ERTICO: Hungarian  scheme has European potential
 
 ITS Hungary
     
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.
 
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We like it, say Irish
A convincing 93% of respondents to a recent membership survey believe that 
     
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.
France in Space
Satellite-based  navigation remains poorly understood by a significant number of actors  in the ITS industry, according to research by ATEC-
     
 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 
     
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.”
Joining forces ‘down under’
 
 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”.
    
        



