Current EU strategies considering urban mobility (e.g. the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, presented in the framework of the EU Green Deal, and the EU Urban Mobility Initiative) set ambitious targets for years to come for sustainable urban mobility planning and digitalisation of transport. The implementation of innovative and real-time traffic management solutions, within the above context, is not an easy procedure as different factors can impact their deployment. Elliniko Metro SA, as the Lead Partner of the task “opportunities and barriers” regarding the implementation of innovative traffic management systems such as FRONTIER system (Task 6.2 of FRONTIER Project), carried out a SWOT analysis for three cities in Europe (Athens, Antwerp and Oxford) based on the analysis of respective focus groups with main relevant transport stakeholders and experts to explore and analyse potential strengths and opportunities of these systems (“WHY”) and to identify potential barriers that should be overcome in the process of designing and introducing new traffic management systems (“HOW”).
Focusing on the keyword “WHY”, the implementation of innovative traffic management systems in Europe can lead to a significant strengthening of the transport sector including technical, financial, social, and operational issues. The introduction of advanced systems can increase and improve the current transport services for end users reducing travel costs, while potentially integrating new transport modes into the current transport systems and enhancing the safety levels for all transport modes. Additionally, the communication and cooperation among various transport operators and the existence of common protocols will be enhanced in the case that they are centrally coordinated ensuring the seamless data flow among the transport services towards securing transport infrastructure resilience.
Focusing on the keyword “HOW”, the implementation of innovative traffic management systems in Europe can face various barriers. These barriers can be both technical and non-technical, and they can significantly impact the successful adoption of advanced traffic management solutions. Overcoming these barriers requires a coordinated effort among government agencies, private/ public transport operators, and the public. It involves careful planning, investment, staff education, and public outreach to demonstrate the benefits of innovative traffic management systems while addressing different concerns and challenges. Additionally, international cooperation within Europe can help standardise approaches and improve interoperability.
Currently, the 2nd phase of Athens Pilot of the FRONTIER Project is under elaboration, where daily users of the Athens multimodal transport network (road network users and public transport users) use the FRONTIER mobile app through simulated scenarios and evaluate how this innovative application contributes into ensuring smooth journeys during unexpected traffic disruptions. In addition, during the 2nd phase of the Athens pilot, Elliniko Metro together with Attikes Diadromes and OASA use, test and evaluate the main FRONTIER tool for transport managers (ANTME platform) under special event scenarios.
In case you are looking for more information on this topic, please do not hesitate to contact the Research Programs Department of Elliniko Metro SA in the following e-mails or visit the FRONTIER project site: