(by Vito Coviello - Manager AIDR) Interoperability, connectivity - permanent connectivity, IT security - Cyber security: these are all terms that have now become part of the common language, perennially connected and perhaps even a little more alone when we "detach" from social networks. But this life of ours perpetually connected has not deprived us of the desire to travel in our free time and, above all, has not completely freed us from the constant movements that we make every day for work reasons.
Where are we then with the evolution of intelligent road systems? How are we facing and solving the known problems of public and private mobility? Are we all confident and aware that constant technological evolution can allow us to solve numerous problems in dealing with our daily movements within the city and from one city to another?
The question that many are asking is: what are the projects, investments and, above all, what are the waiting times to have safer and smoother roads and smarter cities?
In the next paragraphs we will try to take stock of European projects on the subject of “Intelligent and cooperative transport”, on the experiments underway in Italy and in the main cities.
We will start with this first article from European projects and, specifically, from the project European C-Roads which sees Italy among the protagonists, to continue with subsequent articles and focus on the experimentation underway in our country, we will then continue with the active and / or start-up projects in our main metropolitan cities.
The European C-ROADS project
C-Roads is a European platform that arises from a shared initiative between the member states of the European Union and provides for cooperation between states and road operators for the implementation of C-ITS services in order to harmonize technology and standards with the aim of a more complete cross-border interoperability.
But what are C-ITS services?
The term ITS (intelligent transport systems) refers to the integration of knowledge in the field of telecommunications, electronics, information technology with transport engineering to improve the safety of people driving, the safety and security of vehicles and of goods.
Telematics, therefore, which integrates with transport engineering, paying particular attention to optimizing the use of natural resources and respecting the environment ".
Cooperative ITS or C-ITS (cooperative systems) therefore include a set of technologies and applications that make it possible to create an exchange of data based on wireless communication technologies between the various components and actors of the transport system. It refers to communications between vehicles (V2V) or between vehicles and infrastructure (V2I).
The development of an intelligent cooperative transport system starts with less complex use cases such as the provision of services that include messages about traffic jams, dangerous areas, road works and slow or stationary vehicles, weather information and speed advice in order to harmonize traffic.
But how is the above being achieved? Using data relating to the probe vehicle and infrastructure; all C-ITS services must be transmitted directly to the vehicles in order to allow users to be informed without being distracted.
The approach of the C-Roads platform is of the "top Down" type where cooperation at European level cannot ignore the sharing of experiences and knowledge among all the actors involved and, among the actors, the involvement of the user.
The project therefore foresees a series of National pilots which are the basis for the subsequent pan-European implementation of the C-ITS platform.
The digitalization of the transport system is, therefore, an indispensable necessity and will give irreplaceable support to users of the road transport system: for some time now self-driving cars have been experimented and tested on the road which will be able to be placed on the market in a short time. but, first of all, it is a priority to make mobility “smart” and adapt infrastructures.
The C-ITS will therefore make Europe's roads increasingly intelligent and ensure that the car can communicate with the infrastructure itself. IOT and communications via 5G will make it possible to achieve these goals in a system where everything will be connected: from the traffic light to the road sign.
The cars will be equipped with technology that will allow users to receive more and more information, more and more updated data on traffic and on the optimal driving speed to maintain.
The European Union wants to create a unified network to be made available to all manufacturers in order to adopt a single standard.
It is a challenge, that of the launch of these new technologies, which will also concern aspects such as the control of privacy and the protection of personal data.
The European project is also about autonomous driving and many countries have already made some sections of the road available to test “unmanned” cars. Car manufacturers participate in the project, Tesla with the Autopilot system.