Climate Change 7XYRXIH KVS[XL

Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities Foreword Thinking Letters of Kevin Borras is co-founder and vice-president, publishing of H3B Media and intent... editor-in-chief of The letters “BPA” may not mean all that much to the Thinking Highways majority of our readers but to us (and our advertisers) they mean a lot more than you’d probably imagine Before you read the rest of new level. We were, of course, can now offer you, and without this, have a glance at the confident that we’d pass all of sounding like I’m accepting an logo and text just below the the rigorous tests but until we Oscar for best supporting slice of the cover image to got the official word that we editor, we really do appreciate the left. It might look like a had, we had to put the your faith and hope that you blue ball wearing head- champagne on ice. There was think it’s been repaid...and it phones but its presence is no actual champagne, was good to see some of you in the result of three and a half obviously. Sweden at the excellent ITS years of hard work on our What this means, though, is World Congress. part. there should no longer be any In true Scandinavian style, A BPA audit is without remnants of doubt about our we are pleased to offer you question the most stringent of circulation figures. A total of another smorgasbord of an business magazine circulation 20,149 people received the issue, full of thought-provoking examinations. Their June editions (plural) of articles and conscience- extraordinarily thorough Thinking Highways. You don’t prodding opinions. Randy auditors cast their beadiest of have to take our word for it Salzman has the honor of eyes over your database to anymore, you can see for being the author of the cover make sure that your yourself by clicking on the feature for the second issue in publications actually do go to ‘Advertising’ button on our a row; Phil Tarnoff is back, as many people as you say website and selecting ‘BPA questioning the quality of the they do. You must stop me if I’m Audit’ from the dropdown ITS world’s customer service; confusing you with all this menu. Richard Bishop and Alex publishing jargon. We would now like to take Patterson (one of three new You’ve no doubt heard the this opportunity to say a Thinking Highways writers to peculiarly British notion of heartfelt thank you to all the make their debuts in this issue) going through something with companies that have been look at how the automakers are a “fine tooth comb” (it’s a comb advertising with us since we coping in this global economic with very fine teeth, not a launched Thinking Highways in downturn; and David Pickeral really good comb for your October 2006 at the London assesses the impact ITS has teeth) well, the BPA auditors ITS World Congress. You have had on the public transit Thinking Highways is a member of BPA Worldwide. Qualified that were tasked with going supported us and believed in sector. I hope you enjoy circulation Issue 2, 2009 - 20,149 through our circulation took us without the cold hard facts reading this issue as much as I (Thinking Highways initial audit report ending June 2009) fine tooth combing to a whole that the BPA Worldwide audit have enjoyed editing it... TH

Thinking Highways is published by H3B Media Ltd. ISSN 1753-43ZI CEO Contributing Editors Luis Hill ([email protected]) Bruce Abernethy, Richard Bishop, Thinking Highways (ISSN 1752-43XI) is published quarterly in two editions (North America Group Headquarters Vice President, Publishing/ Lee J Nelson, Phil Tarnoff and Europe/RoW) for £30/€40 (Europe/RoW) and US$60 per year by H3B Media, 15 Onslow 15 Onslow Gardens, Wallington, SM6 9QL, UK Gardens, Wallington SM6 9QL,UK and is distributed in the USA by Pitney Bowes International Editor-in-Chief Contributors to this issue Tel +44 (0)208 254 9406 Mailing Services Inc as mailing agent. Periodicals postage paid at Kearny, NJ and additional Kevin Borras ([email protected]) Bruce Abernethy, Richard Bishop, Fax +44 (0)208 647 0045 Email [email protected] mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PB International Mailing Services Inc. Barry Gilbert-Miguet, Mark Johnson, H3B Media North America H3B Media North America 500 US Hwy 46, Clifton, NJ, 07011. President: Lee J Nelson Robert Kelly, Jack Opiola, Alexander 1960 Gallows Road, Suite 220, Patterson, Scott Pearce, Justin Peters, Vienna, Virginia 22182-3827-99 USA Although due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this publication is accurate H3B Media Latin America David E Pickeral, Randy Salzman, Tel +1-703-893-0744 and up to date, the publisher can accept no liability for errors and omissions. Unless otherwise President: Sebas van den Ende Neil Shister, John Tarleton, Phil Tarnoff. Email [email protected] stated, this publication has not tested products or services that are described herein, and Vice-President: Lucille Holtel Digital Edition: Andy Graham, Thomas H3B Media Latin America their inclusion does not imply any form of endorsement. By accepting advertisements in this Av. Marechal Floriano 38, S.809, publication, the publisher does not warrant their accuracy, nor accept responsibility for their Assistant Editor Israelsen Centro - 20080-006, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Lucy Cone ([email protected]) Sub-Editor and Proofreader Tel +55 21 3717 4719 contents. The publisher welcomes unsolicited manuscripts and illustrations but can accept no Email [email protected] liability for their safe return. Sales and Marketing Maria Vasconcelos Group Financial Director Luis Hill ([email protected]) Subscriptions and Circulation Martin Brookstein © 2009 H3B Media Ltd. All rights reserved. Tim Guest ([email protected]) Pilarin Harvey-Granell Administration The views and opinions of the authors are not necessarily those of H3B Media Ltd. Design and Layout Conferences and Events Kerry Hill ([email protected]) Reproduction (in whole or in part) of any text, photograph or illustration contained in this Kevin Borras, Lucy Cone Odile Pignier ([email protected]) publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. www.thinkinghighways.com Printed in the UK by The Manson Group

www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 1 Contents

12 Driver Behavior DriverClimate Behavior Change

RANDY SALZMAN investigates the thinking and the man behind a project to mitigate Washington, DC’s a road less rush-hour snarl-ups

traveled... COLUMNS 04 Robert Kelly & Mark Johnson’s Legal Brief

“That was one of the best.” this 2007 case, chose to focus on the fact that Flynn SourceCorp’s 125 employees. The time and energy she Nick Ramfos did not appear cynical as we departed wanted her Marlboro, Maryland employees surveyed might spend addressing issues residing well away from 08 Scott’s Pearce’s Better Roads, Better World from an hour-long meeting with SourceCorp’s human on how they got to work and on her initial enthusiasm for her job description simply would not advance her resource specialist. Yet there’d been no assurances that guaranteed ride home, one small aspect of the D.C career at SourceCorp. Cheryl Flynn would call back; no signature on any area’s multi-dimensional efforts to decrease congestion “We’re swimming against the tide, so to speak, dotted line; no date set for any next step. Indeed, when and auto-borne pollution. This tiny step might eventu- because of the convenience of jumping into your car in Ms Flynn pulled out an inch-thick envelope Ramfos’ ally lead Commuter Connections programming through a society where everything is centered around that auto- associate had mailed SourceCorp weeks before, it was the Sourcecorp door. mobile,” Ramfos explained without a hint of self pity. obvious that was her first serious look at Commuter Still, Ramfos was realistic, noting that Flynn had recog- “We’re competing against companies that have tens of Connection programming designed to decrease Wash- nized that many features designed to get commuters out millions of dollars in advertising spend so we really ington, DC area traffic congestion. of their cars would require “someone” at SourceCorp to have to have a compelling message. The pitch is differ- “We didn’t get kicked out which is always a plus,” verify, for example, if pre-tax benefiting commuters ent for each company, each employer’s representative, Ramfos said. “It was a good meeting.” were actually carpooling or research whether transit and then different for employees; all of whom are almost When one spends one’s life addressing America’s car passes potentially handed out by SourceCorp were always members of the car culture.” culture, Goliath must seem small potatoes. Battling eve- appearing for auction on eBay – as happened with fed- As is, of course, Ramfos and, indeed, every person COVER STORY rything from baby scooters designed like cars to prod- eral employees in 2006. Flynn, with underutilized free working to decrease the 2.9 trillion miles Americans uct placement in countless movies to billions in auto parking spaces in her industrial park, had obviously drive annually. The depth of America’s “love affair with advertising to a national belief in the “freedom” of one’s comprehended that “someone” most likely would be the automobile” begins with every individual’s “default personal car, must mean that those seeking fewer single the person she sees reflected in her mirror. No matter position” – key in ignition –; rumbles through every occupancy drivers would give their right arms for how much she cared about the area’s congestion, the employer needing his or her employees on the job site; David’s slingshot. Even today, all they’ve got are the nation’s foreign policy, or the planet’s atmosphere, her sidetracks to day cares and sports practices; confounds 12 Randy Salzman on a plan to alleviate Washington, DC’s trumpeting of every tiny incremental step. Ramfos, in job was payroll and worker compensation claims for countless city, county and local governments, paralyzing congestion

INTERVIEW 18 Interview ClimateInterview Change So the insights you have gained in other parts of the return us with regressive transport and environmental world are valuable for your policy work in the United policy. States, and vice versa? More recently, we had the problems of smog from high 18 The IRF’s Barry Gilbert-Miguet in conversation with Exactly. I have to say that while I was growing up in the sulphur coal, popularly associated with Beijing or Chi- US, transport systems had a tendency to be a bit one- nese major cities, but doubtless prevalent in industrial- dimensional. Apart from perhaps walking to school or ized cities such as London at the end of the last century What makes by push bike, all trips were done by car. Spending time and other metropolis throughout the world. Every time in Hong Kong exposed me to a wonderful new array of we solve one issue, like replacing high sulphur coal with transport possibilities, and it was quite a shock to realize electric heating or diesel/petrol engines with electric just how well a city could operate with fewer cars. Even or hydrogen power trains, we simply replace one set of Jack Opiola about the perils and pitfalls of road pricing more, it helped frame transport policy in my mind based problems with another set. Just like my prior example of pricing fair? on a sense of how various modes of transport could horse drawn carriages and carts congesting cities a complement rather than compete against each other. It century ago, cars and trucks are doing that today. What also enabled me to evaluate various modes of transport happens tomorrow – replace diesel and petrol cars/ in marginal social cost models and cost allocation mod- trucks with electric/hydrogen versions and you still Following a stimulating presentation by JACK OPIOLA to the els, to assess each option on their own terms and how it have congestion and parking problems, just with 7XYRXIH affected society. “green” vehicles! IRF Policy Committee on Active Traffic Management, the So, whilst “sustainability” is a modern buzzword, the IRF’s BARRY GILBERT-MIGUET hooked up with him to find This would seem to be consistent with the thinking issues have in fact been with us through the centuries. out more about the man behind the policy and what drives behind the new ‘Green Economy’. How far is this My problem is how it should best be defined for the his vision, not to say passion, for the future of transport influencing the US outlook? future. If it means balancing all elements into a coherent I think it has long been a factor. Despite perceptions, policy, should not one of those elements be the funding CUSTOMER SERVICE KVS[XL for example in the wake of Kyoto, the idea of sustainabil- dimension required to effect, and precisely sustain, our 24 Compared to other industries, how does ITS treat its customers? Phil Tarnoff has the answers ity has never really been far from most cities and regions economies and progress? Pricing helps incentivize Jack Opiola is a transport policy consultant and a You mean Kipling would find the world a very differ- of the United States. In Seattle, it’s not a movement; it’s a people into making smarter choices when they travel. recognised global expert in Intelligent Transporta- ent jungle? way of life, a religion. Smart choices enable us to match trip purpose with bus, tion Systems (ITS), tolling, road pricing and compu- Yes, very different. We are living in fascinating times in The one thing that worries me in transport policy is the train, tram, cycling, walking or private car – provided terised parking control systems. He has and is regards to transport, computers and telecommunica- definition of what people mean by sustainability. Look- that we have given people those choices. Pricing cre- advising clients at the national level on technology tions. It’s the combination of those three things that are ing at old photographs of major cities like London and ates revenues and allows us to afford to create, fund and and policy issues. Jack has recently relocated to the making the world smaller, and in effect, enables the glo- New York, we can see they were always congested. Pros- enrich those smart decisions. Therefore, funding has to United States where he is assisting in National bal economy to operate. In some ways, we are reversing perity breeds congestion and these be just as much a part of the definition of Tolling and Congestion Pricing. what the geologists say happened with Pangaea by world class cities have a history of being ±*YRHMRKLEWXSFIsustainability as balancing all other bringing all the continents and tectonic plates back the economic success stories of their resources. IRF: Could you tell us what inspired your career in together again – maybe not in physical space but cer- time periods. NYWXEWQYGLETEVX transport? tainly in time. This enhances our ability to link and Sustainability probably had a differ- SJXLIHI½RMXMSRSJIs the notion of complementary JO: I haven’t been involved in transport my entire life exchange ideas, causing us to widen our perspectives - ent definition at that time. We shouldn’t WYWXEMREFMPMX]EW measures you expressed earlier also AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY - although in a sense I guess we all have if you consider to be more “civilized” in Kipling’s words. overlook that 100 years ago, the internal part of the equilibrium? Kipling’s observation that “transport is civilization”. Liv- This ties in with what I was trying to convey at the IRF combustion engine, the horseless car- FEPERGMRKSXLIV Absolutely. Unfortunately, a lot of our ing in a civilized society, transport has affected me my Policy meeting - the idea that, fundamentally, transport, riage and the introduction of trucks transport system is out of balance and whole life - right from my very first trip to hospital in my computers and telecommunications are what underpin were looked upon as the saviours of our VIWSYVGIW² poor decision making in our transport mother’s womb! I think we sometimes miss the fact that today’s political and economic systems. Through them great and grand cities. We can only imagine what our policy has created that imbalance. In my presentation to transport touches us all, literally everyday of our lives. If we connect; through them we exchange ideas and prod- streets must have been like in the age of congestion the IRF Policy Committee, I referred to the fact that we’re 30 Richard Bishop and Alexander Patterson on how the Kipling were alive today, he would probably have to ucts; they enable us to compete; when we connect and from horse drawn vehicles. Imagine the hazards of heading towards a ‘perfect storm’ caused by the col- expand his statement to read “transport and telecom- compete we drive the local, regional, national and glo- crossing the street in any of those cities – what they must lapse of surface transport programs. The growth of cars munications are civilization”. Telecommunications is bal economy forward at a micro level that provides have been like in hot summer season from a sanitary, has rocketed over the last 50 years, and this has been to the glue that binds us all together. Coupled with ITS, it is value to our lives, enriches its quality and improves smog, smell and public health standpoint. They cer- the detriment of our other modes of transport. People car industry is forging ahead with its sustainability plans an exciting time period to be alive. society as a whole. tainly were not the romantic vision that some aspire to are naturally drawn to the fastest, most convenient and despite the global economic crisis

CANADA 30 Automotive Industry Automotive Industry determined to avoid the temptation to “eat their potato Management, Group Research and Mercedes-Benz seeds” in these lean times, stating that keeping the Cars Development, echoed his firm’s CEO when quoted firm’s R&D budget (€4.1 billion in 2008 according to the in the June 2009 edition of Automotive Engineering company’s annual report) strong will International magazine saying “We ensure that the company comes out of ±OIITMRKXLI½VQ´W believe, especially in a crisis situation, the crisis “in a better position” than its 6 (FYHKIXWXVSRK that companies that can invest in R&D 38 Justin Peters on why his country’s government is not doing competitors. and in future technology can better Despite experiencing a 4 per cent [MPPIRWYVIXLEXXLI survive and be stronger after the crisis drop in revenue in 2008 and instituting GSQTER]GSQIWSYX than before. That is our target.” Accord- cost efficiency programs in all busi- ing to a Financial Times article (9 Feb- nesses, that means that Daimler is SJXLIGVMWMWMRE ruary, 2009), Christoph Huss, president expected to continue with its current FIXXIVTSWMXMSRXLERof the international Association of plans to spend roughly €10.1 billion Automotive Engineers and a group enough to support transport’s ‘Clean Tech’ protagonists on research and development over MXWGSQTIXMXSVW² vice-president at BMW stated, “The 2009/2010, which, according to an global auto industry is under extreme article on www.autoblog.com (18 April 2009), is not only pressure right now as a direct result of the financial cri- a maintenance of the status quo, but actually an increase. sis. It is inevitable that some companies will be forced to Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Daimler Board of review certain production and engineering projects,

As the economic crisis continues to plunder through Europe, is it easy to assume that the hard-struck ITS AND PUBLIC TRANSIT automotive industry is cutting budgets in all departments. However, as ALEX PATTERSON and RICHARD BISHOP discover, a suprising number of car manufacturers are committed to more long term, 42 David E Pickeral on how the advent of ITS has created both sustainable goals Amidst reduced global demand for consumer prod- ucts, most companies are looking to rein in their expenses across the board so as to maximize bottom line profits. Not so of the top European carmakers – at least in R&D – say a number of recent Internet opportunities and problems for the public transit sector articles discussing the subject. Instead, firms such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW are foregoing short- term cost cutting in their R&D budgets in order to pull ahead of their competitors in an automotive industry increasingly defined by the search for technological solutions to high gas prices and increasingly stringent government-enforced envi- ronmental requirements. Eckehart Rotter, chief spokesman for the German automobile industry association Verband der Automo- bilindustrie (VDA), was quoted in an article in the online news magazine ScienceBusiness (18 June, 2009) saying that he expected the overall amount of German industry investment in R&D to remain constant in 2009 at roughly GREEN ITS €18.9 billion, the amount invested in 2008. Daimler AG chief executive Dieter Zetsche stated at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show that the company would not be putting “long-term success on the line with short-term budget cuts. That’s why our R&D budget is one of the largest in the automotive industry, and we 48 Jon Tarleton’s solution for the transportation pollution intend to keep it that way.” Earlier in the year he told reporters at the Geneva Motor Show that the company is modelling conundrum

SIGNAL TIMING 42 Public Transit and ITS PublicClimate Transit andChange ITS 54 Neil Shister reports as New York City’s Times Square is turned into a pedestrian precinct State of transition

The evolution of ITS during the first decade of the DRIVER INFORMATION century has created both opportunities and issues for public transport/transit going into the second, saysDAVID E PICKERAL in the first of his new regular 60 Driver distraction is a global issue, so why does the contributions

As the first decade of the 21st Century draws to an vidually influenced ITS development with an eye towards ITS industry want to add to the information overload? end it marks what I believe will be a significant what can be expected going forward in transit. While I period in the evolution of ITS from a somewhat do not purport to offer, nor do I yet wish to be in the posi- arcane and esoteric concept, largely restricted to a tion of defending, bold theories and predictions, I hope select group of insiders, to one that most of the that I can proceed under the simple hypothesis that developed world now understands to some degree approaching 2010 ITS has now emerged as a standalone from actual experience. ecosystem combining and inextricably linked to the Bruce Abernethy has some ideas While the specific term ITS and its implications is may core elements the ICT and transport industries but also not yet be entirely understood or appreciated by most distinct from each such as to afford separate analysis as of the general public many as either daily commuters or such. tourists have in recent years experi- enced the early and steadily enhancing “Policy is endemic Policy factors benefits of location-based services, to the ITS Policy, encompassing legal, political, electronic tolling, VMS signage, in- legislative and regulatory factors influ- vehicle communications systems and ecosystem as it enced by government initiative, is of smartcard payments for goods and concurrently course endemic to the ITS ecosystem, services including and well beyond encompassing as it does the concurrent transportation. encompasses ICT activities of ICT and transport as two of This situation, and indeed the progres- and transport” the most heavily regulated industries sion of ITS into the coming decade, is worldwide. and will continue to be driven by a combination of tech- As those familiar with any aspect of critical infrastruc- 64 Index of Advertisers nological, policy and market factors. The interplay of ture would attest, policy decision-makers are invariably these factors may vary widely by region, economics and forced with some balance along a continuum between individual project dynamics but as with all great public allowing market forces to run laissez-faire to maximize works endeavours they are all invariably present to aggregate wealth creation at the national, regional or some degree. Accordingly, it is worthwhile to take a few even global level against ensuring the socio-economic moments to explore how they have collectively and indi- benefit to individual citizens. ONLINE BONUS CONTENT Exclusive articles available only in the electronic

version of Thinking Highways North America 60 Driver Information Driver Information $UH\RX 66 Richard Bishop’s Thinking Cars update 70 IBEC members on road pricing’s failings OLVWHQLQJ" 74 Thomas Israelsen on a policy-making aid 76 Andy Graham: “What if IKEA did ITS?”

In previous presentations and published articles on tions on radiated power is supposed to be less than is One proposed solution to vehicle safety was the BRUCE ABERNETHY reminds the dangers of cell phone use in vehicles, I have required to “cook cells to destruction by heating” (simi- implementation of “hands free” cell phones. Hands free stressed two areas of concern: cellular telephones lar to the process of cooking in a solutions do not necessarily elimi- us of the dangers of cell distract drivers’ attention from the road and contrib- microwave oven), test clearly show ±0MWXIRMRK nate radiating the brain area with RF phone use whilst driving: ute to an information overload, as well as negatively that the human brain’s temperature GSQTVILIRWMSRXEWOW energy as we see from the many impacting on the health of a driver due to non-ioniz- increases with cell phone use. Bluetooth ear pieces that seemingly perhaps the ITS industry ing radiation. Cell phone use research by inde- HVI[QIRXEPVIWSYVGIW indicate that the majority of the should think twice before Research undertaken at the turn of the century indi- pendent organizations (not influ- E[E]JVSQHVMZMRK population needs “hearing aids.” demanding the deployment cated that the effects of long term radiation of the head enced by the cell phone industry Bluetooth devices emit a lower area from radio frequency (RF) energy can cause dam- nor the government agencies have IZIRXLSYKLXLIHVMZIVWlevel RF signal but are closer to the of systems that may result in a age to human cells. I also pointed out that cell phones indicated a relationship between [IVIRSXLSPHMRKSV brain and are usually continually distracting overload of generally complied with restrictions on non-ionizing DNA damage and probability of activated. radiation levels as dictated by regulatory agencies, tumors caused by extended expo- YWMRKETLSRI² In addition, with the advent of text information for drivers such as the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) sure to RF radiation. Military manu- messaging, the driver must see the instead of actually in the US (Specific Absorption Rate of 1.6 W/kg). Assum- als related to radar devices published pre-cell phone message on the cell phone display and must use a key- ing a cell phone is placed to the human ear, 60 per cent era stress the dangers of RF radiation to the eyes and board to respond; the exception is with the implementa- helping them of the RF energy is absorbed by, and actually penetrates other organs of the body. There have been many more tion of text to speech and speech to text technology into, the brain for up to several inches. While the restric- recent studies that illustrate cell phone dangers. which is not widely used. of cell phone use while driv                  

                 

          
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  Robert Kelly and Mark Johnson’s Legal Brief Public private Robert Kelly is a partner with the Washington, DC based law firm Squire, Sanders, investigations Dempsey The sensitive issue of ITS and privacy comes under scrutiny - and not for the first time

Two recent publications, one rules: “Member States shall collected data could be used. in Europe the other in the ensure that ITS data and More precisely, the concern is United States, focus anew on records are protected against that data may be collected for privacy and ITS. misuse, including unlawful one ITS purpose but then used In addition, the two papers access, alteration or loss.” for a secondary purpose represent the starkly different While the EDPS acknowledges inconsistent with the original cultural approaches to privacy: that the ITS Action Plan takes purpose. The risk of this a top-down approach in steps to protect personal data happening is most prevalent Europe versus a bottom-up collected and used by ITS with ITS applications based on approach in the United States. systems, it finds that these users’ location data, where the Despite the differing steps are insufficient. data may have value for approaches, the two papers commercial, insurance, or law come up with several Causes for concern enforcement purposes. The consistent recommendations A first concern raised by the EDPS recommends that the ITS for protecting personal data Data Protection Supervisor is Action Plan be amended to collected and used by ITS to ensure that ITS systems state that personal data “not be systems. deployed across the European used for purposes other than The first paper comes from Union provide consistent the ones for which they were the European Data Protection levels of privacy protection. collected in a way Supervisor (EDPS). In 1995 According to the EDPS, privacy incompatible with those and 2001, the European Union protections in the ITS action purposes.” This threat can be adopted two Data Protection plan are too general and lack countered further by Directives that require sufficient legal basis, likely collecting only the minimum Member States, subordinate leading to differing levels of data necessary and political bodies and private data protection in deployed anonymous where possible. In entities to protect collected ITS system among Member addition, ITS systems should personal data from misuse and States. incorporate “privacy by unauthorized disclosure. The To counter this threat, the design” at the outset. Data Protection Supervisor EDPS recommends that A third concern centers on works to ensure that the standard, pan-European the role of ITS service Directives’ data protection contracts be used to ensure providers in protecting Mark Johnson is an standards are maintained that ITS services through personal data. Under the attorney at law with throughout the European Europe include the same European privacy directives, Squire, Sanders, Union. safeguards. Further such ITS “actors” are Dempsey in In July 2009, the EDPS clarification in the ITS Action responsible for ensuring Washington,DC released an “opinion” Plan is needed as to when the compliance with these general commenting on the EU’s Action collecting and processing of directives and specific data Plan for the deployment of ITS personal is to begin and protection rules for ITS. in Europe, which the EU pursuant to what legal basis: However, according to the adopted in December 2008. Consent of the user? Contract? EDPS, it is not clear which As a threshold matter, the Or other legal obligation? entity or entities will have this EDPS emphasizes that the A second concern raised by responsibility in specific ITS deployment and operation of the EDPS is that the ITS Action applications. Entities with data ITS systems must be carried Plan fails to adequately define protection obligations must be out in compliance with the specific ITS services and identified in all ITS European data protection purposes for which the applications and, if there are

4 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Xxxxx

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US +1 301 444 2200 / EMEA +31 182 592 333 / ASIA +65 6264 7501 Robert Kelly and Mark Johnson’s Legal Brief Photo by Kevin Borras Kevin Photo by

more than one, each of their potential to expose an protections. Retaining roles and responsibilities must individual’s “locational location-based data after its be defined more specifically. privacy” about when and use will incur internal costs for As we have discussed in where they go, and with whom storage and access. In previous columns, personal they interact. addition, such firms may face data protection in the United legal requests to access the States is approached very Call collect retained data from law differently. Most significantly, While the authors contend that enforcement or private there is no general, nationwide governments have a civic lawyers, adding further costs. law that imposes broad responsibility to ensure that Private firms that can requirements for protecting their infrastructure protects demonstrate cost-effective personal data. What privacy individuals’ locational privacy, privacy protections may gain a laws that exist are narrowly they do not call for a national competitive advantage in the focused on particular law and government marketplace. industries and types of data, bureaucracy to address the The authors’ views are such as personal health and issue. Rather, the authors consistent with what ITS financial information. In recommend that these industry leaders in the United addition, there is no national technologies “don’t collect the States have expressed for privacy “czar” like the EDPS in data in the first place.” Like the some time that legislation is the United States. EDPS, the authors contend that not needed to address privacy The second paper comes these systems can be built at concerns implicated by ITS, from the Electronic Frontier the outset to protect privacy. and that these issues are most Foundation (EFF), a leading US By using modern effectively dealt with at the think tank that advises on cryptography, the authors time of product design and technology and public policy. deployment. Released in August 2009 and “There is no In sum, while the two papers entitled “On Locational make similar recommend- Privacy, and How to Avoid nationwide law ations regarding how to Losing it Forever,” the paper that imposes protect personal data that is evidences the philosophy in collected for ITS and other the United States for broad technologies, the EDPS and the balancing privacy concerns requirements for US think tank propose very against the benefits to be different means to reach these gained from a new technology. protecting similar goals. The EDPS, a The authors, a personal data” representative of the European mathematician at Stanford Union bureaucracy, relies on a University and the EFF’s staff believe that the locational top-down approach that would “technologist,” examine the systems can be designed to impose the privacy protections privacy implications of incorporate privacy pursuant to government emerging “locational” protections, from complete regulation. technologies, many involving anonymity to limited Conversely, the EFF eschews ITS, such as electronic tolling, anonymity for law a government-centered cellphones with GPS and enforcement. The authors’ approach, instead advocating mapping, services that notify biggest concern is that these technical solutions and market when friends are nearby, systems are designed without incentives for implementing monthly transit swipe cards, any privacy protections simply privacy protections. The two and the like. The authors because that is the easiest approaches may be equally recognize the “clear” benefits alternative. effective, but are in convenience and social For the private sector, the representative of the differing networking offered by these authors argue that there are concepts regarding privacy technologies, but warn that financial incentives that between Europe and the they have the “hidden” warrant implementing privacy United States. TH

6 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Xxxxx Accept No Substitutes.

If it doesn’t say SmartSensor, it’s not 758( +iJK 'eÀnition 5adar

R 7Kere’s onOy one trXe, KiJK deÀnition trafÀF sensor SmartSensor +' offers XnSaraOOeOed aFFXraFy in YeKiFOe FoXnt, oFFXSanFy and FOassiÀFation www.wavetronix.com 'on’t settOe for anytKinJ Oess Scott Pearce’s Better Roads, Better World All frosting, Scott Pearce is Communications Director for the International Road Federation’s Alexandria, VA office and can be contacted no cake... via email at Are the big hitters in the corporate world starting to [email protected] see smart infrastructure as a way of capitalising on the population boom?

In a recent article in the New so interested in the new so- appear poised to become Zealand Herald, IBM’s CEO, called ‘smart infrastructure’? decisive players in Samuel J Palmisano states Was intelligent just not smart transportation technology due that 100 years ago only enough? to their size, capabilities and 13 per cent of the world’s Perhaps their sudden resources. Even if they population lived in cities. concern for the well-being of dedicated a small amount of Today, more than half of the our decrepit electrical grids their resources, it would most people on Earth live in a city. and road networks stems from likely dwarf most dedicated And by 2050, Palmisano interest in the billions the transportation technology predicts, that number will rise Obama administration and a concerns (as I talked about in to 70 per cent. In effect, we are my last column, the US adding the equivalent of seven “In effect, we are transportation infrastructure New Yorks to the planet every needs funding, and it needs it year. adding the yesterday). And while the prospect of equivalent of These larger firms have delectable pizza and plenty of capital and cheesecake, Broadway, and seven New Yorks experience, and are quite even though it pains me to say to the planet comfortable acquiring start- it, the Yankees in seven new ups and small firms when they cities a year may be every year” enter new markets or need appealing, with this kind of new technologies. Some growth, smart and sustainable myriad other rich-country logical potential acquisition solutions are paramount. governments seem poised to targets are; Inrix (who now has We have gone from a world pour in those directions? an App available at an App of only 20 cities of a million Or they simply realize that, store near you); Sensys people or more, to one of 450 given the demographic Networks (who has recently cities with a seven figure patterns mentioned above, partnered with TransCore and population. And we show no smart transportation should Siemens after happily signs of slowing down. become far more critical and disrupting the vehicle larger a market in the mid to detection space); and Airsage Intelligence quotient long-terms? Or they calculate (who recently struck a With this explosive growth it that they are ideally suited to partnership with Verizon). All stands to reason that questions cash in on the promise of VII of whom have developed new of mobility, congestion, and (vehicle infrastructure approaches and solutions to sustainable infrastructure integration, now IntelliDrive) the old traffic management should be on every city and similar initiatives around and traveler information builder’s mind. But why would the world? challenges. a company like IBM, or for that Now, if we add these trends matter GE, Microsoft, Cisco, Making a play for ITS together, we may very well see Verizon, or Motorola, that has At any rate, some of these in the future, a further previously played a relatively typically non-transportation consolidation of the ITS (sorry, minor role in the development industry players are paying “smart transport”) industry, of intelligent transportation increasing attention to with the big firms like Cisco, systems, suddenly seem to be transport infrastructure and IBM, GE, Microsoft etc.,

8 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Xxxxx Fiber Optic Connectivity and Communications Network Solutions ComNet introduces the first low-cost, easy-to-deploy, broadcast quality video/data drop, insert and repeat networking system. A networking system that now anyone can set up and install.

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acquiring promising small Low cost, skilled labor, the blogosphere would be companies and getting more operations experience replete with rants about and more involved in offering (Brazil), and ready-case for foreigners owning and hi-tech solutions to investments (particularly operating our roads. transportation problems. China). Now, while it is not ideal, emerging market investments Icing with no cake Foreign bodies and operations in the US are a With all of these big non- Are these emerging market far, far better alternative than traditional names jumping into companies ready to take simply resigning ourselves to the smart infrastructure game advantage of these continue to “enjoy” a decaying there is no doubt about the hi- opportunities? And my road infrastructure largely tech wonders that will soon be question is: will the presence designed and built just after coming our way. However, how of foreign operators create a the middle of the last century. useful will all this technology political backlash? I’m sure There is no question that the be if PPPs and privatizations we all remember the furore new smart infrastructure continue to slow down and and outrage over Dubai Ports’ market will bring a lot of hype, State and local finances remain attempt to buy six port or sex appeal, as with all new fragile? management businesses in the emerging markets. If we consider all the new US in February of 2006. That But, as Rosabeth Moss technologies as the delicious company eventually withdrew Kanter, a professor of business icing, then the cake, as it were, their offer. administration at the Harvard is our basic road infrastructure. Business School says in a New And our cake is not going to “How useful will York Times article, “There will get enough funding from the be a lot of hype and a lot of stimulus package. all this technology things that don’t pan out.” Finally, to confuse matters be if PPPs and Although Kanter believes that further, in the mid- to long- it’s absolutely the right term, as the US$ and the € privatizations direction, there will be peaks slide under the heavy continue to slow of enthusiasm and then valleys burdens of budget and (in the of disappointment. case of the US) trade deficits, down and State So, until our roads are smart potential winners from Brazil, and local fi nances enough to maintain China and India may well be themselves, equal emphasis poised to enter the US market remain fragile?” should be placed on funding for toll-road construction and and implementing both the operations (Brazil), possibly Considering that much of cake and the icing. Then we plugging some of the holes in our road infrastructure could can have our roads and eat the US infrastructure “cake” be considered strategically them too. funding shortfall. critical, it doesn’t seem too far Well, you get the idea Their advantages, you ask? a stretch that the airwaves and anyway. TH

10 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Xxxxx Driver Behavior A road less traveled...

“That was one of the best.” Nick Ramfos did not appear cynical as we departed from an hour-long meeting with SourceCorp’s human resource specialist. Yet there’d been no assurances that Cheryl Flynn would call back; no signature on any dotted line; no date set for any next step. Indeed, when Ms Flynn pulled out an inch-thick envelope Ramfos’ associate had mailed SourceCorp weeks before, it was obvious that was her first serious look at Commuter Connection programming designed to decrease Wash- ington, DC area traffic congestion. “We didn’t get kicked out which is always a plus,” Ramfos said. “It was a good meeting.” When one spends one’s life addressing America’s car culture, Goliath must seem small potatoes. Battling eve- rything from baby scooters designed like cars to prod- uct placement in countless movies to billions in auto advertising to a national belief in the “freedom” of one’s personal car, must mean that those seeking fewer single occupancy drivers would give their right arms for David’s slingshot. Even today, all they’ve got are the trumpeting of every tiny incremental step. Ramfos, in

12 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com DriverClimate Behavior Change

RANDY SALZMAN investigates the thinking and the man behind a project to mitigate Washington, DC’s rush-hour snarl-ups

this 2007 case, chose to focus on the fact that Flynn SourceCorp’s 125 employees. The time and energy she wanted her Marlboro, Maryland employees surveyed might spend addressing issues residing well away from on how they got to work and on her initial enthusiasm for her job description simply would not advance her guaranteed ride home, one small aspect of the DC area’s career at SourceCorp. multi-dimensional efforts to decrease congestion and “We’re swimming against the tide, so to speak, auto-borne pollution. This tiny step might eventually because of the convenience of jumping into your car in lead Commuter Connections programming through the a society where everything is centered around that auto- Sourcecorp door. mobile,” Ramfos explained without a hint of self pity. Still, Ramfos was realistic, noting that Flynn had recog- “We’re competing against companies that have tens of nized that many features designed to get commuters out millions of dollars in advertising spend so we really of their cars would require “someone” at SourceCorp to have to have a compelling message. The pitch is differ- verify, for example, if pre-tax benefiting commuters ent for each company, each employer’s representative, were actually carpooling or research whether transit and then different for employees; all of whom are almost passes potentially handed out by SourceCorp were always members of the car culture.” appearing for auction on eBay – as happened with fed- As is, of course, Ramfos and, indeed, every person eral employees in 2006. Flynn, with underutilized free working to decrease the 2.9 trillion miles Americans parking spaces in her industrial park, had obviously drive annually. The depth of America’s “love affair with comprehended that “someone” most likely would be the automobile” begins with every individual’s “default the person she sees reflected in her mirror. No matter position” – key in ignition –; rumbles through every how much she cared about the area’s congestion, the employer needing his or her employees on the job site; nation’s foreign policy, or the planet’s atmosphere, her sidetracks to day cares and sports practices; confounds job was payroll and worker compensation claims for countless city, county and local governments, www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 13 Driver Behavior

flummoxes transportation planners who say it’s a “futile exercise” to attempt to build out of congestion, befud- dles America’s State and Defense Departments who must operate “over there” where the oil is, and arrives, not surprisingly, in the international drumbeat over glo- bal warming.

An inconvenient half-truth Although America produces almost half of the world’s greenhouse emissions in our 411billion annual automo- bile trips, even Al Gore barely referred to personal vehicles in his Academy Award winner, An Inconvenient Truth, and failed to say a word about personal automo- bile usage in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. The “cap-n-trade” legislation before congress, furthermore, puts the onus on industry, although America’s “green- house intensity” (the emissions ratio to gross domestic product) has declined 25 per cent since 1990. Every knowledgeable analyst from Nobel economist Gary Becker and energy guru Charles Maxwell to Republican and Democratic EPA administrators to The Washington Post’s and New York Times’ editorial pages has urged substantial increases in gasoline taxes to bat- tle congestion, pollution, global warming, health and foreign policy problems. But a 2007 poll by the National Association of Realtor illustrates why national and state politicians are wary of leading the parade toward trans- portation sustainability. Although three in four respond- ents said that improved public transportation was a better solution for reducing traffic than building more roads, 84 per cent rejected higher gasoline taxes to push drivers toward alternatives while paying for public transportation infrastructure. One commuter and, hopefully, one business at a time, Ramfos has battled the American default position in the D.C. area since 1996 by illustrating the benefits of mass transit, telecommuting, hike and bike transportation, and car and van pooling while removing “disincentives” from as many minds as possible. Shying away from dis- cussing the bigger issues of international trade deficits, obesity crises, peak oil and global warming, he and his small staff emphasize the time, stress and money sav- ings of alternative commutes to employees primarily arriving today in single occupancy vehicles. “Al Gore barely The “foot in the door” concept of the guaranteed ride home program, providing any alternative commuter referred to four free emergency rides home via taxi or rental car, personal vehicles in Commuter Connections hopes can become the Trojan Horse for moving more area drivers off the road during An Inconvenient the so-called rush hours. Showing the area’s 3.8m com- Truth and said muters another way is the mission of the US$5.9m Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments nothing about them Commuter Connections program. Already reducing in his Nobel Prize 97,000 car trips daily across Northern Virginia, Mary- land and Washington, DC, Ramfos’ operation spends 21 acceptance cents for each time an area automobile engine does not speech” get started, primarily by getting six new businesses annually in each area jurisdiction to provide their employees with Commuter Connections’ information. “Nick is phenomenal, one of the best in the business,” says Jason Pavluchuk, Washington liaison for the Asso-

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ciation for Commuter Transportation. “He organizes and manages an organization that involves several states, not just DC, Maryland and Virginia, but also Delaware and Pennsylvania, and all those counties and cities, and he gets them to work together, which can be very diffi- cult in itself.”

Planting the seed After opening new carpool-match software across Virginia and Maryland last year, Ramfos’ staff embarked on an innovative “guerrilla marketing” campaign that attempted to hit drivers closest to their personal tipping points. Besides outdoor advertising along frozen free- ways and radio ad time on sports networks, Commuter Connections spread alternative commute information on gasoline pump toppers and advertised on sleeves for throwaway coffee cups. “Daily, there must be more drivers thinking, ‘This com- mute is killing me,’ and spending two hours or three hours a day in the car can’t be attractive,” Ramfos explained. “We’re trying to get them to think that ‘I could be home doing XYZ’ and we may be able to plant the seed. It may not germinate right away. And even on the employer side, we might not get in on the first try and we might get the door slammed on us but one of these days some employee walks into HR and says ‘I’m considering going elsewhere unless there’s some program to get out of congestion’ and then they’ll hear us.” Ramfos, like most American transportation demand management (TDM) thinkers, argues that the negatives associated with America’s 4.2m hours lost annually in congestion, plus an understanding of the actual costs of the driving commute – of which gasoline even during price hikes is almost the smallest – cajoles people toward alternative transportation. “My basic assumption is that where commutes are painful, many people are trying to find a way out of their car,” explains Transportation for America’s David Gold- berg. “When gas prices rise, the request for assistance, both (ride) matches and employers, shoots right up. It has everything to do with the price of energy and pain of the commute.” Virtually all American TDM programs work to slow single occupancy commuting, which was 40 per cent of all car trips when TDM programs began following the 1970s oil embargoes. Almost a half century later, with more and more parents driving children to sports, arts and schools, and more teens getting cars almost as soon as they get their licenses, and more and more suburbs containing fewer and fewer target destinations, today only about one in eight American car starts is a com- mute. Only 50 per cent of license plates along one com- mute corridor were the same every morning in a recent study, implying that as many as half of rush-hour drivers weren’t on the daily commute. Social and cultural con- cepts, plus decades of “onion-layered” land-use plan- ning where one governmental jurisdiction’s decision affects roads in multiple other governmental jurisdic- tions, makes transportation patterns a particularly tough nut to crack. “There is a small segment of the population who do it www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 15 Driver Behavior

(decrease driving) because it’s the right thing and they who get carpools on the road are not engineers. They want to be an example,” Goldberg says. “But the vast are marketers; social folks. So when it comes the time for majority of people are struggling day to day with time budget cuts, these people are expendable. They are the and money budgets that are very tight and they don’t ones who get laid off.” change their behavior unless there is some change in Indeed, Philip Winters, TDM director at the University their (personal) value proposition.” of South Florida’s Center for Urban Transportation Research, says that TDM too often is a “planners dump- Rewards, en masse ing ground” in America and laments the fact that Miami, In DC’s immensely congested driving arena, Commuter for example, spends the “equivalent of a mile of road- Connections gives awards to companies that have 17 way” on its entire TDM budget. per cent of their employees arriving on alternative “I think they (American TDM) do a fairly good job,” the transportation. Even with one of the nation’s best mass civil engineer with a marketer’s awareness says, “but it’s transit systems and bike trails that run along the Potomac an uphill battle, politically and socially. Money won’t River and Rock Creek, four in five employees still take assure you get there but lack of money will assure you their personal cars. won’t.” Commute change, indeed, is the most difficult to pro- America’s TDM message is, furthermore, complex in a duce, says Werner Brög, founder of the world’s most suc- culture which pries simplicity and “instant gratification.” cessful concept getting humans out of single occupancy To try to cover the lack of time and resources, much of vehicles. The German social researcher says that regard- American TDM resources turn up as web pages, CDs less of culture, people always underestimate the cost of and telephone answering systems. Brög’s Australian using a car and overestimate the cost and difficulties of staff, on the other hand, might communicate personally using alternatives and suggests that transportation with one driver a half dozen times showing him or her demand management center on the 40 per cent of typi- the bike route to a nearby grocery store, might walk the cal trips less than four miles. Brög’s research in 30 driver to the nearest bus stop while explaining the projects across four continents illustrates that well over schedule, might deliver free transit try-out passes or half of transportation’s behavioral change issues lie in pairs of walking shoes, and will always call back several individual human habit and percep- times to ensure whatever change is tion. “TDM marketing working out for that driver. In each “People today want to be part of the today is generally a communication, the person consider- solution, they just don’t know how,” Brög ing transportation mode change is says bluntly. Since the variables to why mass of brochures thanked for being part of the nation’s people drive, or don’t, are so complex and CDs which solution to global warming, pollution, that transportation researchers cannot obesity and foreign policy issues. build an economically rational model corporate staffers “Currently, American adults travel for driving behavior, Brög’s approach -- will never find the 25m miles a day in trips of a half-mile or which decreases annual vehicle miles less, of which nearly 60 per cent are annually by eight to 14 per cent in Euro- time to open” vehicle trips,” Transportation Secre- pean, Australian, Asian and American “TravelSmart” tary Ray LaHood told a Senate committee in June. “If a projects – is to help drivers change any trip, not neces- large share of the travelling public could walk or bike sarily the commute. Once people discover they “can” for short trips, it is estimated that the Nation could save change driving behavior in small ways, they become over one million gallons of gas and millions of dollars in invested and socially motivated, he says, to do less driv- motor fuel costs per day. Reduced use of vehicles for ing. Sustainable behavior begets desire for more sus- these short trips will also lower emissions, as these are tainable behavior, leading to long-run political support particularly polluting trips. The Centers for Disease for expensive infrastructure improvements, like railed Control and Prevention has extensively studied the ben- mass transit, which make alternative commuting more efits of physical activity like walking and biking, finding viable for more people. that it can improve the health of Americans and lower A dozen years after its first TravelSmart project, Aus- medical costs.” tralia’s 2010 budget puts 55 per cent of transportation Being centered on the job site, most American TDM dollars into commuter rail with wide public support, projects – like Commuter Connections – depend upon although its 30m people are jokingly referred to as the the company to invest in and promote alternative com- “car-culture down-under.” In the United States, con- mutes. Recognizing that the typical corporate human versely, 80 per cent of federal transportation dollars still resource specialist distributes ride-share materials on go to highways and, although US$28 billion was set aside “benefits day” or at “new employee orientations” when in stimulus money for “shovel ready” roadway projects, staff is more concerned over retirement plans and insur- none found its way into transportation demand manage- ance policies, American TDM practitioners are stuck ment. communicating complex options to people who see “Metropolitan planning organizations and state driving as a necessity. A mode change which might work departments of transportation are filled with people for a male suburban employee, for example, will not who are engineers and quantitative planners,” ACT’s likely be doable for a female inner-city mother, yet TDM Pavluchuk says. “They know how to build but the people marketing today is generally a mass of brochures and

16 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Driver Behavior

CDs which, more often than not, individual corporate So far, in spite of determined efforts of Nick Ramfos staffers never find the time to open. and other TDM practitioners, the only times Americans “I think the history shows that TDM is modestly effec- have decreased our driving is during rapid gasoline tive,” Transportation for America’s Goldberg says. “(But) price increases, like in 2008 when national VMT (vehicle I don’t think it’s ever realized its potential. We don’t have miles traveled) declined 4.3 per cent – the first drop to talk about deliberately and artificially squeezing since the 1979 oil embargo. Ramfos is proud that Wash- people who travel by auto. We have to position it so that ington driving did not rebound comparatively the next people who are consuming less of the oil resource, who year when fuel prices fell with the economic recession, don’t bring 4,000lbs of steel (to the office), are indicating, he believes, that alternatives to single- rewarded.” occupancy driving are becoming more attractive. While Secretary LaHood is noted for being a propo- “My expectation is that we’re never going to get eve- nent of behavioral change, so far there are few indica- rybody on board, just a certain percentage of the popu- tions that the Obama Administration will vary much from lation who’ll take what we say and do something with it,” previous governments. The highly-touted “Cash-for- he said. “Even if it’s an incremental change, that’s some- Clunkers” program, history indicates, will actually thing. That’s our goal.” increase the number of miles Americans drive and the But those increments do make a difference. One study administration’s railed transit projects are years in the asking people to analyze their own driving behavior future – if they get through “onion-layered” multiple decreased the number of car starts by 13 per cent and local and regional planning boards and governments. another American study found that a five per cent reduc- One exception might be the administration’s new “Liv- tion in the number of cars on a highway can increase ability” collaboration between Transportation, HUD and speeds by 50 per cent. EPA which will strive to coordinate “transportation “The yearly scorecard shows that a slight drop in VMT activities with other activities related to healthy, sustain- leads to a major drop in congestion,” ACT’s Pavluchuk able communities.” says. “We’re not talking about shifting 20 or 30 per cent Secretary LaHood, for the first time, indicates that glo- of people. If we get five to 10 per cent, the impacts are bal warming and other negative aspects of America’s dramatic; the fuel savings, the time savings, everything. drive-first mentality will begin showing up in US trans- We’re not trying to hit the home run. We’re just trying to portation planning: “Our transportation investment get a couple of men on base.” TH decisions need to be consistent with policies concern- ing greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts must be renewed Randy Salzman is contributing editor of Thinking to rescue other adverse effects of transportation on all Greener magazine and can be contacted at aspects of the natural and human environment.” [email protected]

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green The Source For Intelligent Transportation ^ www.qttinc.com/AQM +1-314-569-1002 Transportation Technologies, Inc. Interview What makes pricing fair? 7XYRXIHFollowing a stimulating presentation by JACK OPIOLA to the IRF Policy Committee on Active Traffic Management, the IRF’s BARRY GILBERT-MIGUET hooked up with him to find out more about the man behind the policy and what drives KVS[XLhis vision, not to say passion, for the future of transport

Jack Opiola is a transport policy consultant and a You mean Kipling would find the world a very recognised global expert in Intelligent Transporta- different jungle? tion Systems (ITS), tolling, road pricing and compu- Yes, very different. We are living in fascinating times in terised parking control systems. He has and is regards to transport, computers and telecommunica- advising clients at the national level on technology tions. It’s the combination of those three things that are and policy issues. Jack has recently relocated to the making the world smaller, and in effect, enables the United States where he is assisting in National global economy to operate. In some ways, we are revers- Tolling and Congestion Pricing. ing what the geologists say happened with Pangaea by bringing all the continents and tectonic plates back IRF: Could you tell us what inspired your career in together again - maybe not in physical space but cer- transport? tainly in time. This enhances our ability to link and JO: I haven’t been involved in transport my entire life exchange ideas, causing us to widen our perspectives - - although in a sense I guess we all have if you consider to be more “civilized” in Kipling’s words. Kipling’s observation that “transport is civilization”. This ties in with what I was trying to convey at the IRF Living in a civilized society, transport has affected me Policy meeting - the idea that, fundamentally, transport, my whole life - right from my very first trip to hospital in computers and telecommunications are what underpin my mother’s womb! I think we sometimes miss the fact today’s political and economic systems. Through them that transport touches us all, literally everyday of our we connect; through them we exchange ideas and lives. If Kipling were alive today, he would probably products; they enable us to compete; when we connect have to expand his statement to read “transport and tel- and compete we drive the local, regional, national and ecommunications are civilization”. Telecommunica- global economy forward at a micro level that provides tions is the glue that binds us all together. Coupled with value to our lives, enriches its quality and improves ITS, it is an exciting time period to be alive. society as a whole.

18 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com ClimateInterview Change

So the insights you have gained in other parts of the return us with regressive transport and environmental world are valuable for your policy work in the United policy. States, and vice versa? More recently, we had the problems of smog from high Exactly. I have to say that while I was growing up in the sulphur coal, popularly associated with Beijing or US, transport systems had a tendency to be a bit one- Chinese major cities, but doubtless prevalent in indus- dimensional. Apart from perhaps walking to school or trialized cities such as London at the end of the last by push bike, all trips were done by car. Spending time century and other metropolis throughout the world. in Hong Kong exposed me to a wonderful new array of Every time we solve one issue, like replacing high sul- transport possibilities, and it was quite a shock to realize phur coal with electric heating or diesel/petrol engines just how well a city could operate with fewer cars. Even with electric or hydrogen power trains, we simply more, it helped frame transport policy in my mind based replace one set of problems with another set. Just like on a sense of how various modes of transport could my prior example of horse drawn carriages and carts complement rather than compete against each other. It congesting cities a century ago, cars and trucks are also enabled me to evaluate various modes of transport doing that today. What happens tomorrow – replace die- in marginal social cost models and cost allocation sel and petrol cars/trucks with electric/hydrogen ver- models, to assess each option on their own terms and sions and you still have congestion and parking how it affected society. problems, just with “green” vehicles! So, whilst “sustainability” is a modern buzzword, the This would seem to be consistent with the thinking issues have in fact been with us through the centuries. behind the new ‘Green Economy’. How far is this My problem is how it should best be defined for the influencing the US outlook? future. If it means balancing all elements into a coherent I think it has long been a factor. Despite perceptions, policy, should not one of those elements be the funding for example in the wake of Kyoto, the idea of sustain- dimension required to effect, and precisely sustain, our

ability has never really been far from most cities and economies and progress? Pricing helps incentivize regions of the United States. In Seattle, it’s not a move- people into making smarter choices when they travel. ment; it’s a way of life, a religion. Smart choices enable us to match trip purpose with bus, The one thing that worries me in transport policy is train, tram, cycling, walking or private car - provided the definition of what people mean by sustainability. that we have given people those choices. Pricing cre- Looking at old photographs of major cities like London ates revenues and allows us to afford to create, fund and New York, we can see they were always congested. and enrich those smart decisions. Therefore, funding Prosperity breeds congestion and these has to be just as much a part of the world class cities have a history of being ±*YRHMRKLEWXSFIdefinition of sustainability as balancing the economic success stories of their all other resources. time periods. NYWXEWQYGLETEVX Sustainability probably had a differ- SJXLIHI½RMXMSRSJIs the notion of complementary ent definition at that time. We shouldn’t measures you expressed earlier also overlook that 100 years ago, the internal WYWXEMREFMPMX]EW part of the equilibrium? combustion engine, the horseless car- FEPERGMRKSXLIV Absolutely. Unfortunately, a lot of our riage and the introduction of trucks transport system is out of balance and were looked upon as the saviours of our VIWSYVGIW² poor decision making in our transport great and grand cities. We can only imagine what our policy has created that imbalance. In my presentation to streets must have been like in the age of congestion the IRF Policy Committee, I referred to the fact that we’re from horse drawn vehicles. Imagine the hazards of heading towards a ‘perfect storm’ caused by the col- crossing the street in any of those cities - what they must lapse of surface transport programs. The growth of cars have been like in hot summer season from a sanitary, has rocketed over the last 50 years, and this has been to smog, smell and public health standpoint. They cer- the detriment of our other modes of transport. People tainly were not the romantic vision that some aspire to are naturally drawn to the fastest, most convenient and www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 19 Interview usually least expensive mode of transport, which, drivers felt overtaxed and did not trust that government whether we like it or not, usually remains the private car. would provide the world class transport systems pro- Statistics presented show that in the UK, the US and the posed. Today, in the UK, almost 60 per cent of the price of EU. Yet, poor policy making has made the car the villain their fuel is government taxes - and on top of that they and we promote alternate modes such as rail, tram, bus were now expecting motorists to pay a congestion and cycling. Don’t get me wrong, these are good motives, charge! In UK law, only Local Authorities could imple- but we price them incorrectly and provide shoddy ment congestion charging measures, but the ability to service, such as one bus an hour and only during the lessen the burden on excise taxes belongs to Treasury. daylight hours. Or we provide rail only That is an inconsistent policy approach. to the older, established city centres ±-J-KSMRXSE In all honesty, I can’t fault people for and not to the new suburbs where KVSGIV]WXSVIXSFY]saying no under those circumstances. young families are deciding to settle Don’t forget that I’m from a country that and struggle with mortgages. The GEVVSXW-HSR´XTE] basically rebelled against the British motives are good, but the pricing and XLIWEQITVMGIJSVEbecause of its tax laws! funding are not aligned. Seriously, the failure was less about These considerations in many ways WQEPPFYRGLEWJSVEthe merits of the package of measures help to colour my thinking on trans- PEVKIFYRGL² proposed and more to do about port. I am sometimes described as people saying ‘wait a minute’, the UK overly focused on road charging - but this is only raises approximately £48billion (US$80billion) a year because road charging is the only policy I can see that in excise taxes on fuel and is only spending around half works to influence people to make smarter decisions on of it on transport. Similarly, if the truck toll systems being their range of transport choices - and, if I have road user embarked by several European countries are consid- charging, I can produce a continuous revenue stream ered merely a general revenue source, then maybe

to afford those other modes of transport to make the that’s a policy waiting to fail. But if I earmark an adequate decision set broader. It is a means to promote balance - and fair proportion of the money raised to identify where the more people that choose to stay in their cars and pay, congestion problems are - and then expand selectively the more money I would have available to address vehi- the sections of the road network that are congested - cle congestion and build alternate transport modes. I I may have a very good transport policy that would be can’t do it overnight, but if I am creative with the revenue publicly acceptable and fair. stream, I can borrow against it and bring forward bene- fits that I pay off over time. We do that with PPP/PFI Is there an alternative approach that might be projects and privatization, why not employ that good perceived as fairer by road users? idea with road user charging? One of the things we are exploring with the new US Administration is a vehicle miles travelled tax. This But what about the issue of public acceptability? would replace the excise tax on fuel by charging drivers I can’t help thinking that what often gets slated as an according to the distance they travel. I believe this issue of public acceptability has, in fact, more to do with would be both fairer and better suited to today’s mod- bad transport policy and trust in Government at the ern automotive world. We’ve made a similar evolution in national level and notably the failure of Treasury to put other markets. On an everyday level, if I go into a revenue back into transport. grocery store to buy carrots, I don’t pay the same price Recently, I was very much involved with the Manches- for a small bunch as for a large bunch. Rather, they make ter congestion charging project for the Greater me put the carrots on a scale and then tell me that the Manchester Association of Governments (AGMA) and price is so much per kilogram. Why can’t we apply a the UK government TIF program. In referendum, con- similar process for transport - and thereby make it equi- gestion charging was soundly defeated despite a good table for everyone? Whether you drive a car that does package of measures and great benefit-cost ratio. A key 30km to the gallon or one that does 60kpg, or 100kpg, reason for the lack of public acceptability was that and even if you drive a hybrid or electric vehicle paying

20 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Interview

by a distance charge that reflects the upkeep, mainte- - but the charging device would be integral to the new nance and sustainability of our infrastructure by those car that you purchase. who use it the most, seems eminently just and fair to me. Think of how an evolution, like this, could change our transport system! It would help us make decisions on How would you win over the public? whether or not we build roads based on data as to utility, The problem will be in the conversion, or transition value and economic viability. It would allow us to period as I can’t overnight wave a wand and have a charge for the externalities of pollution and provide us charging device in every vehicle. But based on some funding to expand our infrastructure to maintain free- wonderful experiments that were done in the Washing- flow traffic conditions. It changes the whole way we look ton and Oregon states, maybe we could win people over at infrastructure. by giving them a choice. What an interesting free-world If I look at a road that has 100,000 cars on it already, I idea - to give people choice! I simply go out and tell can calculate how much money I could make off that them they can henceforth either opt to pay by distance road. More importantly, I now would have a clearly travelled, or elect to carry on paying tax on fuel con- defined revenue source from which to maintain, repair, sumed through the excise tax. Users who choose to be widen and sustain it. The only residual equity issue gets charged by distance will just have to install a device in to be a strategic decision regarding how I cross- their cars that registers distance, and which communi- subsidize when I want (say) to build a road to develop a cates to a central network through the Internet. We could new area of the city because there is not enough traffic envision stipulating that the choice would not apply to there today. I clearly need to have some sort of flexibility owners of vehicles with a fuel efficiency rate over 50km in my policy to address strategic policy decisions like per gallon, or drivers of electric and hybrid vehicles, this. But we’ve got transport models to meet these even- who would all have to adopt the distance measurement tualities, and ways to do forecasts. system. To promote the system we could calculate and I could also collect data from the in-car devices

inform drivers regarding the price point - say 20,000km regarding what times of the day I have congestion, and a year - where they would pay less if they paid by dis- on what parts of the road network. I can communicate tance, rather than through the excise tax. Thereafter, you between the roadside and the driver through the device could keep increasing the excise tax just as they do in and likewise, between the driver and the roadside. England and other EU countries to the point where per- Think of what that would save us in ITS systems alone! haps the following year the break even This would also serve as a basis for point would be 25,000km and the fol- ±7YGLERETTVSEGLusing some of the revenue to rebuild lowing year 30,000km and 50,000km, those congested sections, or expand and so on. You would get a gradual adop- [SYPHGLERKISYV them in order to add capacity to avoid tion of the charge but by choice, not [LSPIXVERWTSVX congestion. Properly conceived, such edict. You may also help influence the an approach would change our whole choice by providing the grand and W]WXIQERHQSWX transport system - and, most impor- transparent vision that in 10 or 12 years, MQTSVXERXP]TYX tantly, put money back into infrastruc- all cars manufactured would have the ture to better connect us so we and device built into them at manufacturing, QSRI]FEGOMRXS others can compete for the business much like the old VII, now IntelliDriveSM MRJVEWXVYGXYVI² and attention of those people in our project that the USA envisages. economy. In this way, I could try to provide incentives over a 6-12 year period - after which the vision would be real- Wouldn’t there be problems though with compati- ized by making the devices mandatory on every car that bility of systems, especially across State lines and comes off the assembly line. So, you could either choose frontiers? to be an early adopter, or you could wait and decide in On the State level, probably the biggest problem we five to seven years when you expect to purchase a new still have is that the US is being very slow culturally to vehicle. You wouldn’t have to upgrade your current car turn around and set a standard at the national level. www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 21 Interview

Think of what happened with telecommunications in munications of data on an international standard. Just Europe. The countries and the suppliers got together consider the vision of global creativity and inventive- and formed a standard called GSM, whereas in the US ness being applied to our transportation issues of today! everyone was looked at as a competitor - we decided to let the market decide the standard - and there were at Presumably - I would almost say hopefully – they one point several different, totally incompatible and have something similar to this with air traffic con- competing technologies handling mobile cell phone trol or shipping control - are we getting to the stage communications. In Europe they could talk to Hong where we need something as coordinated as that? Kong, whereas I couldn’t reach a friend on the other I think we are, and I guess that’s where the major side of New York City if he wasn’t on my particular challenges are. It’s the ability and vision to put aside proprietary network! the national interest and recognize that my national Such a “free market” approach promotes proprietary interests are best served by international standards. standards and inhibits creativity, interoperability and Look what happened in the late 19th Century because of market size. Again, think of the mobile telephone mar- shipping. We started then to regulate time by setting up ket, standards allow Apple to be creative and invent the time zones. We did it for rail timetables to allow for time iPhone to compete with the Blackberry and Palm PDAs. differences and, from a safety standpoint, to avoid Vendors invest in R&D to differentiate themselves in the crashes and collisions at stations - and we’ve done it for eyes of the consumer. The consumer wins with greater air traffic control, where we have common communica- choices, the market wins with more users, the economy tions standards, protocols and message formats. Even wins with a new market and society as a whole wins by with GPS we have standards on how to read coordinates, greater connectivity, productivity and sustainability. so that I can position myself in three dimensions Comparing this with the situation on tolling, Europe anywhere in the world. And one GPS can read another now has a standard for tolling, precisely to try and ensure GPS. I think these are good examples of where we need compatibility from country to country. They are intro- to go to in the field of ITS. ducing interoperability in the technology - so that a French reader can, for example, pick up signals from a However, this will require not only international German unit and know that he has an over height coordination, but also finance. Certainly, the underlying point is that I still need to ±;IGER´XWSPZITVSFPIQW finance it. And for some people - perhaps even more so F]YWMRKXLIWEQIOMRHSJ in Europe than the US - the feeling is that I need to give priority to protecting my local companies that are XLMROMRK[IYWIH[LIR[I producing the camera, tags, sensors and other systems, GVIEXIHXLIQ² because they’re part of my national economy. On the other hand by promoting common standards, I can bid vehicle heading towards a tunnel or bridge with height between any one of several international players. restrictions. This should be an example for the rest of the Maybe those five or six companies get bigger, but on world. On top of that, when you have a standard for con- the other hand, I get a better price through competition nectivity you have more competition. I could put out and open, fair procurement. Under this scenario, aren’t I bids for a particular kind of toll tag and I could get as ultimately in a better position to afford, expand and many as four or five different companies to bid on it. connect to give my citizens more transportation infor- True competition of this kind would bring the best mation, choices and opportunities? prices. Whereas in the US what we currently have is a set of proprietary systems for tolling - not unlike the early Once again, the balance is problematic, and hardly days of computers and cell phones - so I have to select simple to achieve. the vendor first and thereafter can only buy my equip- I wish things could be easy but, as we have just dis- ment from that one vendor. What type of pricing do you cussed, the complexity of the world today means there think I will get from that scenario? Think of how much is no simple answer to the environment, congestion and that limits the expansion of my ITS when all of my tech- other societal issues. Whether we like it or not, it may nological development is restricted to one vendor’s just be that, in these particular circumstances, the big monopoly on the market? Think of how it retards and multinational companies created out of global stand- restricts the expansion of my ITS solutions. That’s ards have an advantage over small innovative compa- absolutely ludicrous in a country that is supposed to be nies in handling some of the major societal problems of the bastion of the free market. Surely, I should not be our day, which tend to be exceedingly complex and giving my business for an entire State or country to a multifaceted. In considering these issues, I would sim- single supplier, but that is the trap that the US ITS market ply invite readers to bear in mind Einstein’s cautionary has fallen into due to proprietary systems. advice: “We can’t solve problems by using the same So, I feel strongly that there has to be elemental kind of thinking we used when we created them.” TH standards for ITS - something that is compatible across Jack Opiola is Senior Partner, D’Artagnan Consulting the US, EU or even, God forbid, the world! Think of and can be contacted at [email protected] how that would change and influence our transportation For more information about the International policy when we have global connectivity and com- Road Federation, visit www.irfnet.org

22 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com WE’VE HEARD YOU.

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JUPITER SYSTEMS | +1 510.675.1000 | WWW.JUPITER.COM | 31015 HUNTWOOD AVE., HAYWARD, CA 94544 USA Customer Service Food for thought

Is the transportation sector doing itself a dis-service with its often insufficient levels of customer service? PHIL TARNOFF looks at how other industries view and treat their customers

24 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com CustomerClimate ChangeService

It is axiomatic that the public sector is concerned tion of airlines and flights. How many departments of with the public good, while the private sector is only transportation publish travel times and travel time reli- interested in financial profit. But is this true? If one ability statistics for all roadways and all times of day? were to conduct a survey that examines the public’s How many agencies are willing to make the investment view of the orientation of the two sectors, the results required to provide information at this level of detail? would be very different. Thus the airline industry is presenting a customer serv- Generally, the public sector is viewed as being diffi- ice-oriented face to the public, while the highway indus- cult to deal with because of its monopolistic hold on the try is presenting one of indifference. services it provides. The private sector is viewed as Obviously, not all private sector companies are cre- being more responsive to their customer’s needs ated equal, just as not all transportation agencies are because of the competitive environment in which it created equal. However, there is much to be learned operates. Thus, while public sector employees, includ- from the good and bad in both sectors. The customer ing those in the transportation sector, may have the best service orientation of both sectors is based on the of intentions, the face they show to their customers is potential risk and rewards of their respective sectors. In generally one of dispassionate indifference. the private sector, the reward is profitability which is Comparisons of the airline industry (private sector) directly related to the organization’s ability to attract with the highway transportation industry (public sec- and hold customers. Hence customer service receives a tor) demonstrate this difference. Statistics are regularly high priority. In the public sector, rewards are received produced by and for the industry regarding percent on- in the form of transportation funding provided by legis- time arrivals and percentage of lost baggage for all ori- lation resulting from public demand for expanded trans- gins and destinations and flights. This information is portation services. Thus demand is stimulated by used by many travelers as a consideration in the selec- increasing levels of congestion (poor service).

www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 25 Customer Service

Ironically, poor service may lead to increased fund- all employees at all times. When reading these exam- ing. Obviously this is not a situation that encourages ples, note the emphasis on “you” the customer rather high levels of customer service. However, this peculiar than “we” the organization. In other words the Medtronic relationship should not be an excuse for poor customer is concerned about “you” and not about “we” (our- service. If transportation agencies truly exist to satisfy selves). Also note the relative number of times that “you” the public good, customer service must receive a high and “we” are used in the public sector examples. priority. Customer service is not an activity that can be assigned Annual reports to a single organizational entity within a department of The Medtronic annual report is focused on its custom- transportation. It is a state of mind that must permeate ers. The Company describes its products in terms of the the organization. It must be included in every project, manner in which it has improved their lives. There are no publication, and service offered by the organization. technical descriptions of products, only discussions of Many of the opportunities for customer service can be people. In other words, the company speaks of “you” as captured without any additional cost to the agency. opposed to “we”. Two pages from the annual report pre- sented here, the cover and the photograph of their CEO An interesting example and President, portray this approach. Medtronic is a company that produces medical equip- Contrast this approach with the reports of most DOTs. ment used to “treat disorders such as heart disease, spi- Rather than speaking of the customer, their annual nal conditions, neurological disorders, vascular disease reports are internally focused. They contain narratives and diabetes.” The culture of customer service perme- of successful construction projects, as well as the size ates the Medtronic organization including its publica- and extent of their agency’s responsibilities. These tions, call centers, and website as well as the actions of annual reports rarely mention customer service in terms its employees. of improved quality of life, from the perspective of the Medtronic is a publicly held, private sector company, transportation system performance. whose performance is evaluated by its shareholders For example, the first page of one state’s annual report based on financial performance. But its customers think begins with the following highlighted message about of it as a company whose performance and products “we” from the Chairman of the State Transportation directly affect their quality of life. Shouldn’t this also be Commission: true of highway transportation agencies? “Not too many people know this, but we are also respon- The examples presented here portray a philosophy sible for all traffic safety programs, such as anti-DWI cam- that exists throughout the Medtronic organization. They paigns, seat belt use education and child seat restraint use demonstrate the philosophy that customer service is projects. Our seat belt use has climbed over 90 per cent not the responsibility of a single department, but one this year and our campaign to stem drunken driving is that must be continuously applied through the actions of also paying off with the number of alcohol involved crashes down from this time last year.” This statement has been quoted in total. There are no other introductory or concluding sentences that describe the agency’s business, and its concern with the needs of its customers. This report and most others like it, include posed photographs of the Secretary of Transportation as well as the Transportation Commis- sion Chairman. It also includes pictures of employees at work, awards ceremonies and construction projects. In fairness, the annual report used for this example also includes statistics related to environment, safety and infrastructure condition. However, it fails to provide the needed emphasis on customer service, in spite of the fact that “Operate as a Customer Focused Organization” is identified as one of the goals of the DOT used in this example.

Websites The Medtronic website homepage includes a number of different navigation tabs including: Patients (titled “Your Health”), Physicians, Employment, Information about the company, etc. When navigating to the tab for patients, the user is greeted with the heading: “Discover More - Wellness starts with understanding”. The second level of this page offers several selections the first of which is “Patient Services: Call, write, email or fax us. We’re here for you.” Note the use of the “you vs. we” wording.

26 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Customer Service

Contrast this approach with the website of one State heading that follows the “you vs. we” principle. This Department of Transportation which begins with the fol- website begins with the heading “How may we help lowing paragraph: you?” It offers five forms of communication between the “We answer many of the same questions repeatedly. To government and its citizens including: get an immediate answer to a question that may have been 1. Talk to the Mayor – who will respond personally asked by someone else, please try Submitting items to our to an emailed suggestion or observation. Frequently Asked Question Search below or search our 2. Service Request – the mechanism by which citi- site using the Search XXX GO Button above.” zens can either request a service or track a prior Note the rather scolding tone of the text, in stark con- request. trast to the friendly, welcoming nature of 3. How’s our service – a question- Medtronic site. “Is it any wonder naire that allows citizens to share their The difference between the cultures opinion of the services received. and philosophies of these two websites that the public does 4. Feedback – ways in which DC and the organizations they represent is not view the public services can be improved. obvious. Is it any wonder that the public 5. Webmaster – ways in which does not view the public sector agen- sector agencies as improvements to the website can be cies as organizations concerned with organizations submitted. the quality of life? Clearly the most successful websites Websites are powerful tools for cus- concerned with the are the ones that reflect this type of the tomer service and should be used as a quality of life?” customer service orientation. mechanism for conveying the agency’s customer service orientation. One good example is Accessibility Rhode Island’s website which contains the heading As consumers we know that nothing can be more frus- “Your Concern is Our Concern”. Note the use of the trating than an attempt to find the “right person” within “you vs. we” philosophy. The website begins with the a large organization. Several years ago, I was involved statement that “As part of our renewed commitment to with a highly publicized effort to retime the traffic sig- public service, the Rhode Island Department of Transpor- nals in the Washington, DC region. As a result of an arti- tation (RIDOT) has established a Customer Service Office. cle in the Washington Post that identified my association The purpose of the Customer Service Office is to keep with the effort, I received a number of telephone calls. information lines open between the citizens of Rhode The common theme of these calls was “who do I speak Island (YOU) and RIDOT (WE).” (The YOU and WE have with about signal timing issues?” Callers were frus- been added to the quote.) trated, and in some cases irate, at their inability to find Many States and some cities have effectively used the the appropriate person with whom to discuss traffic sig- Internet to enhance communications with their custom- nal operation. ers. The Washington, DC local government has estab- Medtronic customers do not experience this frustra- lished an easy-to-use website that also begins with a tion. Telephone numbers are available on the compa- www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 27 Customer Service

ny’s website, and customers are in frequent contact with periods of intense activity followed by periods of inac- the appropriate representatives, who assist them with tivity. Similar resources such as administrative person- all types of problems from questions about equipment nel may exist in other parts of an organization to provide operation, to replacement of faulty components, to the call center services. The key to successful operation assistance with insurance claims. Following interactions is adequate training, empowerment and processes to with a company representative, a customer will occa- ensure that calls are answered properly, and adequate sionally receive an email such as the one titled “Cus- follow up is provided. To do otherwise, is an indication tomer service experience with Medtronic”. of inadequate concern about customer service. “Thank you for contacting Medtronic Diabetes earlier this week. In an effort to continue improving our services, Closing thoughts we would appreciate your participation in a quick Customer service is a subject that is much broader and five-minute survey reflecting your recent service deeper than can be covered here. However, it is clear experience.” that there is significant room for improvement. There are Whether answered or not, the fact that the question- many ways in which a creative organization can improve naire was sent is a message that the its customer service through such sim- organization is concerned with its “The key to ple actions as: quality of service. successful • Bumper stickers on agency Very few, if any, transportation agen- vehicles that provide a phone number cies operate call centers that are con- operation is if unsafe or discourteous operation is tinuously staffed. A well run call center adequate training, observed. should operate continuously, reflect- • Fixed signs on variable mes- ing the continuous operation of the empowerment and sage signs (VMS) that provide a phone transportation system. Call center staff processes to ensure number for motorists to call if incor- should be required to log all calls, and rect information is being displayed. should be empowered to respond to that calls are • Improved listings in public callers’ requests and questions. answered properly” telephone directories that simplify a Most important, call center opera- customer’s ability to navigate the tors should be required to follow up on all calls, to ensure bureaucratic maze. that callers’ requests have been satisfied. Imagine the • Require the customer service orientation of all reaction of a caller requesting a pothole repair, who employees possibly including recognition of employ- receives a call back indicating the date for which the ees who have provided exemplary customer service. repair was scheduled, and another call back following The development of a culture that continuously focuses that date to ensure that the work was performed satis- on the subject of customer service is paramount. This is factorily. These steps represent high quality customer a culture that is sensitive to the application of “you vs. service and cost very little to implement. we”. It is a culture that examines the impact of all its The cost of this level of service need not be excessive. activities; and products on customer service. Models Many DOTs operate traffic operations centers (TOCs) such as Medtronic should be studied and contrasted that are staffed continuously with individuals who could with existing agency products and performance. TH provide call center services. These centers experience [email protected]

28 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com

Automotive Industry

As the economic crisis continues to envelop the world, it is easy to assume that the hard- struck automotive industry is cutting budgets in all departments. However, as ALEXANDER PATTERSON and RICHARD BISHOP discover, a surprising number of European car manufacturers are committed to more long-term, sustainable goals

Amidst reduced global demand for consumer products, most companies are looking to rein in their expenses across the board so as to maximize bottom line profits. Not so of the top European car- makers - at least in R&D - say a number of recent Internet articles discussing the subject. Instead, firms such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW are forego- ing short-term cost cutting in their R&D budgets in order to pull ahead of their competitors in an automotive industry increasingly defined by the search for technological solutions to high gas prices and increasingly stringent government-enforced environmental requirements. Eckehart Rotter, chief spokesman for the German automobile industry association Verband der Auto- mobilindustrie (VDA), was quoted in an article in the online news magazine ScienceBusiness (18 June 2009) saying that he expected the overall amount of German industry investment in R&D to remain constant in 2009 at roughly €18.9billion (US$27.6billion), the amount invested in 2008. Daimler AG chief executive Dieter Zetsche stated at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show that the company would not be putting “long-term success on the line with short-term budget cuts. That’s why our R&D budget is one of the largest in the automotive industry, and we intend to keep it that way.” Earlier in the year he told reporters at the Geneva Motor Show that the

30 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Automotive Industry company is determined to avoid the temptation to Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development, “eat [its] potato seeds” in these lean times (Reuters, echoed his firm’s CEO when quoted in Automotive 4 March 2009), stating that keeping the firm’s R&D Engineering International magazine (June 2009): “We budget (€4.4billion/US$6.4billion in believe, especially in a crisis situation, 2008 according to the company’s ±OIITMRKXLI½VQ´W that companies that can invest in R&D annual report) strong will ensure that and in future technology can better the company comes out of the crisis “in 6 (FYHKIXWXVSRK survive and be stronger after the crisis a better position” than its competitors. [MPPIRWYVIXLEXXLI than before. That is our target.” Despite experiencing a 5 per cent On the same note, Christoph Huss, drop in revenue in 2008 and instituting GSQTER]GSQIWSYX president of the International Associa- cost efficiency programs in all busi- SJXLIGVMWMWMRE tion of Automotive Engineers and a nesses, that means that Daimler is group vice-president at BMW, is expected to continue with its current FIXXIVTSWMXMSRXLERquoted in a Financial Times article plans to spend roughly €10.1billion MXWGSQTIXMXSVW² (9 February 2009): “The global auto (US$14.8billion) on research and industry is under extreme pressure development over the next two years combined - an right now as a direct result of the financial crisis. It is increase per year over 2008 levels. Dr Thomas Weber, inevitable that some companies will be forced to review Member of the Daimler Board of Management, Group certain production and engineering projects, along

www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 31 Automotive Industry with wider spending cuts in areas like marketing.” For Spent wisely, however, the results of R&D can be really BMW, however, he insisted that cutting R&D was “not a impressive. According to the Bloomberg article, BMW, viable option,” given the regulatory pressure they face which spent €3.2billion (US$4.7billion) on R&D in 2006, globally to produce cleaner and safer cars. In the same or 6.5 per cent of sales (not as much as Volkswagen vein, according to Volkswagen’s 2008 annual report’s and Daimler AG, but quite high when compared to income statement, R&D costs totalled €5.1billion €1.6billion (US$2.3billion), or 3.1 per cent of revenue (US$7.5billion). spent by Turin, Italian-based Fiat), has used its R&D to

ScienceBusiness explains how the aim of the German improve engine fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emis- car companies is to position themselves as innovators in sions with “a fuel-injection system that sprays gasoline the market for fuel-efficient and clean-energy cars - in 200 times a second onto a spark plug.” Other fuel-saving other words, to position themselves for future success. techniques include “capturing energy from braking, Automobile industry R&D is therefore also key for the controlling air vents to reduce resistance and temporar- German economy, making up one third of all R&D invest- ily turning off the motor when the car is at a standstill.” ment in the German manufacturing industry, far ahead According to the company, “The[se] systems will be of the electronics and information technology sector in installed in all vehicles as models are revamped to reach second place. As BMW’s Christoph Huss’ comments the 130g limit.” suggest, this is not just good business sense, but per- Michael Tyndall, an analyst at Nomura Securities in haps a basic necessity if they are to meet ever-growing London, is quoted by Bloomberg as saying that “BMW government-mandated environmental standards. takes technology sooner to the market and they are able to charge people for it...This will probably widen the A demanding environment gap with the mass manufacturers because costs are a As ScienceBusiness correctly states, “A main driver of greater issue for them.” In his opinion, BMW will eventu- continued investment is the need to develop automo- ally reap benefits from tougher environmental rules, as biles that are more climate-friendly, in response to they will be well prepared for them in advance. Whether stricter government regulations in the the “mass manufacturers,” with lower US, Europe and Japan. This includes ±7YGLXEVKIXWEVI average profit per car and a more price- technologies to lower fuel consump- IWTIGMEPP]HMJ½GYPX discerning customer base - or, for that tion and emissions and continued matter, the struggling American car research into electrical cars and biofu- XSSFXEMRMJ companies - can match such spending els.” The EU may be the most stringent GEVQEOIVWVIJYWIXSand meet the coming wave of stringent regulatory system of all, given their environmental requirements is yet to be demanding environmental goals. WEGVM½GIZILMGPI seen. An article on Bloomberg online TIVJSVQERGI² Continued R&D is especially neces- (February 28 2008) states: “The EU is sary given that the specific technolo- fighting climate change by capping CO2 emissions at an gies to achieve such heightened fuel economy and average of 130g/km. That’s a fifth lower than in 2006 and reduced emissions are still in development - and flux. may add €1,300 (US$1,900) to the price of the average Weber was again quoted in Automotive Engineering car.” To reach that goal, “BMW, the world’s biggest lux- International: “The time has still not come when technol- ury-car maker, and number two, Daimler, will need to ogy options can be confidently narrowed.” Whether trim CO2 output by 25 per cent to avoid a penalty. gasoline, diesel, hybrid or electric, “to skip one of these Porsche, maker of the 911 sports coupe and Cayenne areas may [mean] lost market opportunities, so we will SUV, will require a 49 per cent reduction. Fiat, Italy’s big- not reduce our spending.” gest carmaker, needs a 15 per cent drop and PSA Peu- geot Citroën requires 11 per cent, according to the Global disparities European Commission.” It appears that Asian and American competitors are not In the words of Dr Thomas Weber of Daimler AG necessarily taking a similar approach to the recent (Reuters, 26 February 2009), “The carbon dioxide regu- worldwide economic turmoil. As reported in the lations that go into effect in 2012 are an enormous Automotive News (9 February 2009) and reprinted on challenge, since we have to make improvements across www.brittanica.com, research and development budg- our entire fleet,” adding confidently “but I strongly ets of Asian carmakers are shrinking this year: “The believe we will not have to pay any penalties since we global economic meltdown is doing more than fuelling will cut emissions to below 140g/km,”. Such targets are unprecedented losses at Japan’s automakers. It’s also especially difficult to attain if car manufacturers refuse whacking their cherished R&D budgets.” to sacrifice vehicle performance. An autoblog.com arti- After “disastrous” results in late 2008, Toyota, Mazda, cle (18 April 2009) states, “Despite looming legislation Mitsubishi and Subaru are all “slashing” their research that will require more fuel efficient vehicles, Mercedes- and development budgets in 2009. According to a Wall Benz plans on continuing to offer vehicles that will meet Street Journal article (8 May 2009), Toyota announced the size, performance and luxury demands prospective that its budget for 2009 would reduce capital spending buyers have come to expect from the premium German by more than a third, to US$8billion from US$13billion, marque.” Otherwise, the article notes, their significant as well as cutting research and development funding R&D spending will have been in vain. by about 10 per cent, to US$8billion from US$9billion

32 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Automotive Industry

(still one of the largest R&D budgets of any company host of expenses including auto shows and office sup- worldwide, however). Automotive News reports that plies.” According to reports, research and development Subaru, Mazda and Mitsubishi are cutting their R&D by budgets have been no exception to this trend. roughly 8, 12 and by 14 per cent respectively. General Motors, which just emerged from a painful Honda Motor Co., however, appears to be an excep- bankruptcy restructuring in which it cut 1,100 dealers, tion. Despite plunging profits in the fiscal year ended shed Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn and lost thousands 31 March, it nevertheless finished in the black, unlike more jobs, is reported to be postponing nearly all of its rivals Toyota and Nissan. Yet despite such results, and spending on new product development, engineering, despite revising downward its original R&D budget for design and R&D in both in 2009 and 2010, according to 2009, the company will still be spending 1.2 per cent an article online at ABC 12 (29 October 2008), a local more on R&D than last year (autoweek.com, 22 February station in Flint, Michigan. Apparently, however, current 2009). In addition, in both a symbolic as well as practical “green initiatives” already underway, including the statement about the importance of R&D to the future of company’s work on hydrogen fuel cells, hybrids, biofu- the company, new Honda president and CEO Takanobu els and cleaner and more efficient internal combustion Ito, will simultaneously hold the role of president of engines, will continue. Honda R&D, therefore becoming the first person to do In an article on edumunds.com, Larry Burns, GM’s so since Nobuhiko Kawamoto in 1992. retiring vice president of research - and perhaps the On the American front, despite a recent Wall Street car industry’s highest profile advocate for hydrogen Journal survey of 28 of the largest US R&D spenders, including the “deeply troubled” automakers, conclud- ing that US companies have “learned from past down- turns that they must invest through tough times if they hope to compete when the economy improves,” it seems instead that the severity of the current economic envi- ronment is preventing US automakers from doing so. According to a Los Angeles Times business article on 15 December 2008: “Carmakers, desperate to cut costs, have reduced or frozen hiring. Product planning and design have taken a hit, on top of layoffs on the assembly line, pay cuts in the executive suite and reductions on a

www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 33 Automotive Industry fuel-cell technology - said in an interview with USA not lost on R&D chief Burns, who noted, with respect to Today that the company’s forward-looking R&D efforts GM’s R&D spending: “The issue is, going forward, do we have “not slowed down at all.” If so, this bodes well for have sufficient money to operate at that rate?” ITS research at GM - in the keynote address at the 2009 In the meantime, GM is trying to do more with less by TRB meeting Burns portrayed a bold vision for future streamlining its management structure to combine its cars focused on electric propulsion, vehicle control, and research and development team with its product devel- extensive connectedness. opment team immediately. The hope is that this will If Jim Andrew, a senior partner at the Boston Consult- make the company more agile and efficient by allowing ing Group is to be believed, this is a smart strategy. As research to be tied more closely to future products. cited in the Wall Street Journal article survey on R&D, he However, the fear is that the R&D team will be short- noted “Companies by and large realize that large reduc- changed in its funding and simply become captive to tions in R&D are suicidal.” However, GM seems caught the needs of yearly product launches rather than longer- between a rock and a hard place, having accepted or term strategic work. been approved for roughly US$49.4billion in govern- Our investigation did not yield any specifics for other ment bailout funds - none of which are specifically players, such as Ford and Renault-Nissan - but anecdotal linked to far-off R&D projects, and much of which reports indicate that the pressure to reduce all costs is money is being lost month by month. substantial. As reported by ABC 12 in October last year, “GM is burning through its cash reserves at an astounding Trend setters? rate.” The attempt at “reducing spending on engineer- For those who can afford it, keeping R&D budgets ing, design and research and development could save constant in such a difficult environment invariably the automaker US$1.5billion.” Clearly, this dilemma was requires a keen look at cost savings elsewhere in their companies. Matthias Wissmann, president of the German motor industry association referred to above, the VDA, told his members at the 20th Automobile Forum in Stuttgart this year: “We have to keep the investments in research and development at a high level, while the sales figures remain depressed this year and probably in the coming year, too.” He also warned that “this will tend to lead to higher costs per unit. Therefore compa- nies have not only to maintain their lead in innovation, but at the same time also to optimise their cost structures in order to remain competitive. This is going to increase the pressure in the industry even further.”

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Dr Weber, in particular is trying to find savings in state in the world that can avoid an inefficient com- sectors such as testing, new buildings, and some hard- pany going bankrupt. If they try to do that they will go ware. At the same time, reiterating the importance of bankrupt themselves.” R&D, he states, “For products and technologies, there is However, a key factor in achieving fuel economy no reduction.” goals could be cooperation of a different sort - vehicle- Industry watchers, however, say that many car compa- vehicle and vehicle-infrastructure communications nies are already essentially reducing R&D by delaying enable a vehicle to increase its situational awareness or suspending altogether the push into new models. and adapt to conditions in real-time. According to the Financial Times, for example, BMW “last year shelved plans to produce the CS, a sleek, Top trumps high-end car - and the X7, which would have been its In the high-end auto market the trend to keep R&D largest sport utility vehicle.” Similar moves are happen- budgets sacrosanct seems particularly strong. A ing at almost every company. Reuters article (4 March 2009) explains how firms such The Financial Times says this trend will continue as the as Porsche and Lamborghini are “prepared to earn less economic crisis worsens and in the near future, carmak- money in times of crisis if it means preserving the exclu- ers will “cut more high-risk and niche vehicles from sivity of their respective brands” by continuing to “fit their portfolios,” and instead concentrate “on small and their cars with the latest technology so as to be midsize offerings and lower-emission technologies prepared when their wealthy clientele return to the they need to meet regulatory requirements.” After showrooms.”According to Stephan Winkelmann, chief shortening models’ lifecycles over the past decade, executive of Lamborghini, the company will be sticking automakers may now be looking to lengthen them. “The with its strategy of investing slightly less than 10 per industry is going to have to go back to the basics,” says cent of revenue in developing a new car every year, with Michael Robinet, vice-president for global forecasts Ferrari “standing firm” at 18 per cent of revenue going with CSM Worldwide, an industry consultancy. to R&D. However, in the words of Winkel- Joining forces ±+PSFEPWEPIWSJ mann, as quoted by Reuters: “There is Many firms are also increasingly no immunity for luxury brands” in the looking into partnerships with com- PY\YV]GEVWJIPPF] current market environment. Accord- petitors in order to join their R&D EFSYXTIVGIRXMR ing to his estimates, global sales of forces and leverage them across a luxury cars fell by about 40 per cent in greater market share. A Forbes.com XLI½VWXX[SQSRXLW the first two months of the year, and he report on the 2009 Geneva Motor SJXLI]IEV² and his counterpart at Ferrari expect Show (5 March 2009), states that the similarly poor results in the near future “overriding theme” of the auto executives with whom it from the United States, the world’s single biggest market spoke, “was cost-cutting and, to some extent, eyeing for extremely high-end sports cars. new partnerships with rivals.” Apparently one thing that such luxury carmakers With respect to hybrid cars, Daimler AG’s Dr Thomas simply cannot afford to do (ironically) is to lower the Weber predicts that there will be increasing modularity price of their products, many of which sell for more than to their production, which would allow for car compa- US$140,000 each. Reuters reports that while “such a nies to work together to achieve the required econo- move would help results in the short term,” luxury-brand mies of scale to make such expensive investments in executives feel that it would “ruin the sense of exclusiv- new vehicles worthwhile. “Maybe, in the future, there ity associated with their brands.” Harald Wester, head of will be more collaboration between competitors on the Maserati brand of the Fiat group says “we can’t com- such expensive projects.”ScienceBusiness reports that pete with less exclusive brands.” in early 2009, Daimler AG began a partnership early in Nevertheless, costs must be cut somewhere and so the 2009 with energy and chemicals company Evonik to recent economic downturn has forced some of the lux- make storage cells for automobile batteries and a few ury vehicle manufacturers to shut down production in months later purchased a stake in the Silicon Valley order to work off unsold inventory. “In a sign of the electric car startup Tesla Motors, through which the two times,” reports Reuters, “the waiting period for a new companies plan to jointly develop battery systems and Lamborghini has shrunk from 12 months to six.” So electrical drives, among other projects. maybe a silver lining after all... TH That auto industry partnerships are a good idea is not Automotive analyst Alexander Patterson is a a view held by all. Howard Wheeldon, a senior analyst at recent and welcome addition to the H3B Media BGC Partners, speaking to Forbes, said: “Deep down, team of writers and can be contaced at I take the survival-of-the-fittest view in these difficult [email protected]. times. As to consolidation, it just won’t happen. There is Richard Bishop is a strategy consultant in the little point in one busted flush taking on the assets, plant, intelligent vehicles field and leads H3B Media’s distribution, models and production of another busted production activity for Thinking Cars Video Project, flush.” A similar sentiment came from Bentley’s chief a video documentary being produced within the EC’s executive Franz-Josef Paefgen, who even said that some Smartest Cars Video Project. He may be industry players should be allowed to fail. “There is no contacted at [email protected].

36 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com *!"
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Worth the risk

Actions speak louder than words: JUSTIN PETERS thinks it is about time that the Canadian Government played a real role in supporting innovative businesses in the ‘Clean Tech’ sector

38 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com ClimateCanada Change

Economic development officials the world-over are based upon a few mutually shared experiences: “Work- heavily in pursuit of the next ‘bio-tech’ sector to create ing with the government is like banging your head new employment opportunities in their cities. The 2008 against a wall.” version of bio-tech is the ‘Green’ or ‘Clean Tech’ sector. Similarly, in 2007, I attended an Intelligent Transporta- Toronto’s Mayor David Miller has talked openly of his tion Systems Conference in Montreal where Transport goal to brand Toronto as an ideal location for such busi- Canada officials asked: “How can we help create new nesses to locate and his economic developers are work- technology to solve our transportation problems.” My ing hard to make it happen, however... answer to the room was that the problem was not in inno- My advice to would-be businesses is to be cautious. vation but in implementation. There are lots of great The scariest words in the English language are still ideas and new technologies but without ‘public policy “Hello, I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” labs’ to test, prove and demonstrate the potential of their Canadian politicians talk a great game but when the innovations Canadian companies are often forced to rubber hits the road, you can expect little support shop the world to find their first-users and identify early beyond encouraging words and warm regards. How so? adopters. In short: We need financial and political invest- First, let me state that Canadian governments have ment in applied research. done an excellent job laying the groundwork for tech- In many instances, Canadian companies face protec- nological innovation. While we can always do better, our tionism and local advantage that we don’t enjoy at home. universities are already creating dynamic, intelligent For early-stage companies, it’s overly costly, energy and innovative graduates in sciences, math and compu- inefficient and simply fails to capitalize on all that strate- ter science. In Toronto one only has to look as far as the gic investment. By creating ‘test beds’ in Canada and MaRS Discovery District at the corners of College and funding high-risk pilots, government can do more to University (its building program co-funded by all 3 lev- help develop the Clean Tech than any financial help it els of government and private philanthropy) to see that could provide. In fact, this is where government can excellent facilities do exist to incubate and commercial- have the biggest impact in regards to Climate Change- ize clean and green technologies from combating technologies. new companies. ±-J%RKIPMRZIWXSVW So in this regard, we are well posi- Taking the leap tioned for the creation of a clean tech ERHXLIR:IRXYVI The fact of the matter is, human behav- sector. However, if incubation spaces 'ETMXEPMRZIWXSVW iour and the systems that we have built exist only to help companies to get to support our lifestyles are largely to a pre-revenue, pre-commercializa- FIKMRXSPSSO unsustainable and require significant tion stage, then much of the money we IPWI[LIVIXLI change if we are to tackle carbon chal- invest in facilities such as MaRS will lenges such as climate change, smog have been wasted. ³'PIER8IGL´ and resource depletion. That means we Not only are those public dollars WXVEXIK][MPPFI all need to change. That we all need to wasted but further millions of dollars of change requires that government man- private investment threaten to fail to HSSQIHFIJSVIMX date those changes - volunteerism only generate returns to ‘Angel Investors’ IZIRFIKMRW² goes so far when it involves economics and further reduce the effectiveness of (and personal bank accounts.) government strategies to grow this sector. If Angel Furthermore, great innovations often come in leaps Investors and then Venture Capital investors begin to and bounds - not in baby steps or by tinkering around look elsewhere, the ‘Clean Tech’ strategy will be the edges. I’ll paraphrase two of Albert Einstein’s famous doomed before it even begins. quotes that come to mind here: “We cannot solve the So while our governments have created these great problems of today with the same thinking that created frameworks, institutions and facilities, bureaucrats are them” and “if an idea is not absurd at the beginning it is still left scratching their heads wondering how to posi- unlikely to succeed.” I also think Steve Jobs makes a tion their jurisdiction as a leader in ‘Clean Tech’ devel- great point when he says “People don’t know what they opment. So what is the problem? Why, with all the want until you give it to them.” investment in education and innovation, are we failing to So what is my point and how does this all weave itself create and attract companies with innovative technolo- together? Let me get back to that MaRS-based company gies through incubation to implementation and com- that I work with. Toronto Star readers may recall Judy mercialization? Here is the answer: because public Steed’s fine work in 2007 for her ongoing ‘Business Chal- policy alone cannot stimulate economic growth. lenge’ reports. Ms Steed profiled Skymeter, whose inno- vative approach to GPS signal processing has enabled The right environment them to create a market-busting approach to road toll- A colleague of mine from a small yet innovative MaRS- ing. Forget traditional road tolls - Skymeter’s beauty is based company that I work with recently attended a ses- the ability to privately and even anonymously charge sion hosted by Toronto’s Economic Development for roads, when and where they are used. To simplify - department. City officials were asking important ques- it’s a smart meter that would collect gas taxes or road tions about how to help grow this sector. Responses from taxes in a similar fashion to how a water meter deter- the private sector attendees were fairly succinct and mines your bill - based on actual usage. Plus, it’s also a www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 39 Canada parking meter that removes all the hassle of finding and resources and sustaining our economy will help us paying for a parking space. change our behaviour. Public polling consistently shows that Canadians want government to take the lead and A supporting role mandate fair carbon emission reduction strategies. Skymeter is just one example. There are numerous other I am not suggesting that Premier McGuinty implement companies with fantastic new technologies, many of province-wide road tolling tomorrow or that Toronto them developed in conjunction with our Universities Mayor David Miller stand up where Metrolinx, the and Centres of Excellence. Skymeter is receiving fan- Greater Toronto Area’s regional transportation author- tastic attention in Cities and countries where govern- ity, has failed and force the issue of fair taxation of ments are seeking to marry innovation to public policy regional motorists. I am suggesting that governments to tackle our toughest problems. However, all govern- need to identify ‘test beds’ and put money forward for ment ‘bureaucrats’ and prospective buyers ask the same small pilots and applied research. For instance, how question: “Where is this being used?” would charging Courier vehicles for every stop in the What then is the missing link between innovation, downtown core affect the issue of illegal stopping? The incubation and the wonderland of commercialization City has a problem and Skymeter has a possible solu- and success? The most important ‘I’ word here is imple- tion where all others have failed. This is a win-win-win- mentation. Had Apple required government for the iPod win. Traffic solution for the City, pilot for a local company, to succeed, we’d still be having blue-ribbon panels to exposure of innovative clean tech sector, rewards to pri- discuss the idea. Governments must find the courage to vate investors. What am I missing? Until Government test, pilot, demonstrate and otherwise support the realizes that it must also step up to the plate and that export development of technologies made in Canada. politicians must also share in some portion of the risk Until we do, we will create more Alexander Graham that private investors and entrepreneurs are taking to Bells - people who have to go away to succeed only to develop these solutions then they will be doing little have that success nationalized once they return. The 2.0 more than printing documents with fantastic sounding version of Bell’s work is RIM and Blackberry. ‘stated goals’ that will never be met. Ultimately, that will lead not only to the failure of our economy but also to our failure as a society to deal with our most pressing prob- Less talk, more action lems. Here is the problem as I see it. Politicians want a clean- If, as Mayor Miller, as chair of the C40 Cities Climate air machine. They have, I believe, largely convinced Action Group, has often stated, Climate Change is [his] themselves that if they just set up technology incubators generation’s greatest challenge,then doesn’t that and create the conditions for innovation, a magical cli- require that we take the boldest steps? I know Road mate-change reversing ‘pill’ will be invented that we Tolling isn’t as sexy or tangible as a windmill, but we can can all take, go to sleep and wake up a week later to ask always find a ribbon to cut if that’s the issue. TH Dr Gore if it’s all better. Justin Peters is a private transportation con- Unfortunately, such a solution is improbable and sultant, former Executive Assistant at Toronto I’m a big believer in using the solutions that are at City Hall, former President, H3B Media North your disposal, even if they are new and untested. America. He resides in Toronto and works on What is more likely is that technologies ena- North American Transportation Solutions. He ble wide-spread mandated policy is also an investor in Skymeter Corporation changes while allowing us to become and can be contacted at more efficient in the use of [email protected]

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Eastern USA: www.cttraffi c.com Eastern USA: www.cttraffi c.com Western USA: www.kargor.com Western USA: www.kargor.com Public Transit and ITS State of transition

The evolution of ITS during the first decade of the century has created both opportunities and issues for public transport/transit going into the second, saysDAVID E PICKERAL in the first of his new regular contributions

41 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com PublicClimate Transit andChange ITS

As the first decade of the 21st Century draws to an individually influenced ITS development with an eye end it marks what I believe will be a significant towards what can be expected going forward in transit. period in the evolution of ITS from a somewhat While I do not purport to offer, nor do I yet wish to be in arcane and esoteric concept, largely restricted to a the position of defending bold theories and predictions, select group of insiders, to one that most of the I hope that I can proceed under the simple hypothesis developed world now understands to some degree that approaching 2010 ITS has now emerged as a stand- from actual experience. alone ecosystem combining and inextricably linked to While the specific term ITS and its implications may the core elements the ICT and transport industries but not yet be entirely understood or appreciated by most also distinct from each such as to afford separate analy- of the general public, many as either daily commuters sis as such. or tourists have in recent years experi- enced the early and steadily enhancing “Policy is endemic Policy factors benefits of location-based services, to the ITS Policy, encompassing legal, political, electronic tolling, VMS signage, in- legislative and regulatory factors influ- vehicle communications systems and ecosystem as it enced by government initiative, is of smartcard payments for goods and concurrently course endemic to the ITS ecosystem, services including and well beyond encompassing as it does the concurrent transportation. encompasses ICT activities of ICT and transport as two of This situation, and indeed the progres- and transport” the most heavily regulated industries sion of ITS into the coming decade, is worldwide. and will continue to be driven by a combination of tech- As those familiar with any aspect of critical infrastruc- nological, policy and market factors. The interplay of ture would attest, policy decision-makers are invariably these factors may vary widely by region, economics and forced with some balance along a continuum between individual project dynamics but as with all great public allowing market forces to run laissez-faire to maximize works endeavours they are all invariably present to aggregate wealth creation at the national, regional or some degree. Accordingly, it is worthwhile taking a few even global level against ensuring the socio-economic moments to explore how they have collectively and benefit to individual citizens. www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 43 Public Transit and ITS

A European slant It is important to observe here that a fundamental differ- ence in entitlement doctrine has historically existed here between North America and Europe in terms of public transport. Whereas transit has long been regarded and thereby supported by governments as the expected primary method of urban transport across Europe, in much of the US and Canada since the mid-20th Century it has as a practical matter been regarded a supplement to private vehicle travel. Whether designed to relieve congestion, reduce environmental impact, or serve the needs of the poor it was and in many markets still is regarded as no more than ‘alternative’ transportation or a social necessity. What I consider the most telling example is that in direct contrast to most of their European counterparts very few North American cities yet have a convenient direct rail link to downtown from the airport. My recent trips to Los Angeles, Toronto, Denver and Montreal all required a slow and/or expensive and/or multi-modal taxi, rental car or shuttle bus service (or all three in one case) to and from the city centre. How the tides have begun to shift slowly but percep- tively on the Western side of the Atlantic. In the US a sizable portion of President Obama’s 2009 Stimulus Package is earmarked for transit development - the real numbers to actually reach transit projects is at the time of writing a subject of no little controversy that I will not wade in to, but even by the most conservative reckoning it is in the several tens of billions of dollars deployed nationwide. This large scale public fund investment at the national level in non-roadway surface transport infrastructure represents an unprecedented Keynesian shift in the idea of direct incentives for transport development, with previous major expenditures largely focused on main- Europe’s Lisbon/i2010 agenda plans early in the dec- taining minimal heavy rail, light rail and bus services in ade have in many ways been challenged in coming to the wake of private railroad and transit company fail- fruition, they have served as an effective prototype for ures during the past 40 years or so. It will be interesting regulators worldwide in terms of what ICT develop- to see (but as yet impossible to predict) ments can be incentivised wholly by what, if any, major investments in ITS- “The 2010 US government-driven policy initiatives based transit may result. In particular Surface and which must be left to the interplay the next five-year US Surface Transpor- of market forces against legitimate con- tation authorization, due for renewal in Transportation sumer demand. 2010, will be a telling indicator of sus- Authorization will The US Federal Communications tained interest in transit innovation, with Commission (FCC) took the initiative the 2005 reauthorization largely viewed be a telling early in the decade to allocate 75 mega- by the ITS community as having been a indicator of hertz of 5.9 GHz spectrum to DSRC positive step in the right direction. As (Dedicated Short-Range Communica- the real monetised cost of congestion, sustained interest tions) while also taking the unprece- environmental damage and depend- in transit dented step for a US regulator in ency on fuel imports continue to be requiring a specific open standard for expounded it is only hopeful this policy innovation” deployment on the band. This as yet trend will continue. seems to have garnered positive initial results in the development of this standard through the US Federal The information superfederalhighway Highway Administration (FHWA) Vehicle-Infrastructure On the ICT side of the ITS ecosystem, recent years have Integration (VII) program, now incorporated into Intel- understandably seen more focus due to the value given liDriveSM. on both sides of the Atlantic to a ubiquitous information While the US policy engine has swung towards this space. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and perceptively more socialistic approach to development

44 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Public Transit and ITS

the EU member national regulatory authorities (NRA) the developments of the last 10 years have now available and the European Commission itself have correspond- literally on their own doorsteps. Although voted down ingly swung the pendulum in the other direction of late recently in Manchester and New York, congestion charg- through ICT market liberalization designed to reduce ing has already demonstrated its effectiveness around the SMP exercised by privatised service the world including London, Copen- providers which to some extent still enjoy “Congestion hagen, Singapore and (soon) Seattle the legacy of the state-owned PTT authori- charging has with the powerful combination of ties that preceded them. reducing city centre traffic, lowering The UK’s Office of Communication already environmental impact, and providing (Ofcom) in particular, working with British demonstrated its a dedicated funding stream for transit Telecom and others, has perhaps taken enhancements. Especially as eco- matters further than any other regulator to effectiveness nomic conditions will remain tight date in such areas as market segment sep- around the world” globally for some years to come and aration, open access to spectrum for wire- the drive for environmental sustaina- less services. Likewise the EC has envisaged a unified bility - a key concern for voters worldwide especially in European ICT market ecosystem which through its elim- the demographic under the age of 30 - it is almost cer- ination (or at least reduction) of NRA boundaries in tain that policy will see further developments driven favour of centralised oversight. I feel, political argu- from the grass roots up. ments aside, that this would be particularly advanta- geous for ITS deployment in the development of EU-wide Technology factors vehicular systems and networks for both public and pri- ITS has seen substantial technical development by any vate transport. measure over the past 10 years as Europe, Asia-Pacific Beyond the national action contemplated above, there and North America have invested both industry and pri- is now much localities themselves can do to formulate vate resources into creating standards, pushing forward and enact policies to take advantage of the ITS benefits the chain of technological events that will bring ITS from www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 45 Public Transit and ITS

laboratory to roadway. First and foremost the key ele- and rail transit assets through real-time schedule and ment in that development that most ITS experts consider routing adjustment–especially on long headway routes. essential is now well along its path and is the natural I cannot recall the number of times at home or abroad I convergence of Information Technology and Telecom- and other passengers have emerged from a metro or munications towards a seamless and ubiquitous Infor- railway station only to see the connecting bus pull away mation and Communications Technology (ICT) network. nearly empty, leaving us stranded merely for the sake of This network (or more accurately network of networks) sticking to a fixed timetable. will create further opportunities for ITS as essentially the next logical step in the convergence of ICT with Market factors transport and energy resources towards a truly seam- At the last, the key question and the ultimate determi- less global infrastructure. nate for the success of ITS in the coming decade and Whereas ITS projects created during the current dec- beyond will be what actual markets exist and will be ade have largely required the development of their own created as necessary between governments, commer- stovepipe networks, in the coming decade will come the cial entities and consumers whether driven by the avail- ability for commercial ICT to reach virtually and securely ability of technology or as a result of policy incentives into transport networks to provide commoditised serv- towards its use. In terms of the former, I would observe ices will come into its own. Through the concept of cloud there are vast geographic differences in how the accu- computing it may not even be necessary for transit mulation of new technologies occurs. Market data rather properties to build dedicated infrastructure at all in convincingly shows for example Japanese consumers some cases in favour of being able to subscribe reliably are for the most part very open to, if not demanding of, and security to obtain the services needed from the each latest technological feature and are correspond- commercial ICT network. ingly somewhat price-neutral. Americans are often at In my view, perhaps the most promising technological the other end of the scale, sceptical of new features development for mass transit in terms of especially when new costs are incurred, incentivizing customer patronage “Through the with Europeans generally somewhere through ITS involves traffic signal pre- concept of cloud in between. emption/prioritization (TSPP). This fea- Within these admittedly broad ture above all others stands to provide computing it may regional considerations there are of the ‘edge’ to bus, trolleybus and surface not even be course any number of political, eco- tram/light rail lines operating on non- nomic, social and demographic ele- dedicated routes with private vehicles necessary for ments to consider all the way down to that will finally allow a favourable com- transit properties the local level. parison with dedicated fixed guideway Understanding of these dynamics systems. to build dedicated combined with the ability to react to When combined with BRT, TSPP finally infrastructure” (and ideally to shape) key policy deci- holds the potential to allow the true ‘one sions will continue to be essential in seat’ portal-to-portal journeys even in the large transit shaping the ITS ecosystem beyond 2010. However, going zones created by sprawling cities and to incetivise users back to the idea I suggested at the start of this article to join by providing a moving ‘zone of priority’ that will (and I must say contrary to much of the current thinking allow them to get to work at comparable speeds to their regarding public outreach and education) what is not private cars - and allow them to type or text or talk along essential is that the transit-riding public at large under- the way with no concern of distracted driving. stand the concept of ITS per se any more than the aver- age citizen understands how ICT and transportation Dedicated following infrastructure operates. Returning to the subject of the preliminary DSRC stand- ard developed through the VII Program, perhaps the A private matter next key interoperability element will involve creating a Yet another trend which could profoundly affect transit bridge between proprietary onboard systems devel- in the US is what might be termed the privatization or oped by private and transit vehicle OEMs, global ter- re-privatization of transit operations in the US. Coach restrial ICT networks, and space-based systems like USA, the US subsidiary of the UK’s Stagecoach Group, GPS and Galileo. These hybrid networks, already being along with other operators has been successful along in prototyped through the European CALM system, will operating commuter routes into major cities. Through a have the ability to provide high speed throughput in combination of grants and public-private partnerships densely populated areas using roadside unit (RSU) even small communities, having realized the value of transmitters while offering reliable wide-area coverage transit, are enhancing their transit presence very often to ensure seamless connectivity in more remote areas using private operators. including rural mass transit management for bus and These operators with their desire to maximize their rail transit akin to that now enjoyed in major cities effectiveness and leverage new technology - not to men- through such systems as NextBus. tion their generally shorter depreciation cycles for An encouraging element of these systems will also be equipment than public entities - will almost certainly be the ability to allow for reasonable coordination of bus early adopters and innovators in ITS technology.

46 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Public Transit and ITS

As noted above, the concepts of sustainability and worth in Washington and London, respectively, and as ‘green’ transport have found a new audience in younger electronic payments through chip-implanted credit citizens worldwide who are more willing than ever to cards and even biometrics continued to take hold this leave their personal vehicles at home. From their use of will invariably drive transit ridership while bringing transit, to their ability to book and pick up an intercity down costs across the board. bus (thinking of the successful transplant of the UK’s Finally there is the safety aspect. As authorities begin popular MegaBus service, again by Stagecoach, to the to crack down in light of the alarming statistics of dis- US recently), transport has an audi- tracted driving through entertainment ence and a popularity not seen in liv- “Part of the or communication activities behind ing generations of Americans. impetus for ITS the wheel, a stronger transit market is Aside from their accessibility the likely result with the accompany- through technology individual, the extends beyond the ing expectation of duplicating the ability of ITS to link multiple modes vehicle itself to the technology-intensive environment together is already winning new tran- many drivers are now accustomed to. sit converts from downtown subway convenience of Here at last is probably the market riders to airport-bound shuttle pas- eCommerce” niche in which the newest major wave sengers. of transit riders are to appear, and it is Part of the impetus for ITS extends beyond the vehicle this group of transit riders that is most likely to under- itself to the convenience of eCommerce: nowhere more stand and appreciate the nuances and benefits of ITS, necessary than in transit where the requirements of such that by the end of the coming decade, it truly does ‘exact change only’ or the necessity to make change realise its potential and become a household word. TH places both safety and administrative burdens on pas- sengers and staff alike from getting through the faregate A former Naval Officer, transit employee and telecoms to the ‘money train’ runs requiring substantial prepara- attorney, David E Pickeral, JD, is an executive and consult- tion and expense by transit properties to the once nec- ant based in Washington, DC. For the past few years he essary counting and sorting of tons of change and small has been active in the ITS community and in other areas bills a day. involved with infusing new and emerging technology Contactless payments through SmarTrip and Oyster into new and existing critical infrastructure. For more Cards have decidedly proved their popularity and details go to http://www.linkedin.com/in/pickeral

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A pollution solution

48 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com ClimateGreen Change ITS

JON TARLETON presents a Highway and road systems have become an integral part of our society. Transportation moves goods and solution for transportation services around the world, allowing businesses to pollution modelling using ITS operate efficiently, and provides citizens a way to get from one point to another quickly and safely. technology to monitor to This massive system is not without problems and collect accurate, real-time drawbacks. The problems come in the form of crashes data and take appropriate resulting in death and injury, traffic delays, system fail- ures (such as a bridge collapse), and the amount of action resources required to maintain such a system.

www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 49 Green ITS

The drawbacks may not always be as easy to recog- • A simulation study of the system deployed on nize, but are very much real. One of the biggest draw- the John C. Lodge freeway in Detroit, Michigan estimated backs that continues to gain more and more attention is that HAR and dynamic message signs in combination the air pollution produced by the transportation system with ramp metering may reduce vehicle delay by up to and the effects pollution has on the public. Recent 22 per cent.3 research has revealed new insights about how this type • Traveler Information/Dynamic Message Signs of air pollution can harm the body, including taking the result in a 3 per cent decrease in crashes and rank high lives of infants and altering the lungs of children. All in in keeping mobility of traffic running smoothly.4 all, the evidence shows that the risks are greater than we 2) Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) once thought.1 • RWIS is proven to increase safety on roadways, Transportation researchers are studying ways to lower and reduce labor costs and chemical usage. the output of transportation gases through more effi- • Evaluation data shows that anti-icing programs cient vehicles and increasing the efficiency of the trans- can lower snow and ice control costs by 10 to 50 per cent portation system. How will we determine if these efforts and reduce crash rates by 7 to 83 per cent.3 Winter main- are working? The Environmental Protection Agency tenance personnel from several agencies indicated that (EPA) has roughly 5,000 monitoring stations throughout use of RWIS decreases salt usage and anti-icing tech- the United States to monitor air quality; however, these niques limits damage to roadside vegetation, ground- monitoring stations are placed in locations away from water, and air quality (in areas where abrasives are roadways to make sure their data is representative and applied).3 not overly impacted by traffic. • The RWIS benefit to cost ratio ranges from 2:1 to It is estimated that 35m people in the United States live 10:1 and RWIS ranks high in both safety and mobility within 100 meters of a major four-lane highway.5 Moni- impact.4 toring the air quality at the specific location where peo- 3) Traffic Monitoring ple are most affected is crucial to understanding the • The Maryland Coordinated Highways Action problem. With the use of Intelligent Transportation Sys- Response Team (CHART) program is in the process of tem (ITS) technology we could take the next steps and expanding to more automated [traffic] surveillance with begin acting on the air quality con- lane sensors and video cameras. Lane cerns. By advising and warning the “It is estimated that sensors and freeway video cameras in public of areas with high concentra- 35m people in the the coverage area supported incident tions of air pollution, including offer- management and contributed to a ing alternative routes, or adjusting United States live 5 per cent reduction in non-recurrent traffic light timing to improve traffic within 100 meters congestion.3 flow, we could make sure our citizens ITS has been developed by a variety are exposed to as little pollution as of a major four of different companies, which means possible. This measurement and com- lane highway” except for a few providers, each com- munication process would be key to pany typically has one, maybe two creating a true “greener” and healthier transportation areas of expertise in ITS. This has caused governments system. to purchase ITS solutions as separate, independent

Intelligent transportation So, what exactly constitutes an Intelligent Transporta- tion System? “ITS improves transportation safety and mobility and enhances productivity through the use of advanced information and communications technologies.”2 ITS technologies provide operational benefits to the transportation system by reducing delays, which improves our commerce infrastructure and allows the economy to grow. Roadside ITS technology can come in a variety of forms, such as solutions from traffic detec- tors, road weather monitors, and traveler information systems. In the simplest terms, ITS technology collects data from the traffic or the roadway, and reports the information to either the driver or to road decision makers. The benefits from ITS products are more numer- ous than can be mentioned in one article, but include: 1) Highway Advisory Radio (HAR)/Traveler Infor- mation Stations. • HAR systems create safer traveling environ- ments, while utilizing readily available AM radio frequencies to broadcast messages.

50 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com           

           
 
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systems. For example, an agency might have a traffic • Increased risk of upper and lower respiratory detection system, a road weather system, and a traveler infections. information system (i.e. HAR or Variable Message Sign The research on the effects of transportation pollution (VMS)). These systems might be tied together by a traf- goes on and on, and is especially troubling when look- fic operations software, but in the field these individual ing at the impact it has on children up to the age of 18. systems typically have their own mounting equipment, power, and communication. It’s all about location Having separate sensing systems along the roadside The EPA air quality monitoring stations are placed is inefficient. Adding another sensor to an existing sys- across the United States to monitor the overall air quality tem is cost-effective because it reduces redundant costs of an entire region. In fact, air quality stations are spe- on installation, communication, hardware, and ongoing cifically placed away from high traffic roadways, so the maintenance. With data displayed in a single system the monitoring units are not influenced by the local source relation between the data can be realized. For example, of pollution. if we began sensing an entirely new transportation The US Department of Transportation’s Congestion parameter such as air quality, integrating it with existing Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds equipment or adding it to new installations of proven are restricted to projects that reduce pollution. It ena- technology would greatly increase the return on invest- bles local areas to experiment with non-traditional strat- ment of the entire system. egies for improving air quality and reducing congestion that receive little funding from other sources. How do The side effect of transportation you know congestion and air pollution mitigation strate- Air pollutants from Interstate 10 in Santa Monica extend gies are working if you don’t measure before/after as far as 2,500m (more than 1.5 miles) downwind, based project implementation and determine where the prob- on recent measurements from a research team headed lem is occurring? Many solutions to solve air pollution by Dr. Arthur Winer, a professor of environmental health use a computer that factors all known conditions and sciences at the UCLA School of Public Health. This dis- creates a projection of what the air quality will be. tance is 10 times greater than previously measured Wouldn’t it be better to get actual measurements from daytime pollutant impacts from roadways, and has sig- the exact location being affected by air pollution? nificant exposure implications, since most people are in For example, an article written in the April issue of the their homes during the hours before sunrise and out- ITE Journal8 called “Reducing Carbon Emissions and door pollutants penetrate into indoor environments.6 Congestion by Coordinating Traffic Signals” highlights We must also remember that even if we do not live the City of Portland, Oregon, which has adjusted signal

next to a major roadway, if we drive on it we are still light timing to save 50 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) exposed to the air pollution. Although the average Los per year, per signal. The study results are based on Angeles driver spends about 6 per cent (1.5 hours) of computer projections not actual measurements. Com- his or her day on the road, that period of time accounts puter programs known as “models” are a good, inex- for 33 to 45 per cent of total exposure to diesel and pensive way to make projections, but they are subject to ultrafine particles (UFP).7 The adverse health effects a wide margin of error due to assumptions used, or the caused by transportation produced gases cause a seri- quality of the modeling program itself. ous health risk to our population and include: • Air pollution from heavy highway traffic con- The solution is clear tributes to higher risks for heart attack, allergies, pre- The EPA network of monitors is effective for large scale mature births and the death of infants around the time pollution detection; however it is unable to solve our they are born.1 transportation problem because monitoring sites are • The annual death toll from particle pollution not located near roadways as described above, and the may be even greater than previously understood. The sites are cost prohibitive to deploy. Quixote Transporta- California Air Resources Board recently tripled the esti- tion Technologies, Inc. is a leading technology company mate of premature deaths in California from particle in the United States providing some of the highest qual- pollution to 18,000 annually.1 ity ITS solutions, including Highway Advisory Radios, • Two major analyses recently concluded that air Road Weather Information Systems, traffic analyzers, pollution is especially harmful to children. They found and customer designed ITS solutions. Quixote has that air pollution is so dangerous that the exposure to recently partnered with Aeroqual Limited, an Auckland, pollution can even threaten children’s lives:1 New Zealand-based, company whose exclusive busi- • Short-term and long-term decreased lung func- ness is designing highly technical gas sensors and sys- tion rates and lower lung function levels, critical meas- tems within a low manufacturing cost environmental. ures of how well the child will breathe throughout his or The integration of Quixote products and air quality her life (due primarily to exposure to particle pollution monitoring allows Quixote the ability to provide multi- and traffic-related pollution); ple sensor technologies in a single ITS monitoring and • Worsening of asthma (from exposure to particle reporting system. as well as ozone pollution); When connected to one of Quixote’s existing prod- • Increased prevalence and incidence of cough ucts, new solutions for monitoring and acting on trans- and bronchitis (primarily from particle pollution); and portation pollution can be realized such as:

52 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Green ITS

Condition Alerting tion by monitoring gas levels where they are being cre- Quixote can detect hazardous levels of ated, and using ITS as a way to inform and manage the Ozone, Particulate Matter (PM), or Nitro- problem. State, city and county agencies can protect gen Dioxide (NO2) and notify the public their communities by implementing a solution that is through HAR, Variable Message Signs or local low cost and accurate. By using existing ITS products media. Alerts could be automated or manually and equipment infrastructure, then adding pollution controlled. When high levels are detected citi- monitoring, transportation agencies greatly increase zens that are sensitive or at risk, could avoid the return on investment of the entire system. For exam- exposure to those specific locations during ple, by incorporating air pollution monitoring agencies those periods, or take alternate routes as com- that could not justify a road weather station due to lim- municated by a transportation agency. ited amounts of winter weather now have an added Traffic Signal Timing year-round benefit of the product. Agencies that might If gas monitoring sensors were placed along not use their HAR often enough to warrant upgrading, the route, a series of traffic signals could be now are broadcasting air quality information daily in the adjusted when levels of pollution become dan- summer. gerous due to heavy traffic. Improved signal Lastly, agencies that use their traffic sensors to only monitor traffic flow, now could be pro- viding real-time warnings when traffic volume and air quality conditions indicate a hazard. The transportation system will only continue to grow, and our transportation infrastructure needs to be smarter and more environmentally friendly to ensure it continues to provide us the benefits we have become so dependent upon. TH

References 1. American Lung Association, 19 June 2009. www.stateoftheair.org/2009/health-risks/over- view.html 2. US Department of Transportation - RITA, 19 June 2009, www.its.dot.gov/its_overview.htm 3. US Department of Transportation, Intelli- gent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office from “Investment Opportunities for Managing Transportation Performance: Candidate ITS Technology Appendices” 16 January 2009. Posted on the ITS America web site www.itsa.org/itsa/ files/ pdf/ITSStimulusAppendices.pdf. 4. ITS Benefits and Costs database (www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/ and www.itscosts. its.dot.gov/). 5. Baldauf, Rich, Watkins, Nealson, Bailey, Chad March 5 2009, Near-Road Air Quality Moni- toring Experiences and Issues, 2009 National Air Quality Conference, Dallas Texas 6. Atmosphere Environment Volume 43, Issue 16, May 2009 Pages 2541 -2549 7. S. Fruin, D. Westerdahl, T. Sax, C. Sioutas light timing could reduce harmful emissions (Carbon and P.M. Fine. “Measurements and predictors of on-road Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxides and Volatile Organic Com- ultrafine particle concentrations and associated pollut- pounds) up to 22 per cent.9 ants in Los Angeles,” Atmospheric Environment 2007. Tunnels 8. Peters, J P.E, PTOE, McCourt, R P.E. PTOE, Hurtado, Quixote’s solution for air quality monitoring could be R P.E., (2009, April). Reducing Carbon Emissions and joined with tunnel ventilation systems to adjust opera- Congestion by Coordinating Traffic Signals. ITE Journal, tion during non-peak needs, reducing the amount of 25-29. energy required to operate the tunnel. 9. “National Traffic Signal Report Card, Executive Sensitive Areas Summary,” National Transportation Operations Coalition, In communities or environmental areas where road- 2007. ways pass nearby, data could be collected for future Jon Tarleton is marketing manager at Quixote design changes. The clear solution is for government to Transportation and can be contacted at begin addressing the problem of transportation pollu- [email protected] www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 53 Signal Timing Green lights for broadway

At first glance it seems the most unlikely of proposi- Not so says Wiley Norvell, spokesman for the advo- tions: that Broadway in mid-town Manhattan, argu- cacy group Transportation Alternatives. “DOT wanted ably the busiest urban thoroughfare in the United to do something dramatic and show once and for all to States, let alone New York City, would be closed to the people who say ‘were going to have traffic Arma- automobile traffic from 47th to 42nd Streets and that, geddon’ that, counter-intuitive as it sounds, you can in place of cars, plastic lawn chairs reduce the space given to cars without would fill the vacated area to create a ±8LIQSSH bringing the city to a grinding halt.” pedestrian ambience. Yet that’s exactly what has happened: an EQSRKXVEJ½G Extreme make-over experimental project in urban design to TVSJIWWMSREPWMW The final stages of the project have now be continued “until further notice”, per- been completed: permanent café-style haps permanently. WERKYMRIXLEXXLImetal chairs and benches have been The move had been anticipated on a TVSNIGX[MPPFI installed to replace the interim plastic smaller scale in 2008 when two lanes on ones; new signs and signals; and gravel either side of lower Broadway were NYHKIHEW spread atop adhering epoxy to visually removed to facilitate bicycles. Nonethe- WYGGIWWJYP² differentiate the pedestrian mall - people less, shutting 20 acres of Times Square at don’t want to feel like they’re in the the complicated Seventh Avenue intersection left many middle of a road about to be hit by a car. In a city accus- New Yorkers fearing the city was about to endure the tomed to the insoluble politics and public works of mother of all gridlocks. excessive expense, the Times Square cityscape has

54 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Signal Timing

Manhattan’s Times Square pedestrianization project as a work in progress. NEIL SHISTER reports...

been re-routed with remarkable speed (a matter of appears consistent with the New York City plan to mini- months) and at a cost of only US$1.5m. mize congestion.” Careful to qualify his observations as Now that all the pieces are in place, the city’s Depart- subjective and anecdotal (until the final report is issued), ment of Transportation is ready to measure the pro- he notes “this project without question is something that gram’s impact (“you wouldn’t want to look at a Picasso I support and is receiving considerable positive feed- that’s half-way done,” was how DOT Commissioner back from the public and business - from whom there Janette Sadik-Khan explained the delay). A final report was original push-back.” He emphasizes: “What is most is expected in December, at which point Mayor Michael exciting about this project is the access it gives to pedes- Bloomberg will decide whether to make changes per- trians in that stretch of Manhattan which has been least manent. Specific goals against which the project is to be accessible.” judged include: • Traffic lights with 66 per cent more green time; Dangerous times • Significant travel improvement on Sixth and While New York is general has, in O’Connor’s phrase, Seventh Avenue; “been taking it on the chin” with respect to pedestrians • Faster bus speed for 70,000 riders. (on average there is an accident a day involving pedes- Even without confirming data, however, the mood trians, occasionally even a fatality), “Times Square has among traffic professionals is sanguine that the project been brutal.” Numbers partially tell the story: 356,000 will be judged successful. “From a traffic flow perspec- people traverse the Times Square area daily on over- tive,” says Arthur O’Connor, head of the Federal High- flowing sidewalks and 50,000 cars pass through (at an way Administration’s satellite Manhattan office, “it average speed of less than 5mph). Broadway has, on www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 55

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average, 137 per cent more traffic crashes occurring stay green longer on those Avenues), DOT computer than on nearby Avenues. Though there are 4.5 times as models predict waiting times will shorten by nearly a many people as vehicles, only 11 per cent of the space third. Southbound drivers on Seventh Avenue, for exam- was allocated for pedestrians prior to the project. In the ple, are projected to expect a 17 per cent improvement area dedicated to the pilot project there were 562 in travel time between 59th Street and 23rd Street. crashes involving pedestrians between 1995 and 2005 Northbound drivers on Sixth Avenue will go even faster, (seven people died further south, in Herald Square, saving 37 per cent in projected travel time. when a van smashed into a crowded intersection in As yet, Arthur O’Connor has no reason to question 2001). Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer calls these expectations, noting how he is not seeing the this extended intersection of same degree of backed-up traffic Broadway and Seventh Avenue ±6ISVMIRXMRKXLI on Sixth Avenue from his office “an accident waiting to happen.” window as he was previously Re-orienting the priority traffic TVMSVMX]XVEJ½GIRKMRIIVW accustomed to. Is traffic flow engineers have historically given LEZILMWXSVMGEPP]KMZIRXS improving? “I don’t know if you to cars over people may prove can say that but it is leaning more the most significant outcome of GEVWSZIVTISTPIQE] toward shorter delays.” The main the Times Square project. Typi- TVSZIXLIQSWXWMKRM½GERXreason, he says, is the success of cally major arterials are man- the Joint Transportation Manage- aged primarily for maximum SYXGSQISJXLI8MQIW ment Center launched in 2008, to vehicle mobility with access 7UYEVITVSNIGX² combine Federal and local assets functions (read: pedestrians) lim- in shared systems to manage the ited to contain “friction” with the mainstream traffic. 12,000 traffic signals citywide. Currently half of the net- works’ signals are on-line (“that’s a huge number”) with An expectant crowd more being constantly added. These networked signals It is therefore all the more compelling that preliminary can be cued in real time as electrical, mechanical con- indications seem to show that, counter-intuitive as it trollers are replaced by advanced solid-state control- sounds, closing off streets for the sake of “access func- lers that operate faster and more efficiently, and require tions” may actually improve the overall flow of traffic in less maintenance. “Say there’s an incident on Sixth Ave- the Times Square area. Why? The diagonal path of Broad- nue,” O’Connor explains, “we can make adjustments way tends inordinately to disrupt traffic where it inter- immediately.” sects with other streets, requiring lengthy signal delays In addition to minimizing congestion and helping New on those Avenues. By eliminating these intersections York City become “greener and safer,” the Times Square (and thus being able to time signals along the route to project also aims for improved quality of life. While this

56 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com QEQE.LS4EB"B>@E2LQ>K>(LQBI$R?>F5!%

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&IJSVI %JXIV 8VEJ½GQSHM½GEXMSRWKMZIHVMZIVWYTXS MRGVIEWIMRKVIIRPMKLXWERHJEWXIVXVEZIPXMQIW is more difficult to measure, it has figured prominently in shoppers never materialized. However, for this very the planning and design of the project; notably in the reason, these failed projects may bode well for Times hiring of eminent Copenhagen urban designer Jan Gehl Square (and encourage planners to re-think their in 2007 by Commissioner Sadik-Khan, to “re-imagine” assumptions elsewhere). New York streets, making them more hospitable to “The sense of movement provided by a combination pedestrians and bicyclists. of transit modes - whether on foot or in car - really does An important aspect of Gehl Architects work has make a difference,” explains Doug Loescher, director of been integrating “the process of psychological adjust- The Main Street Center at The National Trust for ment” into the project, explains Camilla Richter-Friis Historic Properties. “People feel safer because there’s van Deurs, the firm’s Times Square project manager. “It’s some kind of movement through the district. It creates based on theories regarding human interaction with a sense of energy that makes people feel more comfort- physical surroundings. These include a sense of scale able.” It is precisely that enclave of safe serenity and proportion, distances of social interaction, a sense surrounded by the whirling pulse of the city that the of protection (both psychological and physical) and ‘new’ Times Square promises, along with faster-moving aesthetics and sensory experience.” adjacent arteries and a greener environment. Only time Pedestrian malls launched with great expectations in will tell. TH the US have a disappointing history. Of the some 220 cit- Neil Shister is a Washington, DC-based journalist with ies that converted streets into pedestrian shopping almost 40 years experience. This is the first of his regular areas since the 1970s, automobile traffic has been contributions to Thinking Highways. He can be restored to all but several dozen of these. The problem: contacted at [email protected]

58 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com The gold standard of travel time and speed measurement

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draī ax, /nc PO Box 1176 ZŝǀĞƌĚĂůĞDϮϬϳϯϴ ϴϬϬͲϳϲϳͲϳϰϴϬʹƉŚŽŶĞ ϯϬϭͲϮϵϴͲϱϮϰϬʹĨĂdž www.traī axinc.coŵ Driver Information

In previous presentations and published articles on BRUCE ABERNETHY reminds the dangers of cell phone use in vehicles, I have stressed two areas of concern: cellular telephones us of the dangers of cell distract drivers’ attention from the road and contrib- phone use whilst driving: ute to an information overload, as well as negatively impacting on the health of a driver due to non- perhaps the ITS industry ionizing radiation. should think twice before Research undertaken at the turn of the century indi- cated that the effects of long term radiation of the head demanding the deployment area from radio frequency (RF) energy can cause dam- of systems that may result in a age to human cells. I also pointed out that cell phones distracting overload of generally complied with restrictions on non-ionizing radiation levels as dictated by regulatory agencies, information for drivers such as the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) instead of actually in the US (Specific Absorption Rate of 1.6 W/kg). Assum- ing a cell phone is placed to the human ear, 60 per cent helping them of the RF energy is absorbed by, and actually penetrates into, the brain for up to several inches. While the restric-

60 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Driver Information $UH\RX OLVWHQLQJ"

tions on radiated power is supposed to be less than is One proposed solution to vehicle safety was the required to “cook cells to destruction by heating” implementation of “hands free” cell phones. Hands free (similar to the process of cooking in solutions do not necessarily elimi- a microwave oven), test clearly show ±0MWXIRMRK nate radiating the brain area with RF that the human brain’s temperature GSQTVILIRWMSRXEWOW energy as we see from the many increases with cell phone use. Bluetooth ear pieces that seemingly Cell phone use research by inde- HVI[QIRXEPVIWSYVGIW indicate that the majority of the pendent organizations (not influ- E[E]JVSQHVMZMRK population needs “hearing aids.” enced by the cell phone industry Bluetooth devices emit a lower nor the government agencies) have IZIRXLSYKLXLIHVMZIVWlevel RF signal but are closer to the indicated a relationship between [IVIRSXLSPHMRKSV brain and are usually continually DNA damage and probability of activated. tumors caused by extended expo- YWMRKETLSRI² In addition, with the advent of text sure to RF radiation. Military manu- messaging, the driver must see the als related to radar devices published pre-cell phone message on the cell phone display and must use a key- era stress the dangers of RF radiation to the eyes and board to respond; the exception is with the implementa- other organs of the body. There have been many more tion of text to speech and speech to text technology recent studies that illustrate cell phone dangers. which is not widely used. of cell phone use while driv www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 61 An unhealthy distraction Computer Recognition Systems Research at Carnegie Mellon University focused on the ability of the human brain to multitask. Both visual and audio streams of information were presented to test subjects. The results indicated: “the parietal lobe ANPR Solutions activation associated with spatial processing in driving decreased by 37 per cent when participants concur- rently listened to the sentences. Listening comprehen- CRS is the world's most experienced sion tasks drew mental resources away from driving and supplier of security, surveillance and resulted in a deterioration in driving performance, even enforcement systems based on ANPR. though the drivers were not holding or dialing a phone.” (See A Decrease in Brain Activation Associated With We invented ANPR in 1979 and have Driving When Listening to Someone Speak, Marcel Just been pioneering developments in and Tim Keller, Carnegie Mellon) A major reason for this is the competition for brain ANPR technology ever since. resources in the anterior cerebellum, the left intrapari- etal sulcus and various frontal cortical regions, includ- ing the posterior lateral prefrontal cortex as indicated by research conducted at Vanderbilt University, Nash- ville, TN. Basically when a driver is listening to his cell phone and looking at the road (and his rear view mirrors to be aware of the traffic situation) as well as glancing at his dash board to control speed within legal limits, there is an impairment especially on visual awareness. As the cell phone conversation becomes more intense and complex, attention deficit increases. This makes using a cell phone dangerous when driving, not even consider- ing the dialing or answering phase. ±%FERSRGIPPTLSRIYWI [LMPWXHVMZMRKMWEPVIEH] FIMRKIRJSVGIHMR)YVSTI²

Recent studies at Virginia Tech Transportation Insti- tute using a driving simulator further verify limits of human multitasking. Research at the University of Utah by Dr David Strayer supports slower reaction time for a driver using a cell phone by typically 17 per cent and could increase with the intensity of the conversation. The University of Utah study also shows that telephone information presented by an automatic cell phone answering system is more distracting than looking at …eyes of a HAWK the calling number on the cell phone display. Another study at the Department of Neurosurgery, Lund University, Sweden indicates exposure to cell phone radiation for lengthy periods causes a break- !




    down of the blood/brain barrier causing neuronal dam- !

 

 age from portions and toxins. This can cause short term fatigue, dizziness, and memory loss. Similar research at !




 
 
  the University of Bristol indicates a rise in polyamines (a marker for stress) when the brain is subjected to RF !
 
 
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 An inconvenient truth !

 
 
  What seems clear from research is that there is an effect on the brain through RF radiation from a cell phone, and !
 
   Hawk kindly supplied by The Hawk Conservancy Trust even if a cell phone is not next to the head, there is a negative impact on human reaction time due to www.crs-vision.com multitasking limits. What is clearer still is that with a US$10billion+ annual market for cellular service and Computer Recognition Systems Ltd Fishponds Close · Wokingham · Berks · RG41 2QA t: +44 (0) 118 979 2077 f: +44 (0) 118 977 4734 [email protected] www.thinkinghighways.com ;VbVhHnhiZb# cell phone sales, industry will play a significant role in influencing laws regarding cell phone use and impeding I]ZcZlldgaYd[igV[ÒXXdcigda# any attempt to limit usage. Cellular technology continues to add features and capabilities making use more demanding. 4th genera- tion cell phones intend to compete with WiMAX broad- band service and have a significant advantage because they bill users regardless of location. The failure of WiMax has been the lack of a convincing business case (how to pay for infrastructure, service and maintenance). Cell phones today offer mobile access to any informa- tion or services available on the Internet and more. Cell phones are the heart of ITS “Mayday” and mobile access to traveler information. You can now have access to ITS CCTV video via cell phones. Traveler information “yellow page” access today is primarily by cell phone. Thus there is a growing demand for cell phone use in a I=G:: HNHI:BH ;DG 6 8DBEA:I: 8DCIGDA vehicle and growing evidence that it is dangerous whilst driving, as well as dangerous to health. HI6G*%% In a NHTSA report, An Investigation of the Safety H^c\aZ"iZX]cdad\nVWdkZ" Implications of Wireless Communications in Vehicles \gdjcYigV[ÒXXdcigdahnhiZb dated November, 1997 it is stated that “a number of BV^c[jcXi^dch intelligent transportation systems (ITS) initiatives ™H^c\aZb^XgdlVkZiZX]cdad\n intended to improve the highway safety and efficiency, ™KZ]^XaZXaVhh^ÒXVi^dc^c. &XaVhhZh are, in fact, focusing on increasing such information ™9ZiZXi^dcd[igV[ÒXXdcY^i^dch ™7^Y^gZXi^dcVakZ]^XaZbdc^idg^c\ availability. These initiatives, however, have heightened ™=^\]YViVhidgV\ZXVeVX^in NHTSA’s concern over possible synergistic effects of ™9ViVigVchb^hh^dck^V:I=:GC:I!  9: stuck in the ear will have an impact on brain functional- 8VgeVg`\j^YVcXZhnhiZb ity. There is growing evidence that radiating the brain with RF energy may have a long term effect on human BV^c[jcXi^dch ™GZYjXi^dcd[ÆeVgVh^iZigV[ÒXÇaZVY^c\ health. Epidemiological studies now emerging focus on  idgZYjXi^dcd[cd^hZVcYV^gedaaji^dc the impact of non-ionizing radiation on human cells and ™BdgZZ[ÒX^ZcijhZd[VkV^aVWaZ  eVg`^c\heVXZh are producing interesting results. ™GZYjXi^dcd[igV[ÒX_VbhVcYfjZjZh More advanced studies of the effects of multimedia ™GZYjXi^dc^ci]ZcjbWZgd[   VXX^YZcihXVjhZYWnVWhZci"b^cYZY multitasking on humans justifies a “re-think” of what ITS  Yg^kZghadd`^c\[dgeVg`^c\heVXZh should demand be deployed in vehicles as well as ™Edhh^W^a^inidegdk^YZVaagdVYjhZgh  l^i]Z[ÒX^ZciVcY^bbZY^ViZ  restrictions on cellular use in vehicles. A ban on cell  ^c[dgbVi^dcdcigV[ÒXVhlZaaVh phone use whilst driving is already being enforced in  dcejWa^XZkZcih Europe, however, in the US the business market “speaks louder” than the safety market; so progress will be very slow. TH H[cej[Z[l_Y[ioij[ci Bruce Abernethy, PE is Senior Principal of VASI, \ehj^[[dl_hedc[dj based in Allen, Texas. He can be contacted via email at [email protected] mmm$\WcWiioij[c$_j www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 63 Index of advertisers

For more information on advertisers in this issue please go to www.thinkinghighways.com/#/51 and click on READER ENQUIRIES

ComNet (www.comnet.net) ...... 9 Computer Recognition Systems (www.crs-vision.com) ... 62 FAMAS (www.famassytem.it) ...... 63 INRO (www.inro.ca) ...... 64 ITS America 2010 (www.itsa.org) ...... 51 ITS Canada (www.itscanada.ca) ...... 69 Jupiter Systems (www.jupiter.com) ...... 23 Kapsch Traffi cCom (www.kapsch.net) ...... 35 Magnetic Autocontrol (www.ac-magnetic.com) ...... 47 Middle East Parking Symposium (www.parking-me.com) .. 57 Mitsubishi (www.mitsubishi-megaview.com/thmag) ...... 29 Moxa (www.moxa.com) ...... 11 Optelecom-NKF (www.optelecom-nkf.com) ...... 5 Quixote Corp (www.qttinc.com/AQM) ...... 17 Rapidis (www.rapidis.com) ...... 73 Sanef (www.sanef.com) ...... 37 and outside back cover Telegra (www.telegra-inc.com) ...... 3 Telvent (www.telvent.com) ...... inside front cover Thinking Highways (www.thinkinghighways.com) ...... 65 TollCollect (www.toll-collect.de) ...... 73 Traffax, Inc (www.traffaxinc.com) ...... 59 Trafi con (www.trafi con.com) ...... 41 TSS (www.aimsun.com) ...... 71 Wavetronix (www.wavetronix.com) ...... 7 RENEW YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION ONLINE NOW!

THIN KING TM HIG HW AYS Thinking Highways EUROPE/REST of the WORLD EDITION www.thinkinghighways.com Volume 4 • Issue 3 • Sep/Oct 2009 Europe/Rest of the World Edition

DRIVING TO WORK Focus on the European Commission’s transport research initiatives and projects

FUTURE PERFECT DG INFSO Commissioner Viviane Reding outlines her vision to Thinking Highways

RUNNING SMOOTHLY How Managed Motorways can keep England’s traffi c fl owing

STOCK CHECK 16th World Congress on ITS preview

the Advanced transportation management policy • strategy • technology finance • innovation • implementation INTELLIGENTchoice integration • interoperability

2/9/09 20:47:17

Supplement to THIN KING HIG HW AYS

Volume 4 Issue 2 June/July 2009 ETC, etc The international road pricing and electronic toll collection review The International Tolling Review

BRIGHT IDEAS? Ari Vatanen, Enrico Grillo-Pasquarelli, Erich Cuaz and Charles Hewson on Eurovignette and EETS

FUEL’S GOLD Bern Grush on how to end the gas tax

the Advanced transportation management policy • strategy • technology finance • innovation • implementation choice INTELLIGENT integration • interoperability

COVER FINAL.indd 1 9/7/09 13:27:15

Thinking Greener Sustainable ITS Developments & Initiatives

72 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com It pays to be thorough.Climate Change

)ZIV]MWWYISJ THIN KING HIG HW AYS MWJYPP]&4%EYHMXIH

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[[[XLMROMRKLMKL[E]WGSQ 71 Thinking Cars

An outboard camera captures Daimler’s Simone Sieloff undergoing Brain Cap Driver Research Of hearts and minds...

The EC-funded Smartest Cars Video Project, otherwise known as Thinking Cars, is bringing active safety into your living room. Here’s Executive Producer RICHARD BISHOP with a timely update as to how the programme is progressing

66 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com ClimateThinking Change Cars

A TV camera is rigged to capture a lane departiure for Thinking Cars

If you stopped the average person just as they were experienced by the customer in the showroom? While entering a car dealership to buy a new car, and asked the sales job for active safety has its challenges in the them if safety was important, they might say yes. typical automotive retail environment, a buyer’s innate And if they did, and you asked them what safety personal motivation to stay safe is fundamental. Enter looks like, they’ll most likely reply “airbags.” the family appliance known as the television – where Now ask them one more question: which would you information on everyday life streams into households choose - to be well protected in a crash or to never crash everywhere on a mass scale. It is the perfect medium to at all? The answer is obvious. No one wants to be in a reach the public and inform them about the potential of crash. Yet most feel this is an unavoida- active safety systems. ble risk they take whenever entering an “Thinking Cars automobile.And for the most part, they’re stimulates the Raising awareness right. But there’s a new actor on this stage With this in mind, the Information Soci- - active safety systems which can warn viewer at the level ety Directorate of the European Com- the driver just in the nick of time, or take of their heart, mission has funded the Smartest Cars action to avoid or mitigate a crash or loss Video Project, or SCVP. Led by H3B of control. their head and Media, SCVP is making a high quality These systems are now available on their gut” TV documentary programme on active many vehicle models, with more being safety systems intended for broadcast added each model year. Yet, public awareness is low – throughout Europe. Under the working title of Thinking and they may or may not hear about this technology at Cars, the programme is planned for completion in late the auto dealership. After all, a salesman might make 2009, with initial broadcasts expected in 2010. Thinking just as much commission by selling leather seats rather Cars stimulates the viewer at the level of their heart, than collision mitigation - and which is easier to explain their head and their gut. This is the only way a message to the customer? And which one can be immediately “sticks” in our information-overloaded brain. www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 67 Thinking Cars

More than an infomercial about “gee-whiz” technology, tunities and initial filming occurred during September Thinking Cars follows the experience of several key and October 2008. With the raw material in hand, an characters who have themselves experienced crashes extensive process of video editing ensued, as well as – or even been responsible for the crash. In one case, a seeking supporting marketing materials from the auto- family out buying furniture on a Saturday afternoon. And motive suppliers and manufacturers. Because today’s in several other cases, engineers deeply involved pro- documentaries are all filmed in High Definition format, fessionally in active safety development – because, after the torrent of promotional video segments created being in a crash, it is no longer about technology - its about active safety systems by the industry in recent personal. years turned into a trickle when the HD requirement With these sorts of “hooks” the story expands to re- was applied. In the end, though, several key segments examine these crashes in the light of “what if” scenarios were available. with active safety systems. Would lane departure warn- H3B Media also engaged a film animation firm to cre- ing have prevented that head-on crash? Would a drowsy ate realistic re-creations of the actual crashes portrayed, driver warning have prevented that late night appoint- in order to also show the difference active safety could ment with a guardrail? And once the driver was startled make. Based on the progress of the editing process, spe- awake, would electronic stability control have changed cific additional filming needs were defined, which the outcome as he tried to jerk the car back onto the guided final filming in April 2009. road? Would eCall have made the difference in recov- ering from severe injuries? Using sophisticated compu- Content with the contents ter animations, driving simulators, and test tracks, the Final editing and scripting continued into June and a scenario unfolds - there is something beyond crash pro- “rough cut” of Thinking Cars was presented to the tection. It becomes clear that active safety systems have European Commission in July 2009. Based on comments been meticulously engineered to do their job right, and received, revisions are underway and in parallel the yet still defer to the driver’s intelligence. SCVP team is in active discussions with the broadcast The viewer comes to understand that, yes, they could industry to confirm a plan for airing Thinking Cars be in a crash, and that they have an alternative - active sometime in 2010. safety systems are now available. One problem - crashes are more interesting visually than non-crashes. This in only one of the many chal- Documenting the documentary lenges addressed by our creative team in making a doc- The first phase of production for Thinking Cars umentary that will compete in the television broadcast focused on gathering the necessary information about marketplace. active safety in a manner to enable this content to be The specific systems portrayed in Thinking Cars are: “transformed” into a television documentary. • eCall An Industry Advisory Council composed of car- • Electronic Stability Control makers, suppliers, and road authorities was formed to • Forward Collision Warning/Mitigation provide key input. This process took place during the • Lane Departure Warning/Prevention first half of 2008. Then, proven television techniques • Blind Spot Warning/Lane Change Assist were used to craft a program concept. While there can • Driver Drowsiness Detection be a natural inclination from the engineering side to • Night Vision present a very direct active safety message, TV docu- • Pedestrian Detection mentaries are by nature indirect, or else the program • Future Cooperative Systems. can be perceived as promotional” and the viewer A key strategy for SCVP is the creation of a sophisti- quickly changes the channel. cated website which will be associated with the TV pro- An effective TV documentary must interweave a vari- gram and serve as a conduit for the public to get more ety of aspects from unique perspectives to maintain the information about active safety systems and the particu- viewer’s interest and receptivity to the main points. In lar car models on which these systems are available. particular, the reality of over 100 deaths per day in Enter www.thinkingcars.com. The site provides full Europe must go beyond the intellectual and take root at information on SCVP as well as “teaser” introductions to an emotional level to make the documentary memora- the 13 systems, which users can click to access an easy- ble for viewers. to-understand synopsis. Once the TV documentary is Based on input from the Council, the concept was final- finished, users will also be able to access short video ized and a “shooting plan” developed for capturing the downloads of extended topics based on the programme. key aspects on film. The filming was guided by the crea- Links are provided to the car manufacturers offering tive process - where were the key characters who had active safety, and a survey page will informally poll been in a crash? What facilities were available for doing viewers of Thinking Cars as to their awareness and per- re-creations? Who offered the most innovative and crea- ception of active safety. tive approaches? Who offered “behind the scenes” For viewers who are ready to buy the safest car they access (key to broadcaster interest)? Who were the have ever owned, the website will also provide a guide “experts” and how would the team get independent as to which active safety systems are available on par- research perspectives beyond the car industry? ticular car models. TH A focused plan was developed from a wealth of oppor- For more information visit www.thinkingcars.com

68 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com The road to ITS starts in Canada...

ITS Canada ~ STI Canada 0;:‹:;0 5694-4 Highway 7 East, #402 Markham, Ontario, Canada L3P 1B4 *(5(+( Tel 905-471-2970 ~ Fax 905-294-1050 [email protected] ~ www.itscanada.ca

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS SOCIETY OF CANADA | SOCIÉTÉ DES SYSTÈMES DE TRANSPORT INTELLIGENTS DU CANADA Road Pricing %TYFPMG WLS[SJ disaffection

Who is to blame for the public rejection of road pricing schemes? Thinking Highways courted the views of the IBEC Working Group...

Around the world, road pricing schemes have been nately, this was perceived as subterfuge by the voters, accepted by the public… most of the time. However, and the ‘no’ lobby concentrated on road pricing as the there have been a few high-profile counter-exam- primary issue.” ples, notably Edinburgh, Manchester and New York Paul Grayston of Atkins, UK and a Greater Manchester City, all of which provide powerful case studies. resident gives both a personal and professional per- Who is to blame for these failures? System designers? spective. “It was the early days for road pricing, and The government? PR and outreach people? Local busi- therefore it was difficult for supportive local politicians ness owners? The public? Or should we blame whoever to explain road pricing to voters in simple terms. Fur- came up with the concept of road pricing in the first thermore, advertising for the ‘yes’ vote failed to realize place? Recently, members of the International Benefits, sufficiently that they were fighting a ‘yes to major trans- Evaluation and Costs (IBEC) Working Group considered port investment,’ not a ‘no to the “no charge”’ cam- this question. And because IBEC’s 400-person member- paign.” ship draws from over 50 countries, the answers provide Robert Cone, formerly of the Welsh Assembly, quotes a world tour of opinion. a UK road pricing feasibility study that concludes: “Trust Several IBEC members drew lessons from Manches- is critical. People need to be confident that road pricing ter, England, where road pricing was rejected in a refer- is designed to deliver transport and other benefits, endum by a large majority (79 per cent to 21) last year. rather than as a means of raising more revenue.” Cone Peter Harman of AECOM in the UK cites inadequacies says that Manchester road pricing proponents were not of the outreach materials. “There was a political desire able to establish that trust. not to make it a vote for or against road pricing, rather an David Hytch of the Greater Manchester Passenger appeal for the electorate to consider the benefits that Transport Executive (GMPTE) notes that the rules of the could be accrued from the resultant funding. Unfortu- referendum process limited his agency’s ability to

70 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Climate Change

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www.thinkinghighways.com Road Pricing present its case to the public. “To ensure fairness, the encourages Mexican authorities to invest toll revenue in rules governing the consultation and referendum lim- non-toll alternatives, says Juan Othon Moreno Navar- ited our participation in the debate and dealing, in par- rette of Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and ticular, with the misunderstanding and misinformation Transport (SCT).“Tolling implementation must be that arose during the consultation.” accompanied by a clear and fair value-added in the Prof Eric Sampson, CBE, of Newcastle and City of Lon- facility that can be used as a justification of the project don Universities cites a fundamental unfairness of the and, if possible, alternatives.” referendum process itself. “Does Greater Manchester Across the Pacific, Chris Money of Hyder Consulting have a referendum on hospitals, on sewers or water sup- in New Zealand pondered the road pricing scheme of ply, on schools or libraries? No.” Auckland, which was seriously considered but has not progressed. “Congestion schemes take away some- Plusses and minuses thing that people perceive as being free and ask them to Many IBEC members contrasted the Manchester exam- buy it back. As long as there is a perception that mobil- ple with the successful implementation of road pricing ity is presently free, there will always be a strong oppo- in London. sition to congestion pricing.” Peter Harman gives three reasons for the different out- Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Dan K Phiu-Nual come: a leader willing to take full responsibility for the of Traftools recounts the long history of road pricing in success or failure of the system, trans- Thailand, where the concept has been port infrastructure improvements imple- ±%HZSGEXIWSJ proposed every other year but has yet mented before and during road pricing’s GSRKIWXMSR to receive serious attention from the implementation, and London’s severe authorities. “I guess everybody is to congestion. GLEVKMRKMKRSVIH blame. The specialists and top-level Mark Cartwright of Centaur Consult- XLIXVIQIRHSYW civil servant management people are to ing in the UK agrees that having a cham- blame first for lacking attention to fol- pion was a driving force behind road ERXMXE\WIRXMQIRXlow up the work. The academics are to pricing’s success in London. “The way HSQMREXMRK blame for lacking intention to dissemi- London got it was that a charismatic nate the results of [research showing mayor thought it was a good idea and TSPMXMGEPHIFEXI² road pricing’s benefits].” just did it. The reason Edinburgh and Manchester didn’t is because they did not have a leader Rights and wrongs willing to take that political risk.” Rounding out our world tour, South Africa is determined Across the Atlantic in the US, New York City was expe- to learn from others’ mistakes. “Noting that while riencing its own rejection of road pricing. Last year, the accepted in some countries, strong opposition has New York State legislature rejected the city’s request to emerged against road user charging in other countries, give the it the legislative authority to proceed with its South Africa is putting strong emphasis on consultation congestion project, causing the city to lose its Federal with stakeholder groups and on public awareness pro- funding for the effort. Further west, David Zavattero of grams,” says Dr Paul Vorster, CEO of ITS South Africa. the City of Chicago cites road pricing’s proponents’ ina- Considering the question on a global basis, Dr Rich- bility to grasp political trends. “Congestion charging ard Mudge of Delcan in the US quips: “The answer is advocates ignored the tremendous anti-tax sentiment obvious: blame the economists.” In a more serious tone, dominating political debate for a long time. Congestion he says, “To date, we have made a pitiful effort to explain charging never succeeded in distinguishing itself from the economic and individual value of not being late.” just another tax.” IBEC Chair Richard Harris of Logica in the UK adds, Eric Bruun of IBI Group and University of Pennsylvania “We are not very good at demonstrating the benefits [of believes that the public rejection of road pricing is road pricing] while everyone can easily understand an attributable to different reasons in the different coun- extra tax.” tries. “In the case of the UK, people are unsatisfied with So, is this a government failing or an industry one? their deregulated bus systems and their very high taxes Cartwright says that the concept of blame doesn’t make aren’t going towards giving them an attractive alterna- sense in the context of a public rejection. He questioned tive if they get priced off the highway. By comparison, whether “in a democracy, is it even possible for the pub- the US doesn’t collect enough money to build decent lic to be wrong?” TH alternatives for people who are priced off.” Public acceptance and rejection of road pricing will be In Canada, not even static tolling is very well accepted, further discussed at a symposium that IBEC is sponsoring let alone varying tolls based on congestion or other fac- Sunday, September 20, in conjunction with the 2009 ITS tors. William Johnson of TRENDS Consulting says, “Toll World Congress in Stockholm, Sweden. roads are not popular in Canada, and that makes it diffi- To register, visit www.harmonised-events.com/index. cult to extend the discussion to road pricing.” php?url=evenement_vue&id_evenement=22. Tolls are, however, charged on many roads in Mexico but that country has a Roads Law that requires a non-toll Membership of IBEC is free and open to all interested alternative to tolled facilities, although there are many individuals. To join, visit IBEC’s website exceptions such as bridges.Nevertheless, this law (www.ibec-its.org) and click on “Membership.”

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Thinking about the forthcoming World Congress in from the IKEA approach and one or two areas where Sweden, my thoughts turned to the outstanding con- they perhaps could learn from us as well. tribution that country has made to ITS and transport in general, as leaders in areas such as vehicle safety, 1) Everyone would know what ITS is. We all know cross border systems and tolling (not to mention what IKEA does - it sells furniture that is good value, pro- huge hotel bar bills). A series of iconic brands drifted vides loads of other “stuff” for your home and the restau- across my mind too - Volvo, Saab, Scania, Ericsson, rant sells a rather tasty plate of meatballs, lingenberries SAS and… IKEA. and fries. It is open all hours and it also has a huge car So I was wondering, what would the world of ITS look park and a catalogue you can sneakily read in the bath- like if it was dominated by IKEA, in the same way that the room to find inspiration for your new home. IKEA call task of furnishing your house is? Here is my perhaps their products interesting and somewhat memorable tongue-in-cheek thoughts on where ITS could learn names (an “Andy“ is a rather neat set of bedroom

76 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com Climate ChangeITS

Although home furnishings and ITS do not appear to have anything in common to the untrained eye, ANDY GRAHAM has been thinking outside the box and suggests that we should consider taking a few tips from the Swedish giants...

drawers, for example). In contrast, we in ITS use endless acronyms like TMC (which has at least three meanings), DSRC and IMTOU, but are we as clear to the public on what ITS is? “Intelligent Transport Systems” means nothing to most people shopping in IKEA.

2) ITS would work everywhere. All IKEA stores are the same - you can travel across borders and it still works anywhere - you can get the same level of services at all their branches. ITS is still fragmented and not joined up in many places - with websites that feature traffic flows on motorways but not the busy roads that feed them and

www.thinkinghighways.com Thinking Highways Vol 4 No 3 77 ITS different telephone numbers for traffic information all Quite understandably, ITS has seen the Internet as an across Europe. opportunity, but too often people have to use the Inter- net when there’s a better solution (it’s difficult and defi- 3) You would know what benefits ITS would give nitely dangerous to use the web while driving, but there you. IKEA pictures show tidy, well-organised and stylish are still many services being developed that rely on homes in their advertising and happy people using people looking at mobile device screens, not utilising them. We in ITS still focus far too much on the technology voice technology). rather than the benefits - we sell a “3G compatible sat nav” rather than a device to save you time and stress. 10) The quality of ITS products would be known. You know IKEA products are built to a price point to suit all 4) ITS would all work together. IKEA stuff co- budgets, but they still last and do not fall to pieces like ordinates. Even a man like me who thinks even 16 col- with some other suppliers. But with ITS, some services ours in Windows is too many can tell that (and what aren’t always as fully tested (but then furniture is a well shade of brown is “taupe” anyway?). It has standard established product compared to say route planning, so sizes of product, so if you add IKEA furniture together, it this is understandable). looks planned and coordinated. But in ITS, too often add- ing the parts together - “system integration” as we call it 11) ITS would have supporting businesses. In the - is a key risk. IKEA clearly has an architecture for your UK, we have an entrepreneur called Fearless Mike furnishing, but some governments are still wondering (www.fearlessmike.com). Fearless Mike will adventur- about the benefits of having a national architecture for ously go to IKEA for you, buy what you want and deliver ITS, to help things work together. it. If you want, he will then put it up for you. All for a small fee that makes you think about driving and queuing. He 5) Y ou would buy more ITS services than you thought has built a business overcoming some of the challenges you wanted to. If there is anyone reading this article of IKEA. But where in ITS do we have these kind of small that has never come out of IKEA having bought at least support businesses feeding off the rich man’s table? 25 per cent more than they planned to buy, I would be amazed - please tell me the secret. IKEA are masters at 12) ITS would only need one Allen key to make it all subtly suggesting new ideas and products you never work. Almost everything you buy from IKEA comes with knew you needed and getting you to buy them - the lat- a neat little Allen key to put it together which you then est marketing word is “nudging”. But in ITS we are still put in a drawer “for safe keeping” along with 23 other too focussed on the main story - we need to always have IKEA Allen keys, some pre-Euro foreign currency and a the next idea on show to keep people interested and charger for a Nokia mobile phone you donated to char- show progress. ity in 2002. You may need a screwdriver (but of course, they sell those in the shop too). In ITS, we do make it 6) A “catalogue” would sell ITS. The IKEA catalogue more of a challenge - our websites need plug-ins ena- is always at hand in our house. If you want to buy some- bled, you need to remember passwords, you need to thing, you check out IKEA first for price and what is know the three letter code for the station you want. We available. But ITS hasn’t got a single catalogue of what could learn a lot from IKEA by stripping out the hassle we have achieved even for most cities, let alone nations and making our services work out of the box. (although I am working on a cunning plan for London… watch this space). Mutual learning So reading this you might think my house is a homage to 7) ITS would help you get home. OK, so you have the blue and yellow furniture place. Well no, only about bought a huge new bed but have arrived on public 80 per cent of it is. But there are also a couple of areas transport - IKEA will get it home for you. They have asso- where IKEA can learn from ITS: ciates who can get your purchases to your home. In ITS, we often miss the key “homing instinct” of people - how a) Managing queues and demand. You know deep do we help get people home when things go wrong with down that it is worth it, but why am I always stuck behind terror alerts or weather? the guy buying an entire house at the checkout? Also, when you set your heart on the “Dave” laptop table, you 8) ITS would stand out from the crowd. IKEA’s global find they have sold out. So you come back…and it is now blue and yellow livery stands out in the retail park and is discontinued. But in ITS, we can at least identify and globally recognised. Where is the standard ITS brand manage queues and we also have some tools for making that captures the eye? We keep renaming things as soon supply match demand. as a name catches on (CVHS is a good example). b) Longevity of product support. Automotive systems 9) ITS would be more than just the Internet. With are designed to last a minimum of 10 years and be IKEA, you can now buy and pre-order many products, supported by a logistics operation for spares and but this is a shop that uses the Internet, not an Internet support. IKEA do not seem to have spare parts for any- brand with a shop. This means you can try out products thing not in the catalogue. Admittedly, it is slightly dif- to see what they do and there are real people to help. ferent having your eCall system not work compared to a

78 Vol 4 No 3 Thinking Highways www.thinkinghighways.com ITS

knob falling off a wardrobe door, but which one will your partner moan about you not fixing most?

What have we learned On the other hand, sometimes ITS and IKEA do already work together. In the British city of Coventry, for exam- ple, IKEA funded some VMS ready for the opening of their new store - the first city centre store in the UK. The City Council’s Urban Traffic Management and Control System was used to inform travellers during the big opening day and manage the peaks of traffic demand that opening a new IKEA store can create. So what’s the key message for ITS from IKEA? I would say have a catalogue of what we do and really sell the idea of our products working together to show people what the benefits are, have plenty of little extras that people don’t know they want and develop a brand they understand. We can leave the meatballs for now. TH Andy Graham is principal of White Willow Consulting and can be contacted at [email protected]

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Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET PETTIT looks at the European Territorial Cooperation Programme and finds that like with any other major programme, it’s a matter of priorities