Smart route and navigation services bring real-time traffic information to drivers that matches the information on road signs.
This way road users receive better support during their journey.
Traffic flows better.
And navigation companies offer a reliable service.
But this Win-Win-Win situation requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work.
Public and private parties need to share and merge data at lightning speed so they can send advice and information back to road users in real time.
Because information about accidents, road works...
environmental zones and detours via roadside systems do not always correspond with advice from navigation apps.
And at large events, smart navigation services can guide road users from their homes to the parking lot.
But this requires every bit of current traffic and parking information.
Traffic jams can sometimes also be prevented or postponed by sending alternative route advice to a small portion of road users.
This too means combining current traffic information with predictions and delivering this to drivers at lightning speed.
And giving road users an incentive to take the alternative route.
Achieving these services – and raising traffic management to a new level...
requires more interaction between the many parties involved:
road authorities, ICT companies, traffic information and navigation service providers.
They need to make agreements about who supplies what data and when.
And how to share competitively sensitive information.
All technical aspects need to work too and comply with international standards.
The European SOCRATES2.0 partners teamed up to explore different ways of working together.
A cooperation framework was developed with three levels of cooperation in mind.
The first level involves more and standardised data sharing.
The second level sees partners providing their services from a shared traffic image.
And at the third and highest level, partners coordinate their services.
Four support functions were developed to facilitate the cooperation: a Strategy Table, a Network Monitor, a Network Manager and an Assessor.
The different cooperation models were piloted in four cities.
In everyday traffic and with 9,000 participating road users.
And with success.
SOCRATES2.0 has taught public and private parties how to work better together.
Providing the road user with smarter services for safer, smoother and more sustainable traffic flow.
Today, the SOCRATES2.0 partners are happy to present their journey on discovering how to shape public-private cooperation...
in a future of interactive traffic management.
Also available in our online SOCRATES2.0 Magazine.
And we invite you to use our insights to take the next step in interactive traffic management yourself.