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ITS CANADA MISSION TO HONG KONG AND CHINA
In
July 2006, ITS Canada’s Chairman Joseph Lam
led a mission to Hong Kong and China. The visit was
timed to allow the delegation to participate in the
8th Asia-Pacific ITS Forum, held July 10 to 13 in
Hong Kong. With a theme of “Sustainable ITS
Development in Environment and Logistics”, this
annual event has been held in a number of major Asia-Pacific
cities since 1996.
Hong
Kong has seen massive transportation/infrastructure
projects implemented that feature intelligent transportation
systems, contributing to the economy and lifestyle
of this densely populated area. The event was an opportunity
to showcase these developments while facilitating
an exchange of experience and expertise.
The
8th Asia-Pacific ITS Forum included three parallel
sessions in two days, with two technical sessions
featuring state-of-the-art ITS technical applications
from around the world and one Executive Session outlining
high-level ITS developments and plans among Asia Pacific
and other world cities. ITS Canada hosted a booth
at the four-day exhibition, held at the Hong Kong
Convention and Exhibition Centre. Technical visits
were also available.
ITS
Canada’s member delegation included participants
from Delcan Corporation, EIS Electronic Integrated
Systems, IBI Group and RuggedCom. The delegation was
welcomed to Hong Kong by several high-level government
representatives. Traffic control, new roads, tunnels
and bridges as well as public transport and toll roads
were discussed. As well, Trade Commissioners from
several Chinese posts came to Hong Kong to meet the
mission and learn about Canadian capabilities in the
ITS sector. The delegation also visited the cities
of Macao, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
“This
mission offered participating ITS members interested
in the Chinese market a great opportunity to gain
first-hand knowledge of the market trends and opportunities,
as well as potential clients in the ITS field, courtesy
of the great organizational efforts by ITS Canada
and the Hong Kong and Guangzhou trade offices from
the Canadian Consulates in the respective cities,"
says participant Henry Ng of IBI Group. "The
mission offered great insight into ITS development
in terms of current status and future opportinties.The
lunch and dinner events also provided follow-up networking
opportunities with local government officials and
private sector companies."
ITS
Canada would like to thank the Trade Commissioners
at International Trade Canada in both Hong Kong and
Guangzhou for their extensive efforts in organizing
the mission details and arranging introductions.
ITS OPPORTUNITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
By
Brennen Young, Trade Commissioner – South Africa
South
Africa's transportation infrastructure is highly developed
and is the best in Africa. Some aspects of it are
even superior to Canada’s own infrastructure.
It is, however, aging: significant components of it
are 20-30 years old.
In
August, the South African Minister of Transportation
announced a C$40 million investment in intelligent
transportation systems. This is part of a larger C$28
billion capital expenditure on South Africa’s
transport infrastructure, including C$10 billion on
the country’s road network.
South
Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010, and
this has been the impetus to reinvest in the country’s
infrastructure. Most of the investments will take
place in preparation for this event and additional
funding is being made available for this.
Congestion
has become a real problem on the country’s roads
– particularly in major cities like Johannesburg,
Cape Town and Pretoria – as they were not planned
with the majority of the population in mind. Since
the realization of black majority rule in 1994, previously
disadvantaged people are much more economically active
and prosperous, and travel freely around the country.
Prosperity and freedom have created a surge in demand
for cars. In 2005 alone, 670,000 new cars were purchased
in South Africa.
Some
of this congestion could be easily relieved through
better management, such as synchronizing traffic lights,
alerting commuters of congestion and alternate routes,
and increasing the safety and reliability of major
intersections.
Transnet,
the state-owned transport utility, has a capital expenditure
plan amounting to C$10 billion over the next five
years. Much of this will be allocated to rehabilitating
the freight and commuter rail links.
Canadian
transportation companies have enjoyed considerable
successes in South Africa. Most significantly, an
international consortium has won a C$3.5 billion tender
to construct a high-speed rail link between Johannesburg
and Pretoria to try to relieve the congestion on the
road. More recently, a member of ITS Canada, in partnership
with a local firm, won the Johannesburg ITS Master
Plan Study.
The
President of the South African Society for Intelligent
Transportation Systems (SASITS), Douglas Davey, believes
the South African Government’s new focus on
preparing for 2010 will create many opportunities
for ITS companies, especially in public transport
and fare management, road safety and freeway management.
SASITS
will host their bi-annual international conference
in March 2007. This will likely be the best –
and final – opportunity for Canadian companies
to take advantage of this large-scale capital expenditure
in the transportation sector. For more information
on the conference, visit www.smart-transport.org.
If
you would like more information about the South African
market and the preparations for the 2010 World Cup,
contact Brennen Young, Trade Commissioner, Canadian
High Commission Trade Office, Johannesburg, South
Africa, at brennen.young@international.gc.ca.
The website is www.canada.co.za.
ITS
CANADA MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA
ITS
Canada is planning a mission to South Africa early
in 2007. Stay tuned for further details!
NEW WEBCAMS OPEN UP BRITISH COLUMBIA
British
Columbia has just taken a giant leap forward in using
highway webcams. Formerly operating only two or three
webcams, the province’s Ministry of Transportation
is now making images available over the Internet from
over 70 cameras. The result is a safer, better-informed
travelling public.
Covering
every corner of the province, the webcams snap images
every two minutes in urban areas and every 15 in rural
locations. This allows people to check road conditions
and traffic congestion for themselves, so they can
make choices about when to travel, routes to take
and how best to handle the drive.
B.C.’s
Ministry of Transportation, with support from the
federal government, launched its new webcam site in
the summer. The site also links to webcams operated
by the City of Vancouver, Washington State Department
of Transportation, BC Ferries and other agencies.
It provides one of the most comprehensive live looks
at the province anywhere. You’ll find the site
at: www.th.gov.bc.ca/bchighwaycam/index.aspx
Travellers
who are accustomed to searching out road condition
information love the new site. The Ministry has received
dozens of emails complimenting them and thanking them
for all of the new webcams.
“Wow,
these new webcams are great!” wrote one correspondent.
“They are appropriately placed and will be a
huge help in reducing congestion. I will most definitely
be using these each morning and night to pick a good
route to and from work. Thanks.”
Still
others see the webcam site as a tool that allows them
to be a virtual tourist whenever they want.
“I
have enjoyed keeping an eye on B.C. via your webcams,
after a very enjoyable holiday there a few years ago,
particularly the views as the seasons change. This
new site is excellent,” another person wrote
in.
Whatever
the reason, those using the new site are doing so
in droves, with the Ministry recording over 4.5 million
hits in the first week after its launch.
Still,
while users may appreciate the cameras and the incredible
simplicity of using the new website set up by the
B.C. Ministry of Transportation, many other people
still have questions.
“People
always ask why these installations cost $20,000,”
says Ed Miska, manager of the Ministry’s webcam
program. Indeed, $20,000 is a lot more than the $24.99
you might pay for a webcam to sit on top of your home
computer.
“The
list of things involved in a highway webcam is extensive.
There’s the camera and its enclosure. We have
to engineer the site, put up a pole and get power
to the site. Then we have to get information back
from the camera; that’s a huge undertaking.”
Remote
mountain passes, stretches of highway that are miles
from the nearest community and heavily-travelled urban
areas all pose unique challenges for technical crews,
and naturally the areas where webcams can be of the
greatest use are also the areas most difficult to
serve. The Ministry uses landlines and cellular networks
to transmit images. They have considered satellite
phones, but that’s still too expensive.
Once
images are at a central server, custom-designed programming
formats the various images to provide a consistent
output for the webcam Internet site. And the system
monitors itself, alerting key staff when there’s
a problem such as a delayed image or a malfunctioning
camera.
B.C.’s
new webcam site also links to another recent innovation
by the Ministry of Transportation, a road-condition
information site called DriveBC. Located at www.drivebc.ca,
it provides up-to-date information on road closures,
weather-related road conditions, construction work
and more.
From
electrical design, telecommunications planning and
pole and camera installation, to server security,
website design and other functions, it has taken nearly
40 Ministry staff and contractors to put together
the 70-plus webcams. Their effort has been worth it,
and British Columbia’s highways are now safer
for everyone who uses them as a result.
IBEC WORKING GROUP – EVENTS IN LONDON
The International Benefits,
Evaluation and Costs (IBEC) Working Group is organizing
a series of events to coincide with the timing of
the 13th World Congress on ITS in London.
What
is IBEC?
IBEC is a cooperative working group whose purpose
is to coordinate and expand international efforts
to exchange information and techniques for evaluating
ITS benefits and costs. IBEC brings together the best
knowledge and evaluation experience and aims to be
the focal point for discussion and debate of interest
to the international evaluation community. IBEC encourages
more effective use of ITS evaluation information that
facilitates ITS decision-making. Membership is free
and open to anyone with an interest in ITS evaluation.
An
International “Tour” of ITS Benefits,
Evaluations, and Costs – Pre-Congress Workshop
Sunday, October 8, 2006
This
year the international costs and benefits “tour”
of ITS will focus on a set of transportation issues
that are pivotally important to mobility and safety,
and prominent in the world’s transportation
news. This year’s speakers will describe their
current experience and future plans for:
•
Urban Mobility in Large Cities
• Automated Enforcement Systems: Recent Successes
and Lessons Learned
• Intelligent Parking Systems: Managing Demand
and Improving Utilization
• Understanding ITS Benefits and Costs
• “Hot Off the Press” – Brief
presentations describing recent ITS studies from around
the world.
City
and regional transportation managers, public safety
officers, ITS program managers and valuators from
around the world will discuss their successes, failures,
and future plans for achieving their program goals.
The sessions are designed to encourage active interaction
among panelists and the audience to maximize the exchange
of ideas.
Special
Sessions
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
SS22-ITS
Case studies from economies in transition and developing
countries
Transportation specialists will present on using ITS
in the areas of bus rapid transit, air quality, road
safety, enforcement and developing a viable public
transport industry.
SS28-The
“Big Shift”: is ITS the tool or the origin
of shifting? And where do we shift with ITS?
Road authorities are discovering a new thinking and
self-conception in terms of their public tasks and
expectations, with the focus more on services than
on systems.
SS34-The
economic security and efficiency benefits of emerging
freight and parking trucks technologies
This session will examine the business case, discuss
impediments to adopting freight technologies, and
provide examples of where the impediments have been
successfully overcome.
SS40-Update
on the impacts of road pricing
This update will focus on road pricing projects already
operating or in the planning stages in several international
locations. At the session, hear experiences presented
by implementers and evaluators of road pricing schemes.
For
more information, access IBEC’s website at www.ibec-its.org
511 IN THE UNITED STATES
A
summary of July’s successful National 511 Conference
and the presentations are available at:
www.deploy511.org/NationalConferenceJuly2006.htm
TRB
is sponsoring Managing Travel for Planned Special
Events Conference: Tools for Practitioners in Newport
Beach, California from November 29 to December 1.
The conference is designed to provide public agencies
with the tools they need to manage planned special
events. For more information about the conference,
visit www.trb.org/conferences/timpse.
The
usage statistics for 511 telephone services nationwide
in July 2006 reported to the 511 Deployment Coalition
were as follows:
 |
1,384,282 Total Calls |
|
On July 1, the Wyoming Department
of Transportation had a “soft launch”
for their 511 service. The service’s public
announcement is planned for September and its
“back door” number is (888) 996-7623.
This marks the 29th 511 system in 25 states available
to the traveling public. |
|
Over 57 million calls nationwide
since inception. |
|
23 consecutive months with
over 1 million calls. |
|
511 was available to over
93 million Americans (32 percent). |
|
Systems deployed for one year
saw a 5.5 percent decrease in July 2006 call volumes
compared to July 2005. |
|
Peak usage was experienced
due to incidents, fires, AMBER alerts and a ride
transit free program. |
|
The San Francisco Bay Area
and Wyoming services set monthly call volume records. |
|
The San Francisco Bay Area
received their 12 millionth call. |
|
July saw the four-year anniversary
of the service launch in Minnesota and South East
Florida. |
NEWS bITS
ITS
Toolkit – Understanding the benefits and costs
of Intelligent Transport Systems
The
United Kingdom’s Department for Transport ITS
Toolkit website is now functioning and can be accessed
at www.itstoolkit.co.uk
. The Toolkit is intended to help highway authorities
understand how to make best use of ITS:
|
the selection of ITS tools
to meet policy objectives |
|
the benefits and costs of
ITS deployment |
|
what others have done to incorporate
ITS within transport plans |
|
lessons learnt from their
experience, and |
|
guidance on monitoring and
evaluation. |
ITS
Study Underway in Bahrain
The
Ministry of Works and Housing of the Kingdom of Bahrain
has commissioned an ITS strategy for the country.
Although Bahrain boasts a modern and comprehensive
road infrastructure, ITS is currently limited to urban
traffic control, remote monitoring and a comprehensive
fault management system (it was the first country
in the Middle East to install the British SCOOT system
in 1989), red light camera enforcement systems and
automatic counting sites.
Bahrain
is characterized by very high levels of car use, as
well as cheap fuel, a very hot summer climate and
the lack of an attractive public transport system.
Localized congestion is therefore increasing, and
junction and network capacity need to be improved.
In addition, safety and enforcement issues need to
be addressed.
The
first stage of the 18-month study includes a review
of the traffic signal management system; developing
an ITS vision, concepts and reference architecture;
reviewing costs, benefits, risks and institutional
issues, and developing a strategic plan, including
plans for short, medium and long-term deployments.
An initial program of improvements will be proposed,
with later phases identifying a pilot ITS deployment
on a key corridor. Further stages (in 2007) will include
the preliminary design, preparation of procurement
documents and construction supervision for this pilot
scheme.
UPCOMING EVENTS
9th International Level Crossing
Safety and Trespass Prevention Syposium
September 10 to 14, 2006 – Montreal,
Quebec
www.levelcrossing2006.com
|
| |
TAC
Annual Conference & Exhibition
Charlottetown,
PEI – September 17 to 20, 2006
www.tac-atc.ca |
| |
9th Annual International IEEE
Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference
September 17 to 20, 2006 – Toronto, Ontario
www.itsc2006.org |
| |
XIV Pan-American Conference of
Traffic and Transportation Engineering
September 20-23, 2006 – Canary Islands, Spain
www.panam06.com
(in Spanish) |
| |
World Roads Conference
September 27 to 29, 2006 – Singapore
www.worldroads2006.com
|
| |
13th
World Congress and Exhibition on Intelligent Tranport
Systems and Services
October 8 to 12, 2006 – London, UK
www.itsworldcongress.com |
| |
IMSA Traffic Expo
October 25, 2006 – Brampton, Ontario
www.imsa.ca |
| |
6th International Conference
on Transport Systems Telematics
October 25 to 27, 2006 – Katowice, Poland
www.tst-conference.org
|
| |
CUTA
2006 Fall Conference and Trans-Expo
November 4 to 8, 2006 – Toronto, Ontario
Trans-Expo – November 7
www.cutaactu.on.ca |
| |
|
5th
Chilean Congress / 2nd Pan American Congress
on ITS and Exhibition
November 15 to 17, 2006 – Santiago,
Chile
www.itschile.cl |
| |
First
Middle-East ITS Conference
December 4 and 5, 2006 – Dubai, UAE
www.its-arab.org |
| |
 |
ITS
Canada-AQTR Workshop: Intelligent Transportaton
Systems and Transit
December 7, 2006 – Montreal, Quebec
www.itscanada.ca/montreal2006 |
| |
9th International
Level Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention
Syposium
September 10 to 14, 2006 – Montreal,
Quebec
www.levelcrossing2006.com
|
| |
| |
Intertraffic
China
March 15 to 17, 2007 – Beijing China
www.intertraffic.com |
| |
TAC's Spring 2007 Technical
Meetings
April 11 to 18, 2007 – Ottawa, Ontario
www.tac-atc.ca |
| |
Smart
Moving Conference 2007 / Traffex 2007
April 17 to 19, 2007 – Birmingham, UK
Theme: “SMART Solutions for Today”
www.its-uk.org.uk |
| |
|
ITS Canada Annual
Conference and General Meeting
April 29 to May 1, 2007 – Niagara Falls,
Ontario
www.itscanada.ca/niagara2007 |
| |
Intertraffic Istanbul
May 9 to 11, 2007 – Istanbul, Turkey
www.intertraffic.com |
| |
XVII
Canadian Multidiscipinary Road Safety Conference
June 3 to 6, 2007 – Montreal, Quebec
www.cmrsc.polymtl.ca |
| |
ITS
America 2007 Annual Meeting and Exposition
June 4 to 6, 2007 – Palm Springs, California
www.itsa.org |
| |
European
ITS Congress
June 18 to 20, 2007 – Aalborg, Denmark
www.itsineurope.com |
| |
14th
World Congress on ITS
October 9 to 13, 2007 – Beijing, China
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Newsletter
published by ITS Canada.
Submissions
or comments can be emailed to askus@itscanada.ca.
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