Intelligent Transport Systems in France (ITS)

BROCHURE Direction Générale des Infrastructures, des Transports et de la Mer Intelligent Transport Systems in France (ITS) Juin 2011 Ministère de l'écologie, du Développement durable, des Transports et du Logement www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in France Progress in transport information and communication systems, which began more than 30 years ago (centralized management of intersections, real time traffic information with Bison Futé, etc.) is currently entering a phase of rapid change with new players, new tools and new expectations for large scale interoperable services. France has been a pioneer in many fields. The projects currently being put in place (transport tickets on mobile phones or connected cars for example) require cooperation between public systems installed in limited areas and intelligent objects made by industry for the world market. European coordination is a must, as is the creation of a national ecosystem, if we are to attain a level of service that meets users' expectations (which is not yet the case) and maintain development and production capacities that can have an impact internationally. The government is committed to facilitate creation and to guarantee the sustainability of this public private system.

I Introduction and Objectives Intelligent Transport Systems should support public transport policies : optimizing use of the network for passengers and goods through multimodal use promoting public transport by providing user information and ticketing systems Transport card validator road safety via automated controls and road data transmission reduced energy consumption and pollution through traffic management systems and connected cars. Intelligent transport systems are made by industrial and high tech companies; there exist a wide range of these systems. There are also many possibilities for major new developments given the rapid progress of technology, and it is important that we use it to help seize the opportunity to create added value and jobs. However, development in the sector will only be sustainable if the market is widely developed, which will depend on two conditions: ITS must support public transport policies at the various levels where decisions concerning them are made, followed up on and financed; Economies of scale must be brought into play; this means multiple players must be focused on interoperability. European, national and local policies include similar objectives, which, given the complexity of the issues and the multitude of different users needs, can only be reached using highperformance ITS. Main objectives of STI policy 1. providing network infrastructure operators and transport service providers tools through which they can offer customers end to end solutions that optimize the capacities of existing transport modes while respecting the rules of fair competition; 2. improving safety, especially road safety by increasing knowledge and understanding of the rules that should be applied and changing behaviors by providing automated checks; 3. improving quality of life and mobility services in cities for residents and visitors by facilitating use of public transport and ecofriendly travel modes, particularly via multimodal information, ticketing systems and high performance urban logistics organization; 4. reducing social inequality by improving accessibility, both for people with reduced mobility and for areas that enjoy less service; 5. control energy consumption and emissions of pollutants by decreasing traffic congestion and developing indicators for each category of decision makers (including end users) that will inform them of the consequences of their actions; responsive devices using all available data can help modify behavior. Surveillance crossroad radar

II Actors and consultation In designing these systems there needs to be closer cooperation between the customer representatives and suppliers given the greater financial context of budgetary restrictions, communication campaigns about intelligent transport systems led by solution providers alone will not be enough to convince project owners, especially those in the public sector. Representative structures: ATEC ITS France brings together all those interested in intelligent transport, including industries, consultants, researchers, experts in state and local government services who are part of working groups, technical congresses, the Revue TEC publication and the annual national Francophone Congress. Similar organizations exists in most EU member states and there is also ERTICO ITS Europe, a Belgium based association that has counted France as a member since its creation in 1994 along with nearly a hundred major figures from industry and public authorities. Local governments are key figures since they are project owners for a number of transport systems (public transportation, regional and urban roads, emergency services, etc.) that today are fragmented but which could operate at lower costs if they were developed from the outset to meet the needs of users traveling from one region to another. Crossroad control centre in Paris The state has several roles: regulation, planning, operation, licensing authority. The General Directorate of Infrastructure, Transport and the Sea (DGITM) is in regular contact with : The Assembly of French counties within the Committee of Roadway Project Owners (COMOAR) The Group of Transport Authorities, (GART) within the Platform for Research and Experimentation for Multimodal Information (PREDIM) for several years and as part of the strategic committee for the new French Agency for Multimodal Information and Smart Ticketing (AFIMB) and its working groups. Increased use of ITS raises multiple questions for different administrative bodies, which will need to cooperate on certain subjects. When governments respond to issues concerning transport, they generally address them mode by mode safety, competition and cooperation among providers, financing, nuisances. These questions include technical and social dimensions that are different for road, rail, river and maritime transport. The first intelligent transport systems were also developed mode by mode, systems to facilitate the exchange of information among different positions within a company, then between companies and their customers, suppliers and regulatory authorities. Currently, decentralization, European integration and awareness of global problems such as congestion, energy consumption and climate protection, call for a more cooperative approach. National Administration must cooperate more amongst themselves and also with local governments to move forward projects on : User information for multimodal transport services several levels of local government are involved (regions, counties, metropolitan areas or urban communities and their various groupings under transport authorities) and decisions made at the national level must take into account the way that issues are dealt with at these various levels. A national agency (French Agency for Multimodal and Ticketing Information) has been created to work with the DGITM. The steering committee brings together everyone concerned, including the DGCIS and the direction of the Ministry of Economy, Finances and Industry, in charge of the digital economy; Freight transportation and logistics, the research program for standardization NORMAFRET created by the DGITM includes professionals, the DGCIS and the French Customs Directorate General; Road safety cooperation has always been deemed necessary, even before the issue of intelligent transport came up, since the creation of an inter ministerial committee in 1972 (for which the various ministers met regularly to determine

public policy) and a delegation (a permanent team charged with preparing the decisions and ensuring that they are applied). As for information systems, there is a need for constant information exchange at least among the infrastructure operators that are responsible for operating the road network and ITS equipment installed thereon (national network not under concession, roads under concession, départements, cities), the policing authorities that set the rules for driving in particular areas and those charged with enforcing the rules of the road as well as the countys that control and approve vehicles. Highway control centre Depending on the exact details of the issue, other countys may be concerned, such as emergency services, road assistance service providers, automobile manufacturers, telecommunications companies, etc... III The European ITS Directive The directive 2010 40/EU of 7 July 2010, Framework for the Coordinated and Effective Deployment and Use of Intelligent Transport Systems, entered into force August 2010. The European Commission will define specifications in four essential fields that will bring about coordinated development of interoperable ITS across Europe. In 2011 and 2012, member states must give reports on existing and planned systems. In the years following, they will have to report on the measures taken to implement the specifications. The positive aspects that justify ITS being rolled out in France today are multimodality (information systems can greatly help with flow management for freight transport as well as for transferring passengers from cars to public transport), environmental benefits (eco driving, help informing people about emissions) and sharing development costs (open systems that better take into account purchasers needs, particularly local governments). Six actions to work on as priorities were chosen as the subject of specifications: 1) the provision of EU wide multimodal travel information services; 2) the provision of EU wide real time traffic information services; 3) data and procedures for the provision, where possible, of road safety related minimum universal traffic information free of charge to users ; 4) the harmonised provision for an interoperable EU wide ecall; 5) the provision of information services for safe and secure parking places 6) the provision of reservation services for safe and parking places for trucks and commercial vehicles. The ITS Committee set out in article 15 of the Directive was put in place in December 2010 and is made up of representatives from member states.the Committee will give to the Commission the opinions of national administrations about its working program. Information. It is important that the possible consequences of the specifications be evaluated precisely at the national level; this will require that those most directly concerned be informed of the possible scenarios and be given the opportunity to give their opinion. An inter ministerial ITS working group has been set up by the French Secretariat General for European Affairs (SGAE); The Committee of Roadway Project Owners, which is charged with contributing to national policy on RST orientations for ITS, is currently gathering all the information that will help take into consideration local governments position. In order to raise awareness among professionals on European efforts, ATEC created an information platform (http://url.exen.fr/34615) that will facilitate dialog between private and public sector. ATEC ITS website

III ITS Policies in France Road information Road information has existed in France for many years and is constantly being developed (the Bison Futé s service, major road radios, adjustable message panels, travel time information as well as various services provided by public or private operators). At the same time, multimodal services are beginning to be developed, particularly internet sites. But this information can and should continue to be developed with the goals of : improving service continuity across a region; providing more, better multimodal information; allowing new services to be created using all the data available from multiple sources and via multiple mediums made possible in part by increased capacity of data communications networks. Sytadin website : Traffic situation in Ile de France Traffic management needs to be developed at three levels which requires different actions : On a regional, inter regional and even international level, traffic management plans are needed; this will make it possible to plan and act in a timely manner on a particular road section in case of major problems. Many plans exist already but they should be improved using feedback gathered and extended to include all regions. The major developments to be rolled out in the coming years concern dynamic traffic management at the intermediate level, installing dynamic speed regulation and road access control systems, variable lane use or the ability to forbid lorries from passing at certain times on the busiest road sections. At the local level, incident management can be improved by extending traffic surveillance to more parts of the roads network and also by improving long road tunnel facilities following the program for improving road tunnel safety. Freight transport Using communications and information technology for road system information services for freight transport is a relatively new idea and the systems required for it still need to be perfected on several points. They are currently in a development phase and are not yet available for use. In the near future the focus will be on developing information systems to indicate available parking places in service areas along certain roads and on implementing internet information services about regulations and procedures for exceptionally large goods vehicles. Other information systems for lorries (tolls, checks on driving and rest time, weighing of moving vehicles) concern systems implemented by public authorities or freight and fleet management systems implemented by private companies. For example, for proper, safe transport of dangerous materials, in addition to the real time locating of vehicles and equipment, information systems should also be able to manage access to infrastructures and certain dense or protected geographic areas (geofencing), selection of a specific itinerary (corridoring) as well as the concentration thresholds for dangerous materials in parking areas, marshalling yards, depots and ports and for the distances between vehicles. Lastly, a secure incident alert system and an adequate emergency response are absolutely necessary. Most dangerous materials shippers and transporters when dealing with the most sensitive materials use a vehicle control and monitoring data transmission system following European directives as well as an on board management tool for the load (temperature, pressure) depending on the type of material and the regulations imposed by international conventions, ADR, RID and ADNR. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE), which works on road transport of dangerous materials, instituted a data transmission workshop for bringing on line multi function, interoperable intelligent systems. Secure parking areas for lorries The aim of the ITS Directive is not to specify how parking areas should be laid out in order to make them safe nor is it to determine the conditions for how these facilities should be used.

It concerns only systems that provide information on the existence and availability of these areas and make reservations for them. In France, 6 areas have been controlled and approved as part of the European LABEL project. Road hauliers are attentive to the location of these areas and the services provided there. Using ITS to help protect the environment Providing figures for the CO2 emissions related to a transport service was made mandatory following the Grenelle de l Environnement meetings. The texts to implement that requirement have not yet been adopted, but the tools to put that in place will certainly involve processing data issued by operating systems or even in some cases by the infrastructure management systems. Hazardous materials transport France favors progressive integration of multimodal information systems at the European level and as a result the drafting of specifications that will make it possible to meet users need for information when they travel across member states borders. Such specifications will make it possible for new and updated systems to be interoperable immediately, and as much as possible to work with existing systems without disrupting them It is important that they can continue to function even as long as the project owners have not updated them. ITS and Driving Aids ITS make driving easier and safer. Navigation systems allow drivers to optimize trips; they may also include information about the layout of the road and particularities in terms of speed limits. Eco driving systems used as part of a training program can significantly reduce fuel consumption (by around 5 to 15%). Speed regulators can be adapted to the regulations in force in a particular area, with positive effects on safety and traffic. Much research is being done in this field, particularly on cooperative systems that may involve installing equipment on road infrastructure. Quality of Information There are more and more sources of information and ways to access it; at the same time travelers needs are more varied, all of which together create the prefect conditions for a mobility information market to develop. There are many positive aspects to this, as well as some possible problems. In particular, the quality of information is only improved by the increased amount of data available if it can be properly processed. This relatively complex organization is difficult to perceive by the end users. Also, in emergencies the information coming from standard data processing processes may either not be available or may lead travelers to inappropriate alternate possibilities. Infrastructure and transport network operators very much want to have clearly defined rules about the information that mobility assistance service providers can supply. That issue is subject to debate. Tachograph : numerical machine of control of rest and driving time Emergency call The European e Call system must be developed as coherent set of assistance and emergency services with guaranteed quality and interoperability given the following conditions : 1. We cannot rely on users nor on automated systems to distinguish between calls for assistance (for example for a tow truck) and emergency calls (requesting help for a wounded person).

There are about 20 times more calls for assistance than there are emergency calls. There needs to be a portion of the process in the system that verifies whether emergency rescue services are needed, what is known as removing any doubt, or confirmation. 2. Member states are charged with organizing their emergency services. Depending on their size and the local habits, some have decided to create a single national platform that could deal with both emergency calls and calls for assistance. But this is not the case everywhere. In France the general opinion was that emergency calls should be handled as locally as possible, through the services of each county. For users who would like nationwide assistance service, private companies have grown up and those companies will contact, if necessary, the emergency services. A reference list has been drawn up to monitor the quality of these services call fielding and confirmation; this way the emergency services can agree to accept calls from approved private platforms, even those located in other countries. 3. The European system that will be put in place should be neutral on the choices of different countries. It should not impose any requirement on member states to be responsible for processing calls for assistance (which would be charged to taxpayers). This issue concerns, among others, road safety, the Ministry of the Interior (Department of Civil Safety, fire department), Industry (Telecommunications and vehicle approvals), Health (organization of the emergency medical services that in some counties receive emergency calls made to 112) and local governments (particularly counties) that finance fire brigades. It is important that all players understand the consequences in terms of operating costs, the organization and responsibility of each player in the various possible scenarios. IV Territorial ITS Policies SNIT and ITS The national transport infrastructure (SNIT) plan is part of the application of the Grenelle de l Environnement decisions. Its goal is to fully incorporate all the aspects of sustainable development (environmental, social and economic) into public policy for transport infrastructure while meeting society s needs for mobility. The timeframe for the plan is 20 to 30 years in the future. The strategy is organized around four key points: Optimizing existing transport system thereby reducing the need to create new infrastructures; Improving transport system s service to regions; Improving transport system s energy efficiency; Reducing the environmental footprint of transport facilities and infrastructures. It is broken down into 58 different actions that orient infrastructure operators operation, maintenance and network modernization policies. Intelligent road transport systems have a role to play in this strategy. As part of Optimizing existing transport system, the Developing road information systems and dynamic traffic management action focuses on extending the real time road information systems to express road networks and installing dynamic traffic management systems on the most heavily traveled sections of the national network : automatic incident detection speed regulation and controlling access temporarily forbidding lorries to pass dynamic lane management re routing - traffic conditions simulations to better plan how to manage traffic.

ITS Policy at the Regional Level The regions of France, as the authorities that organize regional transport and rail transport in particular, are directly concerned by ITS. Several have already taken the initiative and coordinated installation of multimodal information systems for the region as well as interoperable payment or ticketing systems. With regards to their economic capabilities, they pay particular attention to ensuring continuity of service across the borders of a region, especially when a large number of workers commute from one region to another. Several regions have put in place intelligent freight policies, both to organize the flow of goods, promote dematerialized information exchanges and to provide added value for logistics activities. ITS Policy at the County Level French counties operate a large portion of the rail system and are therefore directly concerned by ITS. The road systems, for which they are also responsible, cover extremely varied terrain, from rural to densely urban areas and in some cases the rapidly developing periurban areas; they are faced with major changes in the type and volume of traffic. The needs that ITS could meet vary greatly between counties, making it difficult to define priorities. Interoperability between urban networks and the national network must be addressed as soon as cooperative systems are in question because it can be difficult both for vehicles and for drivers to identify which services are available at a specific place. Counties are also responsible for transport (organizing school transport, social solidarity actions meaning they play a role in transport on demand, etc.), tourism and emergency services (their fire fighting and rescue services are public institutions of which the head of local government serves as president of the board of directors). If counties are to include ITS in their roads, transport, travel and environmental strategies, as future project owners they will need to have specific information about the solutions that are already available or could quickly be created if industry were more aware of their specific needs. ITS Policy for Sustainable Cities Mobility is a growing concern for cities their development and their attractiveness depend directly on their ability to maintain and if possible, improve the comfort, regularity and speed of the transportation they provide their residents and visitors for getting to work, businesses and services. At the same time growth of cities makes guaranteeing mobility more and more difficult in terms of financing, energy consumption and environmental impact. ITS could certainly contribute to this issue if it were more widely used. It can be included in several fields: Transport plans and division of activities must be carried out logically both for new services or refurbished networks in cities. Information about the types of journeys can be gathered by analyzing data from ITS used in the operation of a network. These data can be used in the simulation models at several levels. Models are indispensable for decision making, under the condition that they use quality data, meaning constituted of complete series of long term, reliable information. High speed mass transport is becoming more and more necessary as cities grow larger and larger, meaning more people are traveling longer distances. Integrating regional rail, subways, streetcars, express roads, bridges and tunnels is now required by large urban areas. ITS can be the tools to help these systems operate (managing the supply) as well as the tool to provide information to travelers and drivers. VMS We also expect ITS to help manage crises by proposing coherent measures (management plans) to different network operators as well as tools for exchanging information about the situation in a city and how it could evolve (predictions and simulations).

Managing urban traffic (in dense city centers) has long been a quest to optimize road use for cars, to the detriment of bicycles, pedestrians and the quality of bus services. Current policies to limit car use in cities are now based on stoplight regulating systems that are developed to give priority to mass transit vehicles, particularly when they use specially reserved lanes. Tram priority ITS can be used for bus fleet operation, to ensure the availability of vehicles, constant communication with drivers, monitoring of regular service of buses at stops and incident management. User information systems for public transport have an important role to play in convincing people who have a car to not use it systematically. These multimodal information services are concrete examples of the idea that transport modes have to cooperate to serve the user. Increasing use of internet and mobile information devices has created user expectations for integrated, multimodal mobility information services. Most companies that manage transport infrastructures and systems in cities are not prepared to meet these expectations. This would be a positive change that should be encouraged by determining the specifications that will allow companies in the new mobility services supplier field to collect data from operators infrastructures, transport operators, city authorities and other sources in order to provide their customers with information in various forms (personalized services) over various mediums, guaranteeing quality information in all circumstances. In France, ITS interoperability for public transport is a question that was raised as early as 10 or 12 years ago : National ticketing system charter of 1998, The Solidarity and Urban Renewal Law (SRU) of 1999 that gives the organizing authorities responsible for urban transport plans the responsibility of instituting multimodal information services, Creation in 2002 of the Platform for Research and Experimentation to Promote Multimodal Information (PREDIM) in a charter signed by Ministries (Transport, Research and Industry), local government (GART, Ville de Paris), transport companies, the national government (CERTU IFSTTAR) and industry to help create projects, move forward on technical issues, and, in cooperation with the standardization bodies, study usage and legal aspects (status of personal data). As part of the Grenelle environmental agreement, creation in August 2010 of the French Agency for Multimodal Information and Smart Ticketing (AFIMB) with a strategic committee that includes all the important figures (national and local government, transport companies, users) in order to support standardization and link the systems created by the organizing bodies so that they can answer users requests for travel itineraries outside of their region. While the ITS implemented have many points in common, today they are perceived by users as different systems that do not cover all areas of the country. The overall goal of controlling pollution emissions in major cities in France is found in the requirement to draw up and review urban travel plans. ITS can play a role in helping different urban players evaluate their emissions and travel plans (PDA, PDE, PDIE) in relation with their urban travel plans and the regional energyclimate action plans. Urban logistics with new forms of mobility (carpooling, car sharing and rental, ecofriendly travel modes) need easy, low-cost information systems to be developed (Internet sites or touchless mobile services to organize itineraries, reservations, payment, etc.). Lastly, controlling parking helps limit the number of single passenger cars in city centers. Monitoring speed in dense urban areas will make it possible to safely integrate other forms of transport. Eco-driving systems and speed controls that adapt to the changes in the speed limit also will help save fuel and improve flow of traffic in urban areas.

PERSONAL NOTES

Ministère de l Ecologie, du Développement durable, des Transport et du Logement Direction générale des Infrastructures, des Transports et de la Mer Arche Sud 92055 La Défense Cedex Tél. : 01 40 81 21 22 DICOM_DGITM Juin 2011 Crédits photos : L.Mignaux/MEDDTL (page de couv + p.2,10), G.Crossay/MEDDTL (page de couv), B.Suard/MEDDTL (p.4,9), DiRIF (page de couv + p.5,8), Actia (page de couv + p.7), Ville de Paris (p.1), AFSA (p.2), ATEC ITS (p.3), SAFRAN (p.4) Imprimé sur du papier certifié écolabel européen www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr