ITS Japan News: Asian Pacific ITS Key Players and Policymakers Meet for "Regional Workshop on Intelligent Transport Systems"

Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) hosted a "Regional Workshop on Intelligent Transport Systems" in Tokyo on March 8-10, 2010. With the support of ITS Japan, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan and CITYNET, the workshop welcomed?many ITS key players and policy makers from the Asia Pacific region, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam, Bangladesh,Sri Lanka, Korea, and Chinese Taipei.

The participants engaged in an intensive three-day discussion where they shared experiences and exchanged views, recognizing the challenges for disseminating ITS and systematically using it in?their own countries and cities. They also realized the importance of identifying common strategies and concrete actions for using ITS as an effective means to address social and economic challenges in the Region.

It was agreed that a dialogue should continue to benchmark progress and share experiences so that the results can be presented at the Tokyo ITS World Congress 2013.

News from ERTICO : Fourth Meeting Held on eCall Implementation

The fourth meeting of the European eCall Implementation Platform took place on February 25, 2010 at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels, chaired by Hermann Meyer, CEO of ERTICO and Anu Laurell, from the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland. The European eCall implementation Platform was set up one year ago to give the last push to make eCall a reality in Europe. The Platform is a coordination body bringing together and supporting relevant stakeholders interested in and committed to implementing the public eCall service at European level.

The most important news concerned the mandatory implementation of eCall. As previously reported, the European Commission had stressed that only "significant" progress in rolling out eCall would forestall regulatory measures. Juhani Jääskeläinen, Head of Unit DG INFSO G4 - ICT for Transport, explained that in the Commission's opinion, this had not been achieved. The Commission will therefore propose three regulatory initiatives:

• A recommendation to the member states targeting Mobile Network Operators for the implementation of the eCall flag, led by DG INFSO, planned to be adopted by the end of 2010.
• A proposal for a regulation under the vehicle type-approval legislation for the mandatory introduction of the In-Vehicle System, foreseen for the beginning of 2011 under the lead of DG ENTR.
• The upgrading of the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAPs) infrastructure will be addressed in the framework of the proposed directive on the deployment of ITS in Europe, under the lead of DG MOVE. Common specifications are planned to be adopted by the Commission for the beginning of 2011.

The eCall impact assessment, considering the cost-benefit analysis and socio-economic costs of eCall, is currently being conducted, as required by the EC policy for all the legislative initiatives. It should be finalized by October 2010. In addition, the participants were updated on the status of the ITS directive and ITS Action Plan.

Regarding "Third Party Supported eCall" (TPS), it was stressed that while the EU was not against it, it could not be considered an alternative solution, only complementary. If, for instance, the TPS were not available in all member states, the system should automatically switch to eCall, thus providing pan-European coverage.

Other issues included reports on the progress of the different task forces, a presentation by the Russian delegates regarding the state of play vis-à-vis the eCall initiative in Russia and the election of a new Vice-Chair. The one-year vice-chairmanship is always given to a Member State. Participants voted in favour of Jan Urbanek (Czech Republic), with no votes against. Acceptance is pending the approval of the CZ Ministry of Interior.