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Test area for intelligent transport in Finland to be built in Tampere
01.03.2011
Large-scale field testing of intelligent transport systems begins in Europe
VTT and Mercedes-Benz are leading a project to create the transport system of the future, in which cars communicate with each other, receive real-time information about traffic and also gather and forward information themselves. A test area is currently being built in Tampere. It will help establish which services Finnish drivers want, and what sort of effect these services would have on the safety and fluency of traffic as well as environmental effects.
The recently launched European DRIVE C2X project is developing and evaluating
new intelligent transport services for drivers and passengers that convey
real-time information from one commuter to another. The transport system is
expected to increase traffic efficiency and reduce the number of accidents, as
road users are better informed about what is happening around them in traffic.
The
new systems will be cooperative systems in which vehicles will exchange
location based real-time information with other vehicles and infrastructure.
This would make it possible to warn a driver about an approaching emergency
vehicle or a slippery curve ahead, for example.
The new
systems will be trialled in about a year’s time in Tampere, when the test area
is up-and-running. The key focus of the project is to study the effects of
developed applications and services on driver behaviour; on the safety,
efficiency and environment of traffic; and on realistic traffic situations. It
will be possible to utilise the results in practice around 2–4 years after the
conclusion of the project.
European research institutes and
major European car manufacturers – particularly Daimler as the project’s
coordinator – are carrying out this three-year project. VTT is the largest
partner in the project, both by budget EUR 2.1 million and volume of work. The
project’s total budget amounts to EUR 19 million. In addition to Finland,
other countries taking part in the project are Germany, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Italy, France and Spain.
Additional information
Jukka Laitinen
Project Manager
+358 20 722 3637
Harri Koskinen
Responsible for the test area
+358 20 722 3624