TEPR SUPPORTS EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EU’S ITS POLICY FRAMEWORK

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS – ENSURING THAT THEY SUPPORT LOW CARBON TRANSPORT

As digital technology continues to develop, a wider range of intelligent transport systems (ITS) will become available. These will eventually (potentially) lead to the mass deployment of self-drive or autonomous vehicles, which can navigate without the need for a driver. At the same time, it is important that all technologies support the transition to zero emission transport, in order to address the climate change crisis. TEPR, as part of a wider consortium, has supported the European Commission in the development of its proposal to revise the ITS Directive, the legislation that sets the EU policy framework for the development of ITS. The Commission published its proposal to revise the ITS Directive as part of December 2021’s Green Mobility package.  

The Current ITS Policy Framework

The current EU policy framework for the development of ITS is set by the ITS Directive, which was adopted in 2010. This covered, inter alia, the standards that should apply to ITS services in the EU, including those relating to privacy, safety and security. In addition, the ITS Directive aimed to support the development of specific ITS services, such as those that provide road safety-related information and real-time traffic information, as well as multimodal travel information services (including for public transport) to drivers and travellers.

As part of a consortium, TEPR supported the European Commission in the evaluation of this Directive (see the relevant section of TEPR’s website). This found that there was still often a lack of interoperability and continuity of ITS services between countries and that there were still unsolved issues relating to the sharing of data to support ITS services. In addition, new ITS services had been emerging, such as ‘mobility as a service’ platforms, that require increased cooperation between private and public stakeholders. Hence, it was concluded that there was a need to amend the ITS Directive.

ITS services and mitigating transport’s CO2 emissions

The widespread deployment of ITS services has a range of potential benefits. For users, ITS services can facilitate travel by making planning journeys, as well as booking and paying for them, easier, while ITS traffic management services have the potential to improve the efficiency of infrastructure and vehicle use. In addition, there are potential safety benefits. However, at the same time, there is a need to ensure that transport becomes net zero emission by 2050, which will require the appropriate use and application of a range of different technologies, including ITS. This is the ambition of the proposal to revise the ITS Directive, which was published by the European Commission alongside the proposal to amend the TEN-T Guidelines (on which TEPR also worked) on 14th December 2021.

TEPR supporting the development of the EU’s ITS policy framework

The policy framework to support the development of ITS is being developed at the EU level to ensure that similar standards are applied across the EU. In addition, an EU level policy framework can help to ensure that challenges caused by different types and levels of ITS development in different EU countries can be overcome. At the same time, an EU level framework can help to ensure that ITS services contribute to other policy objectives, such as the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent damaging climate change. TEPR supported the European Commission in the development of its proposal to revise the ITS Directive. The report will be made available on the relevant section of TEPR’s website when it has been published.

For More Information

TEPR is an independent research consultancy that works on projects to improve the environmental performance of transport. For more details about the above project, or our work more generally, contact Ian Skinner at TEPR (ian.skinner@tepr.co.uk) or call +44 (0)7521 063324.

December 2021