Reference Handbook for harmonized ITS Core Service Deployment in Europe

The expectations placed on the existing European road transport infrastructure are increasing due to the growing mobility needs of the population on the one hand, and the rising volume of freight traf fic on the other. At the same time, we intend to improve the quality of life of the European citizens by reducing emissions. We have agreed to make Europe climate-neutral by the year 2050 and to further reduce the number of road fatalities and injuries. In order to ensure security of supply, by maintaining supply chains, individual freedom of travel together with climate goals and traf fic safety in the future, an ef ficient use of the existing road infrastructure through the use of new and innovative technologies is indispensable.

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) enable managing traffic flows and keeping users informed, thus making the best use of the infrastructure. Traffic and data flows are increasing within Europe, as well as cross-border traffic and the need for data exchange, making it all the more important to harmonise the technical and organisational framework conditions.

Within the framework of the European ITS Platform (EU EIP), co-financed by the European Commission, the ITS Deployment Guidelines, which were developed in previous projects (EasyWay, EIP+), were fundamentally revised to further harmonise the technical and organisational implementation of ITS. For example, due to the entry into force of the Delegated Regulations for the provision of: road safety relevant traf fic information 886/2013, information services for safe and secure parking areas for trucks and commercial vehicle 885/2013, EU-wide real-time traffic information services 2015/962 and EU-wide multimodal travel information 2017/1926, a revision of the ITS Deployment Guidelines was necessary to maintain compliance with the regulations. In addition, new features and innovations have been introduced, in order to respond to recently arising topics, such as digitalisation of road transport:

  • Bundling and streamlining concept of the Reference Handbook: The formerly 19 individual ITS Deployment Guideline documents have been combined into a single Reference Handbook, with the goal to eliminate repetitions and increase clarity.
  • DATEX II Recommended Service Profiles: In close cooperation with the DATEX II Program
  • Support Action, a Recommended Service Profile was created for each ITS Service: The Recommended Service Profiles are publicly available and provided free of charge. The ITS service descriptions refer to the corresponding profiles.
  • References to C-ROADS specifications: On the basis of the Collaboration Note between EU EIP and C-ROADS, each ITS service was checked to see whether it could be supported or supplemented by Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) services. The ITS service description refer to the corresponding C-ROADS Use Cases.
  • ITS Deployment References: Approximately 100 Deployment References from ITS implementations of the five Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Corridors were collected, converted to a uniform format and listed in the annex to the Reference Handbook.
  • Target Groups: To ensure that different interest groups can quickly obtain the relevant information from the Reference Handbook, the chapters that are of special interest for the defined interest groups (Strategic Bodies, Implementation Managers and Expert Engineers) have been marked accordingly with a relevant pictogram. For more information see chapter 1.4.
  • Website: An accompanying website to the PDF/printed Reference Handbook has been developed.

The Reference Handbook (an accessible download you find here) was created by ITS experts and practitioners and refined in a commentary process by member states experts. The innovations introduced ensure that the content is comprehensive and up to date, as well as underpin its credibility and relevance. In addition, its significantly improved accessibility ensures that the various users can easily obtain the necessary information. The Reference Handbook constitutes an essential basis for a harmonised and cross-border implementation of ITS services. Thus, it is a powerful tool in the ef fort to master the challenges of the European transport infrastructure described at the beginning. It makes a significant contribution to maintain a competitive European economy and constitutes a major component on the road to a modern and climate neutral society