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EDITS Project: Stakeholder Workshop on demonstration area Austria-Italy-Slovenia in Trieste

On 28 October 2014 the EDITS (European Digital traffic infrastructure network for Intelligent Transport Systems) national workshop dedicated to the demonstration area Austria – Italy – Slovenia was held in Trieste. The event gathered around 35 stakeholders from Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia who discussed the importance of information to be provided to the passengers.

The workshop is a short presentation of the EDITS project and of the pilot developed in the demonstration area Austria-Italy-Slovenia. Unlike other demonstration areas, the pilot focuses on the road transport in the mentioned area (mainly motorways and the main roads connected to them) and regards the development of a standardised and harmonised interface for the exchange of date among the main motorway operators. This data exchange should provide information to passengers planning their trip and/reorganising it in case of sudden unforeseen events (accidents, closed roads, traffic jams or unfavourable weather conditions).

The presentation was complemented by a round table discussion during which the motorway operators, ministries of transport of Slovenia and Croatia expressed the importance of information exchange and cooperation for tackling unpredictable events on motorways. The valid cooperation of operators, but also of police forces, ministries of transport and of defence is necessary to ensure timely and proper implementation of procedures. Such procedures need to be carefully planned and agreed upon, not only at regional and national level but also across the borders, since traffic does not stop there.

In the same framework, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure of Croatia presented the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding among motorway operators: DARS, ASFINAG, HAC, Autovie Venete and Hungarian motorways to ensure cooperation beyond the national borders and agree on joint procedures.

A valid example of re-routing was provided by Autovie Venete, Italian motorway operator, who presented the re-routing of traffic from Italy (Trieste – Lisert) towards Slovenia (through Villesse) going towards Croatia during the Summer holidays. The valid agreements among DARS and Autovie Venete brought about procedures needing careful planning and coordination as such re-routing has an impact on Slovenian roads and border crossings.

Suggestions for further developments came from the Trieste port authority, who spoke about the possibility to track trucks traveling on European roads, directed to the ports of Trieste, as well as to Koper and Rijeka. Such tracking would be highly useful to ports in order to prepare their loading on ships and to complete the customs procedures. Should ships not be ready and should there be an accident or traffic jam on the roads, those trucks could even be stopped until the situation is solved.
Some of the stakeholders provided useful feedback through questionnaires distributed to all participants.
 
EDITS aims at accessibility improvement to provide interoperable and multimodal traveller information services in real time, with the intention to provide passengers pre-trip information and on trip service, both in the region and beyond. The expected result is that those services applied to several transport modes and to a cross-border area can lead towards the modal shift.

The EDITS project is funded under the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme, with a total duration of 30 months (July 2012 – December 2014).

The next appointment in the framework of the project is the EDITS Final Conference on 3 December 2014 in Vienna.

For more information: sinkovic@cei.int



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