ITS solutions for cyclists: an EU overview
At the workshop on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for pedestrians and cyclists, organized by ITS.be, Ronald Jorna, BITS project manager (Province of Overijssel), gave an EU overview of ITS solutions for cyclists. The aim of the workshop, held on May 13th, was to highlight the emerging best practices in ITS technologies used to manage and prioritise bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
The workshop attracted over 70 participants from across the ITS sector. Jorna’s presentation kicked off the workshop, with a description of the main objectives and logic of the BITS-project. He explained how we are implementing over 20 ITS systems for cyclists in our partner cities and regions, with two main aims. Firstly, making cycling more attractive by improving safety & reliability, speed & convenience, and comfort & experience. Secondly, collecting and using data to help inform policy as well as for direct use, such as cyclist feedback. Jorna also mentioned that collaborating with different cities, regions and organisations collaborating allows everyone to learn from each other, to improve and adapt systems more easily and in such a way that they can be implemented on a wider scale.
Mikaël Van Eeckhoudt, director of the Belgian Fietsersbond, echoed our belief that more cycling data is needed. He emphasized the clear lack of data in terms of cyclists’ behaviour, cycling infrastructure and cycling investments. This is required for smarter and more efficient policy decisions, and infrastructure development and improvement. These in turn are needed if we are to harness and maintain the current surge in bicycle use across the European continent. ITS systems and the data they generate could therefore play a key role in the shift to sustainable urban mobility.
There was a lot of interest during the workshop in our State of the Art report and Cycle Data Hub. Although the State of the Art has already been published and contains almost 100 ITS solutions for cyclists, it remains open in the sense that it is not exhaustive as it currently stands. Any system providers wanting their system to be included, can contact us at bits.interreg@gmail.com. The same goes for the BITS Cycle Data Hub. It is an open data platform, so any companies, cities or regions can share cycling data that they have through this form.