Brussels, 17/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - European transport ministers largely support opening data relating to transport and the innovative services which can result from this, like multimodal journey planners and integrated ticketing. Reacting immediately after the informal Transport and Telecommunications Council on 16-17 July, European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas welcomed this. The ministers adopted conclusions advocating better integration of European digital and transport policies. This should open the way to better support for use of intelligent transport systems (ITS) though the subject has not been in the spotlight for some time. The 2011 Transport White Paper makes this a priority for the coming ten years.
On Monday 16 and Tuesday 17, EU ministers were in Cyprus to discuss the roll-out of the ITS - a subject which the commissioner deems ambitious. “We can see the potential of the ITS but also the problems when there aren't any ITS”, he said (our translation). He reminded his listeners too that these systems can make the transport sector more competitive, all the more so as the ITS represent 5% of the cost of the infrastructure, and they bring large benefits in return. The Cypriot minister of communications and public works, Efthymios Flourentzou, insisted that “the development of trans-European transport and telecommunications networks could be more efficient if these two central policies are integrated”, and he underlined in particular the ability of the ITS to dynamise the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Flourentzou also said that “the ITS are able to offer European citizens the possibility of innovation and growth which the EU really needs”.
Open data. The conclusions reached by the EU27 emphasise opening up public databases, as the digital agenda also recommends, in order to facilitate access to data in the transport sector, especially public transport, and their re-use. In this way, more trustworthy information on multimodal journeys should be available, and transport services could become more efficient and more sure. For this reason the ministers have pledged to quickly adopt the directive on the re-use of public sector information, and are in favour of establishing a pan-European portal of open data.
Planners and ticketing. The conclusions also emphasise the promotion of European multimodal journey planners, whether that be at a national or pan-European level, so that they might offer cross-border services, from door to door. The latter should cover all modes of transport and be accompanied by integrated ticketing. But the ministers are well aware that financing is not available to assure a very wide use of ITS. They recommend that the next EU budget in 2014-2020 dedicate resources for this, especially via the CEF, and they suggest having recourse to alternative modes of financing, like public-private partnerships. They also advocate mobilising funding for the urban use of ITS.
The EU27 ministers' conclusions will be presented at the world Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems which will take place in Vienna (Austria) in October. (MD/transl.fl)