Regions for Intelligent Transport Solutions Network (RITS-Net)

ABOUT RITS-NET

The project is funded by the ERDF. Current trends in regional development call for a higher sustainability of existing transport policies through the use of Transport Telematics or Intelligent Transport Systems (usually named ITS) solutions at regional level. European policy-makers have recently adopted legislation for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport, putting more emphasis on the use of ITS as a management tool of transport policies. While local ITS implementations already exist in certain European cities, these applications are generally not interoperable when transport activities spread out the administrative urban boundaries.

In this context, RITS-Net aims to contribute in the integration of ITS in the regional mobility planning, with the objective of improving transport policies and assuring harmonization of local ITS applications with the ITS Country plans as required by the EC Directive (2010/40/EU) on Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at enhancing regional sustainable transport policies via an increased knowledge and understanding of the full potential of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) solutions and ways to deploy them. The final objective is to help Regions developing individual ITS regional plans to be integrated in each overall mobility master plan and provide a common methodology to be further replicated.

In the process of making ITS regional plans, a series of sub-objectives will be achieved:

• Improve awareness of regional policy makers of the need to develop regional ITS plans to facilitate coordination between national obligations (implementation of the EU ITS Directive 2010/40/EU) and fragmented actions taken at urban level in compliance with the ITS Action Plan for the deployment of intelligent transport systems in Europe, COM(2008) 886 final
• Increase the capacity of regional policy makers in detecting the transport challenges and in implementing sustainable measures at territorial level able to enhance mobility while at the same time reducing congestion, accidents and pollution, there included the use of ITS solutions available to meet those challenges
• Get policy makers, regional administrations, transport service providers and operators acquainted with the wide range of ITS applications in use across Europe for the benefit of regions, and a full understanding of their implications (costs and benefits)
• Increase the skills of policy makers, regional administrations, transport service providers and operators, as well as end users (citizens in particular), to exploit the full potential of ITS instruments
• Provide to Regions know-how and concrete operational plans in order to handle modifications of the ICT infrastructure, fully aware of and aligned with EU directives on mobility
• Acquire the knowledge of a methodological roadmap to implement the regional/ territorial ITS plans accompanying the technical contents to the organisational issues already proved to be major challenges inside and outside the administrations competences and responsibilities
• Enforce local dialogue among all actors (public and private) with a stake in ITS at local, regional, national and EU level, potentially leading to the establishment of public private partnerships
• Favour dissemination and replication of the achieved results in the regional development policies in both the involved countries and, in general, in the whole EU, by means of horizontal and vertical mainstreaming actions.