On 16 - 17 July, Vice-President Kallas met with transport and telecommunications ministers in Nicosia to discuss how to make intelligent transport systems a reality.Vice-President Siim Kallas commented:’We need to develop European multimodal journey planners and other ITS applications in Europe. To make the best use of all existing transport modes and infrastructure, we need to ensure the availability, accessibility and exchange of all relevant information, such as schedules, capacity, and paths. The Commission will put forward ideas to support the private sector in developing multimodal transport planning and information services across Europe. This will allow new services like route planners or smart reservation and payment to spread for both passengers and freight, going beyond national borders and offering alternative transport modes.’By focusing on ’open data’, across transport systems, the EC hopes to help alleviate congestion, which is expected to increase along with the inevitable rise in freight and passenger transport by 2020. More information on the meeting can be found online.
ANNOUNCEMENT