issue we report on how it’ll soon be legally required (p38)
2010 Sam Shwartz told how he wanted a NYC congestion charge in 1971! On p46 we report on its imminent roll out
Q: What do you hope will be the biggest positive change in transportation in 25 years’ time? And what should we be doing now to help bring about this change?
We need to learn that sometimes electric is smart but sometimes other fuels are smarter. Sometimes automated is great but sometimes person-driven will work better.
Jennie Martin, secretary general, ITS (UK)
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2011 Intelligent machine vision, LED streetlights and the European Electronic Toll Service were all new
he one thing I hope we will have achieved by the mid-2040s is a transport systems which is smart in the true sense of all journeys being undertaken in the optimal way, be it people or goods who are on the move. Our current conversations about smart mobility are usually in fact about mobility involving a lot of IT or mobility which is new. Are e-scooters actually any smarter than cars or buses? It’s dubious, but they are new and capable of being given a catchy new moniker like micro-mobility. Planning truly smart mobility means learning to think about more than one thing at once, and always thinking with the user at the center. Automated vehicles will be great for moving around cities and if we access them as vehicles for hire, parking disappears from our lives, which must rank as smart indeed. But that does not mean that AVs are smart for people in a village in mid-Wales trying to access work, education, or health care. Waiting 90 minutes for pick up will never be viable for an AV service. And if you wait for your local transport authority to subsidise your rural AV service so it can be more frequent, it is likely the only AV you will need will be a hearse. In the remote village scenario, AVs are considerably dumber than a 10 year old Ford Fiesta owned outright by you. Smart has to mean optimal for the user, at least while operating the transport network in a democracy. Road user charging petition, anybody? We think about our transport future as a slightly fuzzy amalgamation of electric vehicles, AVs, connected vehicles, micro-mobility and usually piously add on the end something about walking and cycling which we don’t really expect ourselves or our circle of people to do… but somebody will and it will surely be good for them. To be smart in 25 years’ time, we need to stop joining all these things up and learn that sometimes electric is smart but sometimes other fuels are smarter. Sometimes automated is great
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
2012 The potential ‘death of VMS’ still seems as far off in 2019 as it did when we first debated it in 2012…
2013 The public relations task of selling traffic cameras as safety, not money-making tools, was set out
but sometimes person-driven will work better. A young man on an e-scooter needs to be safe, and so does an old man taking an AV to a lunch club. His safety can only be properly provided if a person comes with the vehicle to walk him safely from apartment door to vehicle seat. Transport planning should start with a user-led vision, not an industry and business vision. The latter is an illusion; no sustainable business can be built without willing and supportive customers.
Jennie Martin, secretary general, ITS (UK)
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e use transport for two main reasons: business/commerce and personal/social uses. Will trends that are reducing some of the travel demand have a significant impact over the next 25 years? White collar and professional work is becoming increasingly virtual – I haven’t had an ‘office’ in nearly a decade. Retail commerce is also changing rapidly. One truck can make 50 deliveries eliminating 50 other personal round trips. What would the implications be if business transportation is actually reduced? Fewer trips to the office or the store. When email was created, it was assumed that it would be a business tool and yet most of it is now personal communication. Will a reduction in business travel lead to or allow for an increase in personal and social travel? If so, it would be very good for our society. The Harvard Longevity Study concluded that the most important factor in healthy ageing is relationships. Imagine modifying our transportation system and improving lives at the same time. I can dream, can’t I?
Larry Yermack, strategic advisor, Cubic Transportation Systems. Read more from Larry in his final column on p61
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Future Focus | Rearview mirror
2014 We celebrated our 20th anniversary with a bumper edition featuring an exclusive interview with Bill Ford
2015 The possibilities of drones in traffic and asset management were beginning to be explored in 2015
Q: What do you hope will be the biggest positive change in transportation in 25 years’ time? And what should we be doing now to help bring about this change?
Possible routes to realizing equitable access to transportation services include universal basic mobility services, where local public transport services are made free at the point of use Professor Nick Reed, founder, Reed Mobility
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2016 The ‘Father of MaaS’ Sampo Hietanen set out his vision for the future of mobility three years ago
have three interrelated hopes for positive change in transportation over the next 25 years. Firstly, that the trend will resume for annual reductions in traffic fatalities, which has stalled since 2010. While zero fatalities may not be realistically achievable, it is realistic to apply Vision Zero thinking to ensure all sources of risk are mitigated wherever practical. The widespread deployment of vehicle connectivity and highly/fully automated vehicles may be the trigger that restores this trajectory of casualty reduction. The availability of AVs (and the new business models they enable) should also lead to a reduction in vehicle size and mass, bringing improvements in both safety and efficiency. Secondly, I hope the true environmental impact of transportation is recognized and addressed. Over this period, we shall see the withdrawal of combustion engine vehicles for sale, replaced by electric vehicles. This will bring improved urban air quality. However, we must also consider the full environmental impact of vehicle production, thinking about embedded carbon, material extraction, component transportation, energy efficiency and recyclability. Recognizing the full environmental effects should therefore be accompanied by support in regulations and infrastructure design for lower impact transport modes. Thirdly, that in addition to environmental concerns, the ethics, equity, diversity and inclusiveness of transportation are recognized as fundamental in the decision-making process for transport regulations, planning and investments. In hindsight, many transport planning decisions have been guided by limited considerations that fail to encompass wider and sometimes more significant issues that have resulted in longlasting, unintended consequences. Examples from US history show how decisions to build highways through lower income communities brought decades of disruption and decay. Poorer communities have tended to suffer from the effects of noise and air pollution brought by
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
2017 Just two years ago 5G was just being tested, today commercial services are beginning to be deployed
2018 Last year the possibilities of blockchain in traffic management were a big talking point
heavy traffic, disproportionately. Clearly, we must learn from these examples. While the internet will increasingly facilitate the provision of services, physical mobility will remain fundamental to citizens and businesses, providing access to education, employment, healthcare, social activities and democracy. Equity of access to mobility in order to capitalize on opportunities for prosperity across dimensions of socioeconomic status is therefore vital to creating a fairer society. Possible routes to realizing equitable access to transportation services include the provision of universal basic mobility services, where local public transport services are made free at the point of use for communities (which has been successfully trialed in several cities across Europe), and road user charging, where peak-time usage of limited road space is charged appropriately to manage traffic flow and where the revenues generated are used to support mobility of poorer travelers. Finally, the thread that links all three of these prospective changes is data. Understanding where the problems lie, where to focus the solutions, how to simulate and model the impact of those solutions, how to evaluate their success and wider contextual factors can all be underpinned by the appropriate sharing and analysis of data. Therefore, what we should be doing now to help deliver these positive changes is to encourage (and even mandate) the secure sharing of mobility relevant, anonymized data. The availability of this data (and the insights that can be gained from it) will help large businesses to refine operating models and target R&D investments, will provide opportunities for innovative SMEs to develop new data-led commercial activities and will help public sector bodies to develop a realistic vision for future mobility and to define appropriate regulations and funding programs to help them achieve it.
Professor Nick Reed, founder, Reed Mobility, www.reed-mobility.co.uk
26th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems 2019 Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore
10,000+
5,000m2
participants
5
exhibition space
10+
days of programme
technical tours and demonstrations
Congress Programme Themes
Intelligent, Connected & Automated Vehicles
Crowdsourcing & Big Data Analytics
Sustainable Smart Cities
Multimodal Transport of People & Goods
Safety for Drivers & Vulnerable Users
Policies, Standards & Harmonisation
Innovative Pricing & Travel Demand Management
Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
Technical Tours
to over a dozen sites including the ‘nerve centre’ that manages road traffic in Singapore, a testing and research centre for AVs and the world’s largest container transhipment hub.
Demonstrations
of static and dynamic displays of multimodal ITS technology, and the opportunity to test ride some of the latest AVs in the market.
spanning over 5,000m2 and featuring over 130 exhibitors from 25 countries.
d e s s i 5 Highlights not to be m
REGISTER NOW
Programme & Speakers
FOLLOW US ON www.itsworldcongress2019.com /itswc2019 /company/itswc2019 @ITS_Singapore
Exhibition
#itswc19
that will dive into critical ITS topics including intelligent and connected AVs, multimodal transport, demand management, policies, standards, security and sustainability.
Social Events
including an immersive dinner experience at the World’s Largest Greenhouse (Guinness World Record 2015) - Flower Done at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay.
Organised By
City Slicker |
Cruising the
city-state Before you pack your bags for the ITS World Congress 2019, here are some key transportation facts and figures about host city, Singapore
10
100
Over MRT stations across the island
65.6 Covering 18 metres in an average 10.55 seconds (6.15km/hour), Singaporeans are the world’s fastest walkers min is added on to every 30 min road trip during peak hours
15,000 taxis
709.2km
250 trishaws
(three-wheeled bicycles)
25 December is the least congested day
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2 Only in land size, the city-state has more than 3,500km of paved roads
164km
of expressways
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
million passengers pass through the airport a year
7,400 flights land at or depart Changi Airport every week
Singapore is the world’s third most densely populated region
2 February is the most congested day
IMAGES: MICROONE, ANDRIOCOLTS, YANG MINGQI, STAS111/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Singaporeans only own their cars on a 10-year license
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Typical Applications Access Control Law Enforcement Urban Planning & Traffic Management of Transport Fleets and others
Features Typical reading accurancy > 98% including damaged plates, angle correction etc. Hardware platform independent: From EDGE to CLOUD Processing time: 20ms (platform dependent) Quick & easy configuration
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3, 6, 9 and 12-Message Prismatic VMS Lowest power consumption Now 1,5W VMS- system available 70 to 90% cost saving compared to LED VMS installation. Solar standalone VMS-system. Sustainable VMS technology for environmentally friendly cities.
www.triplesign.com - info@triplesign.com - +46 8 626 7350 Visit us at the ITS Congress Singapore Nordic Pavilion Booth 97
| Hajime Amano
As the industry prepares for the 26th ITS World Congress in Singapore, ITS Asia-Pacific secretary general Hajime Amano, gives his opinion on the outlook for the region, sustainability… and ‘flying cars’ Interviewed by Tom Stone
H
ajime Amano is the longest serving of the three major ITS organization chiefs, having held his role as secretary general of ITS Asia-Pacific since 2009. This makes him a familiar face to anyone who has attended ITS World Congresses over the last decade. He takes part in official ceremonies and contributes to panels and plenaries, as well as always being ready for a chat when he finds time to walk the exhibition hall, his warm smile welcoming old friends and new acquaintances alike. But Amano’s experience of ITS started years before he began his leadership roles – appropriately enough the focus of his first project was this year’s World Congress host city, Singapore. “I participated in a feasibility study of electronic road pricing (ERP) in Singapore in
1993,” recalls Amano. “Since then, I have been involved in field tests of ERP and ETC projects in Hong Kong, China and Japan. I have also been a member of the International Program Committee, then a member of the Board of Directors of ITS World Congress. “In the early years, ITS was seen as simply an application area of information and electronic control technologies. However, societal aspects have become more and more important in recent years for emerging areas such as connected and automated driving and Mobility as a Service.”
Asia-Pacific outlook
The ITS World Congress returns to the Asia-Pacific region in 2019, as it does every three years as part of its ongoing
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Hajime Amano is celebrating a decade as secretary general of ITS Asia-Pacific Above: Xxxxxxx
‘world tour’. It lands at a time when, more than ever, authorities are turning to technology in an attempt to solve transportation challenges. “Some of the Asia-Pacific countries are rapidly growing in terms of economic activities and population,” says Amano. “They are struggling to overcome transportation challenges, such as road traffic fatalities, congestion and environmental sustainability, which other countries began addressing over half a century ago.” But while developed nations may have a head start in terms of technology deployment, Amano sees an advantage for developing nations in Asia, in that they can now skip outdated systems and go straight to advanced solutions. “State-of-the-art technologies are readily available for all countries and emerging economies can be early adopters because they don’t have any existing legacy systems,” he says. “In that sense, we all have common challenges in deploying ambitious systems.” And of course, as secretary general of ITS Asia-Pacific, Amano is in a prime position to enable ambitions in the region to be realized. But that doesn’t mean he can adopt a one-size-fits all approach. “Each one of the members of ITS Asia-Pacific is at a different stage of development and we have a lot to learn from each other,” he says. “Diversity is an important advantage for ITS Asia-Pacific members. Rapidly developing countries
Emerging economies can be early adopters because they don’t have any existing legacy systems September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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Hajime Amano |
eVTOLs in Singapore Can we solve traffic congestion by taking to the skies? ITS World Congress takes place remains to be seen. But the plans, nevertheless, are beginning to focus attention on the new kind of mobility solution provided by eVTOLs (electric vertical take off and landing vehicles). Could such short-distance, on-demand, personal transport take significant numbers into the sky and become a solution to ground-level congestion? Hajime Amano isn’t yet convinced: “Although a single eVTOL flying in free threedimensional space may be achieved soon, we don’t know anything about potential risks posed by them, especially
will learn from experiences of established ones. On the other hand, seemingly matured countries are struggling with legacy systems and conservative attitudes and they can learn from successes and failures of ambitious projects conducted by emerging countries. “For technology providers, both types of nation give important opportunities to capture and expand business operations in a new arena of ITS.”
New mobility
Indeed, ITS is expanding, and has come to mean so much more than smart roadside infrastructure. More and more automotive developers are being brought into the fold, with connected, autonomous, electric vehicles increasingly a mainstream vision of the future. The challenge is to help this vision to become a reality, while minimizing unintended consequences. “I believe majority of small sized road vehicles will be driven by electric motors in very near future, for efficiency, controllability and compatibility with
when traffic density in the air reaches the level which makes sense as general means of transportation.”
diversifying primary energy sources,” says Amano. “The big question is how electricity is generated. We have to consider ‘well-towheel’. If electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels, a large volume of CO2 will be released, even though we are driving ‘zeroemission’ vehicles. We must take a holistic approach on energy. Simply driving electric cars won’t be a solution.” And what about the outlook for autonomous vehicles? How soon might they become a reality? “It depends on the level of automation and restriction of operating areas,” says Amano. “Fully autonomous road vehicles without any restriction in mixed traffic are still far away from reality. However, we already know the limitation of technologies and the challenges quite well.”
Looking to the future
The next time the ITS World Congress visits the Asia-Pacific region, it will land in Suzhou, China, in 2022. What does Amano hope might be achieved between now and then? “All we can possibly deploy in three years should have already been
We may be waiting a while longer, it seems, for the longawaited dawn of the era of the ‘flying car’.
technologically validated and accepted by the society,” he says. But he also believes we must look further into the future. “In order to reach our full potential in five to 10 years, it is very important for us to share goals and build consensus on the direction we wish to pursue well ahead of time,” he says. “I hope we will fully assess both positive and negative impacts of new technologies to our society, such as AI, AVs and MaaS and become ready for in depth discussion with all the stakeholders, especially the general public.” And it is this last point – communication with the public – that Amano believes is particularly key. “For MaaS it is essential for the individuals to change their perception and behaviors, balancing personal and public interests,” he says. “Experts and public authorities have to make more efforts to share the societal goals and implications of behaviors of individuals for the general public to make educated decisions.” And therein lies perhaps the most important mantra for ITS today –in order to evolve we must communicate.
For what we might achieve in five to 10 years, it is very important for us to share goals and build consensus on the direction we wish to pursue well ahead of time
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IMAGE: VOLOCOPTER
G
erman urban air taxi company Volocopter – recently recognized by The World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer – has plans to test its vehicles in the skies above Singapore in the ‘second half of 2019’. “We are preparing to implement the first fixed routes in cities,” says Florian Reuter CEO of Volocopter. “Singapore is a logical partner: The city is a true pioneer in technology and city development. This is another exciting step to make air taxi services a reality.” Whether these tests will be underway by the time the
AGD 326 Detects AGDmoving 326pedestrians on the crossing
AGD 641 Detects AGDmoving 641and stationary pedestrians in the wait area
•
• 4 x 2m zone for monitoring the pedestrian
PEDESTRIAN ON-CROSSING DETECTOR PEDESTRIAN ON-CROSSING DETECTOR
AGD 326 • 24GHz radar technology suitable for AGD 326 international deployment
• •
Monitors moving pedestrians and cyclists to enhance safety and optimise crossing performance PEDESTRIAN ON-CROSSING DETECTOR PEDESTRIAN ON-CROSSING DETECTOR
PEDESTRIAN DETECTOR PEDESTRIAN DETECTOR
of the crossing • 3D stereo vision with self-IR illumination of zone for enhanced night-time detection
Dynamically adjustable range for new site designs
• Flexible polygon tool allows quick zone configuration
Easy WiFi AGD Touch-setup - speeds installation and reduces risk
• Easy WiFi AGD Touch-setup – speeds installation and reduces risk
Introducing AGD’s newest pedestrian control solutions - suitable for stand-alone use or deployment as the ideal combination for intelligent, high-performance crossings. The 641 detects and monitors pedestrians waiting to cross the road, so the crossing phase is only called when pedestrians are present. Enhanced performance in a larger zone plus greater reliability - night and day. The 326 allows optimisation of the crossing phase, giving back more green time to traffic. Both solutions offer safe, easy remote setup via a smart phone or tablet with AGD Touch-setup.
Visit us at JCT Symposium and ITS World Congress (stand B10)
+44 (0) 1452 854212 enquiries@agd-systems.com
www.agd-systems.com
ITS World Congress Preview |
This October, the ITS World Congress will be hosted in Southeast Asia for the very first time. Tom Stone gets the inside story from the organizers and picks some key highlights from the event that you won’t want to miss
Singapo r Welcome to
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| ITS World Congress Preview
o re A
s leading enablers of the global transport technologies industry, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Intelligent Transportation Society Singapore (ITSS) will play host to the first ever ITS World Congress (ITSWC) to take place in Southeast Asia, this October 21-25. As a world-class leader in ITS (intelligent transportation systems) Singapore is an ideal location for the event that will empower cities
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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ITS World Congress Preview |
Key themes
Major interests at the event will be CAVs, Mobility as a Service and smart cities
Gardens By The Bay offers waterfront views across its three gardens, spanning more than 101 hectares of reclaimed land
around the world to overcome transportation challenges and shape new mobility landscapes. Some of the key participants in the 26th ITSWC will help to showcase the city state’s groundbreaking technologies such as its nascent Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) enabled congestion charge and world-class intelligent transport control center. Singapore is also well positioned to lead and facilitate discussions on cybersecurity and data privacy as the country’s Smart Nation drive has seen many important initiatives such as the Cybersecurity Act 2018, which will help to inform discussions on how to protect ITS infrastructure against cyberattacks.
A warm welcome awaits
ITS Singapore’s president Andrew Chow – also currently acting as deputy chair of ITS World Congress Singapore 2019 Steering Committee, and co-chair of the ITS World Congress Singapore 2019 Working Committee – is looking forward to welcoming the world. “Singapore has established itself over the years as a smart nation and a test bed for intelligent transport systems,” he says. “It is truly a privilege for us to host the first ever ITSWC in Southeast Asia, as we come together as one with the global transport industry to showcase and
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It is truly a privilege for us to host the first ever ITSWC in Southeast Asia, as we come together as one with the global transport industry to showcase and share expertise on the latest transport technologies and policy developments
Andrew Chow, president, ITS Singapore
share expertise on the latest transport technologies and policy developments.” ITS Asia-Pacific general secretary Hajime Amano agrees that Singapore has some special and unique qualities that make it a particularly
good ITSWC host city. “Singapore is a nation state, where policy decisions are quick and citizens are keen on new technologies that will enable new ways of doing business and enhance their lifestyles,” he says. “It has very systematic approaches in both technology validation and policy implementation that are being used to deploy epoch-making ITS systems, such as new generation satellite-based ERP (electronic road pricing), automated driving and Mobility as a Service.”
Space age
With the advancement technology, Singapore is now developing its much anticipated GNSS ERP system,
Signs of reliability
E XHIBIT
ION HIG
HLIGHT
One ITS World Congress exhibitor has a VMS solution that is not only reliable and easy to install, it can also run solely on solar power
T
riplesign is a Swedish producer of prismatic VMS. The system is much more environmentally friendly and sustainable than digital VMS due to extreme low power consumption – 1.5W solutions are available. This represents a 70-90% cost saving compared to LED VMS installation. Triplesign can even offer complete solar VMS standalone systems, which not only save
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
money on power, but also are very easy to install, needing no excavation. The VMS system only has to be fixed at the side of the road and it is ready. A further benefit is that messages are reliably displayed even in the event of a power cut. Important applications include tunnels, bridges, toll stations and traffic management vehicles and portable traffic signs for road
work. Visit Triplesign at ITSWC to find out more. Triplesign – Booth 97
Could location intelligence be your new competitive edge? Find out at booth 95
To thrive as a city or mobility company, you need to find new ways to stand out. Location intelligence is becoming an increasingly important differentiator – cutting through the chaos with real-time insights and industry-leading location data. This way, you can finally harmonize the way people and things move in your city, for smoother, safer travels. HERE is at ITSWC to help you on this exciting journey. Speak to us at booth 95 Follow us at #HEREatITSWC Learn more at here.com/ITSWC
ITS World Congress Preview |
Gala Dinner
Inside a traffic nerve center
Technical Tour: Intelligent Transport System Center (ITSC) Operations Control Centre (OCC) and Singapore Mobility Gallery
T
raffic management centers are common in big cities. But Singapore’s ITSC OCC, which operates 24/7 throughout the year, is well worth a visit on the ITSWC organized tour, as it combines management functions that are only seen in one or two other locations in the world. The tour will inform attendees not only of the general concept of road
traffic operations and how ITS systems are used to manage traffic in Singapore efficiently; it will also cover incident detection and management, and, crucially, the use of electronic road pricing (ERP) for congestion management. The tour will also take in The Singapore Mobility Gallery, which offers a glimpse of Singapore’s dynamic and
due for full launch in 2020. It will allow LTA to manage traffic congestion even more effectively while providing the platform to develop useful value-added services that bring greater convenience to motorists and help to manage incidents on the roads. The new system will replace existing in-vehicle transponders with on-board units, which will support the value-added services, including: automatic payment for off-peak usage; electronic payment for roadside parking; electronic payment for checkpoint tolls; and provision of relevant real-time traffic information tailored to the vehicle’s location. To
Above and below: The Gala Dinner will take place in a spectacular venue: the 195,000m3 Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay
The Gala Dinner takes place on October 23. Book tickets on the ITS World Congress website
complex land transport system, including the challenges in balancing efficiency, liveability and inclusivity; and how new technologies are harnessed to create a user-centric, futureready land transport system. Tours take place October 23-24, 9.30am-1pm or 2:30pm-6pm Book your place at itsworldcongress2019.com
find out how Singapore’s congestion charge compares to the new one being planned in New York City turn to page 46. Other initiatives already underway in Singapore, that attendees of the ITSWC will be able to learn more about, include: the Cooperative and Unified Smart Traffic System (CRUISE), which uses AI and predictive capabilities to develop smarter traffic light algorithms; the Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System
(EMAS), which monitors traffic along expressways, alerts motorists to traffic incidents and ensures swift response to these incidents; the Green Link Determining (GLIDE) system, which monitors, adjusts and optimizes green time in an intelligent and adaptive manner to provide a ‘green-wave’ along main roads; and the Parking Guidance System, which provides real-time information on parking space availability in major shopping areas, in order to reduce traffic looking for spaces.
A touch of glass This year’s Gala Dinner takes place in a record-breaking venue – Singapore’s Flower Dome, the world’s largest glass greenhouse
T
he ITSWC Gala Dinner is an annual social highlight for the industry, but this year it promises to be more memorable than ever before as it takes place in Flower Field Hall situated in Singpore’s iconic Flower Dome, confirmed as the world’s largest glasshouse by Guinness World Records in 2015. As ever, there will be speeches from the organizers, world-class
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Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
entertainment and a sit down dinner, followed by a chance to mingle, network and enjoy more music and performance. But this year, the backdrop alone should be enough to keep guests entertained. The Flower Dome is situated alongside one of Singapore’s most breathtaking and iconic sights – the periodically changing Flower Field display, and the venue also
affords spectacular views of the Marina Bay skyline. Even the ceiling of the venue itself is adorned with LED lights that will captivate guests with a picturesque backdrop with the theme of ‘perpetual spring.’
Ramboll Transport is a global design and engineering company with unmatched experience from the Nordics in delivering infrastructure, designing transportation systems and mobility solutions. We work across the project’s life cycle from concept development, detailed design, asset management to the decommissioning of infrastructure. With the application of data-driven technologies, we deliver innovative and sustainable transportation services to our clients. Ramboll employs 15 000 people and have more than 300 offices in 35 countries, combing global know-how with local understanding.
LOCAL PARTNER, GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE (ENABLING LIVEABLE CITIES) Meet our international Smart Mobility team at the ITS World Congress 2019, Oct 21-25 in Singapore at the Nordic Pavilion, Stand 97
ITS World Congress Preview |
Take a tour
The ITSWC venue is the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre
Singapore’s ITS deployment is impressive, but there is more planned for the future. For example, Smart Mobility 2030 is Singapore’s ITS strategic plan aimed at enhancing travel experiences. Jointly developed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and ITSS, Smart Mobility 2030 outlines the broad strategies that are essential for the successful implementation of ITS initiatives and identifies the key focal areas to meet challenges. Looking even further ahead, Singapore has a Land Transport Master Plan 2040. This envisions a transport system that is convenient, wellconnected and fast. It aims to allow commuters to reach the nearest neighborhood center within 20 minutes, and spend no more than 45 minutes to complete most peakperiod commutes. To achieve this, the plan is for the city to go truly multimodal, by connecting more places by train; enabling autonomous on-demand services; creating more cycling paths; developing more integrated transport hubs; providing an inclusive land transport system with more barrierfree journeys; enhancing access; and enabling safer and healthier journeys with cleaner energy fleets and new safety technology.
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Attention is shifting from technology to societal issues, such as regulation, safety assurance, acceptance and behaviors of general public
Hajime Amano, secretary general, ITS Asia-Pacific
At the congress
ITSWC delegates and participants can look forward to a robust line-up of technology demonstrations, technical tours, a high-level policy round table, plenary and congress sessions, and a strong line-up of exhibitors; all while discovering what Singapore has to offer as a leader in
the field of ITS, as well as learning more about its people, places and culture. Indeed, public engagement is a key focus for Hajime Amano. “Attention is shifting from technology to societal issues,” he says, “such as regulation, safety assurance, acceptance and behaviors of general public.” The ITSWC is a forum where great strides towards more meaningful engagement can be achieved. As Andrew Chow says: “We look forward to forging new partnerships and creating unique opportunities to meet the evolving demands of mobility and shape new mobility landscapes together.”
Enabling smart cities
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Here Technologies will be showcasing some of their latest smart location solutions for advanced city management
H
ere Technologies will be one of the major exhibitors in Singapore, as an Open Location Platform company, Here’s technology enables people, enterprises and cities to harness the power of location. By making sense of the world through the lens of location it aims to empower its customers to achieve better outcomes – from helping cities
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
manage infrastructure and enterprises to optimize assets, to guiding drivers to their destinations safely. To learn more about Here, including its new generation of cloud-based services, visit 360.here.com or www.here.com, Or visit them at ITSWC. Here – Booth 95
HLIGHT
PHOTOGRAPHS: GARDENS BY THE BAY, BENNYMARTY, NOPPASINW, WEERASAK, RABBIT75_FOT/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Looking to the future
Delegates can book technical tours of Singapore’s transportation systems
Move Brilliantly. Aimsun software helps thousands of international users model tomorrow’s smart mobility networks, today. Join the movement at aimsun.com
IBTTA Awards |
Funding
future
the
As revenue from fuel taxes falls, and the industry looks for new sources of income, there is increasing focus on tolling technologies. Jack Roper gets a preview of this year’s IBTTA Toll Excellence Award winners, who are certain to inspire anyone planning to roll out new systems
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he International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) provides advocacy, thought-leadership and education to toll facility owners, operators and associated businesses worldwide, advancing innovative, solutions to critical infrastructure challenges. Founded in 1932, it has members in 23 countries across six continents and works to promote the sharing of best practices and procedures learned by the respective toll operators around the world. In September 2019, IBTTA will present six Toll Excellence Awards (TEAs) at its 87th Annual Meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, recognizing innovations from across the industry. This year’s IBTTA theme - ‘Driving the Future of Mobility’ – was selected by President Chris Tomlinson, who pioneered a system of credits incentivizing Atlanta’s drivers to adopt alternative transportation modes in 2014. Tomlinson will confer the coveted IBTTA President’s Award on one supreme champion from among the six recipients. Future mobility cannot be driven by technology alone. It will rely on
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back-office processes which can support scalable interoperability, innovative procurement for new infrastructure and good relationships between operators and the driving public. Recognizing this, IBTTA dispenses TEAs across six categories encompassing every aspect of tolling. “Our well-rounded structure means that anything your organization does should fit one of the categories,” explains TEA chairman David Machamer. “Technology is important in improving how we collect tolls. But toll operators also need good customer service. Social responsibility and administration, for instance P3 selection practices, are also important pieces of the picture.” The winners were selected from 25 entries after individual grading by judges. “Every year, we look forward to seeing the excellent projects and processes our members are carrying out,” Machamer continues. “It’s always a hard choice, but we have a really good slate of winners.” Without further ado, Traffic Technology International is proud to introduce this year’s tolling superstars…
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
| IBTTA Awards
A quiet evening on Oklahoma Turnpike, whose Authority is now using ETC’s Central Interoperability Hub. The other beneficiaries are Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority, Harris County Toll Road Authority, Kansas Turnpike Authority, North Texas Toll Authority and Texas DOT
$1bn
Private Sector Award WINNER:
Electronic Transaction Consultants Corporation (ETC)
The IBTTA has worked assiduously to advance the case for national interoperability, developing national standards and supporting agencies in harmonizing their back-office processes as a precondition to doing business together. Last year’s President’s Award recognized North Carolina Turnpike Authority’s success in creating an interoperable continuum from Florida to Maine with tri-protocol reader technology and IBTTA’s labors are nearing fruition as members grow together into regional hubs which may soon coalesce into one interoperable environment stretching from sea to shining sea. Since May 2017, the Central United States Interoperability (CUSIOP) Hub has enabled drivers to travel the length of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas using a single transponder from any of seven member agencies. ETC’s brief was to design, develop, test and implement a hub system
ETC is proud to deliver this nextgeneration Central Interoperability Hub… providing a tolling experience to over 13.5 million customers in three states
Kevin Holbert, executive vice president, ETC
The approximate revenue processed since May 2017 by the Central United States Interoperability Hub
compliant with US national interoperability (NIOP) standards to facilitate transaction processing, reporting and reconciliation between authorities. They successfully created the first multi-state hub to meet new NIOP standards with 100% compliance expected before 2020. It has so far processed nearly a billion transactions and over US$1 billion in revenue using standardized transaction and file-transfer protocols. The CUSIOP system is soon expected to begin processing transactions from other hubs and could provide a foundation for multimodal mobility through its capacity to process data from nontolling transit and ride-share agencies. Crucially, ETC’s success will furnish other hubs with a template for full NIOP compatibility. “ETC is proud to deliver this nextgeneration CUSIOP Hub, providing a tolling experience to over 13.5 million customers in three states,” says ETC EVP, Kevin Holbert. Where previous Private Sector winners may have excelled in delivering a specific local project, ETC’s achievement may prove instrumental in shaping a new world of interoperable mobility which spans a continent.
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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IBTTA Awards |
Toll Operations, Engineering and Maintenance Award WINNER:
Illinois Tollway
Driving the future of mobility depends not only on technology and infrastructure but also scalable backoffice systems enabling toll operators to seamlessly absorb increasing volumes and revenues. In 2012, the Illinois Tollway began Move Illinois, a US$14 billion, 15-year capital program including its first cashless toll-roads, a cashless interstate interchange and new lanes stretching 62 miles from Chicago to Rockford. The agency expects to generate increases of 45% in transactions and 50% in revenues by 2027. Consequently, Illinois Tollway knew they needed to scale steeply while accommodating the new lane technologies, service features, cybersecurity measures and business rules associated with cashless tolling. In 2013, the Illinois Tollway awarded a six-year, US$44 million contract to implement and maintain a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to Accenture LLP. Accenture’s CRM solution leverages SAP business software wellestablished in the financial sector but
Our team took on the challenge of implementing a system common among Fortune 500 companies and major financial institutions but rare in the open-road tolling industry
José Alvarez, executive director, Illinois Tollway
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Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
2.8m
The number of toll comparatively novel to the transactions handled transportation every day by Illinois sphere. Tollway’s CRM system Since its 2016 inception, this CRM system has underwritten improved service and security, cost-saving automation and efficient processing of steadily rising revenues. It currently serves 1.6 million drivers daily, handling some 2.8 million toll transactions, 88% from either I-Pass or E-ZPass users, collecting over US$1.5 billion in annual toll and violation payments. Looking beyond the traditional realm of tolling to discern a wider business landscape has furnished Illinois Tollway with robust foundations on which to build a future of growth, interoperability and cashless automation which could benefit the entire tolling industry. “Our team took on the challenge of implementing a system common among Fortune 500 companies and major financial institutions but rare in the open-road tolling industry,” says Illinois Tollway executive director José Alvarez. “We needed a flexible back-office solution that prepared us for the future. The CRM system has allowed us to enhance customer service, improve datasecurity and adopt more complex processing systems.”
| IBTTA Awards
Customer Service and Marketing Outreach Award WINNER:
Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority
Ever-increasing demand on toll facilities already burdened to capacity can necessitate radical engineering solutions, but convincing uneasy local populations of their benefits requires patience and persistence. Growing congestion on Tampa’s Gandy Boulevard, in Florida, initially prompted plans to widen the narrow corridor by removing homes and businesses, twice thwarted by vociferous community opposition. When Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) took over the project in 2009, their daring vision for an elevated tollway above the existing median that would leave adjacent buildings intact faced continued opposition focused on perceived aesthetic and economic detriments. But by 2014, with congestion jeopardizing hurricane preparedness and Tampa’s population projected to double by 2040, action had become imperative. THEA relaunched the Selmon West Extension Project with a multifaceted outreach campaign at its leading edge, first engaging
Community partnership is an indispensable pillar of our work. The success of any construction project depends on open and ongoing dialog with those it affects
Joe Waggoner, CEO and executive director, THEA
community and business leaders in meaningful one-to-one conversations. They created a digital survey and commissioned an economic impact study, using the results to address public concerns. THEA’s procurement has minimized construction-related lane closures and the precast segmental bridge design will maintain cross-corridor visibility. Virtual Town Hall Meetings enabled locals to vote for alternative design concepts, investing them in the superstructure’s aesthetics. This proactive approach secured resounding project endorsement following four previous failures over 25 years and THEA’s Shop Gandy! campaign continues to boost local business revenues predicted to suffer from worksrelated disruption. The Selmon Expressway is now under construction, a dramatic engineering spectacle which will improve regional connectivity from 2020 onwards. “Community partnership is an indispensable pillar of our work,” says THEA CEO and executive director Joe Waggoner. “The success of any construction project depends on open and ongoing dialog with those it affects. THEA is honored to accept this IBTTA Award on behalf of the entire Tampa Bay community, who have been so integral to this effort.”
2040
The year by which it is predicted the population of Tampa, Florida, will double
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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IBTTA Awards |
20,000
Social Responsibility Award WINNER:
Central Florida Expressway Authority, Florida Department of Transportation and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise
Central Florida’s three million population is swollen by a staggering 75 million tourists visiting each year, putting strain on regional roads. In response, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) are building the 40km Wekiva Parkway, with Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) collaborating in design and tolling of some sections. The US$1.6 billion expressway, Central Florida’s first all-electronic toll facility, traverses the ecologically sensitive Wekiva River, rich in wildlife and subject to enhanced environmental protections. Partner authorities have implemented a raft of measures safeguarding the area’s natural resources and offering a blueprint for similar projects in the future, as FDOT secretary Kevin J. Thibault explains. “This project sets the standard for linking mobility with environmental stewardship,” says Thibault. “It involved buying 3,400 acres of conservation land, building 1.5 miles of wildlife bridges and limiting the number of interchanges. Three bridges span the waterway with no piers to disturb the riverbed and topdown construction, with formtraveling cranes working on segmental box culvert bridges, eliminating the need for equipment in the waterway.”
The Wekiva Parkway closes the gap in Central Florida’s beltway and has already had tremendous success in relieving congestion
Laura Kelley, executive director, Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX)
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Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
The number of vehicles using the first five-mile stretch of Wekiva Parkway each day. It opened in 2017 with expected traffic of 6,300 a day
Elevating the roadway will preclude conflicts between vehicles and wildlife and the overall design achieves an authentic ‘parkway’ feel. “When completed in 2022, the Wekiva Parkway will become a model for smart transportation planning through sensitive natural areas everywhere,” adds Thibault. “The Wekiva Parkway closes the gap in Central Florida’s beltway and has already had tremendous success in relieving congestion,” says CFX executive director Laura Kelley. “Where CFX anticipated 6,300 daily trips on the five-mile stretch that opened in 2017, we are seeing 20,000 vehicles each day. But it is about so much more than that. Years of extensive collaboration have also shaped ground-breaking environmental protections, making the expressway a source of community pride. “Many environmentalists now refer to the ‘Wekiva Parkway Model’ when discussing future corridors, and this IBTTA Award reinforces that accomplishment.”
| IBTTA Awards
Technology Award
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tolled network. Catch It Early is The number of miles Thanks to the mantra of of roadway operated CAAR, traffic Pennsylvania duty staff accustomed officers working today by Pennsylvania to juggling to maintain Turnpike multiple systems turnpike traffic Commission to detect incidents flow and travel or track emergency times, which they can responders are now now do using their brand armed with an unrivalled new CAAR, the system that situational overview. has won them the IBTTA Technology They can monitor all key safety Award 2019. variables through a single tool, A geographic information nipping traffic situations in the bud system (GIS) web application by deploying the optimum response developed by 2017 IBTTA Technology at precisely the right time and Award winners the Pennsylvania location. CAAR was developed by Turnpike Commission (PTC), CAAR PTC’s GeoAnalytics Team in (Catch it early, Act, Analyze and collaboration with their Traffic, Review) unites multiple data layers Engineering and Operations in a single platform, providing Department and has surpassed officers with a suite of visual initial objectives. awareness tools. PTC are already focused on the next phase, which could involve Our key guiding principles at incorporating artificial intelligence to the PA Turnpike include safety, augment a currently prescriptive tool with predictive capabilities. innovation and customer service. This key guiding principles at remarkable suite of apps envelops them all the“Our PA Turnpike include safety, Mark Compton, CEO, PA Turnpike innovation and customer service,” says PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “This remarkable suite of Partnering with AccuWeather, apps envelops them all. I am Waze, INRIX and Verizon to gain delighted with how our team has access to real-time data feeds, PTC collaborated to produce these created a ‘data lake’ by drawing solutions, which will help improve together video, photo, radar, wind, situational awareness and enhance traffic speed, travel-time and safety for our contracted responders, weather data, which is integrated maintenance employees and in CAAR’s GIS dashboard layers. customers. We certainly appreciate The Pennsylvania Turnpike this acknowledgement of our work was dubbed ‘America’s First from IBTTA and our industry Superhighway’ at its 1940 opening partners.” and today PTC operates a 888km
WINNER:
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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IBTTA Awards |
Administration and Finance Award WINNER:
Transurban North America (North Virginia)
Washington, DC was recently ranked among Earth’s 20 worst-congested cities and the capital’s commuters spend 155 hours stuck in traffic annually, a day longer than their New York counterparts. The new, eight-mile 395 Express Lanes will convert and expand existing I-395 HOV lanes between DC and Springfield, Virginia, improving travel-times to the Pentagon and Amazon’s future Crystal City headquarters. The lanes will connect parallel expansions into a 63-mile managedlane network, easing congestion and enabling transit incentives. Transurban utilized a unique set of financing tools to deliver a project set to open in fall 2019, on-time and onbudget. Building on its partnership with Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Transurban undertook to finance, develop, construct, operate and maintain the new lanes in collaboration with multiple parties. They created a unified credit which improved on
This IBTTA Award reiterates the value of public-private partnerships in rebuilding America’s infrastructure
Jennifer Aument, North America president, Transurban
Heading for Halifax
Segment 95 to support Series 2017 Credit Bonds and earned a one-notch credit upgrade to BBB from S&P and Fitch. US$1.5 billion in priority orders allowed spread-tightening to a final +49-50 basis points to Municipal Market Data rate, showing outstanding fiscal value. “This IBTTA Award reiterates the value of public-private partnerships in rebuilding America’s infrastructure,” says Transurban North America president, Jennifer Aument. “The project adds a third reversible lane for a faster rush-hour trip while creating time-savings on regular lanes for easier access to the Pentagon and the explosive economic growth at Crystal City, generating 600 jobs and US$0.5 billion in economic activity.” “This is a model example of a successful P3 and we are proud that commuters and regional communities will reap its immediate and long-term benefits.”
$0.5bn
The predicted additional economic activity that will be generated annually at Crystal City, DC, aided by the new express lane
T
he 87th IBTTA Annual Meeting takes place in Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 15-17 2019, with Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) acting as hosts. A maritime city of just over 400,000, Halifax abuts the wild Atlantic at Canada’s eastern extremity. Since the Harbour cuts deep inland, two suspension bridges provide vital
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connectivity between Halifax and Dartmouth: the 1.3km Angus L. Macdonald Bridge (opened in 1955) and the 1.2km A. Murray MacKay Bridge (opened in 1970), which together support 34 million annual crossings. Created in 1950, HHB operates both bridges and is self-funded through tolling revenues. By 2015 the Macdonald Bridge was
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
wearing out and HHB undertook a feat attempted only once before: retrofitting suspended spans with new deck whilst keeping the bridge open at peak times. The Big Lift entailed a titanic rolling removal and replacement of 46 deck segments, accomplished entirely during overnight and weekend closures. HHB won public project support
through an imaginative outreach campaign based on the principle of ‘Show, don’t tell,’ which secured an IBTTA Toll Excellence Award in 2018. HHB last welcomed IBTTA’s membership to Halifax in 1999, when their annual theme was ‘Growing Your Toll Business in the Next Millennium.’ The intervening years should provide old friends with much to discuss.
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The 2019 IBTTA Annual Meeting takes place in Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Speed Management |
Unbreak 038
limits?
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
| Speed Management
akable As the EU moves to mandate Intelligent Speed Assistance in all new vehicles from 2022, James Gordon asks whether promised safety benefits will materialize, if such technology could help to reduce congestion and whether it could, one day, make speed enforcement redundant
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here have only been a handful of moments in the last 50 years that could be described as big leaps forward for road safety in Europe,” said Antonio Avenoso, who heads the European Safety Council, while Brake, a leading UK road safety charity, called it “a landmark day for road safety”. Both were referring to speed reduction technology, which is to become a mandatory requirement in all new vehicles from 2022. Intelligent Speed Assistance technology (ISA) and a raft of other measures including (but not limited to) advanced emergency braking and intelligent lane keeping systems is part of the EU’s Vision Zero plan, which aims to eliminate all road traffic deaths by 2050. However, the
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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| Speed Management EU hopes that the safety benefits will be felt long before then. It thinks that the technology can prevent 140,000 injuries by 2038. If the technology does indeed improve safety and reduce fatalities – there were 25,000 deaths in the EU last year – it could according to Nick Reed, future mobility expert and independent transport consultant at Reed Mobility, also help toreduce congestion. Reed, who was formerly the Head of Mobility for Bosch, says, “In the long-term, ISA technology will improve traffic flow by smoothing vehicle speeds. Whilst this technology won’t solve congestion, we know from traffic simulation studies that only a small proportion of drivers need to be using the technology (around 5%) for motorists to experience the benefits of more even flow and increased capacity on road networks.”
Only a small proportion of drivers need to be using the technology (around 5%) for motorists to experience the benefits of more even flow and increased capacity on road networks
Nick Reed, founder, Reed Mobility
Above: ISA could improve road safety and help reduce congestion Right: ISA systems could prove useful in AV development
A step towards autonomy?
Is Intelligent Speed Assistance a step along the road towards fully autonomous vehicles, or a dead end?
W
ith all new vehicles expected to be ‘connected’ by 2025 and the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) predicating that a significant number of vehicles in the UK will be fully autonomous after 2035, is Intelligent Speed Assistance technology a precursor to connected and self-driving vehicle revolution? Matthias Seidl, head of vehicle regulation for TRL, thinks ISA systems are a stepping stone to Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs). He says, “Automated and autonomous vehicles will need to be able to reliably identify the applicable speed limit to perform a safe driving function… ISA will push manufacturers and Tier 1
suppliers to perfect the image recognition algorithms for the camera inputs and the fusion algorithms to bring together camera and mapbased information, to achieve this goal.” Nick Reed, however, is more circumspect. “It is small step in that direction but still a very important one,” he says. “A successful ISA implementation would give drivers’ confidence that automated systems can add value in the sense that some, but not all, of the responsibilities of driving can be safely delegated to intelligent onboard electronics systems,” he adds. However, Reed warns that the ISA system should never be confused with automated driving technology, as ISA technology wholly depends on
the driver being fully attentive and alert at all times.” As Calum McPhail of Zurich Insurance, adds, “I think the technology represents more of a progression than a stepping stone. “From an insurance perspective, the litmus test will be whether or not it can reduce premiums for drivers – especially those who are young and have recently passed their test. We already use telematics as a way of monitoring driver behavior, but a vehicle which limits speed might be seen as a much more acceptable risk, and could make insurance policies more affordable for younger drivers. “That’s represents the bigger picture for us – not another brick in the wall in the development of self-driving vehicles.”
Safety first?
However, there are some question marks around speed reduction technology. Jack Cousens, the AA’s head of roads policy says that there are occasions when ‘a little speed’ can actually help to promote safety. He explains, “It’s possible that a driver might misjudge the speed of traffic when overtaking or joining a busy A-road or motorway. Therefore, a temporary element of speed can be a good thing. There were concerns that drivers might not be able to override to ISA systems to achieve this small burst of acceleration. But the regulations clearly state that driver will be able to do so.” Reed, who understands the technology more than most, recognizes this perspective. At the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), where he was academy director for nearly three years, Reed studied the dangers of close following or tailgating, which is a common cause of road crashes in the UK. Participants in the study were asked to drive to the rules of the road, and then to drive as they would naturally. The results revealed that drivers were far more likely to be tailgated when following the rules of the road. The study also highlighted the fact that while it’s neither advisable nor legal to tailgate, in realworld driving conditions, it’s also understandable that motorists may increase speed to avoid this situation. Reed explains, “While the study only included a small sample of drivers, it was clear that motorists keeping to the speed limit were anxious due to others following too
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Speed Management | closely. Ideally, a driver being close-followed should pullover to a safe place and let the tailgater pass but that rarely happened. ISA technology as part of a suite of driver assistance systems might address this issue by helping to regulate vehicle speeds and reduce the likelihood of close following.”
Public acceptance
The vehicle’s intelligent cameras will detect the explicit speed limits even when there is no GPS around
Much depends on the general public accepting the technology. In this respect, automakers and regulators are hedging their bets. While the system will be a compulsory requirement in all new vehicles in the EU in three years’ time, it can according to TRL “be switched on and off by the driver”. Secondly, TRL says that “even if ISA system is being used, it can always be overridden by the driver by a kick-down of the accelerator pedal”. However, despite this, Matthias Seidl, head of vehicle regulation for TRL, maintains that market demand for ISA systems appears to show that many drivers “accept them as a useful aid to avoid speeding
Matthias Seidl, head of vehicle regulation, TRL
Top right: ISA systems can be overriden via a kick-down of the accelerator pedal
fines, rather than an annoyance”, and “system performance in many new vehicles has already become very good”. But, not everyone agrees. Take Calum McPhail, the head of liability at Zurich Insurance, for example. Mr McPhail, an expert in motor and technical casualty liability claims is concerned that the technology needed to make ISA system work “may not be robust or resilient enough to handle every possible use case or weather scenario” it encounters. He thinks that “there is no guarantee of premiums automatically going down, immediately, as a result of this technology”.
Assistance in Singapore
Technology to the rescue?
Intelligent Speed Assistance will be one of the many topics under discussion at the ITS World Congress this October
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ith Singapore hosting the 26th ITS World Congress in October, one of the main streams at the conference will be Safety for Drivers & Vulnerable Users, which will include presentations on the subject of Speed Advice & Restriction. As well attending various sessions on intelligent mobility,
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attendees can also take part in a C-ITS and V2X workshop (Wednesday October 23, 2019, 09:00 – 10:30, Room 324), organized by ERTICO-ITS Europe, which will investigate the platform on which it is hoped ISA technologies will flourish in the future. Another ERTICO session on the same day (from 14:00
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
Mr McPhail, who has worked for Zurich Insurance for 15 years, explains. “This system relies on camera recognition technology being able to detect the speed signs and GPS/map data. That information is relayed to the system which regulates the power available to the vehicle. But what if the vehicle suddenly loses GPS connectivity? “There’s the rub,” he says. “As the vehicle does not have the correct information the driver does not know what the vehicle will do in that scenario. It may revert back to nonlimited speed mode. If it does, the driver may still have his foot firmly pressed down on the accelerator. He might not be able to make the necessary adjustment which increases the chance of a collision.”
– 17:30) will focus on the role that 5G and the IoT will play in digitally transforming the automotive sector. To learn more about any of the presentations, sessions, demonstrations or workshops, and to register to attend, visit the ITS World Congress home page at itsworldcongress2019.com.
TRL’s Matthias Seidl says the collaboration of different technologies will prevent the nightmare scenario painted by Mr McPhail from happening. He says that the vehicle’s intelligent cameras “will detect the explicit speed limits even when there is no GPS around”. However, Mr Seidl adds, “When entering a built-up area, support from map data will be required in some cases. But, whatever the circumstances, I don’t believe that GPS cutting out for short periods would present an issue. He continues, “If the vehicle is positioned incorrectly – for example – in an urban canyon – the vehicle manufacturer would need to solve the problem by creating an algorithm which would harmonize both the camera-inputs and the map data.” But, the ISA system, which TRL says will only cost manufacturers an
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Speed Management | Right: Variable speed limits could prove to be challenging for ISA systems
The end of speed cameras?
Could the advent of automatic speed limiters in cars mark the beginning of the end for traditional enforcement regimes?
extra €60 per vehicle, is not yet perfect. Sometimes, most notably in rural locales, it can be confused by two conflicting road signs. When this happens, in rare occurrences, the driver may receive no information on his dashboard. There have also been instances when the GPS mapping system and the camera have disagreed, leaving the ISA system to adjudicate and the driver to make the final decision. If these problems are not ironed out, some worry the ISA system might cause more jams. But TRL’s Matthias Seidl thinks this misses the point. “First and foremost the ISA systems are not really designed to improve traffic flow. The primary focus of the technology is to cut road traffic collisions and save lives. However, in doing so, there will be benefits for congestion. In the UK, for example, there were over 24,000 serious and fatal collisions last year, many of them related to speeding. Every collision prevented by intelligent speed assistance will avoid gridlock – especially on motorways and A-roads.”
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adjusting the speed of the vehicle at every speed sign, then we might see a significant decrease in speed cameras.” However, Mr Cousens, does not think that cameras will be entirely phased out. He believes that camera technology “will evolve to embrace other enforcement use cases”. He explains “Cameras are developing all of the time. In the future they will still be an effective enforcement tool. But their primary purpose might not to catch speeding drivers. Instead, they’ll ensure that motorists aren’t using a mobile phone at the wheel, are fully insured and are not ignoring a red-X sign on a smart motorway.”
Above: Roadside cameras could evolve to focus on several safety factors in addition to speed
Tipping point?
Calum McPhail thinks that the overwhelming majority of the vehicles on UK roads would have to be equipped with the ISA system for it to make “a telling impact on congestion”. He says, “Until a driver is confident enough that the vehicle in front is not going to do something unusual then I think there will be concerns.” With the average ‘churn time’ for a new technology like this to be universally accepted around 15 years, Mr McPhail thinks it might not be until at least 2045 before UK drivers “see the benefits of less congested roads”. But there is arguably a far great challenge than the technical barriers – which must be overcome says Calum McPhail “if ISA technology is going to help reduce road traffic accident fatalities and gridlock, too”. “There is a risk that drivers put too much faith in ISA technology,
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
If the technology is widely accepted by motorists, we might see a significant decrease in speed cameras
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy, AA
particularly when driving in inclement or extreme weather conditions. When the roads are icy or wet, motorists need to adapt their driving style to the road conditions. An ISA system ought to do this too. But in no way should it ever be considered to be a substitute for a human being. The danger is that it will be.” Reed agrees, “Even if the ISA system fails, it will remain the responsibility of the driver to ensure safe control of the vehicle which includes driving to the road conditions and abiding by mandatory speed limits.”
PHOTO: METAMORWORKS, CHRISTOPHER DODGE, MAHO, MONTICELLLLO, MOPIC, LENBLR, JPLDESIGNS/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
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ith the European Safety Council forecasting that speed reduction technology could prevent 20 percent of fatalities on Europe’s roads, it begs the question as to whether speed enforcement cameras will be needed in the future. Jack Cousens, the head of roads policy at the AA, thinks that “there are a number of factors to consider”. “Firstly,”, he says, “it depends on the level of public buy-in. If drivers see the ISA system as an annoyance they might choose to not to use it. But, on the other hand, if the technology is widely accepted by motorists, and it reaches a point where the system, and not the driver, is automatically
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NYC Congestion Charge |
Pricing
the c re The possibility of a congestion charge for The Big Apple has been debated for nearly 90 years. Now, finally, it looks like it’s going to happen. Paul Willis takes a look at what form New York City’s road pricing system might take when it’s introduced, what it is meant to achieve, and why it has taken so long to be agreed upon
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Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
| NYC Congestion Charge
I
n April this year New York state governor Andrew Cuomo approved a budget for the state that included funding for a congestion pricing program for New York City. Although there have been congestion pricing schemes in place in other major cities around the world – most notably in London and Singapore – the New York scheme will be the first of its kind in the US. The concept of congestion pricing is not new to the city. As far back as 1933 city authorities had the idea of charging a premium for travel into Manhattan via a tolling plan for the city’s bridges.
Traffic leaving Manhattan, where the congestion charge will be implemented
More recently, a 2008 proposal by then-mayor Michael Bloomberg for a congestion zone in the Manhattan central business district was ultimately stymied by the New York State legislature. So if it’s been on the cards so long why has it taken until now to get the go-ahead? Larry Yermack, strategic adviser to Cubic Transportation Systems and a native New Yorker, has
long been involved in the NYC congestion pricing debate. In the early 1980s he was an assistant to NYC Mayor Ed Koch and responsible for helping to oversee the DOT. For him, the reason is straightforward. “Why does anything take so long?” he says. “Because we live in a world of don’t tax me, tax somebody else. The question politically was whether you could put together a
The MTA is currently soliciting ‘requests for proposal’ for a vendor that will design, build, operate and maintain the tolling system and infrastructure
Chris McKniff, spokesperson, MTA
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NYC Congestion Charge |
coalition that could overcome the objections of those who felt their ‘ox was being gored’.” That such a coalition formed has to do with a “confluence of motivations”, says Yermack, most notably the chronic ill health of the city’s subway system, which the funds generated by congestion pricing are meant to go towards repairing. “Congestion on its own was not enough of a concern,” he says. “Whereas fixing the subway was considered politically acceptable.”
Above: Any overhead gantries installed in Manhattan would have to be more discreet than typical designs
Operational planning
Exact details of how the scheme will operate remain opaque. What is known is that the scheme will be overseen by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), a division of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the body which runs the city’s mass transit operations, including the subway. The TBTA, which already has authority for several tolled bridges and tunnels within the city, will establish the scheme in collaboration with the city administration. Under the terms set down in the budget, toll operations for the
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Congestion on its own was not enough of a concern, whereas fixing the subway was considered politically acceptable
Larry Yermack, strategic adviser, Cubic Below A discounted congestion charge is proposed for residents living within the zone
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
system cannot begin before December 31, 2020. Although no deadline has been given for the scheme’s roll out “the TBTA is aiming to implement the program as soon as possible after that date,” says MTA spokesman Chris McKniff. Before then the TBTA needs to resolve the question of how much motorists will pay and how will the scheme be enforced. McKniff says the question of pricing will be settled by a review board “once all traffic and congestion analyses are complete.” For enforcement he says the MTA is “currently soliciting requests for proposal (RFP) for a vendor that will
2008
The year an NYC congestion pricing scheme was last proposed
design, build, operate and maintain the tolling system and infrastructure.”
An E-Z path?
While the logistics of the scheme remain unresolved it’s likely that it will be an expansion of the existing methodologies already in use for cashless tolling on the city’s bridges and tunnels. These methodologies include an electronic tag system known as E-ZPass supplemented by automatic license plate readers (ALPR) for those without tags. While E-ZPass tag holders currently make up majority of the traffic on the tolled crossings in to
| NYC Congestion Charge
Our position is that it should be the same price to drive into the congestion zone no matter where you’re coming from
Kate Slevin, senior vice president of the Regional Plan Association, Greater New York region
Left: The streets south of 60th street are likely to be in the congestion charge zone Below: NYC residents need not worry: this style of gantry won’t appear on the streets of Manhattan
Manhattan they make up a small minority of city traffic, says Yermack. He thinks this fact will have implications for the scheme, which will have to lean more heavily on ALPR for enforcement. Though Yermack doesn’t anticipate this being a problem since “ALPRs are pretty effective and are up into the high nineties in terms of compliance.”
2021
What price to pay?
The expected year Manhattan’s congestion charge will go live
While no pricing has yet been announced most experts expect that the congestion charge will mirror earlier proposals which set pricing at similar levels to the fees currently in place on the tolled bridges and tunnels – between $12 and $15. This figure is expected to double for trucks.
Motorists who enter the congestion zone after crossing into Manhattan on one of the tolled facilities will likely receive a credit that will be automatically deducted from the congestion fee. Though integrating the scheme with the bridges and tunnels will require a complete rethink of the
current tolling model, says Kate Slevin, senior vice president of the Regional Plan Association, an urban transportation thinktank for the Greater New York region. “We have a unique situation in New York,” says Slevin. “The tolling system on the bridges and tunnels is very chaotic. Depending on which way you are entering Manhattan you’re paying a different toll rate and in some cases – if you enter from Brooklyn, for example – you’re paying nothing at all.” As part of the scheme’s implementation Slevin says the tolls need to be rationalized to put an end to what she calls “toll shopping”, whereby drivers look for the cheapest way to get into the city. “Our position is that it should be the same price to
drive into the congestion zone no matter where you’re coming from,” she says. Although the exact geography of the zone has yet to be confirmed, all the indicators are that it will mirror the zone proposed by the Bloomberg administration in 2008 – an area comprising all of Manhattan south of 60th street. Exempted from the zone will be the two highways that orbit September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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NYC Congestion Charge |
Leading by example
Congestion pricing has grown slowly around the world, but could the NYC scheme mark the beginning of a boom for such systems in the USA?
B
y most accounts congestion pricing has been a success in the places it has been introduced. In London and Singapore it had the desired effect of reducing traffic (though London has seen congestion levels creep back up in recent years thanks in part to the rise of rideshare). Both cities also experienced significant secondary gains in the form of congestion fee revenues that far exceeded initial expectations.
US$12-15 The expected charge for a car to enter the congestion zone
big growth cities in Asia and South America,” particularly in China where he says a mixture of rampant urban pollution and authoritarian government would make the case for and the implementation of such schemes relatively easy. Once the Manhattan scheme is in place Cubic Transportation Systems’ Larry Yermack expects more American cities to adopt it.
Hardware planning
In some cities where there’s no congestion pricing it’s been introduced implicitly through increased parking fees John Rennie Short, professor of public policy, University of Maryland
But if congestion pricing works so well it begs the question why isn’t its use more widespread? When the New York City scheme comes on line (most likely some time in 2021) it will be only the sixth major city to embrace congestion pricing – the other three are Milan, Gothenburg and Stockholm. Public policy professor John Rennie Short, of the University of Maryland, puts the lack of uptake down to a couple of key factors. “In some cities where there’s no congestion pricing it’s been introduced implicitly through increased parking fees,” says Short. “In many cities in mainland Europe they’ve done it the opposite way in the sense that by investing so well in public transport congestion is a non-issue.” Short anticipates congestion pricing coming eventually to “the
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He says: “The fact that it happened in Singapore and London had essentially zero impact on the US. But this is New York, America’s preeminent urban centre.” Although a number of American cities suffer the kind of traffic gridlock that congestion pricing schemes is meant to resolve (most notably Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Washington) Yermack thinks that this on its own won’t be enough to see it adopted. He says: “It’s not a question of where it’s needed - New York was not able to approve it just on the basis of congestion. It’s a question of where can the political consensus be generated to push it through. So you need to take a look at these cities in terms of the political environment there.”
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
Manhattan – the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive on the east and the West Side Highway on the west. Meaning that it will be theoretically possible to cross the city without having to pay the toll. Since the West Side Highway and, to a lesser extent, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive have multiple exits into the proposed zone it’s clear that a large amount of infrastructure will need to be installed to capture vehicles as they enter the area.
Below: Traffic congestion in Manhattan may not be reduced by the scheme, but revenues will be raised
While he does not rule out that this infrastructure might include overhead gantries Chris McKniff says the large structures currently used for cashless tolling on the bridges “are absolutely not what we will be using on city streets for congestion pricing,” suggesting that the solution will be something more “discreet.” According to Yermack this accommodation to discreet design will be especially important on the congestion zone’s northern boundary where it bumps up against the famous avenues that fan east of Central Park. “Can you imagine them building a big metal gantry over Park Avenue? It isn’t going to happen.” Another thorny issue that will need to be resolved is the question of exemptions and discounts. In London, for example, residents within the congestion charge zone are eligible for a 90% discount at all times. A similar idea has been mooted for Manhattan, with
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Singapore is reinventing the wheel for congestion pricing once again, by introducing the world’s first satellite-based system Mitsubishi, at a predicted cost of US$400 million. The new technology is intended to replace the current tag and beacon system, which collects fees through a mix of on-board electronic tags and license plate recognition. The system relies on around 80 overhead gantries at entry points to the congestion zone. It was partly due to the prohibitive cost of replacing these gantries, which are nearing the end of their useful life, that the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) began exploring less infrastructureheavy solutions.
a proposed exemption for lower income residents. According to Yermack there are no technological barriers to offering exemptions. “The system can allow for an infinitive number of variations and exceptions,” he says. “It’s more about what the political process generates.”
Above Singapore’s satellite-based congestion charging system removes the need for gantries
Are exemptions fair?
To this point John Rennie Short, a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland and an expert in urban planning, warns that handing out too many exemptions can be “a slippery slope”. Short says: “The more exemptions you give the more it means you’re not pricing the congestion properly and the thing soon loses credibility.” Another argument against exemptions is that they are punitive to everyone else, says Slevin. With legislators setting a benchmark of
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The new scheme dissolves the need for gantries by connecting motorists directly to the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Under the terms of the scheme motorists will be mandated to have onboard electronic tags. The new system will retain key elements of the current scheme, most notably variable pricing based on current congestion levels. By leveraging location data from the onboard units the system will also be able to collate real-time traffic data that can be fed back to motorists in the form of traffic alerts and advisories.
$1 billion annually to be generated through the scheme “if one person pays less then that just means everyone else has to pay more,” she says. One group that will likely be exempted are ride-share and taxi firms since they already pay a congestion fee surcharge on all trips south of 96th street following new rules brought in at the start of this year. While taxi companies have fought to stop congestion pricing ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft support it, with Uber planning a billboard campaign to promote public acceptance of the scheme.
Congestion targets
While the city has been vocal about the revenues it plans to raise from the scheme there have been no targets offered for reducing congestion, even though that is a stated aim of the scheme. Slevin says the focus needs to shift. “We don’t have a traffic reduction goal right now, only a revenue goal,” says Slevin. “That’s something that needs to be looked at because people are watching in other cities to see what happens in New York and we absolutely have to make it a success and make it something that other cities want to replicate.” But not everyone shares Slevin’s belief that the New York scheme can provide such a model. Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, thinks the scheme will have only “a modest effect on congestion.” “Congestion in Manhattan is caused by the increase in ridesharing, due to the way traffic lanes are used for construction purposes and due to the way we’ve taken main line traffic lanes and devoted them to pedestrian plazas and bus lanes,” says Moss. “None of those things are going to change with congestion pricing.”
Congestion in Manhattan is caused by the increase in ridesharing, the way traffic lanes are used for construction purposes and the way main traffic lanes are now pedestrian plazas and bus lanes. None of those things are going to change with congestion pricing
Mitchell Moss, professor of urban policy and planning, New York University
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ingapore has long been at the vanguard of congestion pricing – having pioneered the first such scheme back in 1998. The ITS World Congress host city is once again pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for urban road pricing with a scheme to overhaul its existing model with a new GNSS-based system. The satellite-based system, which is expected to go into service in 2020, will be installed by a consortium led by the Singaporean government – through its telecommunications subsidiary Singtel – and
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CONNECTING
THE SMART TACHOGRAPH WITH DSRC
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he Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is working with Panasonic to test a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) data ecosystem along The Ray real-world proving ground It is expected the joint project will provide a proof of concept for potential state-wide deployment. V2X technology will be tested on the 18 miles (29km) of I-85 in Troup County that forms The Ray, aiming to improve safety, reduce traffic congestion and cut vehicle emissions. By 2022, it is estimated there will be 105 million connected vehicles on the road ‘talking’ to each other and to the roadside infrastructure, producing the country’s largest data stream up to 150 petabytes annually, which is roughly equal to 15,000 years of television content. With Panasonic’s Cirrus data management platform, GDOT will gain access to a V2X ecosystem that constantly receives actionable data and carries critical roadway information between state traffic managers and connected vehicles. With an open development platform, Cirrus can further enable advanced mobility solutions such as autonomous driving and truck platooning, and is built to capture the long tail of innovation with an endless number of transportation applications using V2X technology. “It all comes down to safety,” says Harriet Langford, president and founder of The Ray. “The data and details we will be able to gather and analyze from this system will allow transportation safety experts to study and understand vehicle crashes in a completely new way; It’s like having an airplane black box. In the future, we may even be able to intervene during or before dangerous conditions arise. That’s what this is all about. Ending highway fatalities.”
Connected vehicles will get advance warning of crashes
The Ray, Georgia, to trial V2X tech
A partnership with Panasonic will see the Interstate 85 proving ground test connected technologies that it is hoped will go on to be deployed state-wide 56: University challenge
In collaboration with Siemens, Florida DOT is embarking on a connected vehicle project that will be one of the largest statefunded schemes of its kind. With 27 junctions involved, there will be much to consider
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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Connected Vehicles |
University
challenge With 27 junctions involved, it is with some justification that a new connected vehicle project, in and around the University of Florida's campus, has secured a high level of state funding. James Allen reports
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Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
| Connected Vehicles Left: The streets of Gainesville, Florida, are the setting for a new, cutting-edge connected vehicle pilot
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ainesville, Florida is the location of a new cloudbased Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) connected vehicle (CV) project. Taking its name from the distinctive shape formed by the four roads around the University of Florida campus where testing will take place, the Gainesville Trapezium SPaT project will consider the potential safety and traffic management benefits that greater connectivity offers. “We are committed to incorporating the latest technology and transportation solutions to strengthen safety on our roadways,” said Raj Ponnaluri, Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) connected vehicles and arterial management engineer. “We’re proud to be developing this exciting CV technology project that has the potential to make a major impact on driving behavior in the Gainesville area.” Siemens Mobility, a division of the German conglomerate was awarded the contract for a project that will amount to over US$461,500 of funding, one of the largest statefunded SPaT projects in the country. Overseeing the project is project manager Iouri Nemirovski at Siemens Mobility. “The main applications for the project are to do with safety, the focus will be testing the ability to transfer SPaT information on the status of lights at intersections to the traffic controller,” he says. “Another
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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State-wide connectivity
he Gainesville Trapezium project may well be one of the largest state-funded projects of its kind in the US, but it is by far from the only trial of connected vehicle technologies that the Florida Department of Transportation is involved in. Under the banner of the Florida Connected Vehicle Initiative, the DOT is affiliated with 23 independent initiatives planned across the Sunshine State. Currently just three of the schemes are up and running (including the welldocumented USDOT Connected Vehicle
area will be vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication and the potential of detecting potential crashes. “In addition to that, we have also provided FDOT with a list of areas to test that go beyond the base requirements for the project and these include signal priority, emergency vehicle pre-emption and even smartphone-based updates for pedestrians.”
Pilot project taking place in Tampa, in conjunction with the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority), but 12 are in the design phase and close to deployment, with another seven in the pipeline and still under consideration. The expectation is that any loose ends from all 23 of them will be tied up by 2021. At that point, the FDOT will have a considerable bank of knowledge and experience encompassing a broad range of technologies that fall under the connectivity bracket.
A smorgasbord of CV technologies will be supplied by Siemens Mobility for the project, including; roadside units (RSUs), on-board units (OBUs) as well as CV and RSU central management software. “Our RSUs were the first to receive OmniAir certification in the US [two competitor units have since then also been certified] and feature built-in functionality to provide travel times between intersections via wi-fi and DSRC,” explains Nemirovski. With 27 road intersections along the Gainesville ‘trapezium’ road network, he expects to have his work cut out. “It is a very diverse road configuration on the campus. You’ve got some really wide roads that go directly through the campus with lots of trees and lots of pedestrians and traffic, so finalizing the actual location of the RSUs to optimize coverage is something we envisage will require a lot of thought. “Something else that will require a lot of attention will be the traffic controller, which will have to be able to communicate with the RSUs, manage and then synchronize the updates as and when they come.”
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Finalizing the actual location of the RSUs to optimize coverage is something we envisage will require a lot of thought
Iouri Nemirovski, project manager, Siemens Mobility
With completion of installation nearly achieved, the expectation is that the project will be wrapped up by the end of 2021.
Interoperability targets Above left: The trapezium road layout involved in the pilot give it its name Above right: The University of Florida is situated in the center of the pilot area
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Many of the technologies chosen for the project have already previously been successfully tested, proving to be interoperable and compatible with third party devices and software. But, as Nemirovski explains, that doesn’t mean there won’t be new lessons to learn about CV technology.
“Regarding V2V systems, there are probably similarities in every location they are used in, however when you consider the infrastructure required it will undoubtedly be very different in each place. “What makes sense to do in New York City, doesn’t make sense in Wyoming, so the applications that can provide benefits without higher penetration from OBUs or those for emergency vehicles and pedestrian safety, those applications can really be implemented right now. “I think the Trapezium project is ideal for testing CV technologies with large infrastructure and it will be very interesting to see exactly by how much we will be able to improve overall levels of safety, the accuracy of travel time predictions and traffic congestion generally around the campus.”
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Technology Profile |
Norway’s approach to free-flow tolling
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ow emission zone tolling as started in major cities like London are a big topic, not only for calming down traffic but also for climate protection. Efkon – a Strabag subsidiary – just revealed its solution for free-flow city tolling in Norway. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s key priority was having the best possible integration of toll equipment into its old cityscape in order to preserve the famous landscape of the Fish Market in Bergen or other historical or touristic places in Oslo. As a consequence of this aim, slim and attractive equipment design and installation structures were requested with the benefit of creating a discreet and goodlooking appearance across the city environments. Furthermore, the markets today are asking for slim single gantry design instead of massive multi-gantry installations as they are still often used for MLFF tolling applications. Typically, many single products were installed as cameras for image acquisition and ALPR service, flashlights for illumination, laser sensors for classification, DSRC transceivers, switches, cabinets and others. Older style multi-gantry environments had sufficient space and possibilities to install many components. Urban and single gantry structures do not allow the same due to limited space or static requirements. In multi-gantry installations, huge separated and external lane cabinets with processing units and switches are mostly applied. The required cabling to interconnect all devices is extensive and costly. It would seem that an optimal solution would be to integrate many single products and aforementioned services into
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one appliance. Such products should offer in-built processing power plus redundancy and high availability. It should be possible to utilize one appliance for multiple services such as electronic tolling, enforcement, tracking, access zone surveillance or any ALPR applications. N-Force AVT100 was Efkon’s answer, offering a new product fulfilling the before mentioned industry demands. As an organic development, the product was released in 2018. Special focus was given to implement technical multipurpose services in a one-box solution with an attractive design. The higher technical integration also benefits from an attractive product price, reduced efforts for installation and cabling, and lower total costs of ownership during the system
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
Main image: Single gantry structures are attractive Above right: Bergen and Oslo benefit from Efkon’s AVT100 sensor box
| Need to know The AVT100 All-Vehicle Sensor Box supports multi-lane free flow applications for up to two lanes at speeds of up to 160km/h > The box is suited to applications including access zone management, surveillance and tracking > Only power and data cabling is required
lifecycle. The product is contributing to easy and attractive integration in urban or countryside areas, small and single gantry structures or masts.
Technical features
The AVT100 All-Vehicle Sensor Box supports multi-lane free flow applications for up to two lanes at speeds of up to 160km/h. Each N-Force AVT100 combines a high dynamic range CMOS camera, a powerful infrared flash, a SAM security module processing unit and embedded management software including ALPR in a compact design with full components redundancy. External plugs to connect Efkon DSRC transceivers are available. The in-built functionality supports image capturing and ALPR, vehicle classification,
| The Long View by Larry Yermack
We’ve come a long way with ITS but government’s role is unchanged
DSRC processing and transaction storage in the local database. This eliminates the need of separated and external processing units and lane side cabinets. N-Force AVT100 is ideally suitable for a variety of applications such as toll collection with DSRC, ALPR/ video-based tolling, access zone management, surveillance, tracking, enforcement services or any ALPR applications. Relatively small constructions such as single gantries, poles or cantilevers are sufficient to install the units. Only power and data cabling is required. Based on our innovative product, Efkon could achieve a successful product launch and market entry in Norway in 2019. More than 100 MLFF toll stations in Norway are equipped with Efkons N-Force AVT100, notably in the cities of Oslo and Bergen. As Norway is one of the pioneers of electronic tolling in Europe, the project builds a significant key reference. Efkon continues to further develop AVT100-based projects in the area of urban tolling and low emission zones, which are getting more popular, common and necessary to protect environments and nature.
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This is my last column for Traffic Technology International (TTI). I have enjoyed the privilege of being able to muse in public about the ITS business. It has allowed me to assess where the industry is each month. It’s even occasionally forced me to look backwards. I guess I’ll do some of that this last time. My introduction to ITS was accidental and occurred nearly 40 years ago. Back then, it was just called traffic management. I was newly appointed first deputy commissioner of the New York City DOT from a City Hall staff position. I knew the metrics: cross town speed, traffic tickets issued, miles of roadway resurfaced but not much about how they operated. And I was pretty young for the job, barely 35. The department to its credit was very forward thinking with highway monitoring cameras on several arterials and a project to ‘computerize’ Manhattan’s traffic lights. At that early stage of technology, we were the masters of the roadways with the only other source of information, Chopper 88 from WCBS Radio. Companies, that we called vendors came to us to sell their technology. They signed wildly uneven contracts and struggled to make a profit. Oh have things changed since then. Personal computers, internet, Moore’s Law, cellular connectivity, smartphones and apps. A virtual second American Revolution, both in technology and business. The revolution was that the control and use of information has been democratized. At first, government was moving towards system hegemony with faster computers, better telecom and the internet. But then the iPhone arrived. I doubt even Steve Jobs knew how far ranging its impact would be. Just think about an unanticipated ancillary use: police oversight. In traffic, we went from cameras and probe vehicles with toll tags to probe vehicles with cellphones and internet. Government went from giving out contracts to taking in information. Today, we’re on the precipice of even more change. Shared, automated and electric are the words to
“My introduction to ITS was accidental… nearly 40 years ago. Back then, it was just called traffic management” describe the next three revolutions in transportation technology. They may not come as quickly as some predict and may not come together as easily as we might hope, but they are coming with early adoption already underway. When I mentioned this last column to my wife, she said that I should talk about my new Tesla. I surely don’t share it but it’s electric and a slew of level 2 automation. It’s very cool, it’s quicker than my Porsche and a way better and safer driver than I am. So what can I offer in my last few words? It’s my sincere advice to my friends in government. Your relation to technology has been completely transformed but your responsibilities have not diminished one iota. You will need to figure out how to assert control of the infrastructure in cooperation with your new partners in business and in their cars. Larry Yermack is strategic advisor to Cubic Transportation Systems. He can be reached at lyermack@gmail.com
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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Technology Profile |
Smarter pedestrian management on sports days
W
ith two major sporting venues generating crowds of varying sizes, Nottinghamshire County Council needed a way to dynamically adjust pedestrian green time on a significant crossing outside Trent Bridge cricket ground. AGD’s 645 Pedestrian Detector with volumetric capability provided the solution. Trent Bridge Cricket Ground – home of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and popular for test, one-day international and county cricket matches – is just across the river Trent and the city of Nottingham. During May and June 2019, Trent Bridge hosted the ICC World Cup 2019 with England, Australia, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, the West Indies and Bangladesh
all visiting Nottingham during the competition. On the opposite side of Radcliffe Road is Nottingham Forest Football Club’s city ground. These two sporting venues have crowd capacities of 17,500 and over 30,000 respectively, which means there are times when a lot of people are trying to cross the busy A6520 Radcliffe Road to get to and from matches. With around 17,000 vehicles a day on Radcliffe Road outside the venues, it is important to ensure the right balance between pedestrians and vehicles.
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“Traffic levels are high enough at normal peak times, and it is often difficult to prioritize pedestrian crossing times due to traffic congestion,” explains Chris Gough, traffic systems network manager at Via East Midlands, a company wholly owned by Nottinghamshire County Council to deliver a sustainable highways service for the county. “During major sporting events like Nottingham Forest home matches and cricket matches at Trent Bridge, the volume of pedestrians vastly increases above normal levels.
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
This heavier demand can cause significant delays for large numbers of pedestrians trying to cross during these events,” he adds. A build-up of pedestrians on the pavement can also sometimes lead to people trying to cross between cars and ignoring the signals. Gough and his colleagues identified the pedestrian demand patterns associated with sporting fixtures. “When there’s a Nottingham Forest home match, footfall builds up from two hours before the match, drops
to very low levels during the game and then reaches a severe peak just after the game for around 20 to 30 minutes,” says Gough. For the international cricket matches at Trent Bridge, there also tends to be a steady build up of pedestrians a couple of hours before the start of play. “Footfall reduces during play, then peaks between sessions as people leave to visit local facilities such as the chip shop opposite the ground. Then, as you would expect, there is a severe peak just after stumps,” comments Gough.
| Technology Profile
AGD Systems – Booth B10
Left: Trent Bridge cricket ground has a 17,500 capacity Main: AGD’s system offers 3 levels of pedestrian priority Far left: One of the crossings outside Trent Bridge
times based on pedestrian density, creating more intelligent crossings that can detect the volume of people waiting and change the lights accordingly. “We were hoping that the 645’s new volumetric detection would allow us to automatically provide additional pedestrian priority during busy pedestrian periods, all without adversely affecting
| Need to know Tactical approach
Until now, Nottinghamshire County Council’s highways team has been hard pressed to address the issue of fluctuating and often unpredictable pedestrian demand. Without data on the volume of pedestrians wishing to use the crossing, it has not been possible to target the times when pedestrians should be afforded more priority. This is why the team was interested to learn that AGD’s 645 Pedestrian Detector might be able to help. The 645 can be employed to vary the crossing
Key facts about AGD’s 645 Pedestrian Detector
> Monitors a 10m (32ft) x 3m (10ft) zone > Real-time video can be fed to control rooms for remote zone adjustments > Allows for dynamic adjustment of crossing times based on pedestrian density
traffic flows during peak traffic volume,” explains Gough. The AGD 645 monitors a 10m (32ft) x 3m (10ft) zone with advanced optics that ensure accurate detect and reject, plus real-time video that can be fed to control rooms that allows remote zone adjustments to be made. Pedestrian behavior is visible from the control room via Ethernet IP connectivity, delivering a richness of data that was previously unavailable with high reliability. This allows the local controller to make decisions in real time so when the crowds subside, the signal phases can be easily and quickly returned to normal. The 645 is part of AGD’s comprehensive pedestrian product suite that embodies the company’s ethos of creating safer, greener, more efficient ITS solutions, complementing its oncrossing detection and awardwinning nearside signals to ensure 24-hour pedestrian crossing safety.
Bowled over
Earlier this year, after a briefing on setup from AGD, a team of engineers from Via East
Midlands installed and configured 645 detectors at Trent Bridge. Gough says, “We adjusted the traffic light settings to provide two levels of pedestrian priority. Level 1 gives extra green man time and extra allred time when a large number of pedestrians are waiting to cross, and level 2 provides even more green man time and all-red time when a very large group of pedestrians are waiting.” Gough and his colleagues are very pleased with the performance of the AGD 645 detectors, which will remain at this site permanently. “We have made some adjustments to the detectors’ volumetric settings since the initial installation to ensure the best balance between pedestrian utility and traffic congestion, and we’re really pleased with their performance,” he concludes. “Going forward, we will use the 645 as a tool to solve specific issues related to large fluctuations in pedestrian and/or cycle flows at other sites within the county of Nottinghamshire, and wherever required for our traffic signal design clients outside the county.”
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Technology Profile |
Growing smarter with multimodal thinking
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s their economies evolve from largely agrarian to more of the value-added industries that generate higher GDPs and per capita incomes, the Pacific Rim region is in the vanguard of the global urbanization trend. Within its member states, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) expects to see 90 million more people living in urban centers by 2030. This presents significant transportation challenges. Rising incomes may facilitate access to personal transport, for example, but more cars only mean more congestion. Increasing housing and so population densities can reduce the distances that people have to travel, but if transport networks fail to provide enough overall capacity, the results will often be gridlock, high pollution and poor public health.
| Need to know If transport networks fail to provide enough overall capacity, the outcome often leads to gridlock, high pollution and poor public health > More capacity must be derived from less infrastructure, moving away from long-accepted norms such as the single-occupancy vehicle > The project implemented by Kapsch in Buenos Aires focused on bringing agencies together to coordinate and better access transport information
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Above: Fluidtime supports MaaS development Right: Kapsch can help highway and urban traffic management scenearios
Simply building more road capacity isn’t always practical, even in developed, prosperous nations. The Republic of Singapore has a total area of 722.5km2/279 miles2 and a population of 5.7 million. It is the second-most densely populated nation in the world. Already, some 12% of its land mass is paved over for mobility purposes. It cannot give up more space.
Smart solutions
It is, therefore, important to become much smarter about how people and goods are moved. Solutions must be sought that offer an acceptable or improved user experience while balancing demand across all modes. More capacity from less infrastructure is the answer. This means getting away from long-accepted norms, such as the single-occupancy vehicle,
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
bringing together all public and private mobility providers, adopting and promoting new forms of travel such as ride- and vehicle-sharing, and facilitating the individual to walk or cycle. Across the spectrum, technology exists to enable us to do this. The emergence of apps that provide travellers with access to real-time information on all available options makes seamless, cashless journeys increasingly possible across multiple modes. The concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is now enshrined in planners’ thinking.
Managing change
Long before a solution is implemented, there must be clearly defined goals and how they can be achieved. Starting small and simple, with a few well-articulated intentions, before building and socializing
the concept ensures stability. This approach requires an open discourse between previously siloed organizations and a change facilitator. Kapsch, as well as being a solutions provider, positions itself as a change manager. This involves bringing to bear the company’s experience and working with cities and governments to solidify thinking and realize approaches, avoiding pitfalls along the way. It means encouraging openness, both in terms of the discourse between previously siloed organizations and in terms of standards. An important part of making multi-agency solutions work is the adoption of open standards, and Kapsch has a long history of involvement with the bodies that formulate standards for the mobility and other sectors. Open standards protect the
| Technology Profile
Kapsch – Booth 359
timetable data, movement data of car-sharing providers and tariff information. It then creates intermodal routes and offers users the ability to customize and optimize their journeys within a single app.
Multi-talented operator
ASEAN Smart Cities Network
T customer against vendor tie-in, encouraging true competition and also simplifies the knitting together of the many legacy systems belonging to different organizations and departments. This saves time and money.
Underlying technology
At the front end, from the individual’s perspective, these solutions are apparently seamless and simple to use. However, enabling service providers to quantify and satisfy travellers’ ambitions requires sophisticated supporting technology. There are an increasing number of platform suppliers for supporting integrated mobility management. A differentiator for Kapsch is its domain expertise and the maturity of its offerings. The company’s traffic management platforms DYNAC and EcoTrafiX are well
o address regional mobility issues, the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) has been formed. The ASCN has endorsed a framework covering a variety of initiatives including smart mobility. Core elements can be found in the smart city plans of most Asian cities. Seamless multimodal travel, public-private partnerships and best practice are key themes.
For example, neighboring countries can benefit from Singapore’s pioneering work the Internet of Things (IoT), with open data standards and a single IoT platform being clear goals. Initiatives already ongoing to include the installation of smart lampposts designed to support connectivity, as well as testing of connected and autonomous vehicles including drone taxis.
established. They provide, highway and urban mobility management capabilities to road operators and cities, reducing travel time and load balancing the network while also improving travellers’ safety and the user experience through effective journey management. By gathering all traffic data into one multimodal approach, operators can further optimize their networks. Decision support for responses to incidents and events benefits significantly from multi-agency coordination. A great example of successful integration of existing urban traffic control and management
systems is the project implemented by Kapsch in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its focus was on bringing together agencies to coordinate and better access transport information. This enables highquality decisions and planning for the city mobility strategy. Meanwhile, Kapsch’s Fluidtime integrated mobility platform supports MaaS development. It provides urban travellers with real-time information about transport options and multimodal route alternatives, including booking and payment services. In real time, it accesses and aggregates
Sometimes, demand has to be managed through exclusion, either to prevent network saturation or moderate mobilityrelated emissions. Kapsch is a supplier of both tolling systems for strategic roads, and of systems managing access in urban locations. The urban solutions manage demand by applying pricing mechanisms or using physical solutions with barriers and tag systems or ALPR. Many of Europe’s historic town and city centers are protected by Kapsch’s technology. This also places Kapsch in a commanding position in the development of roadside systems designed to facilitate electronic interactions between vehicles and infrastructure. These systems will form the backbone of the Cooperative ITS systems, which are the next generation of mobility. Kapsch focuses on managing the demands of people, not just vehicles. Whether deployed individually or in combination, these mature and extremely capable solutions provide mobility managers with a very powerful set of tools to address current challenges and build a new age of smart mobility.
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Technology Profile |
The lessons the parking world could learn from tolling
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oes this situation sound familiar? A family is vacationing in a city near the sea and the local municipality has implemented a new on-street parking mechanism. While the family needs to unload their beach stuff quickly because the kids are already running away to the beach and because the driver has no coins, they need to download the city-approved app. This includes registering within the app by typing numerous elements of personal details to finally be able to pay for parking. Today, the public cannot pay with one single app for onstreet/off-street public or private parking lot parking in any city in any given country. Multiple apps are needed, and do not include any fines. If a driver is fined, they have to go through a painful process of paying it. Customers often get pushed back from the parking operator to the parking owner when disputing a transaction and a parking violation. Many years ago, the public faced the same situation in the tolling world but solutions were found to overcome the challenges. In fact, tolling and smart parking share a lot in common so tolling operators could bring benefits to simplify smart parking in the future.
Taking its toll
Tolling technology evolved from a cash/coin manual toll collection system with toll plazas and toll booths to AllElectronic Tolling (AET) freeflow solutions, providing faster travel journeys and a better driving experience. It is an industry with small dollar face values from a high number of vehicles that can total millions of registered, unregistered or pay-as-you-go
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| Need to know How Egis is adding value to Amsterdam’s parking services
> More than 170,000 license plate checks processed each day of the year > More than 180,000 parking permits handled every year > €200m ($222.5m) in parking fees collected annually
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users. There is a strong customer service component to tolling, as managing the relationship between the user of the infrastructure – the driver – and its public or private owner is essential. There is now a need for more ubiquitous customer service, service delivery and addedvalue service provisions. Customers expect to get interconnected services everywhere they travel and services that blend multiple transportation modes that fit their needs, rather than the service asking the customers to adapt to them. Mobility pricing and road user charging becoming an extension of tolling
and Mobility-as-a-Service is just around the corner.
A new approach
More and more providers can offer services to the user of any given tolled infrastructure or network. In the US, companies like Paytollo, Geotoll, Bancpass, and Bestpass for commercial carriers are more and more intermediaries in the CRM chain. In Europe, independent toll service providers like Easytrip – an Egis subsidiary – provides tolling and mobilityadded value services to its customers, individual or corporate fleets. Interoperability is also a key issue where
| Technology Profile
Left: Amsterdam is benefiting from parking management services
of the taxpayers and users of these same infrastructures.
Modern day parking
customers do not have to register with multiple service providers/tolling providers to use multiple infrastructures. Enforcement and debt collection are also key components of the tolling value chain. Drivers may not pay their tolls in time and therefore specific enforcement methodologies – soft and hard collection, from in-house staff to collection agencies – and toll violation escalation up to traffic citation and/or a fine, court hearings, and court package preparation need to be implemented to guarantee the highest level of toll revenue collection to the infrastructure owners, for the ultimate benefits
On-street and off-street parking – often grouped under the term smart parking – share numerous identical characteristics to the tolling world. Smart parking services have become more technological, and coin-only parking meters have evolved to the introduction of parking payment mobile phone applications. Enforcement has also changed, from officers walking the streets to issue paper tickets, to scanning cars amplifying the efficiency of the process and the ticket automatically being mailed to the vehicle owner’s address Parking users were once known only when they were violators, but now they become customers anytime they use a parking facility or spot. This represents a paradigm shift. People expect to pay their parking with their smartphone, using a single app, even in a remote small city. This is often preferable over carrying cash. Legislative changes have and are occurring to allow private third parties to manage part or the entire value chain. Cities can now partner with vendors to provide additional payment parking options in addition to parking meters, which have evolved to accept bankcards and NFC tags. France has even introduced legislation to allow municipalities to outsource parking payment enforcement activities to private parties. These projects may also involve huge staff transition aspects as the workload of enforcing parking may be
transferred from public servants to private companies. Tolling has experienced similar challenges where public roadways were conceded to private concessionaires. Interoperability will soon be a key issue for the parking world. Why should municipalities and parking lot owners/operators be locked in with a single payment service provider? Cities need to erase barriers for new service providers to enter the market creating an open marketplace for the provision of parking services to the public. As we have seen for road user charging pilots in California, Oregon and soon Washington State, authorities can create open marketplaces where service providers compete to access customers to the benefits of the customers and local governments. Parking enforcement was the critical piece of the puzzle when as much as 80% of the parking fees were not paid by users, bypassing the system by counting on the fact that bylaws officers would not be prompt enough to catch them. Technology such as data-driven analytics and license plate scanning vehicles now allow parking operators to detect, react and prevent parking fraud much more easily.
Natural move
In conclusion, tolling and parking have a lot in common and it is a natural move for tolling businesses like Egis to move into the smart parking world. Egis won its first parking management contract for the city of Amsterdam because it leveraged numerous core competencies from its tolling practice to develop innovation for this new market:
Key areas included system integration such as scanning cars, CRM or account management systems (AMS), enforcement/debt collection systems, and data analytics; providing high levels of customer service by employing best practices in multimedia contact centers and quality management systems (QMS) to deliver superior customer service to the users of our services; and financial expertise because in the tolling industry, it’s all about maximizing the revenue and the collection efficiency to benefit both the municipalities and the public. The same aspects were key in a recent client win for a segment of the Paris parking enforcement contract, in addition to many other regional cities parking management contracts.
Amsterdam at a glance
In Amsterdam, Egis processes more than 170,000 license plate checks a day, handles more than 180,000 parking permits and collects €200m (US$222.5m) a year in parking fees. These figures can be easily compared with free-flow tolling projects with similar average daily trips, volume of registered accounts and amounts collected on behalf of the toll authorities. It’s only the beginning, with the advancement of Mobility-as-a-Service blending tolling, transit, parking and many other services into a single, ubiquitous service.
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Technology Profile |
A first glimpse at the real-world impacts of Mobility as a Service
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s the world continues to urbanize and more people attempt to navigate within and between cities, so too continues the development of more efficient modes of transportation, new niches of transport modes and services, and a more intuitive integration of modes to simplify the tripmaking process for users. One of these new solutions is Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). With new solutions follows questions - will MaaS lead to a car-dependent city? Does MaaS steal ridership from public transport? Is MaaS only attractive to a niche group of urbanites? Until now, these questions could only be addressed in theory, using simulations or based on limited pilots. We ask these questions based on real-world data from a fully-functional MaaS platform. Maas Global soft-launched its MaaS application Whim in Helsinki, Finland, in late 2016.
| Need to know With the Whim app, users can combine, plan, and pay for public transport, taxi, car rental, car sharing and city bike trips > Compared to their Helsinki counterparts, MaaS users ride public transport 25% more often, combine taxis with public transport three times more often, and use taxis 2.4 times more > Wider availability of mobility options like e-bicycles could reduce daily car trips by up to 38%
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A full launch followed in November 2017. The first ever MaaS operator interconnected many of the city’s mobility options under one subscription and within a single app. With the Whim app, the user is ableto combine, plan, and pay for public transport, taxi, car rental, car sharing and city bike trips. With over 70,000 users and more than a year of fullyfunctional operation, Ramboll was invited by Whim’s owner, MaaS Global, to take a first look at any potential commonalities or differences in travel behavior between MaaS users and the typical urbanite. This included how users are spatially distributed, what kind of trips and trip-combinations they take, and any potential relationships with certain types of land-use.
Key insights
Ramboll’s analysis has resulted in several findings regarding the nature and preferences of earlyadopters, and the development of the Whim service during its first year of operation.
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For example, compared to their counterparts, MaaS users ride public transport 25% more often, combine taxis with public transport three times more often, and use taxis 2.4 times more often. The behaviors seem clearly correlated with the ease of combining modes within the Whim app. MaaS users also make shorter city bike trips on average, suggesting they rely on it more for transportation than recreation purposes and
tend to ride city bikes more in the center where stations are in closer proximity to one another. Interestingly, MaaS users make nearly the same number of daily trips, which seems to suggest that while modal choices are clearly different when using MaaS, speculations about excessive trip making are unfounded. MaaS users are gaining utility from the service but not taking unnecessary trips. Ramboll’s assessment reveals that public transport is clearly the backbone of MaaS users’ travel habits, and that MaaS use
| Our man from Amsterdam by Richard Butter
Ramboll – Booth 97 Left and below left: The effects of MaaS in Helsinki Inset: Ian Sacs, Ramboll Smart Mobility Market Manager
grows swiftly along public transport corridors. MaaS users also evidently excel in multimodality, and the MaaS platform is potentially facilitating first/ last mile choices, leading to greater access to and use of public transport.
One step beyond
To take things one-step further, Ramboll also extrapolated available data to see how the introduction of new mobility options – such as e-bicycles – would impact trip behavior. The company found that the introduction of such options could potentially reduce daily car trips by up to 38%. This finding is an encouragement to public and private organizations looking to introduce a range of new niche mobility services. Municipal officials, city planners, public transport agencies, transport professionals, transport service providers and many others can benefit from these findings. Taken with noted limitations, there is much to glean from this first glimpse at the nature of MaaS and a substantial group of MaaS users in the real world, with much to share and discuss together. The full Whimpact report is available at bit.ly/2KxOQB3. Visit Ramboll Smart Mobility at ITS World Congress 2019 in Singapore from October 21-25, in the Nordic Pavilion at Stand 97.
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Even cycle-friendly nations have much to learn about better mobility services When it comes to cycling, the Netherlands would be the first country to think of. Don’t we just love to cycle? I myself even enjoy a cycling holiday. 27% of the trips made in the Netherlands are by bicycle. We pedal 15.5 billion km per year and we have 1.3 bicycles per person. It is therefore not surprising that our infrastructure is cycle friendly with 37,000km (23,000 miles) of cycle paths. Nonetheless the chances getting into an accident with, or as, a cyclist are quite high. In 2015 it was reported that 185 people died due to a bicycle accident. Even though we know the benefits of cycling, we still need to improve our safety. But where do we start? Since July you are no longer allowed to use WhatsApp while cycling in the Netherlands. Other questions that arise: Should we wear a helmet? Or should cities become (even) more cycling friendly? And what about the delivery of goods on a bike? Even though the Netherlands might be the first cyclist country you would think of, I strongly believe we can still learn from other regions. Especially and maybe even more so from those places where there are no cycle paths at all. I like to broaden my perspective and visit international congresses like Vélo-City in Dublin, the world’s largest conference in the area of cycling, cycling infrastructure and bicycle safety. This year’s theme was cycling for the ages. How do we encourage cycling from young to old, male and female, all demographics and what will cycling look like in the (near) future? The playing field for Intertraffic is no longer just about getting from A to B, but also logistics. I sometimes wonder how companies like Amazon have affected the way we move around our cities. Research shows that more and more people receive deliveries from grocery retailers at least once a week. The last-mile delivery seems to influence a large part of their experience. Almost three-fourths of individuals are willing to reward retailers who get the lastmile delivery right with increased spend and loyalty. However, the last-mile delivery is the most expensive part of the supply chain. So how are retailers going to improve their last-mile experience without losing too much profit while using safe and sustainable modalities?
“Almost three-quarters of individuals are willing to reward retailers who do the last-mile delivery well” What interested me at Velo-City was to do research on how the cyclist or the upcoming cargo bike moves within the traffic system, while interacting with other modalities such as (autonomous) cars and public transport. All parties agree that safe and sustainable are currently the major trends. Cooperation between the modalities and making optimum use of the technological possibilities will make seamless mobility possible. One other part of Velo-City that I really enjoyed was the extensive creative art program that Dublin uses to promote cycling as a mode of transport. A series of cycling related artwork is being displayed on traffic boxes around the city. Creativity will help us find the best solutions to improve our urban mobility challenges. I look forward to make the best use of every modality combining strengths within the Intertraffic community. Let us be inspired. Richard Butter is director of traffic technology at RAI Amsterdam and is responsible for Intertraffic worldwide events, www.intertraffic.com
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Technology Profile |
Tackling congestion, pollution and accidents
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oad user charging (RUC) can reduce traffic levels in affected areas. Problems generated by traffic impact people in many ways. These include time loss due to congestion, local pollution, noise, contribution to climate change caused by emissions, pavement costs and road damages, increase in accidents risks and extra-fuel consumption. It is clear that less mobility is not an option as that is not how our modern lives work. Instead, better mobility solutions are needed. Solving transport challenges is essential in the future, especially for more livable cities. The functioning mechanisms have to serve diverse goals including road tolls, value pricing, high occupancy tolls, travel distance based charging, travel time based charging, road space rationing, cordon-based charging and zonal schemes. RUC equipment footprint has to be small and simple to install without gantries at the road side in urban spots, as well as in rural locations.
| Need to know ALPR cameras capture information whenever a vehicle travels within the road user charging zone > The systems can be fixed, vehicle-mounted or portable > The Jenoptik deep learning ALPR system distinguishes the country tag correctly 99.8% of the time
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RUC can be used to reduce traffic via the congestion charge or city centers with tolling, to keep urban zones clean with low emission zones, or to gain traffic-flow data. In rural locations, it can serve for road tolling and journey time management in addition to Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) supporting heavy good vehicles RUC.
The technology basis
Different technologies are possible and the answer to which is best depends on a number of assumptions that differ from city to city. To cover all possibly needed application
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purposes Jenoptik relies on ALPR and sensor fusion solutions, and both are tried and tested in real projects. Jenoptik is already supplying ALPR systems and services around the world for security purposes. Its significant RUC experience in the field of sensor fusion includes the development, implementation and maintenance of one of the world’s largest toll-enforcement projects, which includes a 24/7 operation covering many thousands of kilometers of federal roads in Germany. It checks if trucks weighing under 3.5 tons are subject to toll payments and includes license
plate information such as country of origin, determination of weight-class and differentiation truck or bus, communication between DSRC antenna and onboard-unit (OBU), determination of number of axles, communication with the customers back-office and offers a web-based graphic user interface (GUI).
What is ALPR?
ALPR provides a solution with no effort to the vehicles or users. The cameras capture information whenever a vehicle travels within the RUC zone. This includes determining the country of registration and
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Far Left: ALPR can be used to reduce congestion Left: Jenoptik’s system relies on deep learning
taking a photographic still image or video clips of the vehicle. Jenoptik ANPR cameras can read license plates from all around the world. If the appropriate road user charge has been paid for, that particular vehicle’s details are deleted. ALPR systems can be fixed, vehicle-mounted or portable. This increases the effectiveness of the applications the technology can support. The flexibility of ALPR means both proactive and reactive monitoring strategies can be implemented. ALPR – sometimes combined with DSRC – can be used in many areas where satellite signals are either disturbed or blocked.
For some applications, there is no single sensor capable of capturing all the information needed in all conditions. The best way is to combine sensors and other components with their specific advantages to achieve the required results. Jenoptik has modular multisensor and infrastructure-based object detection systems that evaluate all information about traffic conditions and road users. Real-time measurement data can be collected by the ideal set of sensor technology – stereo cameras, ALPR camera with IR-illumination, radar and laser – tailored to the respective situation with its requirements. Measurement accuracy according to the position and speed, the detection rate, robustness to meet disturbances like lighting conditions, rainfall or snow and temperatures are influenced by the capabilities of different sensors with their respective strengths.
Deep learning technology
The technology is underpinned by collecting and interpreting large amounts of information. Deep learning is a cutting-edge method of information
processing, leveraging large amounts of examples to ‘train’ a system to produce correct answers without explicitly programming the necessary steps. Carefully curated training data associates a diverse set of possible inputs with their corresponding required answers. The deep learning technology can then be applied to produce very accurate responses for other inputs of a similar nature. For example, several hundred thousand images of European license plates from over 30 countries have been used to train the Jenoptik deep learning ALPR system. This patented integrated method can reliably distinguish what country the plate comes from even when there are several possible countries that allow the same license plate syntax – it has proven to be correct 99.8% of the time. It is able to take into account all aspects of the visual appearance of the license plate, such as character font, spacing and any special markings such as tax stickers. Because the training images include realistic levels of dirt, damage and occlusion, it also learns to operate well under all conditions. It is important to note that the
system is trained once in the lab and does not change once it has undergone thorough testing and is released for use on the roads. Another example of Jenoptik’s application of deep learning technology is vehicle classification. This is able to determine the vehicle’s class, such as car, motorcycle or truck, directly from the photograph taken by the ALPR camera, and hence automatically charge different amounts for each type of vehicle. This system is also based on a large set of example vehicle images for which the correct class is known. Unlike traditional computer vision algorithms, which rely on researchers to provide the sequence of computational steps, the deep learning training process optimizes its rules automatically and is therefore able to achieve superior performance in difficult conditions, such as night. Similar deep learning networks can also be used to determine the vehicle’s color, make and model. Based on its unique sensorfusion solution, its ALPR and deep learning expertise, the Jenoptik RUC solutions achieve the highest industry KPIs for detection, measurement and classification of vehicles.
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Technology Profile |
New technology enables future open road tolling
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ext generation dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) enables significant installation cost reductions for German truck tolling. German toll operator Toll Collect has awarded Norbit, a global provider of tailored technology solutions to carefully selected niches, a contract to provide the DSRC units with embedded GPS and GPRS antennas. The agreement covers one million units and the new DSRC modules started being installed in April of this year. Norbit CEO, Per Jørgen Weisethaunet, says: “We are proud to be awarded this frame contract with Toll Collect in sharp international competition. This shows that our strategy of tailor-made solutions to carefully selected market niches works and the contract further strengthens our position as a DSRC supplier for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based tolling. We see several opportunities, both in Europe and in the rest of the world, for our technology.” Toll Collect operates a system for the collection of a distancebased usage fee (toll) for vehicles and vehicle combinations with a gross vehicle weight of 7.5 tons or more on 12,800 kilometers of German motorways and all German federal trunk roads, even in urban areas. Toll Collect has implemented this system on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI). Norbit’s new integrated units will replace both the existing IR/ DSRC based unit and the current rooftop mounted antennas. The Norbit units enable compliance with The European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) and cross boarder interoperability. The new Norbit unit, called DSRC
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Left: Norbit DSRC units can replace rooftop antennas Below: Norbit CEO Per Jørgen Weisethaunet (left) shakes on the deal with Toll Collect director Hartmut Janssen
| Need to know Norbit’s contract with Toll Connect will deliver a grand total of one million DSRC units > Norbit is set to deliver 210,000 DSRC units to Toll Connect in 2019 alone. > The newest Norbit unit can be mounted on the windscreen of trucks > Norbit’s integrated units will replace the existing IR/DSRC based unit and the current rooftop mounted antennas
2G, will be mounted on the windscreen of the trucks and connected to the on-board unit via a CAN interface. Norbit CEO, Per Jørgen Weisethaunet, says: “The award of the contract shows that the strategy of utilizing our in-house leading-edge research and development
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team, and our in-house expertise on robotized manufacturing, makes us incredibly competitive. The DSRC 2G is a completely new state-of-the-art design. As we speak, the first units to be delivered in 2019 are en route to Germany.” Hartmut Janssen, director at Toll Collect, adds: “Norbit is a reliable partner that drives developments in a solution-oriented, reliable and innovative manner.”
New partners
Earlier in 2019 Norbit signed a new cooperation agreement with existing customer Continental. This will involve delivering the required DSRC technology for the integrated remote control mode for the Smart Tachograph, which is now mandatory for all newly registered trucks in Europe. Via the DSRC interface, a defined minimum amount of
data from the intelligent digital tachograph will be transmitted wirelessly from the moving vehicle to the devices of the control officers after appropriate authentication. This data set contains vehicle and calibration data, information about security breaches and malfunctions. Using this data, the officers can selectively stop conspicuous vehicles, so ensuring safety. “Thanks to this change, companies and drivers who comply with legal regulations will be able to count on fewer checks and unplanned roadside stops,” says Per Jørgen Weisethaunet.
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Bringing tolling enforcement into the 21st century
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he key to public acceptance of technology that has some form of financial implication is accuracy. Electronic payment systems play an ever-increasing role in our lives, whether they are used for online purchases or cashless transactions on the move. In the ITS sector, examples of applications include paying for infringements detected by automated enforcement systems or for the use of toll facilities. Both applications have beneficial outcomes. Automated enforcement is intended to improve road safety, while tolling and road pricing schemes provide funding streams for infrastructure upkeep or help to manage congestion and pollution. However, they are often regarded by customers – road users – as distress purchases and when a fine or the applied charge is incorrect, a service or facility operator is seen to be compounding the transaction’s tedious inevitability or ‘unfairness’.
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Knock-on effects
If a customer cannot then easily gain remediation, his or her perceptions of the justness of the charge, the scheme to which it pertains or anything similar is adversely affected. This has serious implications for the political acceptability of future deployments. The opportunities to improve road safety or provide sustainable infrastructure funding can be severely curtailed. In tolling applications, incorrect charges are typically the result of misclassification of vehicles by type. The conventional wisdom is to suggest the setting-up of large customer service centers. Effectively, this conveys an admission of fallibility as standard which
Accurate vehicle classification is key to tolling infallibility
| Need to know Why Imperial’s vehicle classification systems will help toll enforcement > PCI and PDS2-compliant > Front-end compatibility with all ALPR cameras > Back-end compatibility 33 different payment engines > 100 million transactions processed annually > Highly adaptable software to enable new regimes, eg emissions-based charges > Comprehensive managed services including automated offense notices
hardly puts the operator in a positive light. It is also very labor-intensive and expensive.
Complexity made simple
The tolling sector needs to look beyond its traditional group of suppliers and consider successful solutions from elsewhere. Rather than accept fallibility as inevitable, it should
look to put in place more robust solutions that give operators and customers greater confidence. A first step is to address misplaced notions of complexity. While vehicle classification is regarded by many traditional tolling systems suppliers as difficult and is presented as such to scheme operators, it is in fact anything but. It involves, typically, dividing vehicles into perhaps half a dozen different categories. Contrast that with the task faced by a national-level service provider in the parking enforcement sector, whose classification solutions may have to deal with 70-80 different contravention codes.
Global reach
Imperial is a major presence in the UK parking enforcement market but its electronic back office solutions have direct application in the tolling sector worldwide. This includes both free-flow tolling and cordonbased schemes such as for congestion charging, or clean air and low-emission zones. The company’s solutions are PCI and PDS2-compliant, and
each year process upwards of 100 million transactions worth over £20 million (US$24.2 million). At the front end, Imperial can interface with all of the major automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) camera suppliers. At the back end, it currently interfaces with 33 different payment engines, including Mastercard and Worldpay as well as more specific national-level partners. Individual needs are addressed with a standard, highly configurable software product. This is a result of the complexity of the environment in which Imperial already operates but means, for example, that should a customer such as a local authority need to introduce emissions-based charging, an effective solution can be delivered in a matter of days. This speed of response and the accuracy and dependability of Imperial’s software’s classification performance have been demonstrated repeatedly in numerous real-world applications. The cost efficiencies which can be realized through more accurate classification are further supported by a comprehensive range of managed services. These include automated generation and mailing of offense notices and other correspondence, as well as – where necessary – call center facilities for resolution-handling.
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Technology Profile |
Transforming the transport industry in the USA
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oday’s transportation policy environment is strapped with declining revenues and increasing service and capital costs. However, national, state and local jurisdictions have a plethora of transportation policy choices. As the toolbox has grown with these options, policy makers and transportation planners struggle to plot out a future course of action to meet their growing revenue and transportation needs. The current choices or tools in the policy decision set are numerous and far ranging. They span a wide range of diverse options such as increasing fuels excise taxes, employing express lanes to generate revenue for the maintenance or expanding an existing facility, and expanding or introducing tolling on new and old facilities. Other alternatives include creating low emission zones that allow the polluters to pay, implementing a congestion
| Need to know Under the US Federated divisions of powers, US states have the right to raise their own fuels excise taxes > The state of Ohio is the 30th state to raise or reform its gas tax > Policy makers and transportation planners are struggling to plot out a future course of action to meet their growing revenue and transportation needs due to the wide range of potential actionables
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charge or levy a special congestion charge on specific links in the network or the entire central business district, introducing a distance based charge within an entire jurisdiction for all vehicles on all roads, and diverting revenue for transportation from other taxes. Another response is to simply do nothing. Each of these options have their pros and cons, although many would point out that doing nothing is not an option considering the increases in registered vehicles, light, and heavy commercial vehicles, trip generation, and age of the bespoke infrastructure.
Decision makers
Some policy makers are studying the entire spectrum of
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revenue generating options to best suit their constituents. Others are eliminating certain choices based on their interpretation of constituent sentiments or limiting their options to a select few. Many are simply frozen with indecision for fear of being held accountable for possibly making the wrong policy decision.
Complexity and inaction
Faced with such complex policy decisions, many transportation professionals and lawmakers are unable to determine a clear direction for future transportation policy. The ‘do nothing’ option prevails, right or wrong. Examples of policy struggles across the USA are numerous for each of the above stated policy choices.
A good example of such inaction is the long-standing environment in the USA’s senior levels of the administration and congress being unable to even raise gas tax, which was last increased in 1993. During multiple bi-partisan meetings with congressional leadership and the White House, a renewed glimmer of hope for funding infrastructure was reached earlier this year. This hope faded quickly due to the lack of funding for such a program. The lack of clarity on what projects could be funded or how the money could be spent was cited. Current levels of the national debt – and a general lack of priority among competing demands for health, education, immigration, defense and other priorities – make for
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a turbulent environment for resolving transportation policy. Adding to the confusion is judging which transportation options should be pursued, such as raising the gas tax, tolling, public private partnerships, increasing funding for public transportation, or finding an alternate to the gas tax with options such as road usage charging. In effect, the current policy environment to rebuild American Infrastructure and the USA transportation network is struggling to find the right blend of policies for the future. Consequently, one can view the current environment as doing nothing. In the meantime, US states are not standing still. The states
have an advantage over most similar international jurisdictions because under the US Federated divisions of powers, they have the right to raise their own fuels excise taxes. The tax paid per gallon has both a federal component and a state tax component, in addition to some local jurisdictional taxes added to the price per gallon consumed. Due to the above federal or national inaction, states are increasingly taking their own steps to be more self-sufficient by raising vehicle registration fees, licensing fees, gas/petrol taxes and diesel fuel taxes to fund their necessary transportation and infrastructure projects.
Raising costs
Recently, the state of Ohio became the 30th state to raise or reform its gas tax. Despite all studies and data to indicate a declining revenue base and increased inequity of the fuel taxes, there is a remarkable level of agreement across all states that the immediate cure for the lack of transportation revenue is raising the gas/petrol and diesel taxes. Many states are implementing the short-term fix of reversing transportation
revenue losses caused by rising construction costs and improvements in vehicle fuel economy, as well as the rising percentage of hybrids, improved plug-in hybrids, and battery or electric vehicles in their vehicle fleets. Maybe the most detrimental impact to such fuel tax increases is the growing efficiency of medium and heavy vehicle truck fleets. This trend towards alternate fuels such a liquid natural gas will have a much higher detrimental effect on fuels tax revenues than those evidenced in the personal car fleets. The negative points for raising fuel excise taxes is the continuing decrease in this consumption tax due to the changing nature of the vehicle fleet. As addressed above, fuel economy, hybrid vehicle efficiency, and battery/ electric vehicles are gutting this revenue source. While the collection costs are typically inexpensive – at or less than 1% – gas tax is a longtime favorite source for state treasuries.
Time for change
It is important to face the reality that over the next 25 to 50 years,
automotive technology, electrification, and supply/ demand for petrol-based energy will change dramatically. As the industry and fleet changes, new thinking of transportation policy must follow. Policy makers will need to address the continuing decline in revenues and recognize that fuels excise taxes, congestion, growing vehicle fleets, and increased trip generation will adversely impact local and national competitiveness. While we will find new ways to deliver goods and personal services, delivery will be dependent on the health and wellbeing of the US roads and bridges. Even new technologies such as autonomous vehicles will demand good infrastructure to succeed.
Urgent action required
Despite the wide array of tools in our transportation policy toolbox, action must be taken if a ‘user pays’ principle is to survive. Dithering and half measures dealing with a meaningful transportation policy are no longer acceptable. Right or wrong, some or various combinations of the policy options are necessary to address congestion, improve the environment, and generate sufficient revenue to invest and maintain the transportation infrastructure to match economic goals and livable communities By Luís Nunes CSO, A-to-Be www.a-to-be.com.
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Technology Profile |
The Oslo study: How will MaaS defeat traffic?
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ow do you forecast and predict future technological developments, consumer needs and the potential uptake of new solutions? Experts agree that Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a key concept that sets the framework for other developments. MaaS is based on a transportation system where different services are integrated into a single mobility service that is on-demand and able to meet individual customer requests. As the development of autonomous vehicle technology is gaining momentum, selfdriving vehicles will be the norm in future mobility scenarios, not the exception. In Oslo, Norway’s capital, the future is now. Selfdriving buses have been on trial since May this year and the city’s public transport company, Ruter, is already looking further into the future of transport where MaaS and autonomous driving
| Need to know Just 7-16% of the current privately owned vehicle fleet in Oslo would be enough to serve the demand in morning rush hours
> PTV MaaS Modeller calculates variables including the total shared mobility traveler demand, the catchment area and pre-booking time > PTV MaaS Modeller also identifies benign variables that have little or no impact on the business model and those that are subject to change
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are an essential part of Oslo’s mobility system. In a recently published report, consulting firm COWI and software company PTV Group analyzed what shared autonomous transport and passenger uptake would look like in the region in four different scenarios. The scenarios consider both car and ride sharing, examining the mobility services during morning rush hour on a working day in Oslo and the neighboring county Akershus.
Reducing cars, not service
The report considers the impacts that fleets of autonomous vehicles can have on the region’s network through an increase or decrease of total vehicle kilometers travelled, the number of cars needed to cover the demand and the level of service provided to the customers. Paul Speirs, modeling expert at PTV Group, says, “With our software tool, PTV MaaS
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Modeller, we simulated around 60 different forecasts. The busiest scenario includes existing car drivers, their passengers and public transport riders on tram and bus. This equates to over 600,000 trip makers using shared mobility in the simulated time period between 6am and 10am.” The most optimistic scenario regarding the reduction of kilometers driven is achieved when all car users share their rides and public transport riders continue to use the services. All scenarios show a significant drop in the number of cars needed to cover all trips, indicating between 7-16% of the current privately owned vehicle fleet could serve the demand in the morning rush hours.
Measuring results
“The study’s detailed results are based on modeling up to 600,000 simultaneous trip requests over
a four hour period served by a fleet of up to 56,000 vehicles travelling close to 1 million journey legs,” says Speirs. “Planning for the right infrastructure investment with the uncertainty autonomous vehicles bring is challenging. The Oslo study serves as a fundamental basis for sustainable policy decisions regarding future mobility investment and risk management.” PTV’s MaaS Modeller calculates many combinations of shared mobility operation assumptions. These can include – among many variables – the total shared mobility traveler demand, the catchment area, pre-booking time, the available vehicle fleet size, the maximum wait time for the traveler and the acceptable journey detour time for ride sharing. The combination of these variables, in turn, produces a distribution of possible future
| Connecting The DOTs by Kirk Steudle
Providing end-to-end mobility can be met by greater connectivity PTV – Booth 367 Left: Pick up and drop off activity in the Oslo region Inset: Paul Spiers, PTV Group
outcomes measuring the best and worst operational performance results. This allows cities, mobility operators and transport planners to understand the worst and most optimistic forecasts and to find confidence in the more likely outcomes. In short, stakeholder decisions and business model risks can be better understood once the full range of outcomes is evidentially mapped out. PTV MaaS Modeller also identifies benign variables that have little or no impact on the business model and also those variables that can be sensitive to change. Focus can then be applied to the variables that trigger the biggest swing in the results. This second layer of business model diligence serves to improve and increase the overall confidence levels in the analysis conclusions.
A solution for everyone
Ultimately, the key challenge is finding the balance between the most lucrative operator business model, providing a high level of service to the customer and demonstrating positive effects on congestion. If cities and mobility providers test enough operation combinations and measure the performance through an objectively designed KPI framework, they will find an optimal solution to support a business model they can defend when it comes to smart decision making.
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One of the most inspiring promises of connected mobility, next to saving lives, is bridging mobility gaps and providing access equality. While public transit has advanced over the last 200 years, the concept and strategy remain the same: move people from one point to another, leaving the first and last portions of the journey to the individual – a mobility gap referred to as the “first-and-last mile” (FLM). I believe we can change this and leverage connected mobility to solve the FLM mobility gap. We’ve seen some inroads made by CAV and new ridesharing services, but there’s a lot more work to be done. As I mentioned in my last column, collaboration is key. It will take publicprivate collaboration with an eye for leveraging technology more strategically. For the public sector, it starts by being the facilitators of collaboration. We must first think in terms of bringing together local resources and assets – not transportation-only. We have to think of FLM challenges and solutions as part of a larger mobility ecosystem, not as individual silos. Therefore, we must be willing to seek input from experts in all areas of the ecosystem, including communications/networking, automation, cybersecurity, construction, etc. Just as importantly, it also requires a willingness among private sector participants, including business competitors, to take on challenges as a team. And, together, we must look to apply technology as a means to solve problems – not technology looking for a problem. Fortunately, this approach yielded successful past results in Michigan. The Benzie Bus service is a public-private collaboration that solved an FLM challenge by providing Benzie County residents mobility to/from remote business locations. Today, some of the best examples are at the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC). In 2018, RTC received a federal grant for the Las Vegas Medical District Automated Circular and Connected Pedestrian Safety Project, or GoMed, to provide FLM service to and from Las Vegas’ Medical District for some of the region’s most vulnerable and underserved citizens from a mobility standpoint. GoMed
“We’ve seen some inroads made by CAV and new ridesharing services but there’s a lot more work to be done” was the result of a collaboration between the RTC, City of Las Vegas, AAA, and Keolis North America that leveraged existing CAV technologies. Another example is the Workforce Mobility Program that the RTC, a local business, and Lyft collaborated on to specifically solve a problem in providing FLM mobility for workers to a North Las Vegas location not served by transit. These are just a few of the many examples from the RTC to solve mobility gaps in its region. I invite you to take a closer look at their work. Similarly, Florida DOT is currently taking this collaborative approach for future CAV requirements with its Safe Mobility for Life Program and Coalition. Safe Mobility for Life takes a well-defined, integrated, and holistic approach to leveraging collaborations to solve mobility challenges. Stay tuned for more on this in a future column. Until next time, travel safe. Kirk Steudle is senior vice president of Econolite and former director of Michigan DOT. He can be reached at KSteudle@econolite.com
September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
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| Technology Profile
A mission to read all license plates
CARRIDA – Booth 235
C
ARRIDA Technologies’ mission is to read all vehicle license plates, as is reflected in its name: ‘Car’ stands for the vehicles that the company loves, while ‘Rida’ (pronounced “reader”) refers to the passion of recognizing license plates. Its software module for automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) is designed for all kinds of applications. The CARRIDA software engine is easy to integrate into existing security and surveillance ITS applications. It is fully hardware independent, running on Windows, Linux PCs and advanced RISC (reduced instruction set computing) machine (ARM) architectures on Linux and Android. A very fast processing speed of typically 15-20ms per frame enables the reading of license plates from vehicles traveling up to 240km/h (150mph). The software can read partially damaged, dirty or distorted license plates. It also works on images that are noisy or have a low contrast. In consequent readings can be done with up to 99% accuracy under real world conditions. The software can be used with any C and C++ project via an application program interface (API). This means that the user can program a broad range of applications and can easily integrate the CARRIDA software into existing systems.
Small ALPR camera
With their intelligent cameras they offer one of the smallest standalone ALPR cameras in the world. They combine the software engine with an intelligent camera. Therefore, it is possible to process the collected data onboard the camera itself.
Left: The software engine has an accuracy of up to 90% Right: AI technology ensures vehicle makes and models are all compatible
| Need to know Key features of CARRIDA’s ALPR technology
> A fast processing speed (typically 15-20ms per frame) enables reading of license plates from vehicles travelling up to 240km/h (150mph) > Accuracy of up to 90% under real world conditions > The camera has an IP67 protective housing with M12 cable connectors > The system can also be appropriate in smart parking or access control applications
This allows you to supersede an additional PC system and operate in extremely spacesaving manner. The camera has an IP67 protective housing with M12 cable connectors. Adding make and model recognition to your ALPR
application results in a higher recognition accuracy for a higher security level. This can be archived with the positive match between the car and its license plate. Smart parking or access control solutions can also be successfully mastered by the system.
Deep-learning technology
The software module for the make and model recognition is based on the latest AI (Deep learning) technology to ensure high recognition rates of the make, as well as of the model of vehicles from all over the world. The newest technological achievement from CARRIDA is an Android-operated software development kit (SDK). A reading time of approximately 300ms for full high definition images can be reached, even on medium class Android devices. A sample application can be found on the company’s website. CARRIDA for Android is fully optimized for ARM/32bit architectures. Furthermore, the SDK includes color recognition for GCC, state recognition and stacked characters for different countries.
With the software you can cover a broad field of different applications. The system is automatically able to manage access to restricted areas. It can help in law enforcement like fee control, speed control and assistance in searches for cars or plate numbers. In relation to ITS the software supports traffic analysis and statics.
Flexible license models
CARRIDA Technologies offers customers flexible license models according to their preferences. The license can be tied to a runtime or to a fixed number of reads. CARRIDA’s customers have the possibility to choose their own flexible licensing model. It is also possible to choose the financial model. This can be a one-time payment or payment according to usage (pay per read).
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Technology Profile |
A free-flow weighin-motion system
R
oad infrastructure maintenance projects are a PR nightmare. Their completion is never accompanied with an opening ceremony, no ribbon is cut and no pictures are taken, meaning no political points can be scored. It is, therefore, no wonder that these projects are notoriously underfunded. Europe and the USA are not immune from the pains arising from crumbling infrastructure. Historically, funds for maintenance operations were raised through road tolls, where vehicles would pay according to their road usage. In the European context, road usage is mostly defined as a linear function of distance travelled; emissions released measured in grams of carbon monoxide or nitric oxide; as a function of road availability as a nod to supply and demand for the day and time of week; and as a function of vehicle type and axle count. The first three metrics are intuitive. Vehicle class, however, is quite arbitrary and unfair. Axle count is a poor proxy for both road usage and more importantly road damage, which ultimately determines the road maintenance funding required.
Road damage
The real driver of road damage is axle weight and scales with its fourth power. In the weigh-inmotion (WIM) business, it is anecdotally quoted that road damage caused by an 18-wheeler truck is 10,000 times that of a passenger car, but what about a poorly loaded versus an overloaded vehicle? In financial terms, it was estimated that an overweight truck causes a marginal road damage ranging €0.50 to €4.50 (US$5) per kilometer. This is two to 10 times
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| Need to know An overweight truck that causes marginal road damage costs approximately €0.50 to €4.50 (US$5) per km > OptiWIM is a new generation high speed WIM that utilizes fiber optical technology > Its features include 5% accuracy on a single row of sensors, accuracy independent of wheel position, and operation in a fully free-flow configuration
the standard per km tolling price in the Czech Republic. Using this as a point of reference, why should an empty 18-wheeler pay as much – or more – as a threeaxle truck heavily overloaded with wet sand? It has become clear there is a need to devise a fairer, roaddamage-reflecting tolling pricing model that would not only not be a burden for well-behaved truck operators or logistics companies, and would simultaneously
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discourage operators from misusing public infrastructure for their own marginal gain. Most importantly, such a model could fairly facilitate a total increase of tolling incomes to continuously fund the muchneeded maintenance of roads. Cross Zlín strongly believes the future of the tolling business lies with a fairer pricing model like toll-per-tonne, where axle weight is in focus. Such a system will then have to be enabled by next generation WIM systems.
The next generation WIM
To enable toll-per-ton applications, Cross Zlín developed OptiWIM, a new generation high speed WIM that utilizes fiber optic technology. It improves on existing WIM systems in seven key areas including being certified for a 5% accuracy on a single row of sensors, having accuracy independent of wheel position, being the first worldwide WeighIn-Free-Flow system, and operating in a fully free-flow configuration. OptiWIM also natively measures additional vehicle parameters like width, double-tire and underinflated tire, is fully RF immune and compensated for temperature change, can be statically
Above: Cross Zlín’s OptiWIM has been certified to 5% accuracy
calibrated and thus reduces recalibration costs, and has sensors that are non-intrusively hot-swappable thanks to an installation in a U-Bed profile and thus have a long life-time and a lower total cost of ownership than existing systems. It is clear a pricing model that fairly accounts for the damage caused by road users is needed, in particular to fund the maintenance and even renewal of road infrastructure globally. Such conversations about tollper-ton applications are increasingly heard on conferences worldwide. The current state of the art of WIM technology – such as Cross’ OptiWIM solution – has the ambition to become an enabler of toll-per-ton. The market and the technology are certainly ready for it.
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JOIN EUROPE’S BIGGEST EVENT
ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS AND SERVICES
18-21 May 2020 SAVE THE DATE
WHAT TO EXPECT
1200 delegates
120 Exhibitors
2000 Visitors to the exhibition area
50+journalists from trade & news media
50+countries represented
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO: Government, state and city representatives
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•Network with 3200+ smart mobility stakeholders & influencers •Discover the latest mobility solutions •Share experiences and lessons learnt •Monitor progress and measure results •Exhibit and experience innovative technologies •First-hand experience though demonstrations
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Technology Profile |
Traffic data and the Internet of Things
T
he TDC1-PIR is an easy to integrate detector for single-lane traffic data acquisition that consumes a mere 60mW, equivalent to 1/16th of a watt. For this extraordinarily low power consumption, the device not only produces vehicle count information but also measures the speed and length of each vehicle. The device was introduced to market a few years ago and thousands have been installed with high levels of success since. The detector must be placed between five and 18 meters from the traffic lane, meaning it can be used in various settings. The TDC1 uses multiple passive infrared sensors (PIR) detection zones and a passing vehicle breaks these detection zones much like a break-beam system. Besides the data interface, the TDC1 is also equipped with a solid-state digital output for less sophisticated installations. TDC1 serial TLS protocol is easily integrated with numerous systems – including in Siemens Mobility systems. But for all the situations where ready integration is not available, ADEC introduced the BS2 IoT (Internet of Things) gateway for traffic. Solarpowered (mains powered versions are available) with the rechargeable battery, solarpanel, charging circuitry, and a 3G data modem included, plus all the software and firmware to retrieve data from the TDC1 traffic detectors and reliably connect to the Internet via secure https.
Data collection
Traffic data can consist of individual vehicle records representing near real-time traffic data or interval-averaged
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Left: The TDC1-PIR is solar powered, consuming only 60mW of power
BS2 need access to the Internet. The ADEC cloud is organized in portals that are essentially a group of BS2 IoT gateways and a customer account can have multiple portals. Data is transmitted exclusively via secure TLS/SSL.
Authentication required
| Need to know The detector must be placed between five and 18 meters from the traffic lane > Up to six TDC1-PIR traffic detectors can be connected to single BS2 IoT gateway > Common application include traffic management and traffic data modelling
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data. The latter is more concise. This saves modem time and therefore reduces power consumption which in turn permits operation of up to six TDC1 traffic detectors per BS2 IoT gateway (requiring one or two junction boxes to expand on the three-detector limit). In its standard configuration, the gateway transmits the data to the ADEC cloud server, which is powered by Exosite. The data on this IoT platform can be accessed and reviewed using a standard web browser. All aspects of the commissioning are done through the web browser. That means both the installer and the
Each query for traffic data requires authentication. The data is formatted in the ubiquitous JSON format. A single-short query is used to retrieve the latest entry in the traffic data records online database, and a longer query is necessary if the traffic data over a given time period are being retrieved. Besides the programmatic web interface, the cloud also has a browser interface commonly used to setup an installation. For each traffic detector, the mounting height and distance offset from the detector to traffic lane must be provided. Once BS2 and the associated TDC1 detectors are set up, the traffic data can be viewed and downloaded. Besides the many IoT applications often discussed, traffic data from ultra-low power traffic detectors attached to specifically designed gateways expand the advantages of lowcost connectivity and cloudbased data storage to the realm of traffic management.
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| Technology Profile
Enabling a WIM, toll-by-weight future
Intercomp – Booth 461
O
ne of the initial uses for weigh-in-motion (WIM) technology was data collection, which added weight based information to vehicle data along with axle count, vehicle classification, and speed. As the performance of WIM sensors improved, utility of this higher quality weight data has come into its own for other applications. It is well known that increasing axle and gross vehicle weights have an increasing impact on infrastructure, with the negative impact at higher weights growing at an exponential rate when compared to lightly loaded vehicles. Understanding vehicle frequency over a WIM site allows for planners to understand traffic patterns, but knowing the impact of high or overloaded traffic gives the data more value when understanding traffic’s effects on the roadway. Looking beyond the data, what can operators do with this information?
Next steps
Removing the overloaded traffic is the best way to preserve infrastructure and increase operator safety. Countries around the world use a variety of combinations of equipment to identify overloaded vehicles, using WIM and static scales deployed at a static sites or in portable enforcement units to accomplish the task. These enforcement efforts contribute to the overall integrity of our roads and bridges but come with a cost of vehicle stoppage, time, and labor for vehicle operators and enforcement officials alike. The prevailing trend is to increase efficiency of these efforts with WIM systems. WIM sites equipped with cameras
Intercomp sensors for tolling are deployed around the world
| Need to know Factors affecting the need for weigh-inmotion technologies > Removing overloaded vehicles from the road is the best way to preserve infrastructure and increase operator safety > The rise in gas-efficient and electric vehicles is impacting funding for new road projects due to a decrease in gas taxes
and other sensors can identify weight-based issues along with measuring speed, observing registration, and verifying licensing and permitting. All of these processes can be done in parallel, gathered at high speed and managed through software and reported in realtime to officials.
Getting legal
Unlike ‘black-and-white’ issues such as expired registrations or permits, WIM requires a legal framework for weight-based enforcement. Though there
have been advances in regions’ acceptance for WIM through legislation for direct enforcement, much remains to be done to realize the efficiency WIM scales and sensors have to offer. Looking beyond enforcement, weight-based tolling also faces legal or legislative obstacles before it can be put in place due to the financial transaction between the toll operator and the vehicle operator. However, acceptance of this practice is becoming more widespread because of the benefits to everyone involved.
New challenges
With the progression of gasefficient or electric (EV) vehicles, relying on gas taxes for infrastructure funding already making less funding available for new projects or maintenance and creating a lack of fairness where gas-powered operators are disproportionately paying for the EVs. This is one of the factors that are powering the proliferation of tolling for roadway funding. Currently, axle or vehicle configuration is the most common means of establishing a toll rate but though this practice it straightforward, it has its faults. A five-axle
semi running unloaded or lightly loaded pays the same toll as the 80,000lb (36,000kg) vehicle. It is clear that the tollby-axle method doesn’t take into account the weight-based factors and their impact on the infrastructure, with operators alternatively paying too much – or too little – to run their loads through the tollway. This is where weight-based tolling provides parity. More highly loaded vehicles pay more for use of the roadway due to their usage, regardless of how the vehicle is powered or in the axle configuration. To provide tolling operators with the equipment to overcome the legal or metrological obstacles, Intercomp Company offers certified scales and sensors to acquire axle and gross vehicle weights up to mainline speeds. Integrated into automated systems, these WIM sensors can deliver legally accepted performance while increasing the efficiency and fairness of tolling systems.
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Technology Profile |
Maryland: Mobile road sensors in use to optimize winter maintenance
T
he Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is a division of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). It is responsible for building and maintaining Maryland’s numbered non-tolled highways and bridges outside of Baltimore, clearing snow from the state’s major thoroughfares, administering the State’s ‘adopta-highway’ program to avoid littering along the roads, and managing the development and servicing of the State’s freeway and expressway system.
Above: Lufft’s Vehiclemounted Marwis sensors deliver data in real time Left: There are over 130 stationary weather stations in Maryland
Statewide management
MDOT SHA’s territory comprises more than 17,000 lane miles, which need to be managed and cleared when necessary. To help them with this, they operate more than 130 stationary road weather information stations equipped
| Need to know Marwis is a mobile road sensor that measures elements spanning from road condition and friction, to surface temperature and water film height > In 2018, MDOT SHA start a pilot project where 50 vehicles have been equipped with the mobile road sensor Marwis > MDSHA has been utilizing Marwis since mid-January 2019 to monitor their roadways and learn how Marwis can help them to optimize their winter maintenance program
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with road surface condition sensors and weather sensors to get important road weather data back to the traffic management center (TMC). The stations detect a variety of parameters including road conditions, friction, water film heights, temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction and wind speed. However, fixed stations are unable to cover every lane mile in the state. Enter Marwis, a mobile sensor capable of filling in these gaps and giving MDOT SHA the ability to have a much clearer picture of what is going on throughout the state and not just at 130 fixed points. Due to the inclement winter weather in Maryland, road maintenance can be very challenging. The state has similar conditions to central Europe, where it has cold and
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wet winters and a few beautiful sunny months. Temperatures reach from about 18°F (-8°C) to +90°F (+32°C). Average temperatures in Maryland are about 80°F (27°C) in July and 35°F (+2°C) in January. Communication Electronics Inc. (CEI), a channel partner of the Marwis manufacturer Lufft since May of 2011, has worked closely with MDSHA and Lufft to develop a statewide deployment of advanced weather sensors. CEI has been responsible for the State’s Lufft Marwis procurement, site installations and maintenance. In 2014, Lufft launched a new mobile road weather sensor named Marwis. This technology measures many of the same parameters that a fixed Lufft station does, from road condition and friction to water film height and surface temperature.
Marwis works by means of LED transmitters, photos receivers and an infrared pyrometer. The necessary calculations take place in the sensor directly, offering an output rate of up to 100 measurements per second. Thus, it is capable of delivering data in real time, transferring the data wirelessly via Bluetooth, hardwired via RS485 or CAN-Bus. Lufft also offers software in the form of a free Android or iOS App for in vehicle data visualization and back end software for the TMC is available. ViewMondo can easily display both stationary and mobile UMB road weather stations. It receives the data via a SIM card of the used tablet, smartphone or router, making it a pure plug-and-play data transfer device without any display.
A new trial
In the summer of 2018, MDOT SHA decided to start a pilot project for which they ordered 50 Marwis. It turned out to be the largest roll out in the US to date, making the state the largest user of the new, innovative technology. To prepare their staff for the Marwis roll out, Lufft provided
| Driving Revenue by J J Eden
Agencies must be ready to evolve their methods of communication the necessary training on location in Maryland while Communications Electronics Inc installed the sensors on user vehicles. In total, roughly 95 MDOT SHA employees took part and received handson experience. MDSHA has been utilizing Marwis since mid-January 2019 to monitor their roadways and learn how Marwis can help them to optimize their winter maintenance program. Since the roll out, they have been able to monitor the highways from their TMC and see what conditions are statewide, as opposed to only a select number of fixed locations. MDOT SHA is utilizing ViewMondo for the real time visualization and historical data collection of the mobile sensors data.
Promising early signs
Since the setup, Marwis units have worked reliably during a few winter weather events and are being utilized by the MDOT SHA maintenance staff and management. According to a DOT employee, “We’ve received favorable feedback on the units since the training. It seems our crews will quickly integrate this tool as part of their processes” MDOT SHA, in conjunction with Communications Electronics Inc. and Lufft, will continue to monitor and learn how the data obtained through these sensors can help MDOT SHA manage their winter maintenance operations and resources.
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Today there is an emphasis on communication, particularly using social media platforms, such as Twitter. In today’s rapidly changing media environment we must make sure that we use the right tools for the audience we are addressing. With transportation and infrastructure projects, we strive to know exactly how the public feels. Open and consistent communication is always a priority, but other tactics can help ensure communities and customers are engaged and aware of an organization’s mission and brand. Younger generations can become numb to some messaging because they are inundated with ads and marketing. Being innovative with engagement is crucial to reaching this demographic. Whether it’s social media, traditional media, community meetings, or digital marketing, we must prepare to meet people where they are. We need to utilize the correct tools for every project and community. Firstly we need to create consistent, transparent, community-driven conversation about transportation options. Secondly, we need to establish a consistent brand and presence to combat misinformation. Thirdly, we need to organize early stakeholder engagement and education to minimize negative perceptions and maximize positive outcomes. Finally, we should set goals and measure how we did. Infrastructure projects have a widereaching impact on communities. So we must create spaces for dialogue to occur, so communities can weigh in. That means participation in neighborhood meetings, community events and representation at local leadership meetings. Communities need to know that they do not have to go online to ask a question; they can talk to a person face-to-face. If residents are asking questions in person, many more may have that same question or concern. These conversations and interactions are driving factors behind online and digital communication efforts. Revamping a traditional look and feel can be time consuming and the cost can add up. However, making simple updates to materials and messaging can breathe new life into public perception. You can do things like updating websites, logos, color, fonts and outreach materials to modernize
“Being innovative with engagement is crucial to reaching [the younger] demographic” your brand. Keeping materials updated can help you stand out and combat confusion. Many agencies or organizations have a spokesperson who works with reporters and news agencies. The spokesperson should be utilized on all platforms, including online videos, news agencies and in public meetings. This becomes increasingly important with elected officials and stakeholders within each community our projects reach. Our more involved or interested leaders can pick up the phone and call our spokesperson when constituents have questions. You will find that if residents know and trust your spokesperson and experts, it helps humanize the agency and project. Agencies and organizations can command the narrative to their story. As news agencies and social media platforms transform in this new digital age, agencies need to be creative at mastering their own messages and telling their own story. Your goal should be to create a consistent voice and brand that answers the call of your communities and customers. JJ Eden is executive director of North Carolina Turnpike
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Technology Profile |
Effective charging solutions for overloaded vehicles
I
ncreased road safety is a goal for countries around the globe. With this in mind, Turkey’s General Directorate of Highways of Turkey (KGM) decided to implement a weight enforcement system on its roads. During an initial testing phase, Kistler’s weigh in motion (WIM) system was installed at a trial site by system integrator Mosaş Group. Backed by support from a team of Swiss specialists, Kistler’s system delivers reliable measurement data. Turkey’s KGM is keen to improve the condition of the country’s roads. In 2016, there were 7,300 fatalities on Turkish roads according to the global status report on road safety 2018 produced by the World Health Organization (WHO). Although road deaths in Turkey have decreased steadily to an average of 8.9 per 100,000 people in the last decade, this figure is more than twice as high as in central European countries. In each year during the same period, KGM had to invest double the budgeted amount to maintain the nation’s road network. As well as controlling regular traffic, Turkey’s local authorities are responsible for overseeing freight transport. They saw that a weight enforcement routine was necessary to reduce the number of accidents and to limit wear and tear on the infrastructure. To achieve these goals, around 100 weighing stations were installed all over the country. Every truck passing a station had to stop and wait until its weight was measured and approved. There was no doubt this process was necessary, but events soon made it clear that there was also potential for optimization. Traffic was slowed down dramatically because all trucks had to stop at the
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Above: Lineas quartz sensor for Weigh in Motion from Kistler Left: Sensor installation
weighing stations. Long queues developed, causing even more potential hazards on the highways. In addition to this, the weighing stations proved to have relatively short lifetimes due to the huge numbers of vehicles using them.
| Need to know Turkey’s General Directorate of Highways of Turkey (KGM) decided to implement a weight enforcement system on its roads to improve road safety > Around 100 weighing stations were installed in Turkey so every truck passing a station had to stop and wait until its weight was measured and approved > The complete WIM system installed near the Akıncılar toll plaza includes Kistler Lineas 9195G quartz sensors and the WIM 5204A data logger
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
Preselection with WIM
KGM now aims to improve this situation by implementing a preselection routine. It plans to install WIM sensors measuring the weight of vehicles as they drive over them, generating pre-selection data. In the future, trucks will only have to enter the weighing stations if they are above the weight limit. Fewer lorries will pass through the weighing stations, so traffic will flow more freely. To prove the theory, KGM invited various providers to take part in a test phase. Participants included the Mosaş Group, a Turkish company with over 100 employees and more than 20 years of experience and knowledge in the sector. The specialists at Mosaş provide highly reliable technology and engineering services with the focus on road and railway signaling, ITS, vehicle scales,
Kistler – Booth 322
weight measurement and size control systems. To evaluate the providers, KGM set up several test sites near existing weighing stations. The location assigned to the Mosaş Group is about 1.5km (1 mile) from the Akıncılar toll plaza on one of the main highways leading into Ankara, the Turkish capital. The complete WIM system includes Kistler Lineas 9195G quartz sensors and the WIM 5204A data logger. These rugged system components deliver high-precision measurements over long service lifetimes. Installation of the Lineas WIM sensors in the road surface is fast and easy. Two sensors were installed in a staggered layout on each of the two lanes. After several runs with a calibration truck, a maximum deviation of an increase of 2.3% was recorded. This was far below the required deviation of a 10% increase stated in KGM’s specifications. Further tests with different vehicle classes are now in progress.
Project support
Kistler specialists were on site to train the integrator on the WIM system. If KGM accepts the pre-selection method, a business plan will be drawn up to increase the budget before deciding to install WIM at all weighing stations. This is a crucial step that will help to protect Turkey’s highway infrastructure and improve safety on the nation’s roads.
| Free reader inquiry service Kistler
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The key to success is hidden in the ground
Driven by decades of Weigh In Motion experience, Kistler never stops innovating. Our new Lineas Compact subsurface sensors now offer extended lifetimes thanks to a new way of installing them in the road pavement. This unique technology offers a maintenance-free solution for your road, to comfortably collect traffic data and visualize traffic flow – we are convinced there is no better investment in road infrastructure and safety!
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22/08/2019 14:42
Technology Profile |
Customizable solutions for weight enforcement
Haenni – Booth 452
I
t is a common practice in almost all countries around the world to enforce the weight of vehicles. Everyone is aware of the importance to protect the road network from damages and, primarily, its users from accidents. However, there is an immense diversity related to climate, type of roads, traffic intensity and availability of resources, not to mention the legislation of each country that determines not only the features of the equipment that will be used but also the method of how the measurement must be carried out.
Different approaches
In Europe, the check performed on the spot is done with two portable wheel load scales and four levelling mats, measuring axle-by-axle. In the USA, it is completed in one operation with the same number of scales as the wheels. In just a few countries worldwide, the weight-inmotion (WIM) systems can be used for direct enforcement. In others, the enforcement is performed directly by the police or by private companies with the support from the police to apply the fines where appropriate. Everyone has the same goal to weigh the loads. The more rigorous the controls become, the greater the demand for weighing systems by the private industry, where the needs can be so variable as the number of companies. Developing solutions for the needs emerged from this heterogeneity might represent a big challenge for the weighing systems providers. Haenni Instruments, which has produced mobile scales for the police worldwide for 45 years, took on the challenge of seeking solutions for the
088
demanding market of weight enforcement. The Haenni scales have the highest international certifications such as OIML and EU type approval, and can operate in a range of temperatures from -20oC to +60oC. The variety of types, sizes and ranges enables their use in different applications. The data is transferred to multifunctional software, which will calculate the axle load, subtotal and total weight of vehicles.
| Need to know The Haenni scales can operate in temperatures ranging from -20°C to +60°C > Weighing vehicles is conducted in a breadth of ways in different countries around the globe, from the police to self service facilities
Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
New systems
As the weight enforcement is only part of a global check – which includes the documentation of the vehicle and of the driver, the roadworthiness, the tachograph records, the tires’ conditions and eventual mechanical faults – there might be the need to integrate the data collected in a pre-existing operation program. For the ones who want to use their own application, Haenni has recently developed a feasible solution to facilitate the difficult task of performing weight checks, whether conducted by an official enforcement or at a self-check spot. The Haenni WebServer is a valuable tool for those who want to build their own software. Every new device or feature will be added to the WebServer, which means that with little or no modifications the custom processing software will be able to handle new Haenni devices or features. The WebServer is a RESTful web service that runs
Above: Weight control can be performed with a compact and efficient portable system
on the computer, configuring and managing the devices. Using simple HTTP requests, it is possible to capture JSON formatted data and process it in any programming language. In order to use the custom application for legal metrology, a certified data storage system is required. To simplify the development of the customerspecific solution, the WebServer has an approved data storage directly built in. The storage is certified for static Haenni scales WL 103, WL 104 and WL 108.
| Free reader inquiry service Haenni
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Pure Precision. Pure PurePrecision. Precision.
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Cheat Sheet |
Express lanes Your shortcuts to some highlights you will find in this issue – and beyond! “I have seen drivers pass other people in the workzone, I’ve had cars try to run me down. There was even an incident where a driver pulled a gun on me”
Jack Cousens, the AA’s head of roads policy on why there are times when some relaxation of speed management enforcement can be justified
Page 38
Chris Hilleary, OR 99E illumination project flagger Watch to see how Oregon is improving safety for flaggers positioned at the edge of workzones in the state. traffictechnologytoday.com/flaggers
“Depending on which way you enter Manhattan you’re paying a different toll rate and in some cases – if you enter from Brooklyn, for example – you’re paying nothing at all” Kate Slevin, senior vice president of the Regional Plan Association, Greater New York region, on the need for a uniform congestion charge in New York City
“It’s possible that a driver might misjudge the speed of traffic when overtaking or joining a busy A-road or motorway. Therefore, a temporary element of speed can be a good thing”
“All industries change, they have to. To meet the evolving needs of the public, to keep up with technology and even future proof itself against an erratic environment and over the past decade NCDOT has worked hard to stay ahead of the curve by embracing that”
Page 46
All options are on the table for North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) as it seeks to find a solution to the ever-decreasing revenues from gas tax traffictechnologytoday.com/funding
Index to Advertisers | A-to-Be / Brisa ......................................................................... 92 Adec Technologies ................................................................. 40 AGD Systems............................................................................21 Aimsun .................................................................................... 29 CARRIDA .................................................................................18 Cross Zlín .................................................................................37 Efkon ....................................................................................... 53 Egis Projects ............................................................................ 43 Emovis ......................................................................................51 ERTICO ITS-Europe .................................................................81 Haenni ..................................................................................... 89 Here Technologies .................................................................. 25 Imperial Civil Enforcement......................................................37 Intercomp ................................................................................ 40 Intertraffic Shows .................................................................... 59
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Traffic Technology International September/October 2019 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
ITS America..............................................................................78 ITS World Congress 2019, Singapore ......................................15 Jenoptik ................................................................................... 45 Kistler ...................................................................................... 87 Lufft ..........................................................................................13 Norbit ...................................................................................... 54 PTV Group................................................................................91 Ramboll ....................................................................................27 Smart Microwave Systems (SMS) .............................................17 Swarco ....................................................................................... 2 T-Systems .................................................................................. 5 Traffic Technology International Free Reader Inquiry Service ............................................. 87, 89 Triple Sign ................................................................................18 Vitronic.....................................................................................11
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