Skip to main content

World Congress opens to news of Austrian telematics developments

Austria’s Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology has announced the start of a major test programme to evaluate telematics devices. Speaking at a press conference to launch the World Congress, Doris Bures said that from next week, 3,000 Austrian motorists would participate in a scheme to deliver in-vehicle road information. Geographcally-targeted information on road conditions, weather and traffic would be transmitted to drivers. “If you’re in a car driving on a motorway in eastern Austria,
October 22, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Doris Bures, Fedral Minister for Transport
Austria’s Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology has announced the start of a major test programme to evaluate telematics devices.

Speaking at a press conference to launch the World Congress, Doris Bures said that from next week, 3,000 Austrian motorists would participate in a scheme to deliver in-vehicle road information. Geographcally-targeted information on road conditions, weather and traffic would be transmitted to drivers.

“If you’re in a car driving on a motorway in eastern Austria, it’s not interesting to you whether, in the west of Austria, there is congestion in a tunnel. So, you will only get those pieces of information that are important for the sections of road where you are driving.”

The test, being organised by Austria’s motorway operator 750 ASFINAG, will culminate in an evaluation of the performance of the system and whether any modifications are necessary. “The goal is to develop the most sophisticated and outstanding technology that can be launched on to the market,” said Bures.

She added that her ministry had provided around €100 million of funding for ITS projects over the past decade and helped the Austria’s ITS sector to grow to 20,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, Christian Kern, CEO of Austrian Railways, announced that his company would shortly sign a contract with 1691 Google to aid travel mobility. Although details were still confidential, he said it would be similar to an arrangement between Google and 5344 Deutsche Bahn, the German rail operator, which provides a platform giving information on train connections.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Rosa Rountree calls for clarity and consistency
    December 16, 2015
    Rosa Rountree campaigns for accurate and consistent figures for the tendering of tolling concessions. If there is one thing about which Rosa Rountree is passionate, it’s numbers. That’s not surprising for a graduate accountant, but it is not only the quarterly accounts that concern the CEO and president of Egis Projects USA.
  • Hamburg to bid for 2021 ITS World Congress
    August 26, 2016
    ITS Germany used its presence at the June 2016 Europe ITS Congress in Glasgow to make two major announcements from the city of Hamburg, country’s second-largest urban area. First came a formal bid to host the 2021 ITS World Congress; second, the global unveiling of new Roadwork Administration and Decision System (ROADS) software.ROADS has emerged to enable coordination of planned transport construction projects several years before start dates, to minimise impacts on traffic flows when work begins.
  • ITS America focuses on the environment
    March 13, 2012
    ITS America's appointment of a Director of Environmental Affairs signals a major new focus
  • NHTSA opens investigation into fatal Tesla crash
    July 1, 2016
    The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary investigation into a fatal crash involving a Tesla autonomous car in Florida. According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, the 40-year-old driver was killed when his 2015 Model S drove under the trailer of an 18-wheel truck. In a blog post on the crash, which happened in early May, Tesla said “the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to t