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ITS
CANADA OPENS DOORS FOR MEMBERS INTERESTED IN THE CHINA
MARKET
By
Colin Rayman, ITS Canada
The Exhibit Hall at the 14th
ITS World Congress in Beijing from October 9 to 13,
2007, provided many networking and potential partnering
opportunities for those ITS Canada members who were
in Beijing. However, the week following the ITS World
Congress unearthed some really good leads for projects
in China that ITS Canada members might be interested
in pursuing.
During
the week of October 14 to 21, 2007, ITS Canada’s
General Manager, Colin Rayman, led a five-member delegation
to Shenyang, Chongqing, Nanjing and Shanghai. Members
participating in the trade mission included Sustaining
Corporate members Delcan Corporation, EIS Electronic
Integrated Systems Inc., IBI Group and Corporate member
Strategic Mapping Inc. The delegation was also accompanied
by the respective Canadian trade commissioners responsible
for market development in each of the four cities.
The
first stop was in Shenyang – a city with a population
of approximately seven million residents, close to
the border with North Korea and the ‘Detroit’
of China, where most of the major automotive manufacturing
facilities are located. Trade Commissioners Yi (Rowena)
Jin and Marc Parisien, together with the Shenyang
Municipal Government, organized an excellent program
consisting of a half-day seminar and site visits to
the Shenyang Transportation Control Centre and the
Liaoning Tianyuxing Electronic Technology Company.
Participants in the seminar included representatives
from the Liaoning Provincial Government, Shenyang
Municipal Government, Shenyang Metro Co., Ltd. and
the Shenyang Traffic Police Bureau.
The
second stop was in Chongqing – a tropical, hilly
city region of approximately 30 million residents,
where an absence of bicycles and the warm climate
are very noticeable. Chongqing also happens to be
twinned with Toronto, a relationship that provides
an excellent platform for Toronto-based members. Canadian
Consul Shawn Steil, Trade Commissioner Peter Liao
and their staff organized an excellent program of
meetings with senior officials in the Chongqing government
and executives in private companies, including the
Chongqing Sci-tech Commission, the Chongqing ICT Bureau,
the Chongqing Wireless Oasis Telecom Technologies
Co., the Chongqing Transportation Commission, the
Chongqing Urban Transit Group and the Chongqing BRT
Company.
The
third stop was in Nanjing – the former capital
of China and another city of approximately seven million
residents. Vice Consul Shirley Ong and Trade Commissioner
Christine Zhou, together with the Jiangsu Provincial
Government, organized another excellent program of
a half-day seminar with site visits to the Nanjing
Sample Group and Southeast University. Participants
in the seminar included representatives from the Jiangsu
Provincial Government, the Nanjing Communications
Bureau, the Ministry of Public Security, the Xi'an
Road Research Institute, the Jiangsu Changtian Zhiyuan
Communications Technology Co., the Nanjing Science
and Technology Bureau, the Nanjing Transportation
Planning Research Institute Co., Nanjing LES, the
Nanjing Doron Technology Co. Ltd., the Nanjing Nriet
Industrial Co. Ltd. and the Nanjing Panda IT Industrial
Co. Ltd.
The
final stop of the mission was in Shanghai –
a bustling, modern metropolis of approximately 20
million residents. Mission members were provided with
a quick lesson on how foreign companies established
themselves in China, and discussed some opportunities
and obstacles in the China market. A site visit to
two modern bridges – one exceeding 32 kilometres
in length over open water that serves a modern container
terminal – was a highlight of the visit to Shanghai.
In the next year, the container terminal in Shanghai
is expected to surpass Singapore’s as the busiest
in the world.
The
seminars provided opportunities to present the capabilities
of ITS Canada members and to enter into more detailed
one-on-one discussions with the seminar participants,
and the site visits served to expose the ITS Canada
delegation to some of China’s modern infrastructure.
The many hospitality events, which were conducted
in a relaxed setting, helped to break the ice and
establish new relationships that bode well for the
future of ITS Canada members wanting to do business
in China.
Colin
Rayman (with interpreter) addresses the ITS Seminar
in Nanjing
David
Qian of Sustaining Corporate member EIS Electronic
Integrated Systems Inc. addresses an attentive audience
at the ITS Seminar in Shenyang
ITS
Canada delegation and student volunteers in Chongqing
IBEC:
CHAMPION FOR ITS BENEFITS EVALUATION AND COSTS
By
William Johnson, Trends Consulting
The
International Benefits, Evaluation and Costs (IBEC)
Working Group is a cooperative working group set up
to coordinate and expand international efforts, to
exchange information and techniques, and to evaluate
benefits and costs of Intelligent Transportation Systems
(ITS). IBEC encourages more effective use of ITS evaluation
information so that decision-makers can make more
informed ITS investments. IBEC membership is open
to individuals with a shared interest in ITS evaluation
and now has 400 members in over 40 countries.
The
IBEC working group has entered into cooperative activities
with public, not-for-profit and private partners.
This combination of individual commitment and corporate
drive has enabled IBEC to communicate its message
in many productive and high-profile ways. IBEC originated
as an international spin-off from the Benefits Evaluation
and Costs Committee of ITS America. Its first activity
on the international stage was a workshop organized
in association with the 6th ITS World Congress in
Toronto in 1999.
Since
then, it has expanded its role to annually organize
four special sessions and one pre-Congress workshop
at each ITS World Congress, as well as evaluation
sessions at regional conferences (including events
organized by ITS Europe, ITS America and ITS Pan-America).
It has also produced training materials that have
been used in ITS evaluation training sessions in Madrid,
Santiago and Beijing. All the presentations and training
materials are accessible and downloadable from the
IBEC website at www.ibec-its.org.
IBEC
is run by a management committee that is elected each
year at an annual general meeting that is open to
all members and is normally held in conjunction with
the ITS World Congress. The Chair and Vice Chair are
also elected by the members at the annual general
meeting. They take the leadership role to ensure that
the annual work plans are launched and carried out.
The
management committee meets monthly by teleconference
call to report on progress and coordinate their collective
efforts.
The
IBEC management committee and the working group are
supported by a secretariat funded by sponsoring partners.
At present, this is the Welsh Government Assembly;
in previous years, the sponsors have included the
U.K. Department for Transport and the U.S. Department
of Transportation.
IBEC
has partnered with the World Bank to convene and organize
training workshops on ITS evaluation for professionals
from developing countries. ITS national organizations,
such as ITS America, ITS Europe and ITS Japan, have
partnered with IBEC to undertake mutually supportive
activities at World Congresses. IBEC relies upon the
ITS benefit, cost and evaluation database resources
of the world’s leading public institutions,
including U.S. DOT and U.K. Department for Transport.
The
IBEC working group is a successful international thematic
network dedicated to evaluation of ITS benefits and
costs. It provides a unique forum for exchanging evaluation
information, for discussion of results and for training
professionals. While the language of IBEC is English,
the training materials have been translated into Spanish
and Chinese, and other translations are planned. IBEC
has no annual budget – it is supported by the
generosity of its members and the self interest of
its corporate partners to ensure future ITS investment
decisions are better grounded in facts and sound judgments.
To
join IBEC at no cost, visit the website at www.ibec-its.org
and fill in an enrollment form. For further information,
contact William Johnson, IBEC Management Committee,
at johnswf@attglobal.net.
TRANSPORT
CANADA TTID*BITS (*Transportation Technology and Innovation
Directorate)
Building
on Transport Canada’s strong history of recognizing
the importance of technology in transportation, the
department has created the Transportation
Technology and Innovation Directorate. The
Directorate brings together sections currently organized
under other Directorates within the Policy Group,
including the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
Policy Branch, the Transportation Development Centre,
and the Innovations Policy Branch. The new Directorate
came into effect October 1, 2007.
The
creation of the Transportation Technology and Innovation
Directorate establishes a focal point for research
and development, and innovation and skills policy.
This will provide a stronger base from which to support
new technologies and innovation within the transportation
sector.
As
a primary branch of the Transportation Technology
and Innovation Directorate, the ITS Policy Branch
will continue to implement the ITS Strategic Plan
for Canada, including the role of encouraging and
advancing the development and deployment of ITS across
Canada. In that regard, the Branch will continue to
develop its partnership with the Transportation Development
Centre, now a sister branch under the new directorate.
Under this partnership, two Transportation Development
Centre employees are dedicated to supporting the ITS
Policy Branch in its work.
Many
readers are already familiar with Pierre Bolduc, who
has been affiliated with the ITS Policy Branch for
several years. Pierre came to Transport Canada in
late 2003 after 23 years in the consulting engineering
fields of traffic engineering and ITS. He also lectured
traffic engineering and transportation planning courses
at McGill University and the Université du
Québec à Montréal.
We
are also pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Barry
Pekilis, P.Eng., to the team. Barry recently completed
his Ph.D. in Software Reliability Engineering at the
University of Waterloo. He has extensive public sector,
industry, research and project management experience
in ITS and advanced public transportation systems,
strategic planning and policy development, computer
systems integration, and all aspects of the software
development life cycle.
Pierre
and Barry provide the ITS Policy Branch with technical
advice and expertise in managing the diverse and numerous
ITS contracts and contribution agreements funded by
the department, and play a pivotal role in ensuring
that our efforts related to ITS support the department’s
vision, mission and priorities.
And,
of course, the remainder of the ITS Policy team: Susan
Spencer, Director of the Branch, Lorcan Scanlon and
Jonathan Sabean, Senior Policy Advisors, and Melody
Miller, Deployment Officer. As always, all members
of the ITS Policy Branch are committed to working
in partnership with our ITS colleagues to advance
knowledge of ITS and its many benefits to today’s
travellers; and to contribute to a safe, efficient
and sustainable transportation network.
The
ITS Policy Branch is very excited to be part of the
Transportation Technology and Innovation Directorate,
and looks forward to continued collaboration with
our ITS colleagues.
ISO/TC
204 RETURNS TO CHINA
By William Johnson, TRENDS Consulting
The
30th Plenary and working group meetings for ISO Technical
Committee 204 (ITS) were held in Qingdao, China, October
15 to 19, 2007, during the week following the 14th
ITS World Congress in Beijing. The Standardization
Administration of China (SAC) hosted the meetings
and ITS China organized the venue, an outreach workshop
and the social evening.
Qingdao
is a “mid-size” large city in China with
a population of 3 million in the core and 7 million
more in the suburbs, for a total of 10 million. It
is located an hour and a half by air east of Beijing
on the Shandong Peninsula. A major port on the Yellow
Sea, Qingdao will be the site of the Olympic sailing
events in the summer of 2008. Qingdao is also the
home of the famous “Tsingtao” beer and
of ancient Taoist temples.
The
TC204 meetings attracted approximately 100 delegates
from 14 countries, including Australia, Canada, China,
France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway,
South Africa, Sweden, Singapore, United Kingdom and
United States. The working groups (WG) that met on
Monday to Wednesday prior to the Plenary were as follows
(Canadian delegates appear in parentheses):
WG7 General Fleet Management and Commercial Freight
(Convener Dr. Lewis Sabounghi)
WG8 Public Transport and Emergency Services (met in
Tokyo, Japan)
WG10 Traveller Information Systems
WG9 Integrated Transport Information, Management and
Control (Dr. William Johnson)
WG14 Vehicle/Roadway Warning and Control (Dr. Peter
Burns).
The
ISO Technical Report TR 21707: “Integrated Transport
Information, Management and Control - Data Quality
in ITS Systems” was approved for publication
at the plenary after it was unanimously approved in
a ballot. This report is the work of WG9 and provides
much guidance directly related to traffic management
and traveller information services.
The
APEC/Transport Working Group and ISO/TC204 have a
formal liaison agreement and this led to collaboration
on a World Report on ITS Standards (WRITSS survey
project 2005-06). The final report has been published
and can be downloaded from the APEC website at www.apec.org.
It contains a full listing of 662 ITS standards, including
international, regional and national standards and
technical reports from all ISO and APEC countries.
The
ITS standards outreach workshop in Qingdao was part
of a series authorized by TC204 to introduce local
audiences to ITS and ITS standards. The focus is largely
on the needs of developing countries, but the format
is flexible and can be adapted to more advanced audiences.
By holding the workshop in conjunction with the TC204
meetings, ITS China was able to tap into the outstanding
expertise among the delegates at little expense to
China.
The
next ISO/TC204 meetings will be in Munich, Germany
on April 14 to 18, 2008, and in Ottawa, Canada, November
10 to 14, 2008. For further information about the
TC204 meetings in Qingdao, see the trip report by
the Head of Delegation at:
www.itscanada.ca/standardscommittee/newsandevents.htm.
Qingdao
NEWS
bITS
Tolling
News
TOLLROADSnews
is a web-based news service devoted to news on tollroads
issues: new toll projects, toll finances, toll politics,
public versus private (PPP) tolling and toll technology
issues. The editor Peter Samuel works out of the Washington/Baltimore
metro area and has specialized in writing about toll
issues since the mid-1990s. Throughout that period,
advances in electronics and optics have been transforming
the toll business. Stop-to-pay cash tolling, he says,
will soon be extinct. But modern toll technologies
are only starting to be used to their full potential,
which is to replace fuel taxes and other indirect
sources of roads revenue with direct and flexible
road pricing.
"The
queue is our major traffic management tool at present,"
Samuel says, "and a very blunt instrument it
is. Road pricing using flexible toll rates is far
superior, offering a way to prevent overloading of
highway lanes and enabling us to keep traffic moving."
The website concentrates on developments in North
America but has some coverage beyond. It is a mixture
of hard news, analysis and commentary. It is supported
by advertising.
For
information on tolling roads, turnpikes, toll bridges,
toll tunnels and road pricing, visit the site at www.tollroadsnews.com.
ITS
CANADA WELCOMES NEW MEMBER
SUSTAINING
CORPORATE
ATEME
MEMBERS
IN THE NEWS
Delcan
Corporation was retained by the ITS Corporation,
a subsidiary of the Greater Vancouver Transportation
Authority ("TransLink"), to design and deploy
a new regional transportation information website,
trademarked iMove™. iMove™ was launched
by TransLink on November 26, 2007. As part of BC's
Provincial ITS Vision and Strategic Plan, the website
provides a regional multi-modal Advanced Traveller
Information System (ATIS) for the Greater Vancouver
Region, enabling consumers to access information on
a host of transportation issues, including transit
and cycling routes, construction and event information,
current incidents, airline arrivals, border crossing
wait times, and ferry sailing time and loadings. Visitors
to the site will also have access to 125 webcams to
assess for themselves current road conditions on major
regional corridors.
In
November 2007, EIS Electronic Integrated Systems
received an order from the Russian Federal
Highway Administration for additional permanent counting
stations to be used on federal roads and highways
throughout Russia, bringing the total number of RTMS
counting stations in the Russian Federation to 250.
This
system is in addition to the more than 500 RTMS radar
sensors already deployed on Moscow's major arteries
over the past ten years, including the 3rd Ring Roads
and the Garden Expressway, as part of Moscow's START
project. The START project is designed to aid police
in traffic management, improve mobility and management
of road incidents, as well as relieve traffic congestion.
Prior
to Moscow's investment in the RTMS sensors, the radar
detectors were first subjected to two years of arduous
testing in Russia's harsh weather conditions. The
units delivered consistently reliable and accurate
data.
In
Florida, EIS's RTMS sensors are a key component in
the display of travel times on dynamic message signs
(DMSs). Software collects and compiles data from EIS’s
RTMS detectors as well as loop detectors to automatically
post travel time information on DMSs positioned along
the I-275 and I-4 in Tampa Bay (a total of 18 DMSs)
and on the south end of the I-95 in Jacksonville (comprising
8 DMSs). The Tampa Bay trial took place in May 2007
while the Jacksonville experience occurred in June
2007.
The
system retrieves the information via the web at one-minute
intervals and calculates travel times based on average
speeds and distances between roadway sensors. The
DMSs are then automatically updated with the new information.
Motorists check the accuracy, and feedback indicates
that the project has been a huge success.
NAVTEQ
has announced an expanded version of NAVTEQ Transport,
with new coverage in the Netherlands, United Kingdom,
Belgium and Luxembourg, new data types (including
hazardous materials information for North America),
and a harmonized global specification to enhance the
functionality of truck routing and logistics planning
applications across North America and Western Europe.
NAVTEQ Transport enables applications to plan truck-specific
routes using the leading NAVTEQ map to improve efficiency
and lower operating costs. The new harmonized global
specification makes working with the data easier for
global customers. The data is updated and released
quarterly to regularly provide the most current information
to users.
Telvent
has been selected as one of the conglomerates in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to implement traffic management
solutions in the cities of Jeddah, Mecca and Medina,
and surrounding regions. The US$134 million project
will be executed over the next two years. As part
of this extensive project, Telvent will implement
and manage a wide range of technological solutions
focusing on optimizing urban traffic management and
increasing road safety in these cities, with an overall
population of more than five million. Telvent's intelligent
adaptive urban traffic management system, ITACA, will
be deployed to improve traffic flow, reduce drivers'
time at the wheel, and consequently reduce the amount
of CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere. The
system includes the capacity to control the automatic
variable information panels that will be located in
the main access routes to the cities, as well as the
video-monitoring cameras and automatic incident detection
systems that complement traffic monitoring in the
urban environment.
Telvent
will also install a solution to detect, capture and
process speeding and traffic light violations through
street-installed equipment and data processing systems
in infraction management centres. The systems will
help reduce accident rates and contribute to reducing
current speed levels, leading to an increase in road
safety.
Finally,
Telvent will install vehicle identification systems
that use artificial vision at set and movable points
to locate stolen or uninsured vehicles. The system
will transmit alarms to police patrol cars in the
vicinity equipped with on-board positioning, geographical
location and messenger systems, which will be able
to locate stolen or uninsured vehicles.
UPCOMING
EVENTS
15TH WORLD
CONGRESS CALL FOR PAPERS
Online submission
opens November 1, 2007
Theme:
“ITS Connections: Saving Time, Saving
Lives”
Full
Details: www.itsworldcongress.org
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ITS
CANADA ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND GENERAL MEETING
2008
June
1 to 4, 2008
Montreal ~ Quebec ~ Canada
www.itscanada.ca/montreal2008 |
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| For
all upcoming events, please visit the online Events
Calendar |
Newsletter
published by ITS Canada.
Submissions
or comments can be emailed to askus@itscanada.ca.
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