WEBINAR: From Vision to Reality - Operational C-ITS Services
A Successful Start of the C-ITS Webinar Series!
On June 26, 2024, the first C-ITS webinar, “From Vision to Reality: Operational C-ITS Services,” drew more than 250 participants from over 40 different countries. The webinar showcased which C-ITS services are already operational in Europe and how operators, both from the infrastructure side as well as from OEM side contributed to the European success story.
Introduction
After a brief introduction by the Secretary General of the European C-Roads Platform, Martin Böhm, the goal of the C-Roads was highlighted. The aim is to link C-ITS deployments in Europe, with interoperability being particularly important. To ensure this, technical specifications are developed, shared, tested in cross-tests, and finally published. The strong cooperation between C-Roads, authorities, road operators, and the car industry forms the basis for the current successful deployment of C-ITS all across Europe.
Video: C-ITS WEBINAR: From Vision To Reality - Introduction of C-Roads (Martin Böhm)
Key Presentations and Insights
Niels Peter Skov Andersen - Car-2-Car Communication Consortium
Niels Peter Skov Andersen briefly presented the mission of the C2C-CC to enhance road safety and traffic efficiency while reducing environmental impact. He highlighted their focus on functional requirements and demonstrated C-ITS use cases which resulted through cooperation with different stakeholders. The roadmap for the future was also highlighted, focusing on achieving higher levels of automation and enhancing connected and cooperative mobility.
Jannis Fritz - Volkswagen
Jannis Fritz discussed the motivation behind deploying C-ITS as car manufacturer, emphasizing that for time-critical events, direct communication outperforms backend communication due to its ability to meet stringent latency and quality requirements. He highlighted that C-ITS services are permanently and freely available, which was a significant factor for its adoption in the Golf 8 in 2019, the first car from the Volkswagen car fleet equipped with C-ITS. Since then, the number of use cases and car models from the VW group has steadily increased. Currently, 1.3 million VW-cars across 31 European countries are equipped with C-ITS features. Jannis Fritz also detailed the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) that issues certificates for every series vehicle, noting that entities can apply for their own PKI enrollment via car2x@volkswagen and thereby joining the trustlist of VW. Looking ahead, the already existing trustlist from the European Commission will be integrated to expand the trusted C-ITS ecosystem.
Video: C-ITS WEBINAR: From Vision To Reality - Volkswagen (Jannis Fritz)
Susanne Schulz - Die Autobahn GmbH des Bundes
Susanne Schulz outlined the strategic goals of the German motorway operator by using C-ITS: enhancing safety and efficiency through connectivity. She presented various active, piloted, and planned use cases, highlighting the dual benefits for road users and operators due to improved data on road traffic. Susanne Schulz showcased the rollout of approximately 1200 safety trailers equipped with C-ITS and discussed the next steps, which include encouraging private companies and contractors responsible for safeguarding roadworks on motorways to equip their trailers with C-ITS. She emphasized the importance of a trusted environment with standardized and harmonized specifications for cross-border real-time traffic management, involving all stakeholders of the transportation system. "We can save lives with this!" she stated, underscoring the EU funding supporting these initiatives.
Video: C-ITS WEBINAR: From Vision To Reality - Die Autobahn (Susanne Schulz)
Peter Meckel - ASFINAG
Peter Meckel described the deployment of C-ITS across Austria's motorway network, which began in 2021. The goal is to have one C-ITS Roadside Unit (RSU) every 4 kilometers on average, with 367 out of 525-550 planned RSUs already operational. He highlighted the strong funding support from the European Union and showcased various operational use cases on Austrian motorways and operator vehicles, which include traffic manager, road maintenance and toll enforcement vehicles, traffic cone setters and truck-mounted attenuators. Austria has also recently deployed the first C-ITS equipped powered two-wheelers in the form of traffic manager motorbikes. Peter Meckel shared lessons learned, noting that C-ITS is the only ecosystem that truly connects all traffic system users and creates instant value with the first C-ITS station put up. He also reminded everyone that protecting this valuable ecosystem is of high priority for the future of C-ITS, which should enable innovation while ensuring backward compatibility.
Video: C-ITS WEBINAR: From Vision to Reality - ASFINAG (Peter Meckel)
Closing Remarks
The webinar concluded with an engaging Q&A session, where participants asked over 75 questions, reflecting the high level of interest and engagement. Attendees were encouraged to contact the speakers directly for any further questions. You can rewatch every speakers presentation by using the following links
