Intermodal Cross-Border Information for Lorries transiting Switzerland

Transcription

1 Intermodal Cross-Border Information for Lorries transiting Switzerland Peter Rapp Carte Blanche Conseil 47, rue de Lancry, F Paris T F Gerhard Petersen Swiss Federal Roads Authority (FEDRO) Worblentalstrasse 68, Ittigen, CH-3003 Bern gerhard.petersen@astra.admin.ch T F Abstract is the multimodal traffic information service for lorries transiting Switzerland. Established by the Swiss Federal Roads Authority (FEDRO) after the severe fire in the Gotthard Road Tunnel, it communicates on relevant traffic management measures and the Swiss policy of shifting goods traffic from road to rail. It offers real-time traffic information, and intermodal routing combining road and piggyback rail service. Served by careful positioning and procurement, it is a positive contribution to public-private partnership in the field of traffic information services. Background The Swiss Federal Roads Authority (FEDRO) has set up a dedicated information system for lorries in 2001, in the aftermath of the severe fire in the Gotthard road tunnel. A FEDROowned, truck-specific, inter-modal cross-border information system is motivated by several reasons : Traffic management measures for lorries, introduced for safety concerns (drip-feed system for Gotthard tunnel, timetable for San Bernardino tunnel, waiting zones etc), need to be explained to the truck industry. The dynamic information on traffic conditions had to be enhanced in order to limit the impacts of temporary closures (snow, accidents, etc). The Swiss policy of shifting goods traffic from road to rail needed and needs to be actively promoted. The second generation of the service has entered into service in December Page 1

2 Figure 1 : Display of current events on Information Content The information system targets the medium and long-range goods transport through Switzerland. Accessible on Internet at it is intended for trip planning and for fleet control centres. It has particular focus on the transalpine routes. The four main mountain pass roads and tunnels (Grand St-Bernard, Simplon, St. Gotthard, San Bernardino) completed by the piggyback rail services of the rail operators Hupac and Ralpin constitute a critical capacity constraint on lorry traffic, especially in case of temporary closures caused by weather conditions or accidents. The main features of the service are : Real-time traffic situation on road (event information) and rail (available capacity, events), Weather forecasts and related road conditions, Page 2

3 Explanation of permanent traffic management measures, of rail offer, of policy background, of legal background, Inter-modal routing. Significant novelty introduced in 2002, this function proposes the transalpine piggyback rail services as an alternative to the road. Technical characteristics The system receives dynamic traffic event data in standard Alert C format. It handles the current TMC location tables of Switzerland and of its neighbouring countries. The dynamic data flows for weather and train reservation data are based on specific XML formats. Route computation relies on a static road network representation built on an extraction of the TMC location tables : It is a principal road network, useful for medium- and long distance route guidance, comprising exclusively roads that are covered by dynamic traffic information. Figure 2 : Two results of route planning on for a transalpine route. The system proposes a monomodal road route (image on the left) and one or several alternative routes using piggypack rail service (image on the right). Positioning and procurement The information content of truckinfo.ch is determined in priority by the political objectives and operational responsibilities of FEDRO: promote the shift of goods transport from road to rail, and co-ordinate road traffic management at national level. This content is related to FEDRO's status of public authority. Ulterior, service-oriented information can be produced by the private sector. The public authority's interest in limiting itself to policy and management information is that the distortion of the traffic information market by public investment is avoided, and procurement cost is limited. Page 3

4 Overmore, FEDRO has awarded separate contracts for data provision and editorial operation to the one hand, and for system supply and technical operation on the other hand. The separation allows to build on the existing PPP structure for real-time traffic data elaboration in Switzerland for the data provision contract, while maintaining full public property and a competitive price in the system supply contract. Figure 3 : Extracts of detailed route guidance. Guidance concentrates on lorry-specific information: lorry traffic ban during night time in Switzerland (upper extract), timetable of piggyback rail service (lower extract). Outlook Two factors of success of truckinfo.ch deserve to be mentioned, since they are critical for any multimodal information project. First, the service has a clearly identified political support. Page 4

5 Second, it shares data, system and service resources with other private and public information services in an efficient way, which limits the overall cost. It is a positive contribution to public-private partnership in the field of traffic information services. Further developments will go towards a dynamic routing function, to be co-ordinated with the traffic management centres. Page 5