The NordicWay project, conducted in 2015–2017 by the transport authorities of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark and by enterprises and research institutes and funded by the Connecting Europe Facility, involved a trial where traffic disruption data was sent between vehicles using the mobile network. The first results of the study have now been published.
In the Nordic trial, drivers, vehicles and lorries were connected through the mobile network, receiving and sharing traffic disruption data between vehicles and traffic management centres. In Finland, the trial used a smartphone application developed by HERE. With the application, the drivers were able to send out as well as receive information on disruptions such as accident sites or blocked roads. In Sweden and Norway, participants in the trial included Volvo and Scania. In Finland, over 1300 drivers signed up for the trial. In total, over 1800 drivers participated in the trial.
The results of the trial were presented in the closing event of the project, held in Brussels 21 November 2017. The results showed that traffic disruption data can be shared over the mobile network quickly, safely and efficiently – even across borders. In May, the service was demonstrated in the border regions of Sweden and Norway as well as Sweden and Denmark. Sharing disruption data was made possible by a cloud service where vehicle manufacturers, service providers and officials could share information with each other. A similar service could be extended to Europe or beyond.
“The results of the impact study are significant: improved traffic safety, decreased impact of disruptions and better traffic flow without additional investments in infrastructure,” says Risto Kulmala, coordinator of the NordicWay project and Chief Adviser of Intelligence Transport at the Finnish Transport Agency.
Nation-wide trial being planned in Finland
The EU has granted further funding for the project for 2017–2020 under the name NordicWay2. The Finnish Transport Agency and Trafi are organising an open market discussion with Finnish and international authorities, enterprises and research institutions on the production trial. The discussion will take place at the Finnish Transport Agency in Helsinki on Friday 1 December 2017.
“Cooperation of the private and public sectors has key role in sharing disruption data for creating safer roads and better traffic flow in the future. We have to find new operational models as vehicles are starting to be more network-integrated, so that as many road users as possible will be able to benefit from better new services,” reflect Anna Schirokoff from Trafi and Ilkka Kotilainen from the Finnish Transport Agency. You can also ask them for further information in the event on Friday.
The Finnish Transport Agency and Trafi will publish more information about the production trial of the NordicWay2 project in HILMA and CLOUDIA. The procurement phase of the project is set to begin in late winter in 2018. The final report of the NordicWay project will be published in early 2018.
Further information
Earlier press releases about the trial in Finland:
Calling all drivers: Finland’s largest traffic trial open to all now covers all of southern Finland (7 February 2017)
Finland‘s largest transport trial completed - road users obtained useful information about traffic disruptions (7 July 2017)
Demonstrations on the results from the closing event of the NordicWay project: www.nordicway.net
NordicWay interoperability video: https://youtu.be/d9Et7NvWqLk
Finnish Transport Agency
Project Manger Ilkka Kotilainen, tel. +358 50 311 8016 [email protected]
Twitter @ilkkakoti
Trafi
Anna Schirokoff, Chief Adviser, tel. +358 29 5345 268, [email protected]
Twitter @AnnaSchirokoff