Network of National ITS Associations meetings in Bilbao, 12-13 November 2013

The Network of National ITS Associations was warmly welcomed to Bilbao for two days of interesting meetings, warm hospitality and plenty of discussions, organised and hosted by MLC-ITS Euskadi.

The Plenary meeting took place on the first day in the Universidad de Deusto in the Faculty of Engineering. Network members came together to discuss current activities including how the Network can promote and benefit from the ITS World and European Congresses, possible future actions relating to projects in addition to looking at how to attract young people into the ITS industry. The meeting was followed by an official welcome at the Bilbao City Council building by the Councillor for Traffic and Transports, Asier Abaunza Robles. Attendees were then able to take the opportunity to enjoy Basque hospitality at one of Bilbao’s local restaurants.

The workshop on the second day, held again at the University, was opened by Mr Viteri, Managing Director of MLC-ITS Euskadi, followed by Iñaki Eguiara, responsible for Traffic Research Area at the Traffic Department of the Basque Government who gave a brief overview of ITS in the Basque region and targets for future deployment including intelligent traffic management, cooperative systems and road safety information.

Pablo Isusi, Mobility and Traffic Department Manager from the City Council of Bilbao then gave a summary of experiences and projects in Bilbao relating to Urban Mobility. Mr Meyer, CEO of ERTICO spoke about ERTICO activities in the context of Urban Mobility, focusing on the project, Compass4D and working towards deployment of C-ITS through the piloting of specific services in a number of cities.

Mr Jackman from TRL followed with a presentation on integrating traffic control and air quality using SCOOT, an adaptive traffic management system used to manage traffic controls in urban areas. Mr Kernstock, AustriaTech introduced the audience to the pilot project Co-cities, which aims to introduce and validate cooperative mobility services in cities and urban areas through the development of a dynamic 'feedback loop' from mobile users and travellers to the cities' traffic management centres.

Finally, Mr Fernández from ITS Spain gave a presentation on MoviTransit, the cloud based platform which enables integration of public transport data of all transit agencies within a region in addition to providing services to the traveller. Mrs Martin, Network Chairman, concluded the meeting, thanking the hosts and participants for a most interesting couple of days.