UVARExchange kicks off!

We are pleased to announce that Panteia together with partners Armis, AustriaTech, CORTE, MAPtm, TRT,  Sadler Consultants and AlbrechtConsult have just kicked-off UVARExchange, which is the European Parliament Preparatory Action 2 (EP PA 2) contracted by DG MOVE.

The urgency for this action is partly in response to the growing trend in recent years for cities to introduce different kinds of urban vehicle access regulations (UVARs), an effective means to manage traffic congestion and air quality.

The project, which links to and follows the EP PA 1, popularly known as the UVARBox project, aims to enhance the experience of road users by improving the communication of information to drivers in the vicinity of UVARs, as well as to facilitate the city’s access to information, especially of foreign vehicles and drivers, for their seamless travel and the city’s enforcement of UVARs.

Communication to drivers will be improved by addressing the need for EU-wide harmonised physical signs and variable message signs (VMS) for different UVARs, as well as by demonstrating the provision of information to the vehicle via Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS) messages.

UVARExchange will address the cross-border sharing of vehicle and driver information, which will on one hand, allow the automatic compliance check of foreign vehicles and drivers, reducing the need for pre-registration (and related fines). On the other hand, with access to driver information, cities will be able to effectively enforce traffic fines on non-compliant vehicles.

The work foreseen will rely on intensive desk research and extensive engagement with experts and stakeholders at the local, regional, national and international level (e.g. the UNECE working group on road safety), through surveys, interviews and workshops.

Further, to ensure and illustrate that the proposed mechanisms would work, the project sets out four demonstrators, each carried out in multiple cities across the EU:

1. Signage: Demonstrate the harmonisation of physical road signs and their representation through VMS.
2. C-ITS: Demonstrate sending UVAR C-ITS messages from the infrastructure to the vehicle.
3. Technical information sharing: Demonstrate the recognition of the emission standards of foreign vehicles by accessing the relevant technical vehicle data from other Member States.
4. UVAR enforcement: Demonstrate that the city authorities can identify the foreign vehicle owner/driver to issue fines, by accessing the relevant vehicle registry.

In the coming weeks, we will putting up our official dissemination websites, which you can visit to get more information. In the meantime, if you would like to know more about the project please connect with us - Maria Rodrigues (m.rodrigues@panteia.nl) or Tharsis Teoh (t.teoh@panteia.nl).

Do you want to know more about the current trends on urban vehicle access regulations (UVARs)? Then please sign-up for the mailing list of our UVAR Exchange project! We will be publishing updates in topics such as harmonised physical signs and variable message signs (VMS), Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS), cross-border sharing of vehicle and driver information, etc. Please sign in here: http://uvarxsignup.panteia.eu/