Skip to main content

Siemens provides C-ITS for Austrian highways 

German group says agreement with Asfinag facilitates I2V and V2I connection 
By Ben Spencer November 19, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Asfinag is to deploy up to 525 Siemens RSUs along Austria’s highways (© Boonrit Panyaphinitnugoon | Dreamstime.com)

Siemens Mobility has partnered with Austrian public roads operator Asfinag to provide technology for a cooperative ITS (C-ITS) system along 2,200 km of highways and expressways in Austria.

C-ITS uses broadcast technology to analyse roadway conditions and disseminate information to motorists relating to traffic jams, accidents and lane closures.

Asfinag has initiated a process to install up to 525 Siemens roadside units (RSUs) along Austria’s highways as well as establish a control centre. 

The first C-ITS services that will provide hazard warning services are expected to go into operation within the next 16 months. 

With further expansion, the services will then support autonomous vehicles and networked traffic management. 

Siemens says its technology will facilitate Infrastructure to Vehicle (I2V) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) connection, creating the necessary conditions for the installation of C-ITS.

Markus Schlitt, CEO of Siemens Mobility intelligent traffic systems, says: “We believe intelligent communication and technologies that connect vehicles of all kinds with smart infrastructure helps cities - or in this case highway authorities - manage their mobility and improve quality of life, by significantly reducing congestion, accidents and emissions.”

Asfinag managing director Bernd Datler says: “Direct short-range communication ensures that we reach vehicles immediately and independent from other networks.” 

Specifically, the Siemens cooperative management system (CMS) and RSU work together to link vehicles with infrastructure and traffic management centres through an ITS-G5 connection.

This broadcast technology provides a secure communication between vehicles and the road. 

The vehicle’s onboard unit (OBU) reports its current position, speed and direction of travel. The RSU collects this information and communicates it to the CMS.

The CMS is expected to monitor all RSUs and utilise the received information to manage traffic in real time.
 
According to Siemens, the CMS can send messages to road users via RSUs to provide alerts on hazards and the latest traffic information.

The bidirectional information exchange between RSUs and OBUs is protected by a C-ITS specific public key infrastructure, which Siemens insists ensures a high level of security and privacy. 
 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • C-ITS in the EU: ‘A little tribal’
    April 1, 2019
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong here are furrowed brows in Brussels and Strasbourg as European Union legislators begin to consider the rules which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles. The idea is to create a regulatory framework to harmonise cooperative ITS
  • Joining the dots: four ways to help cities make the connection
    May 18, 2018
    Smoothing the path to connected transportation systems in urban areas all round the world takes a lot of planning: Cisco’s Kyle Connor lays out the four key areas on which he thinks cities should focus. Forward-thinking cities around the world are exploring innovative, new ways to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) and related technologies to create more connected and efficient transportation systems. Through greater digitisation and connectivity, cities can optimise public transit routes, reduce
  • Ertico partners in step for Europe-wide cooperative traffic systems
    December 5, 2012
    According to Ertico, the future of traffic management on urban and inter-urban networks will rely on direct communication and interaction between vehicles and the infrastructure, using new technologies called cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) that support real-time exchange of traffic data. This cooperation can enable a wide range of applications such as vehicle-sourced data collection, green light and speed advice, automated hazard detection, selective vehicle priority, dynamic city logisti
  • ITS America seeks stable and secure platform for connected vehicles
    May 30, 2013
    The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) has issued a statement following the submission of comments regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking to amend the Commission’s rules to allow for the operation of Unlicensed National Infrastructure (U-NII) Devices in the 5850-5925 MHz Band (“5.9 GHz Band”) which was set aside by the FCC for the development of connected vehicle technology.