Climate Action 2014-2015

RESILIENT CITIES
ramifications automated machines arouse)
– the potential arises for far greater
efficiency in the use of road space.
The chief infrastructure-side group
of technologies falls under the term
‘Intelligent Transportation Systems’ (ITS).
ITS technologies are still in their relative
infancy, but are evolving fast. However,
they have the potential to revolutionise
how the vehicles we use interact with
each other and the roads. They could
also open up the possibility of a whole
new range of services – from driver aids
(such as parking space finders) to whole
networks (such as autonomous car
sharing). Many of the required pieces are
there, but they need to be fitted together
if the ITS and smart car combination
is ever going to anything other than an
interesting technological curiosity.
While nominally ITS may have
applications for a range of transport
modes, under the EU Directive 2010/40/
EU, ITS is generally defined to apply to
road/vehicle interfaces for road transport.
ITS systems include such things as the
eCall emergency notification system, road
traffic management systems for varying
speed limits or traffic flow, enforcement
and collision prevention.
The motor vehicle industry actively
contributes to discussions on ITS and
aims to accelerate and coordinate the
deployment of the technology in road
transport, including for interfaces with
other transport modes. Intelligent
information and communication
technologies will play a major role in
bringing ITS technology to the roads.
This has the potential to increase
the efficiency of road use, improve
safety outcomes and improve the
environmental performance of vehicles.
Comprehensive deployment requires
investment in technology both at vehicle
fleet level and in the infrastructure they
use. As the technology develops, it ought
to find its way on to more and more
vehicles. Similarly, ITS systems will play
gradually more responsible roles in the
way vehicles and traffic operate.
There are legal liability and privacy
issues that connectivity and automation
raises, and these must be addressed for
the technology to have future. Vehicle
manufacturers take data security very
seriously as a result, and the discussion
about how to protect vehicle owners and
users is already under way.
In the long run, the combination of
sophisticated smart vehicles and of
ITS-enabled infrastructure could result
in a paradigm shift when it comes to
how we use or own vehicles. Innovation
both on and off the roads has led to the
development of new services, some of
which have the potential to genuinely
influence the automotive industry.
Cars that cooperate with each other and
with the infrastructure would improve
traffic flow and reduce the requirement
for central parking. Together, smart,
connected and cooperative technologies
could help make tightly congested city
centres move again.
THE ROLE OF
STAKEHOLDERS
Getting to this smart and efficiently
mobile future will require the
involvement of most of the key
stakeholders, each with their own part
to play. Vehicle manufacturers need to
develop technologies that customers
actually want and will use. Infrastructure
"Comprehensive
deployment requires
investment in technology
both at vehicle fleet level and
in the infrastructure they use."
providers, spurred on by governments
(who, after all, are likely to be major
financial backers for large projects) need
to meet industry half way and roll out
cooperative ITS systems. Government
needs to enable the proliferation of
connected cars (for example, by freeing
up telecommunications bandwidth), and
has to permit the use of smart and even
automated vehicles on public roads, as
some are beginning to do. Policy-makers
also have the role of working out the
chain of legal liability for autonomous,
connected or smart vehicles and their
data. Finally, all stakeholders need to
work together to develop standards
so that the technology is compatible
globally.
With these pieces of the jigsaw put
together, the future begins to look like
the picture of the smart, sustainable
mobility that the automotive industry
has pushed for ever since the first cars
motored through the streets of Europe’s
ancient cities.
ACEA is hosting a conference on The
Connected Car: Safe, Clean, Secure on
4 December 2014 in Brussels. More
information can be found on the website
at www.acea.be.
Erik Jonnaert is Secretary General of
the European Automobile Manufacturers’
Association (ACEA). Mr Jonnaert began
his career with Linklaters law firm. He
subsequently joined Procter & Gamble,
where he worked for 25 years in public
and regulatory affairs, communications and
stakeholder relations. Before joining ACEA,
He was Procter & Gamble’s Vice President for
External Relations in Europe, later moving to
establish a network in Asia. Mr Jonnaert is a
graduate of Harvard Law School.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’
Association (ACEA) represents the 15
European motor vehicle manufacturers at
EU level, providing technical and industrial
expertise for the policy-making process.
ACEA’s members are BMW Group, DAF
Trucks, Daimler, FIAT SpA, Ford of Europe,
General Motors Europe, Hyundai Motor
Europe, IVECO SpA, Jaguar Land Rover,
PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault Group,
Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group,
Volvo Cars, and Volvo Group..
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