The European
Parliament adopted by 276 votes to 22, with 6 abstentions, a resolution on
the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Action Plan.
The resolution
welcomes the Commission Action Plan on ITS and stresses that ITS is a key
instrument for using existing infrastructure effectively and for making
transport more efficient, safer and secure and environmentally cleaner, thus
contributing to the development of sustainable mobility for citizens and the
economy.
The Parliament
deplores the delay in setting up a common framework for the implementation of
ITS in the EU and the lack of coordinated deployment of ITS with specific
targets, due mainly to barriers to interoperability, a lack of efficient
cooperation among all actors, and unsolved data privacy and liability issues.
MEPs strongly believe that it is necessary to set up an instrument
fostering the use of ITS in transport policy and support a legislative
instrument for laying down the framework for the deployment of ITS. The
Commission is called upon to provide better information on the current
situation of actions, funding and programming of the action plan in order to
ensure that a clear set of actions with deadlines is established in the
Directive laying down the framework for the deployment of ITS.
From a horizontal point of view, the resolution points out that ITS should be
deployed across all transport modes and for all travellers in Europe, in a coordinated approach with Galileo applications. MEPs strongly support its immediate
deployment in order to enhance intermodality between the public and private
sector and within public transport through the improvement of overall
information and increased capacity management.
In this context, the Commission and the Member States are called upon to address the issue of liability which constitutes a
major barrier to the smooth and coherent development of ITS in Europe.
Given that there is already a significant supply on the
European ITS market, MEPs call on the Commission to define specifications
for the minimum level of ITS applications and services that is achievable by
all Member States and necessary for the efficient deployment, implementation
and operation of ITS.
MEPs also consider it important to prepare a market
demand assessment evaluating the real need beyond the defined minimum
level of ITS applications and services and to strengthen internal market
aspects of ITS through standardisation and an appropriate regulatory
framework. Lastly, they stress the importance of cross-border cooperation
both at the technical and administrative level at the EU external borders,
which is crucial for the effective implementation of ITS in the EU.
The Parliament makes a number of recommendations
in relation to the following actions:
- Optimal use of road, traffic and travel data (action
No 1): the Parliament
stresses the need to provide the critical mass of data and information
in the following five basic areas as a minimum for effective ITS
deployment: real-time traffic and travel information; road network data;
public data for digital maps; data for minimum universal traffic
information services and multimodal door-to-door journey planners;
- Continuity of traffic and freight management ITS
services on European transport corridors and conurbations (action No 2): the Commission and the Member States
are called upon to coordinate and link ITS with EU urban mobility
initiatives for more efficient transport mobility and management
fluidity and reducing congestion from roads, TEN-T corridors, freight
corridors and conurbations;
- ITS for urban mobility (action No 2a): the Parliament advocates the
development of user information procedures and systems regarding
available urban transport services and the state of the networks, making
use of GSM technology;
- Road safety and security (action No 3): the resolution calls: (i) for measures
to prepare for the harmonised deployment and integration of the eCall
application in all EU countries by 2010; (ii) on the Commission to
continue the process of reducing communication costs so that the
communication and information equipment could be used in a more
comprehensive way; (iii) on the Commission and the Member States to
avoid discriminating against passenger traffic; (iv) on the Commission
to address the issue of vulnerable transport users; (v) on the
Commission to use ITS potential to the full for the purposes of
preventive action against smog and high ozone concentrations and the
reduction of noise levels and particle, NOx and CO2 emissions.
- Integration of the vehicle into the transport
infrastructure (action No 4): the Commission is called upon to implement a road
map on ITS with common platforms on ITS applications and deployment and
with the participation of the private and public sector and to establish
the appropriate framework for solving ITS liability issues;
- Data security, protection and liability issues (action No 5): MEPs stress the need to respect privacy and considers that
privacy and data security and protection issues from the early phases of
the ITS design development should be considered when defining
architecture and implementation measures;
- European
ITS cooperation and coordination (action No 6): the Parliament calls on the Commission and the Member
States to develop strong leadership and genuine governance towards the
deployment of ITS in Europe. It urges the Commission to better use the
EU capabilities from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
programmes EGNOS and Galileo and enhance multimodal interconnectivity.
Lastly, it stresses the importance of inter-regional, cross-border and
trans-national cooperation in developing and implementing ITS and urges
the Commission to develop a system for exchange of good practice.