Project News: CVIS workshop on policy implications

Date: 19 October 2007

ERTICO-coordinated project holds 14 September 2007 event on impact of cooperative systems on transport policy.

ERTICO – ITS Europe and ERTICO Partner Department for Transport (DfT) co-organised a 14 September 2007 workshop on policy implications of cooperative systems in Brussels. The workshop was organised within the framework of the CVIS Deployment Enablers (DEPN) sub-project tasks to look into the non-technical barriers to cooperative systems deployment.

The capability to 'link' vehicles to the roadside and to each other through seamless communications channels creates many opportunities for far-reaching innovations in the way the road network is used. However, the potential complexity of a CVIS (cooperative vehicle-infrastructure systems) environment will require a corresponding change in policy thinking to meet the significant challenges and accommodate any new institutions and mechanisms that will be needed.

In order to mitigate the barriers for any future CVIS deployment strategy, there will need to be co-ordination of policy initiatives across a wide range of stakeholders, including the policy owners responsible for road infrastructure, vehicle manufacturing, system design and telecommunications, to name but a few.

CVIS impact on transport
The purpose of the workshop was to inform policy makers on where and how CVIS might impact transport, economic and other policy areas. Technology, product and service developers gained a better understanding of the relationship of their developments to policy at European, national and local levels.

Workshop sessions focused on vehicle, safety, efficiency & environmental and driver policy, and provided background on perceived challenges and issues:

• Vehicle policy
  Cooperative systems involving infrastructure and other vehicle-dependant applications would require system-wide approaches for approvals which do not currently exist in this domain. A possible international body for road transport was suggested to help with this, possibly sharing similar responsibilities as already exist within the rail and aviation sectors.

• HMI
  The concept of 'proper control' is of major interest in legal fora: the driver is currently deemed to be fully responsible for having proper control of the vehicle at all times, but how can the risks associated with co-operative systems be managed that seek to reduce the “burden” on the driver?
• Responsibility for network management
  With increasing competition between telecom requirements against the demands from other sectors (i.e the military) and the emergence of higher bandwidth, there might be a need for national institutions to deal specifically with issues such as network interference and coverage with robust standards required for 'security' of those systems. Open access to networks is also raising its own security issues.

• Safety policy
  Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) which are already emerging from  comfort systems to support systems extending performance beyond what is currently capable in an autonomous vehicle, raise the issue of potential “risk compensation” for those vehicles/environments that would not be CVIS-enabled and whether cooperative systems have the potential to support public sector priorities for reducing road casualties.

• Efficiency & environmental policy
  With a rich stream of data available from an increasing number of “connected vehicles”, the possibility for network operators and service providers to better predict and mitigate congestion could be significantly improved. However, privacy issues exist, as authorities need to determine who should have access to the data, in what form and for what purpose. There may also be commercial reasons why data might not be readily shared.

The public sector needs to develop strategies to work with these growing independent communities that use the Internet to share points of interest (POI) and traffic information, in order to maximise the benefits from cooperative systems.

• Public transport
  CVIS needs to support the better operation of the overall transport network in reducing accidents. It should not conflict with policies promoting modal shift and public transport priority initiatives.
• Freight transport
  CVIS could have greater potential to deliver benefits in this domain compared to private motor vehicles, including close-following or electronic tow bar technologies to reduce fuel consumption or enhanced operational efficiency thanks to sophisticated routing and mapping technologies. Cooperative systems can also enhance safety features of heavy vehicles, such as predictive breaking to prevent/mitigate accidents.

• Driver policy
  A CVIS-enabled environment requires significant additional training for drivers about vehicles’ new functionalities. Incentives to realise the required levels of additional training may be possible, such as through insurance mechanisms. However, the question of who should provide what training and how this should be regulated to ensure that safety isn't compromised remains a significant challenge. Is there a need for a 'smart electronic' driver license? What necessary components would that license need to cover?

The workshop’s conclusions made it clear that the policy impacts of CVIS are wider than transport and need to be considered at the international, national and local levels. Policy development needs to be an interactive process, with coordination between those who have policy influence in all related areas. The institutions and mechanisms to achieve this have yet to be devised and put in place.

For further information on the CVIS project and its DEPN sub-project, please consult the CVIS website at www.cvisproject.org or e-mail cvis@mail.ertico.com