Highlights

As part of the URSA MAJOR neo project, the Dutch national road operator Rijkswaterstaat started a pilot on the A16 (south of Rotterdam) concerning the measurement of tire pressure of trucks.

In the periode 2018-2020 Rijkswaterstaat tested two aspects:

1. is the measurement system reliable, and
2. is the system effective, in other words: did the trial result in less tire-related incidents with trucks and in less congestion?.

Apart from these two questions Rijkswaterstaat also focused on future use of this system.

In May URSA MAJOR neo Corridor launched an "Observatory of the Mobility during Covid" within the Evaluation task, led by SINA. This Observatory targets to monitor the mobility and traffic volumes trying to understand trends during the Covid-19 Pandemic on part of the European transport network of interest for URSA MAJOR.

Picture: f.l.t.r. Stephanie Kleine, UMneo International Coordinator, Dr. Volker Wissing, Minister of Transport RP, Arno Trauden, Managing Director at Landesbetrieb Mobilität RP

As part of the URSA MAJOR neo project Rijkswaterstaat tested eight intelligent roadside units (iRSUs) in July 2018 in existing operational circumstances. In December 2018 another 20 iRSUs were installed to be used for the real-life pilot using floating car data instead of induction loops. Goal of the pilot was the application of this relatively new data source for ‘real time’ traffic management purposes (‘slow vehicle warning’). Rijkswaterstaat produced a short unconventional(!) movie to announce the development and installation of the first intelligent roadside unit.

Phase 2 of the pilot Tyre Pressure Measuring System at the Dutch A16 highway was completed some time ago. You can download here the report with the findings of phase 2. A video of the pilot (only in Dutch) can be seen here.

The URSA MAJOR neo Evaluation Workshop, which was hosted in Frankfurt on the 26^th of March, brought together 15 URSA MAJOR partners for a very successful discussion on the ITS Evaluation as well as the exchange of experiences from past evaluations. The aim of this meeting was to identify possible optimizations in the evaluation process and to ensure that all partners involved are equally informed of the evaluation activity. Furthermore, a first analysis of the implementations to be evaluated was also part of the discussion.

Freight transport, like all mobility, is changing due to increased focus on safety, efficiency and sustainability. Truck platooning and connected transport is seen as a means to reach safer, more efficient and sustainable freight transport. The Experience Week is part of the preparatory phase of the truck platooning pilot of the URSA MAJOR neo project. In this context the Experience Week Connected Transport was organised from 1 - 5 October 2018 in the Netherlands.

On 7 and 8 May 2019 around 70 experts gathered in Verona to participate in the Intermodal Workshop in Verona, organised by the URSA MAJOR neo project. Host to the workshop was Interporto Quadrante Europa, located at the crossroads of the Brenner (north-south direction) and the Serenissima motorways (west-east direction), as well as the corresponding railway lines. Interporto Quadrante Europa extends over an area of 2,500,000 m².

After testing 8 intelligent road side units (iRSUs) in July 2018 in existing operational circumstances, in December 2018 another 20 iRSUs were installed to be used for the real-life pilot using floating car data instead of induction loops. Goal of the pilot is the application of this relatively new data source for ‘real time’ traffic management purposes (‘slow vehicle warning’).

The URSA MAJOR neo workshop brought practitioners from four countries (Germany, Italy, Czech Rebublic and the Netherlands) together to discuss current approaches to improving roadworks, as well as future perspectives.

This article, written by Howard Knott, IEA Logistics Consultant, is copied from the Supply Chain & Customs Newsletter (April 2019).

On 7 and 8 May 2019 an Intermodal Freight Workshop will be held in Verona, including a visit to the rail-road terminal of Interporto Quadrante Europa in Verona. The workshop is organised by the URSA MAJOR neo project.

From detecting to signaling

The results of the first phase show that the tyre pressure measuring system is reliable enough to inform interested parties about the detected deficiencies. As a result, Rijkswaterstaat started the second phase of the pilot in December 2018. During this phase participating companies will get a message if a deficiency is observed in the tyre(s) of one of their vehicles. At the moment already 40 companies are participating with a total of 10.000 vehicles.

Photo: H. Roos/IM Nederland

Drivers of salvage vehicles in the Netherlands can send electronic safety warnings to road users. When they are working on the road, they can use an app on their smart phone to send a message, which is then forwarded to the road users.

Road users thus will be warned for potential dangerous situations before they reach the spot of the incident. At this moment the system only works for road users that use Flistmeister, but the intention is that other apps and navigation systems will follow.

Around 300 experts from 21 different countries met on 14/15 November 2018 to exchange views on 'Traffic Management in a changing world' during the ITS Forum 2018. This Forum was organised by the European ITS Platform and the ITS Corridor projects and was hosted by Rijkswaterstaat in the LEF Future Centre in Utrecht (The Netherlands).

Opening by Dutch Minister

In spite of a further increase in traffic on the motorway A 3, traffic on one of the most congested motorway sections in Germany is now to flow better. Tarek Al-Wazir, Hessian Minister of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development, Steffen Bilger, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Gerd Riegelhuth, Vice President of Hessen Mobil, pressed the start button for an important expansion of intelligent traffic control on the motorways in Hessen on the 8^th August 2018.

The URSA MAJOR neo partners are excited to present you the new UMneo brochure: 

Save the date

Roadworks information systems are important to enhance safety along the UMneo network and can significantly contribute to avoid congestion by coordinating road works across the border of operator responsibilities and by sharing data with end user services, e.g. navigation. Digitalisation of all processes in the transport system – including roadworks planning – is a major requisite for future connected and automated mobility.

On 16 July 2018 the first 8 intelligent roadside units (RSU) were installed on the A9 motorway near Alkmaar, The Netherlands. Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch national road authority, uses the RSUs to monitor and manage the traffic on the Dutch motorways. New technologies allow for smarter traffic management. Therefore, Rijkswaterstaat develops and tests a new generation of RSU, called iRSU. This work is carried out as one of the pilots in the URSA MAJOR neo project.