Co-operative driving apps

Weastflows case study: 03

Co-operative driving apps

Traffic on the A67 in the Netherlands

More than 3.8 billion tonne-kilometres of freight is moved through

Making co-operative driving possible in practice, individual drivers

Europe annually and this is increasing year-on-year (Eurostat 2012),

were provided with real-time traffic information and specific driving

with road transport having a market share of more than 75%.

notifications that were relevant to their journey. This included

In the Netherlands, road congestion costs the economy around

advice on:

€1 billion every year. Innovative in-vehicle solutions could help

• accelerating or reducing speed

make better use of the existing road capacity by optimising traffic

• following distance between vehicles

flows, solving congestion problems, improving safety and reducing

• optimum lane changing

environmental impact.

• route guidance • merging lane and collision avoidance.

Beter Bereikbaar Zuidoost-Brabant (BBZOB), a project organisation of 24 local and regional authorities, and Mobycon, a research

Traffic alerts were also integrated into the apps to help drivers find

consultancy, trialled a combination of three existing online

out if there were accidents or slowing traffic ahead on their journey,

driving apps (ZOOF, Smoover and BlikR) for smartphones in the

so they could plan alternative routes.

Netherlands to help improve road safety and traffic movement.

The apps were downloaded by 2,600 separate users and were

The technology used existing cloud data from road side systems,

trialled by approximately 130 car and truck drivers every day

such as traffic cameras and overhead signs, and data from

between September and December 2014 on the A67 motorway,

in-car sensors. The driving apps also used vehicle detection loops,

which connects Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. A major

electromagnetic communication systems that can detect vehicles

transport bottleneck, the A67 is one of the busiest motorways in

passing or arriving at a certain point (for example, approaching a

North West Europe (NWE), with freight movement representing

traffic light or in motorway traffic), and ‘floating car’ data, which picks

up to 40% of the motorway’s traffic.

up drivers’ locations from their mobile phones, to help determine the traffic speed on the road network.

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Co-operative driving apps

Top and above: Traffic on the A67

Traffic alert on an app

Speed notification on an app

Based on these different data sources,

Lessons and recommendations

tailor-made advice was calculated in real

The pilot’s implementation of driving

time and provided to the car and truck users

apps in traffic has generated interest from

via their smartphones. Smart and complex

policymakers, because cooperative mobility

algorithms were used to predict potential

offers potential for preventing congestion

traffic problems and determine

and accidents by making traffic systems

tailor-made driving advice to prevent

smarter. It also offers the ability to explore

them from happening or to alert drivers to

possibilities for alternatives to road capacity

real-time situations. Having access to wider

expansion.

data on so many individual drivers and vehicles allowed for the most optimal traffic

During the pilot, a major accident occurred

flow possibility. This is a new and innovative

when a truck hit the tail of a traffic queue

step towards full co-operative mobility,

on the A67. As a result, the motorway

with the aim to have all drivers using these

was closed for most of the day. The truck

systems.

driver was not using one of the pilot apps.

However, from analysing other drivers’

Transnational engagement

reactions to the alerts they received a few

BBZOB and Mobycon worked in a close

hundred meters before the traffic jam, the

partnership with LAGIS, the National

use of the apps might have prevented the

Research Centre and University of Lille’s joint

driver from hitting the traffic jam tail.

research unit in France. LAGIS has significant experience in the fields of diagnosis,

The next steps will focus on scaling up the

reliability, process engineering, sustainable

use of the driving apps. Initially they will be

transportation and logistics systems. It

made available on other Dutch motorways.

undertook an analysis and inventory of all

Future development could include using

available ICT applications to help choose the

the apps in other countries across Europe,

best solutions to optimise traffic congestion

applying real time information for specific

and driving on the A67.

situation using available data sources.

Benefits and results The evaluation of the pilots is still ongoing and the final results will follow in spring 2015. It is anticipated that trial outcomes will include improved traffic safety, eased

Weastflows (west and east freight flows) – an INTERREG IVB North West Europe (NWE) project funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) – aimed to improve and enhance freight logistics across a west-east axis in the NWE region. The project brought together experts from all sectors of the freight transport industry to work towards connecting supply chains in the region with the wider freight network across the rest of Europe and Asia. Through a combination of freight mapping, innovative technology and a drive to promote sustainable logistics, Weastflows has worked to generate a step-change in the industry. This helps deliver economic, social and environmental benefits to both communities and businesses across the region.

Lead partners • CRITT Transport et Logistique (FR) • Institute for Sustainability (UK) Partners • Agence d’Urbanisme de la Région du Havre et de l’Estuaire de la Seine (AURH) (FR) • Beter Bereikbaar Zuidoost-Brabant (BBZOB) (NL) • Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM) (NL) • Centre for Quantitative Methods (CQM) (NL) • Communication and Tracking Services (CTS) (FR) • InforIT (NL) • Institut du Droit International des Transports (IDIT) (FR) • Intermodality (UK) • Irish Exporters Association (IEA) (IE) • Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) (IE) • Liverpool John Moores University (LOOM) (UK) • Logistique Seine-Normandie (LSN) (FR) • Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) (LU) • Mobycon (NL) • Portsmouth International Port (UK) • South East Scotland Transport Partnership (SEStran) (UK) • Transports Terrestres Promotion Northern France (i-Trans) (FR) • Universität Duisburg-Essen (UNI-DUE) (DE) • University of Science and Technology of Lille (USTL-LAGIS) (FR) • Verband Region Rhein-Neckar (VRRN) (DE)

congestion and a reduced number of accidents.

For further information, please contact: Institute for Sustainability 49-51 East Road, London N1 6AH, UK T: +44 (0) 20 7517 1830 E: info@instituteforsustainability.org.uk www.weastflows.eu

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