ITS World Congress 2018

The ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) World Congress rotates between Europe, the Asia Pacific region and the Americas, returning to Europe every three years. ERTICO ITS Europe organises either an ITS World Congress or an ITS European Congress every year. The Congress provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to come together, discuss and make the necessary contacts to move initiatives forward and to develop their business by exhibiting and demonstrating state of the art ITS solutions.

Sessions are a vital part of the ITS World Congress 2018 which takes place in Copenhagen in September. Under the theme “ITS - Quality of Life”, experts will have the opportunity to present the latest ITS solutions and mobility technologies. The Congress will be a momentum to show ground breaking results on how ITS solutions have created a positive impact for the citizens. 

The ITS Congress consists of three main areas:

• Congress programme sessions and presentations of the latest developments in ITS
• Demonstrations – showcases of current ITS technology being developed and deployed throughout the world)
• Exhibition – exhibition booths and dedicated sessions/events

For more information click here 

CIVITAS Awards 2018

The call has been launched for applications for this year's CIVITAS Awards! Towns and cities who are a CIVITAS Forum member can now submit their entries to win Europe's most prestigious prizes for clean urban transport. The submission deadline is 13 July 2018.

Applicants can win awards in four different categories:

• The "Bold Measure" Award for a daring and innovative approach that has yet to be widely implemented and positions the city as a pioneer in its respective thematic area;
• The “Take Up” Award for cities a city that has successfully have been successfully transferred from one city to another;
• The “CIVITAS Legacy” Award for a city that has successfully translated their inspiring and committed involvement in CIVITAS into long-term implementation of innovative measures with a high impact;
• The “Transformations” Award for significant transformation and progress towards a liveable and smarter city through an integrated set of mobility measures.

Award-winning activities are showcased to a European audience as examples of sustainable urban mobility excellence and promoted to the press. The Awards are presented each year during a ceremony at the CIVITAS Forum. The 2018 event is taking place in Umea, Sweden, from 19-21 September.

For more information click here

New initiative MaaS Catalonia launches its MaaS Manifesto

A new public-private initiative, MaaS (Mobility as a Service) Catalonia, has been formed in order to tackle mobility issues at a local level and develop the concept of MaaS in a coordinated manner. The momentum for MaaS is high in Catalonia, with a growing local ecosystem in which the public sector is developing ambitious initiatives and projects. A few private companies are already providing new mobility services and others are planning to enter the market.

GDPR: how will the new data protection law affect the transport sector?

As Europe’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) comes into force, organisations across all industries have questions about what exactly it means for them. Transport is only getting smarter and that is dependent on making the most of personal data. And, it works both ways. While transport companies can use personal data to monitor and tailor what they offer to each individual, customers can also personalise their own travel options – through online booking, downloading apps and ‘favouriting’ destinations or journeys.

UITP calls for better funding in sustainable urban transport

UITP (Union Internationale des Transports Publics) is calling on the European Commission to invest in sustainable urban mobility solutions to meet its climate change, energy efficiency and New Urban Agenda objectives.

The European Commission (EC) will present a comprehensive draft of the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in May 2018.

London one of the EU’s worst cities for clean and safe transport, says study

A recent report, commissioned by Greenpeace and completed by Wuppertal Institute, Germany, has ranked London as the third worst city after analysing road safety, air pollution and transport cost.

After investigating 13 EU cities, only Moscow and Rome had scores worse than London, with the English capital revealed to be the second most unsafe city to walk or cycle in, with 22.3 accidents per 1,000,000 bike trips.

In a more positive light, London scored second best in ‘mobility management’, which considered low-emission zones, transport apps and car-sharing schemes.

Recently, Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, has discussed the potential implementation of car-free days within the capital and plans to charge the most polluting vehicles more with ultra-low emissions zones. The UK government has also published a new clean air strategy, which claims to reduce the health costs of pollution to society by approximately £1 billion per year by 2020.

For more information click here 

Four-day HackTrain hackathon: destination InnoTrans

In four months’ time the world’s leading trade fair for transport technology, InnoTrans 2018, will be hosting the Hacktrain 4.0 hackathon on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. Hot on the heels of the initiative’s previous success at the end of 2016, the Hacktrain returns ­– a kind of technology marathon for hackers where endurance is required from the software developers, designers and industry experts who are doing the programming.