Europe showcasing intelligent mobility in New York

Over 900 European delegates will attend this annual meeting point of transport executives from around the world to share high-tech transport insights and experiences.

The 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) will be held from 16-20 November 2008, and is organised by ITS America with the support of ITS Japan and ERTICO-ITS Europe.

ERTICO – ITS Europe is a public-private partnership for fast and effective ITS implementation in Europe. Among its activities, ERTICO coordinates development and deployment projects in which its Partners progress new ideas to improve the mobility of people and goods across Europe. ERTICO’s project activities typically focus on developing enabling technology and common technical and business solutions to important ITS services. Standardisation plays an important role in all of ERTICO’s activities to ensure provision of common interfaces and protocols, and minimum quality standards. To promote effective implementation of already advanced technologies and services, ERTICO provides fora for relevant stakeholders to discuss imminent steps to ensure successful market introduction.

All ERTICO initiatives are fully Partner-driven and seek to deploy ITS technologies Europe-wide and beyond in order to reap the full societal and commercial benefits.

Hermann Meyer, CEO of ERTICO-ITS Europe is convinced that high-tech and ICT based transport systems offer an unprecedented opportunity to tackle major societal issues: “Intelligent Transport Systems and Services can achieve intelligent, co-modal mobility, saving lives, saving time and protecting the environment”.

ERTICO’s vision is of a European transport system which is safer, more efficient, more sustainable and more secure than today. Through its multi-stakeholder partnership, ERTICO is working towards the implementation of Intelligent Mobility in Europe with

*zero accidents
*zero delays
*reduced impact on the environment
*fully informed users
ERTICO’s vision is that of a cooperative mobility system, where vehicles, drivers, goods and infrastructure are connected and are communicating seamlessly. ERTICO strongly believes that close cooperation between major ITS stakeholders in public-private partnership is vital for the development and deployment of ITS in Europe and beyond.

The ITS market faces enormous challenges: Meyer comments: “Technologies need to come to maturity, impact assessments need to be carried out to show the real benefits of such systems, proper investments need to be made in the right technologies, and last but not least, people need to be informed and understand the great potential of these high-tech systems, in order to create a true mass market for efficient, safe and more comfortable transport solutions.”

The continuing goal of the World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is to promote awareness and deployment of ITS technologies and services. ITS enables people to make transport choices that save lives, time, and money. With a focus on practical deployment, as well as on education and innovation, the ITS World Congress enhances our ability to work together to provide users of the world’s transport systems new levels of safety, reliability, convenience, accessibility, and choice.