Bringing Research to Deployment: Europe’s First Sustainable Implementation of Cooperative Systems

Not often a breakthrough in the world of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) occurs. With cooperative systems technology, however, this actually seems to be the case. Cooperative technology has the potential to dramatically change the way in which ITS operate. The cooperative technology breakthrough is not easy to achieve. Reaping the benefits will need substantial investments, serious cooperation between many stakeholders and tenacity. Large scale improvements in mobility, energy consumption, safety and user comfort can only be achieved with sufficient penetration of equipped vehicles and cooperative infrastructure. It needs a long term vision to be an early adopter of cooperative technology. This paper presents the approach that has been taken to ensure a sustainable early implementation of specific cooperative functionality in Helmond, a midsized city in The Netherlands. The implementation of the cooperative technology is being done in the context of the European Commission supported FREILOT project. The FREILOT project seeks to improve fuel-efficiency of heavy goods vehicles through a combination of on-board technology (eco-driver support and intelligent acceleration and speed limiters) and energy saving priority at controlled intersections. In addition to collecting proof of the energy saving benefits, the project aims at ensuring after-project life of the implemented services and further expansion to include additional fleet operators and cities. However successful a pilot is, sustainable deployment is the real measure of success.