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If you haven’t already head about Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), you will soon.
Intelligent Transport Systems is the term used for the integration of technology into transport with the general aims of improving safety for road users and making transport more efficient.
Modern vehicles contain sophisticated electronic systems which manage everything from engine emissions to vehicle security. Driver aids such as ABS, traction control, cruise control and satellite navigation are now commonplace.
ITS takes the concept a step further and opens the possibility for vehicle to vehicle communications, as well as vehicle to infrastructure communications.
Intelligent Transport Systems are a key element in the EU’s efforts to improve road safety and EU Directive 2010/40/EU sets out the basic requirements for the introduction of ITS in road transport. Therefore it’s a question of when, not if, we see it on Irish roads. Moreover, the EU has firmly set its sights on reducing casualties amongst vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists) so we can expect to see some form of ITS being adapted for motorcycles.
It is against this background that F.E.M.A. (of which MAG Ireland is a founder member) has released a special edition newsletter on the current situation around Intelligent Transport Systems in the EU.
Drawing on interviews with researchers, the motorcycle industry, and members of the EU Commission as well as technical data and FEMA’s own policy documents, the newsletter provides a comprehensive view of where ITS is now and how it will be developed in the future. It will be coming to motorcycles in one form or another eventually, so it makes sense for riders to be aware of developments around ITS, how it will affect us as riders and what impact it will have on the sort of bike we can ride in the future.
Read the newsletter on the FEMA web site here:
http://www.fema-online.eu/index.php?page=special-edition-newsletter—intelligent-transport—april-2012
The FEMA position paper on Intelligent Transport Systems is a 16 page PDF document written in plain English which gives an excellent overview of the benefits and drawbacks of ITS and how it relates to motorcycles. You can download it from the FEMA web site here:
http://www.fema-online.eu/uploads/documents/ITS/20110110_FEMA_ITS_position.pdf
Footnotes: The 2013 Intelligent Transport Systems conference is due to be held in Dublin in June 2013.
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