This newsletter is available online in an Adobe Acrobat Reader pdf file (287k). You can view it using the Reader plugin for your browser and/or download it for viewing offline. Free Reader software is available at the Adobe Systems Incorporated Website. On May 27 and 28, 2002, ITS Canada hosted Minister Javier Etcheberry Celhay of the Chilean Ministry of Public Works, accompanied by his assistant, Guillermo Guerrero. ITS Canada has an ongoing liaison with the Chilean Ministry of Public Works and, in fact, signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with them in April 1999 to enhance cooperation between the Ministry and ITS Canada. The purpose of the visit was to acquire first-hand knowledge and information about intelligent transportation systems capabilities in Canada, since Canada is a leader in the development and deployment of ITS technologies. As part of our program, ITS Canada organized a workshop and luncheon to provide an opportunity for members to meet with and present to the Minister regarding their organizations’ capabilities. In all, eleven member organizations benefited from the opportunity to network with the Minister. The Minister also participated in tours of facilities at GO Transit, Burlington Transit, 407 ETR, and the COMPASS centre at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. At the workshop, Minister Etcheberry spoke at length about the current situation in Chile, indicating that Chile is a case study of a country doing things well. Chile is growing: 7 percent per year from 1990 to 1998, after which growth was affected by the world-wide recession but continued to grow at 3 percent per year. Chile is an export-oriented country, with about 15 million inhabitants. The Chilean private sector enjoys an increasing say in economic decisions. Chile’s national airline and roads management have both been privatized. Management of highways has been expanded and enhanced, providing better standards. According to the Minister, Chileans are content to pay tolls, which are now higher than when the government was in charge, in exchange for improved highways. Guillermo Guerrara, the Minister’s assistant, indicated that one of Chile’s current ITS requirements is a need for intelligent payment such as a Smart Card system. There may also be a need for a "pay-as-you-go" system. It is possible that charges to road users may be introduced based on kilometre travelled, which would require an intelligent tracking system. The Minister is also investigating consolidation of Chile’s local bus companies into major private/public partnerships. The Minister and his team are open to foreign investment, and will support the best bid(s) they receive in order to resolve their transportation issues. Minister Javier Etcheberry, seen at the centre of the photograph on the left, tours 407 ETR and Burlington Transit By Keenan Kitasaka As noted in last month’s newsletter, BC’s ITS Vision and Strategic Plan is now final, and represents the first provincial plan to utilize the Canadian ITS architecture. To continue building on this work, the ITS Corporation met on May 30, 2002 to initiate discussions on the next steps for the subsidiary, which will be followed by an ITS workshop, likely in the summer. Some ITS projects are already underway by some of the agencies this year, including: BC’s ITS plan and organizational structure may serve as a model for other jurisdictions in Canada. In retrospect, while the path of ITS planning was occasionally bumpy, it has always been interesting and challenging. Now, as we shift from ITS planning to ITS deployment, we look forward to new challenges, new plateaus to reach, and – hopefully – new achievements. Overall, the rest of 2002 and beyond promises to be a very exciting and busy time in BC in the ITS community. By Lane Kranenburg ITS Alberta held a planning and update session in Red Deer, Alberta on the 23rd of May 2002, attended by 30 eager ITS individuals who shared their expertise and experiences. The session was originally billed to start at 9:00 a.m. and end at noon, but the information exchange was so intense that the day lasted well past 2:00 p.m. and there were still more questions. The main comments were "when are we having another session?" and "we should meet quarterly" to exchange information. The host for the meeting was the Centre for Transportation Engineering and Planning (C-TEP). The session was moderated by Executive Director Lane Kranenburg. Andrew MacIver, University of Calgary, introduced the session and brought the participants up to date on ITS Canada activities. Allan Lo provided an update on the activities of Alberta Transportation, including their May 7 announcement of a request for proposals for an Advanced Traveller Information and Traffic Management Blueprint for Highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary. The following speaker, Alf Guebert of Earth Tech, spoke to the issue of new technology in "high load warning devices", including how these systems operate and what the safety benefits are for the motoring public. The City of Red Deer representative, Chi Lee, gave a detailed presentation on a study of Red Light Cameras within the City of Red Deer. Mr. Lee was articulate in his description of the inner workings of the system and later hosted a tour of their "SCOOT" traffic control system. The City of Edmonton representatives Audra Jones and Craig Walbaum brought the audience up to date on the many issues facing their fast growing city. ITS applications for freeways, intersections, and traffic control for hockey and football games were just some of the subjects discussed. Pat Grisak and Mac Logan outlined the issues within the City of Calgary. Applications of ITS and the new technologies adopted and under review by the City were discussed. The City of Calgary will shortly be appointing their first ITS Specialist and will be announcing an RFP for developing an ITS Strategic Plan in the near future. Robyn McGregor of EBA Engineering Consultants rounded out the speakers and did a marvelous job of summing up the issues facing our industry in the future. Ms. McGregor talked about developing a regional ITS architecture, and requirements to keep up with the growing demand for ITS. All in all, the session was a huge success, and the demand for further ITS seminars and lectures was evident. C-TEP will work towards filling that demand for fall and winter educational seminars. Western Transportation Advisory Council WESTAC will be holding its fourth annual conference on Innovations for Transportation. The conference focuses on updating participants regarding innovations (technological and otherwise) available and critical for succeeding in the transportation industry today. This year’s event is being held on November 19 and 20, at the Fairmont Hotel at the Vancouver International Airport. For more information, visit WESTAC’s website at www.westac.com. Transport Canada’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Office is in the process of reworking and updating its website, located at www.its-sti.gc.ca. The website will remain online during the updates and changes, and will keep all of its current useful features while adding new content and categories of interest for browsers. New features under development for the site include descriptions of projects funded under the Deployment and Integration Plan. This will allow for greater visibility of projects and project participants, and could be a useful tool for researchers looking to find projects similar to their own to consult for collaboration. The website is also undergoing changes to conform to Transport Canada’s "look and feel" guidelines. This will change the layout and appearance of the ITS site while allowing it to be accessible to all minority groups, including the visually impaired operating with voice software. The ongoing revisions present the ITS Office with the opportunity to easily modify site content or categories. Transport Canada would like to take advantage of this opportunity to solicit any comments or suggestions that either the readers of this article or website visitors may have concerning its content, style, services, or accessibility. Any comments or suggestions can be sent to samsr@tc.gc.ca or forwarded directly to the webmaster through the "Contact Us" form on the ITS website. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is Canada’s largest business organization, representing more than 170,000 members including a network of chambers of commerce and boards of trade in communities throughout the country. Membership reflects the diversity of Canada’s transportation sector, with members from every mode of transportation, every industry in Canada, and every region of our country. In May 2002, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce published a document entitled "Keeping Canada Moving: Transportation Infrastructure and the Economic Realities for Canada’s Transportation Policy", relating to all modes of transportation including infrastructure, airports and air transport, railways, highway and marine transportation, as well as trade facilitation issues such as border crossings. Given the integrated nature of Canada’s transportation system and the importance of transportation for trading activities, this transportation policy document outlines the Chamber’s priorities and recommendations with regard to transportation policy in Canada. This report was developed by a working group that included chambers of commerce and boards of trade from across Canada, as well as member companies from various industry sectors. The report concludes that, moving forward, Canada needs a comprehensive framework for the development and implementation of a modern transportation policy that considers the broader implications for our international competitiveness, our environment, and our society. As such, Canada’s transportation policy should recognize the importance of international trade, infrastructure, integration among the modes, and the devolution of transportation services. Each of these factors is fundamentally related to the capacity of our transportation system and our economy, and each of these factors needs to be recognized by a modern transportation policy. For a copy of the report, e-mail ITS Canada at itscanada@itscanada.ca. ISO/TC 204 Plenary and Working Group Meetings By William Johnson The spring 2002 meetings of ISO Technical Committee 204 (Intelligent Transportation Systems) were held in Westminster, London, United Kingdom under the auspices of the British Standards Institute (BSi) and in association with the Department of Transport, Local Government, Regions (DTLR), Highways Agency (HA) and ITS United Kingdom (ITS UK). The Convener and Head of Delegation (CHOD) and Plenary meetings took place at the conference center of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTi), a short walk from Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. The Standards Council of Canada authorized the Canadian delegation to the ISO/TC 204 meetings. Delegates included Dr. William Johnson, Head of Delegation, and Dr. Lewis Sabounghi, Convener Working Group 7 for General Fleet Management and Commercial Freight. A full report of the proceedings is available from either the Head of Delegation or the Standards Council of Canada. The scope of ISO TC 204 covers the entire field of ITS standards development. However, the present main priorities of the Canadian Advisory Committee for ISO/TC 204 are focused on three areas: dedicated short-range communication (DSRC); commercial fleet and freight management (transport dangerous goods); and vehicle/roadway warning and control systems. The secondary priorities of the Canadian Advisory Committee for ISO TC 204 are: public transport/emergency services; wide area communications (including DSRC at 5.9 GHz); and traveler information systems. There is also an interest in architecture, toll collection, and traffic management. The working groups met in the 3 days immediately prior to the Convener/Head of Delegation (C/HOD) and Plenary Meetings and their reports are available as ISO/TC 204 documents. At the Plenary meeting, the following "P" (i.e. voting) members were represented: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK, USA. Also present were liaison representatives from ITU Working Party 8a, APEC, CEN and ISO/IEC/Joint Technical Committee SC31. One new "P" member has joined TC 204 – Switzerland – making 22 "P" voting members and 26 "O" observer members of ISO/TC 204. The Head of Delegation Canada, William Johnson, gave a brief report to delegates on the interest in Canada to re-establish ISO/TC 173 Working Group 7 to develop international standards for disabled and elderly users of advanced traffic signals. This was received with interest and delegates of several countries expressed their interest to cooperate. The next ISO/TC 204 meetings will take place in Chicago in conjunction with the 9th World Congress on ITS. For further information, contact William Johnson at johnswf@attglobal.net. Transportation Association of Canada With the completion of Canada’s official ITS architecture last year, the next step is to finalize and adopt the standards required to ensure interoperability across the country and consistency with North American developments. Working in cooperation with Transport Canada, ITS Canada has made this a high priority for 2002/2003. ITS Canada and TAC are discussing a partnership for the development and application of ITS standards, allowing ITS owners to achieve lower procurement costs, enabling interoperability between systems, and promoting industry in this sector. A framework for partnership, which covers ITS standards policy, planning and application, was presented by ITS Canada at the April 2002 TAC Board meeting. For the upcoming TAC Annual Conference, to be held in Winnipeg from September 15 to 18, 2002, ITS Canada is organizing a panel discussion on "ITS – Smart Concepts and a New Reality". In the past decade, there has been an increasing recognition of the potential of intelligent transportation systems in improving the performance of our transportation facilities. With the proliferation of ITS, however, there are concerns over a variety of issues related to its deployment in the real world. Will the ITS deployment encourage further dependence on private automobiles or the use of public transit? Will it survive technology changes and growth? What is the human factor impact of ITS components such as in-car navigation devices? How real is the revenue generation potential of ITS such as advanced traveller information systems? What is the impact on professional training and maintenance of transportation facilities? These and other reality issues will be addressed by a panel of international ITS experts. The panel session will be chaired by Joseph Lam, Chairman of ITS Canada. By Bill Johnson The ITS America 2002 Annual Meeting and Exposition was held in Long Beach, California on April 29 to May 2, not far from the site of ITS America’s first Annual Meeting held in 1991 at Newport Beach, California. The event continues to draw record crowds of ITS practitioners, as well as novices intent on learning about the latest technologies and who’s who in the world of intelligent transportation systems. Participation in this year’s event was rumoured to exceed 3000. There were over 150 exhibitors including 7 firms based in Canada. The technical sessions were organized into 7 tracks covering infrastructure, infostructure (the new buzz word!), vehicles, enabling technologies, telematics developers conference (devcon for short), ITS deployment and The Future of ITS. The program was built around three "megasessions" that brought into focus the theme of the meeting "Securing Our Future". The Opening Megasession featured keynote speaker Sandy Berger, former National Security Advisor to President Clinton, who set the stage with a broad-brush overview of global security threats. The second Megasession entitled "ITS and Homeland Security" focussed attention on the role that ITS technologies can play to enhance transportation security, especially freight movements, and to respond in times of emergency. The third Megasession entitled "ITS and the Transportation Infostructure" elaborated on the current theme advanced by the US DOT, the need to deploy an "information infrastructure", or "infostructure" throughout the national transportation system. The purpose is to enable public authorities to monitor and control the entire transportation system in the event of threats to transportation security and safety, and, in less threatening times, to enhance the flow of traffic. National Exhibition Centre ITS Canada is partnering with ITS UK to assist in organizing an international conference, with an exhibition that will coincide with Traffex 2003. Smart Moving promises to be an opportunity to learn from the international experience of others, while providing an opportunity for Canadians to contribute ideas and share expertise. The overall theme of the Congress is "Applying new technologies for urban and regional travel and transport around the world". With its international perspective, the Congress will consider Smart Roads, Smart Vehicles, Smart Travellers, Smart Ticketing and Payment, and Smart Freight. ITS Canada will organize a trade mission to the Smart Moving International Congress, which will include a booth at the exhibition. All members are invited to participate. Smart Moving promises to be a first-class event for professionals involved in the rapidly growing field of intelligent transport systems, with international participation of key individuals from both the public and private sectors. Please express your interest in participating in this mission by e-mail to itscanada@itscanada.ca. For more information, please contact the ITS Canada Secretariat at 905-471-2970. ITS Canada’s next Annual Conference and General Meeting will be held in April 2003 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Newsletter published by ITS Canada. Submissions or comments can be emailed to itscanada@itscanada.ca.
JUNE 2002
ITS CANADA WELCOMES CHILEAN MINISTER OF TRANSPORT
ITS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
Director, ITS Canada
ALBERTANS HUNGER FOR ITS INFORMATION
Executive Director, C-TEP
WESTAC CONFERENCE
NEWS FROM TRANSPORT CANADA
KEEPING CANADA MOVING
ITS STANDARDS
May 13–17, 2002
London, U.K.
Chair, ITS Canada Standards Committee
Head of Delegation Canada
WHAT’S NEW AT TAC
ITS AMERICA’S 2002 ANNUAL MEETING
Secretary, ITS Canada
SMART MOVING INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS/TRAFFEX 2003
Birmingham, England
April 7–10, 2003
ITS CANADA MISSION TO ENGLAND – APRIL 2003
UPCOMING EVENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW…
