The European Commission already took a major step towards the deployment and use of ITS in road transport (and interfaces to the other transport modes) on 16 December 2008 by adopting an Action Plan. The Action Plan suggested a number of targeted measures and included the proposal for this Directive The goal was to create the momentum necessary to speed up market penetration of rather mature ITS applications and services in Europe.
Availability and access to road data
Accurate public road, traffic and travel data are key elements of ITS deployment especially to guarantee the availability of intelligent digital maps to allow the use of in-car navigation devices but also of travel planners and all kinds of traffic management applications.
Definition of a harmonised approach for the development and evaluation of cooperative systems, including the assessment of strategies for their deployment.
Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) are defined in the ITS Directive as "non-motorised road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists as well as motor-cyclists and persons with disabilities or reduced mobility and orientation".
Despite the many potential benefits of Intelligent Transport Systems, the rather unclear, imprecise or diversely understood legal liability regime for potential losses caused by the use of ITS applications or services may be one of the most significant barriers to wide market penetration of those IT
Several road transport telematics applications have been regulated or imposed on all vehicles to improve road safety, prevent fraud and ensure interoperability.
Despite the many potential benefits of Intelligent Transport Systems, the associated increase in vehicle/infrastructure electronics and communications raises security and privacy issues which, if left unaddressed, could jeopardise the wider deployment of ITS.
The 2011 White Paper on Transport calls for a concerted and interoperable roll-out of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services in direct support of the achievement of a pan-European co-modal and truly integrated transport system by 2050.
Traffic and Travel Information is a key element of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) deployment. It can provide the European traveller with door-to-door information for well-informed travel decisions (pre-trip) as well as information during the journey (on-trip).
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