Skip to main content

Associations News around Europe

ERTICO ITS-Europe’s director of partnership services Rasmus Lindholm has met directors of Hungary’s National Mobile Payment scheme to explore opportunities for future cooperation. The event took place against the backdrop of the two organisations’ shared aim of putting ITS at the heart of the country’s Intermodal Transport Roadmap.
April 30, 2015 Read time: 4 mins
A French Pleiades-1 high-resolution imaging satellite

ERTICO: Hungarian  scheme has European potential

ITS Hungary

374 ERTICO ITS-Europe’s director of partnership services Rasmus Lindholm has met directors of Hungary’s National Mobile Payment scheme to explore opportunities for future cooperation. The event took place against the backdrop of the two organisations’ shared aim of putting ITS at the heart of the country’s Intermodal Transport Roadmap.

Lindholm sees the state-run Mobile Payment scheme as achieving more than just benefits for Hungary. “It has the potential to become a source of inspiration for public authorities and service providers across Europe,” he said.

 Echoing the point was Lajos Barcsa, deputy mayor of Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, which faces mounting mobility challenges and is looking to public transport as a prime means of meeting them. “Sharing experience and learning from each other is essential,” he said.  

In its initial phase, which went live in July 2014, the scheme is enabling users to pay by mobile phone for parking and distance-based truck tolls. It will be rolled out to cover public transport fare payment, with the emphasis on enabling interoperable smart ticketing and multimodal travel.

The initiative forms an integral element in Hungary’s commitment to build ‘intelligent cities’ in conformity with EU Directive SCC3-2015 on the development of system standards for smart communities that will run on ITS-based transport.

  • %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkInternal ITS Ireland ITSIreland false #ITS-Ireland true false%>
  • %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal ITS France ITS-France false #ITS-France true false%>
  • %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkInternal ITS Australia ITS Austraila false #ITS-Aus true false%>

ITS Ireland

We like it, say Irish

A convincing 93% of respondents to a recent membership survey believe that 7075 ITS Ireland’s existence is important for the development of the sector. Major reasons for joining include widening knowledge of ITS and networking with other members, with networking emerging as the best aspect of the 2014 conference.

All who attended technical seminars and training events found them of value. But most would like to see greater emphasis on innovations. Over 95% are happy for their contact details to be shown on the ITS Ireland website.


 ITS France

France in Space

Satellite-based navigation remains poorly understood by a significant number of actors in the ITS industry, according to research by ATEC-8082 ITS France. Its findings show that some regard GPS as a fully-developed technology, “capable of dealing with every possible locational problem”; for others, it insufficiently reliable.

 The truth, says ATEC, “lies in between”. To help clarify issues, it staged a one-day seminar on 16 March to give those attending a deeper understanding of the underlying principles, strengths and weaknesses of the technology, and of the relevant contexts for deployment.

The programme covered themes including the role of GPS in developing the intelligent cities of the future; and, in a contribution from the Bordeaux Metropolitan Council, in real-time monitoring of public transport services.

The southwestern French city will become a focus of global interest in the technology as the venue of the 2015 6456 ITS World Congress, running from 5-9 October, which has ‘Better Use of Space’ as a major theme. ATEC-ITS France is a host partner.

Speaking for the International Programme Committee, which has just announced the receipt of over 900 papers, French ecology minister Roger Pagny recently said: “The Congress aims to kick-start a new technological era by bridging the awareness gap between ITS and the space sector.”


ITS Australia

Joining forces ‘down under’

858 ITS Australia is, for the first time, collocating the country’s two main sector events – the ITS Summit and the National Electronic Tolling Forum – at a single venue in Melbourne from 12-14 May. Says CEO Susan Harris: “Combining the two will deliver the most important gathering of ITS professionals in Australia in 2015.”

One session will cover the role of ITS in enhancing the transport user’s experience - against the backdrop of recent research by business consultants PWC for the country’s Tourism & Transport Forum. This stresses the “aversion to the unknown” lying at the heart of users’ perceptions, “often driven by disproportionate attention to system failures”. 

Related Content

  • March 1, 2016
    Intertraffic 2016 programme now online
    The seminar programme for Intertraffic 2016 is now online, including more than 80 theatre sessions, presentations, round tables, workshops and demonstrations. These include topics such as: Launch of Intelligent Public Space; the gateway to smart solutions and applications in public space; Digital Transport paving the way for new chapter in C-ITS; Successfully deploying automated speed enforcement programs; Multimodal Traffic Management - Bridge Management System as well as presentations by manufacturers and
  • May 5, 2015
    Register now for Australian ITS Summit and NeTC
    For the first time, the Australian ITS Summit and the National electronic Tolling Conference (NeTC), which takes place on 12-14 May in Melbourne, will combine as the most important gathering in Australia for ITS professionals in 2015. Delegates attending the combined Summit/NeTC Tolling Conference will have flexibility in attendance and choice of sessions. Attendees can register for: just the NeTC Tolling Conference, just the ITS Summit, or both.
  • December 4, 2012
    Europe calls for guidance on evaluating ITS projects
    A European Commission study report has revealed a lack of consistency or standard practice for evaluating the funding needs and fiscal performance of ITS projects. New guidelines are urgently needed for monitoring public funding of ITS schemes, says a recent report from the European Commission (EC). A specially-commissioned study has found no readily available comparative analysis of transport funding schemes and ITS investment methodologies to support project decision making. A survey of nine EU member sta
  • October 9, 2015
    Smart Mobility World 2015
    Smart Mobility World 2015, organised by ClickutilityTeam and Innovability, takes place in Monza, Italy, from 28-30 October 2015. It provides an opportunity to engage with experts in the machine-to-machine market, with an industry-led, market-driven conference agenda focused on the machine to machine market. Industry experts will share their expertise on trends impacting future development, alongside an exhibition of mobility solutions, applications and embedded devices.