Project; ongoing

EUSDR Priority Area(s): PA 1b Rail-Road-Air Mobility

Activities within X4ITS are broadly described in four categories covering information management from collection of data in Central and Eastern Europe to the provision of information services for end-users:

• Measures to improve detection of incidents/conditions/status etc. on the corridor (through road side and mobile devices)
• Measures to manage collected data and making it available for neighbouring countries and management measures
• Measures to improve provision of services to end-users
• Measures to implement/upgrade National Access Points as foreseen in the Delegation Regulation

Objectives: Improvement of cross-border traffic and transport and cooperation and deployment of ITS services. The project will enable traffic management, including route guidance supported by Traffic Management Centres and information services to travellers. Consequently, the project X4ITS contributed to Action 7 as it further develops Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) by using environmental-friendly technologies. Cross for ITS (X4ITS) strengthens the corridors of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in Central and Eastern Europe. The X4ITS partners are working together on harmonised and synchronised cross-border Intelligent Transport Systems for better connectivity in Europe.

Need and (expected) impact: Initial situation: The ITS landscape in the EU as well as in the Danube Region is characterised by different national approaches to the implementation of the ITS Directive and different speeds in the implementation of ITS services and C-ITS applications. In Central and Eastern Europe, the fragmented development is also characterised by geographical peculiarities – such as the coexistence of smaller countries with different languages.

Cross for ITS (X4ITS) strengthens the corridors of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in Central and Eastern Europe. The X4ITS partners are working together on harmonised and synchronised cross-border Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for better connectivity in Europe and in the Danube Region.

Cross for ITS (X4ITS) unites public authorities, cities, public transport operators, the rail supply industry, road administrations, and traffic information service providers from Eastern and Central Europe (Austria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia). As a follow-up of the previous CROCODILE phases, X4ITS will continue the work by maintaining achievements and opening new important fields of action.

CROCODILE was a project that preceded X4ITS. It started in 2013 with the participation of 10 countries from Eastern and Central Europe. The initiative aimed to overcome organisational barriers and establish an infrastructure for providing information on road traffic flows throughout the entire service chain. The exchange of data and information will be facilitated using common standards, resulting in high-quality end-user information services and more efficient traffic flows. The partners collaborated in an integrated manner, conducting workshops to develop coordinated approaches and solutions for implementation.

The EU Member States are working together to improve cross-border traffic and transport by implementing harmonised and synchronised ITS applications on the high-level road network in those areas as well as implementing C-ITS use cases, based on C-Roads specifications in urban areas linked to the high-level road network.

X4ITS implementations will focus on better possibilities for data collection, processing, and access, encompassing the installation of equipment, the upgrading of processes, and drawing connections to the National Access Points, especially when it comes to the connections to the secondary road network as well as to multimodal (and/or urban) nodes. In East-Central Europe in particular, where several smaller countries (most of them having different languages) with lots of cross-border traffic, information exchange is a must. Therefore, X4ITS Member States and partners are committed to making data available along the whole corridor which should ultimately lead to high-quality end-user information services.

In addition, cross-corridor cooperation, with other corridor projects, will also be further enhanced by a joint process to elaborate a common and harmonised method for impact assessment. This common process on evaluation will go beyond the outcomes of the previous CROCODILE phases. It will highlight the environmental and safety-related impact of X4ITS and its contribution to the key priorities within the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, the decarbonisation and digitalisation of the EU transport sector, as well as in regards to achieving Vision Zero and accident reduction.

Macro-regional dimension: Project partner countries – Czechia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Croatia (Ministries and public authorities, road transport managers, users).

The X4ITS project has the potential to significantly contribute to the improved mobility and mobility data management in the Danube Region as it will:

1. improve cross-border traffic and transport,
2. implement harmonised ITS applications,
3. provide for the availability of data and optimise data exchange,
4. increase focus on secondary road network and multimodality and
5. implement C-ITS use cases in urban areas linked to high-level road network.

The project is implemented in six EU member states of the Danube Region. Its success will have a spill-over effect to other countries in the Danube Region

Stakeholders involved:

Project leader:

• AustriaTech, Austria

Project partners:

• Autobahnen- und Schnellstraßen-Finanzierungs-Aktiengesellschaft (ASFINAG), (AT)
• Stadt Linz (LINZ), (AT)
• Amt der Salzburger Landesregierung (SALZ), (AT)
• Stadt Wien (VIE), (AT)
• Amt der Kärntner Landesregierung (Kärnten), (AT)
• Magistrat der Landeshauptstadt Klagenfurt (Klagenfurt), (AT), responsible for Affiliated Entity: KMG Klagenfurt Mobil GmbH (KMG)
• pdcp Gmbh (pdcp), (AT)
• Institut für Technologie und alternative Mobilität (IAM), (AT)
• Verkehrsauskunft Österreich VAO GmbH (VAO), (AT)
• Česká Republika – Ministerstvo dopravy (MDCR), (CZ)
• OLTIS Group AS (OLTIS), (CZ)
• Ředitelství Silnic a Dálnic CR (RSD CR), (CZ)
• Ministarstvo mora, prometa i infrastrukture (MMPI), (HR), responsible for Affiliated Entities: Hrvatske Ceste, D.o.o. za upravljanje, građenje i održavanje državnih cest (HC), Hrvatske Autoceste D.o.o za upravljanje, građenje i održavanje autocesta Croatian Motorways (HAC), Autocesta Zagreb-Macelj d.o.o (AZM), Bina-Istra dioničko društvo za financiranje, gradnju, upravljanje i održavanje autocesta (BINA)
• Budapest Közút Zrt. (BK), (HU)
• Magyar Közút Nonprofit Zrt. (MK), (HU)
• Építési és Közlekedési Minisztérium (ÉKM), (HU)
• Compania Națională de Administrare a Infrastructurii Rutiere (NCRIA), (RO)
• Mestna občina Ljubljana (MOL), (SI)
• Ministrstvo za infrastrukturo (MzI), (SI), responsible for Affiliated Entity Družba za avtoceste v Republiki Sloveniji d.d. (DARS)

Budget and Funding:

EUR 64 786 741

50 % contribution from Connecting Europe Facility 2 and 50 % from the national budgets of the six countries involved in the project.

Further information:

https://x4its.eu/

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/x4its

Contact: Ms Veronika Salmhofer MA, Managing Mobility Data, AustriaTech,