Commission staff working document - Accompanying document to the communication from the Commission : action plan for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in Europe and the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and their interfaces with other transport modes - Summary of the impact assessment {COM(2008) 886 final} {COM(2008) 887 final} {SEC(2008) 3083}
Date: 2008-12-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: data protection, environmental protection, information technology, intelligent transport system, personal data, road safety, road transport, transport infrastructure, transport safety

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.12.2008 
SEC(2008) 3084 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying document to the 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

Action Plan for the Deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in Europe 

and the 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

laying down the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the 
field of road transport and their interfaces with other transport modes 

SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

{COM(2008) 886 final} 
{COM(2008) 887 final} 
{SEC(2008) 3083} 

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Summary of the Impact Assessment 

1. 

SCOPE, PROCESS AND CONSULTATIONS 

The  mid-term  review  of  the  European  Commission’s  White  Paper  on  Transport  Policy 
suggests  that  innovation  will  considerably  contribute  to  making  road  transport  more 
sustainable (i.e. safe, efficient, clean and seamless), in particular by applying information and 
communication  technologies:  Intelligent  Transport  Systems  (ITS).  Examples  in  road 
transport  are  dynamic  traffic  management,  real-time  traffic  information  and  navigation 
devices. The present exercise focuses on road transport and its interfaces with other modes 
of transport (co-modality). 

Stakeholder consultations conclude that the slow uptake of ITS in Europe is mainly due to a 
lack  of  a  Europe-wide  coverage  and  a  consistent,  harmonised  deployment.  ITS  deployment 
should be a tool for achieving policy objectives and the EU should take more responsibility in 
coordinating  ITS  implementation.  Among  the  priorities  for  European  ITS  policy-led 
deployment,  a  high-level  coordination  and  agreements  on  interoperability  have  been 
emphasised.  

2. 

PROBLEM DEFINITION: WHY IS THERE A NEED TO ACT? 

2.1. 

Nature of the problem 

ITS  solutions  in  road  transport  are  being  taken  up  slower  than  expected  and  services  are 
deployed on a fragmented basis. This has led to a patchwork of national, regional and local 
solutions endangering the integrity of the single market. Consequently, ITS cannot contribute 
effectively to addressing growing challenges in road transport.  

–  Road congestion costs amount on average to 1 % of GDP in the EU. 

–  Road  transport  accounts  for  72 %  of  all  transport-related  CO2  emissions,  which  have 

increased by 32 % (1990-2005). 

–  Road fatalities still amount to 42 953 (2006), which is 6 000 above the intermediate target 

set to reach 25 000 in 2010 (a 50 % reduction from 2001). 

Main problem drivers include 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(a lack of) interoperability of applications, systems and services  

(a lack of) effective cooperation among stakeholders and an absence of vision 

unsolved data privacy and liability issues 

2.2.  What will happen if nothing is done? 

In  an  increasingly  challenging  environment  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  achieve  key 
(transport)  policy  objectives  with  the  current  low  level  of  market  take-up.  Freight  road 
transport will increase by 55 % until 2020 and passenger road transport by 36 %.1 Congestion 
will grow. In England, for example, it is expected to reach 13 % of all time spent in traffic by 
2025  (about  £22  billion  worth  of  time);  in  the  Netherlands  it  would  increase  by  30 %  until 
20202. Road fatalities in the EU are likely to be at 32 500 in 2010, far above the EU target of 

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ASSESS  study  for  the  mid-term  review  of  the  EC  Transport  White  Paper,  “Keep  Europe  moving”, 
2006. 
European Conference of Ministers (2007): Congestion: A global challenge; CEMT/ITF(2007)6. 

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25 000.3  CO2  emissions  from  transport  will  grow  a  further  15 %  until  2020.4  Fragmented 
solutions  will  result  in  a  slow  market  development  for  ITS,  missing  the  opportunity  to 
strengthen the sector's competitiveness. 

2.3. 

EU right to act and principle of subsidiarity 

According  to  Common  Transport  and  Trans-European  Networks  Policies  (Articles  71(1), 
80(1),  154  and  155  of  the  EC  Treaty)  the  EU  has  the  right  to  act.  The  proposed  policy 
options  respect  the  principle  of  subsidiarity,  as  trans-national  deployment  to  achieve 
European and harmonised cross-border services for traffic and travel information and traffic 
management cannot be satisfactorily achieved by Member States. With no further EU action, 
Member  States  would  continue  to  develop  individual  solutions,  causing  a  fragmented 
technological  spectrum  that  endangers  harmonisation  and  standardisation,  or  would  lead  to 
lengthy  processes  for  interoperability.  Action  at  Community  level  would  have  benefits  in 
terms  of  effects  (e.g.  of  common  rules  on  liability  or  data  security)  and  scale  (e.g.  cost 
reductions for ITS applications due to common specifications). 

3. 

OBJECTIVES 

The general objective of this initiative is to put in place the necessary mechanisms to foster 
the uptake of ITS services for road transport and their interconnections with other modes of 
transport. 

Specific objectives include: 

•  to increase interoperability, ensuring seamless access and fostering continuity of services 

•  to set up an efficient cooperation mechanism between all ITS stakeholders  

•  to solve privacy and liability issues 

4. 

POLICY OPTIONS  

Policy Option A (baseline scenario): no additional new action 

This option takes into account ongoing Commission actions, e.g. specific research, Intelligent 
Car  Initiative  (research,  technical  harmonisation  and  awareness),  support  to  deployment 
(EasyWay,  CIVITAS),  isolated  standardisation  and  consultation  of  stakeholders.  The 
Commission’s  services  will  continue  to  use  financial  support  for  research  and  deployment, 
voluntary  agreements,  specific  standardisation  mandates  and  (limited)  regulative  work  -  but 
there is little coordination between the public and private sector and between Member States. 

Policy Option B: Concentration on enabling actions and coordination 

Policy option B addresses the objectives through the following horizontal priority actions: 

(1) 

(2) 

definition  of  a  functional  open  in-vehicle  platform  allowing  a  multiple  use  of  key 
components  

setting  up  of  a  High  Level  Group  as  a  forum  for  ITS  stakeholders  (information 
exchange, vision, guidelines)  

(3) 

definition of a framework for optimised use of road and traffic data 

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COM(2006)74, European Road Safety Action Programme Mid-Term Review. 
European Environment Agency: Climate for a transport change. TERM 2007. EEA Report 1/2008. 

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(4) 

(5) 

ensuring continuity of ITS services  

addressing data security, privacy and liability issues 

Policy option B+: Option B extended with a comitology procedure  

Option  B+  builds  on  the  same  measures  as  introduced  under  option  B  but  formalises  the 
coordination aspect. The High Level Group will be replaced by: 

(1) 

(2) 

a European ITS Committee (EIC), constituted of Member States’ representatives to 
assist  the  Commission  in  adopting  specific  measures  in  well-defined  areas  (i.e.  the 
basic enabling measures of Option B) via a comitology procedure, and  

a  European  ITS  Advisory  Group  constituted  of  representatives  from  e.g.  industry, 
transport  operators,  users  and  other  relevant  fora  and  associations,  advising  the 
Commission on business and technical aspects. 

The Commission, assisted by the EIC would: 

•  exchange information with Member States and develop an overall vision  

•  monitor the development of guidelines and procedures 

•  within its mandate and when necessary decide on specific actions for: 

(1) 

(2) 

the establishment of technical requirements and specifications, in particular in 
the priority areas identified 

type-approval  of 
applications. 

ITS 

terminals,  network  equipment  and  software 

5. 

ANALYSIS OF IMPACT 

5.1.  Methodological Considerations 

The  analysis  is  based  on  qualitative  evidence,  supplemented  by  quantitative  elements.  All 
options  have  been  compared  against  the  reference  scenario  A.  The evaluation  criteria take 
into account both the direct and indirect impacts: 

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Direct impacts: 

•  enhancing interoperability and continuity of service 

•  strengthening cooperation and cooperation 

•  removing uncertainties regarding privacy and liability 

Indirect economic, social and environmental impacts: 

•  economic: road congestion, competitiveness, consumers, growth 

•  social: road safety, employment, security 

•  environmental: climate change, air quality and noise, energy efficiency, co-modality 

This  impact  assessment  has  been  conducted  for  a  broad  and  policy-defining  Action  Plan. 
Therefore it is not possible to carry out a full cost-benefit analysis of the concrete measures at 
this stage.  
The transport model TRANSTOOLS5 has been used to generate additional quantitative input 
on  possible  indirect  impacts,  although  not  able  to  assess  the  direct  relationship  between  the 
proposed actions and ITS deployment. 

5.2. 

Impact of Policy Option A — No additional new actions (baseline scenario) 

Interoperability and continuity of services: Operational deployment of ITS will continue to 
struggle with difficult access to relevant traffic and travel data, especially across borders and 
modes.  Europe-wide  deployment  and  harmonisation  will  be  undermined  by  local  initiatives 
and the absence of Europe-wide cooperation. As a result, consumers will be confronted with a 
discontinuity of services. 

Cooperation  and  coordination:  Markets  will  continue  to  suffer  from  a  lack  of  vision  and 
cooperation among key stakeholders, which will not be conducive to reductions in costs and 
risks. 

Privacy and liability issues will differ according to the service provider, operator or Member 
State where the service is provided. 

TRANSTOOLS simulations indicate that: 

•  road traffic congestion, expressed as congested vs. total driving time, will increase 

from 24.3 % (2007) to 24.9 % (2012) and 28.6 % in 2020 for EU-27 

•  fuel consumption and emission of CO2 will increase by 15 % by 2020 (EU-25) 

•  total external costs (congestion, accidents, noise, air pollution and climate costs) 

will rise from €161.8 billion in 2007 to €193.3 billion by 2020. 

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www.inro.tno.nl/transtools/index.html 

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5.3. 

(1) 

Impact of Policy Option B: Concentration on enabling actions and coordination  

Definition of a functional open platform for (in-vehicle) ITS Services 

A  modular  approach  to  ITS  deployment,  including  an  interoperable  telematics  on-
board  platform  with  open  functionalities  and  conceived  for  plug-in  integration  of 
nomadic devices will enhance synergies and cost reductions.  

(2) 

Enhancing cooperation and coordination by setting up a High Level Group 

An ITS HLG with representatives from all sectors would help generate a clear vision 
as to the role of ITS in European (transport) policies, while a road map for Europe-
wide  deployment  would  reduce  current  uncertainties  (exploitation,  market 
prospects).  Coordinated  investments  by  the  public  sector  will  trigger  private  sector 
initiatives  and  developments.  Such  a  voluntary  coordination  mechanism  presents 
some  risks:  the  inability  to  control  processes  and  uncertainty  as  to  how  far 
recommendations would effectively be implemented.  

(3) 

A  framework  for  optimised  collection,  exchange  and  integration  of  road  and 
traffic data 

will  extend  functionalities  of  existing  services  and  improve  their  level  of  quality 
(accuracy, coverage, completeness).  

(4) 

Ensuring continuity of services across borders and modes 

will enhance co-modality and foster the greening of freight corridors, since real-time 
access  to  data,  and  agreed  formats  for  data  exchange  and  data  integration,  are  a 
prerequisite for provision of seamless support to travellers and hauliers. 

(5) 

Addressing privacy and liability issues 

should  boost  a  series  of  ITS  applications  (e.g.  Lane  Departure  Warning,  Collision 
Avoidance  and  Emergency  Braking  Systems)  whose  broader  market  take-up  will 
lead to a significant reduction of accidents. 

Option B will generate the following indirect impacts: 

(a) 

A  single  platform  with  a  unique,  certified  and  safely-positioned  interface 
should  reduce  driver  distraction  and  trigger  important  cost  reductions  due  to 
synergies,  resulting  in  safety-enhancing  applications  penetrating  the  market 
more  rapidly.  eCall,  which  aims  to  reduce  the  number  of  fatalities  by 
accelerating  post-crash  medical  assistance,  would  profit  from  such  add-on 
deployment,  leading  to  important  decreases  in  fatalities  (by  5-15 %6)  and  in 
severe injuries (by 10-15 %) across EU-27 by 2020.  

(b) 

Traffic  management 
to 
interconnecting  networks,  e.g.  urban/  interurban  road  networks,  across 
complementary transport modes.  

strategies  will  be  more  easily  extended 

(c)  More reliable real-time travel and traffic information will enhance efficient 
and  flexible  route  planning,  time  savings  and  pollution  control  on  sensitive 
parts of the road network.  

(d) 

A widespread application of typical ITS-linked e-freight measures is expected 
to  result  in  time  savings  of  10 %  and  financial  savings  of  8 %,  while 

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eCall SEISS Study (2006). 

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productivity rates should increase by 3-10 % and freight logistics costs would 
decrease by 2-3 %.7 

(e) 

Other public sector applications can be implemented easier, e.g. compliance 
with social regulations (rest times), transport of live animals, internalisation of 
external  costs,  dangerous  goods  monitoring,  electronic  fee  collection,  digital 
tachographs and eCall. 

TRANSTOOLS simulations predict that road congestion would decrease by about 2.5 % and 
accident costs by 7 % while enhanced cooperation and synergies would result in an additional 
reduction of 1 % of overall external costs. 

5.4. 

Impact of Policy Option B+: Option B extended with a comitology procedure 

Under  the  policy  Option  B+  Member  States’  delegates  would  be  invited  to  agree  with  their 
peers  on  a  shared  vision  and  on  priorities  for  Europe-wide  deployment  of  ITS,  on 
harmonisation of services and their minimum requirements (voluntary approach), on priorities 
for  legislative  work,  standardisation  and  possible  EC  funding.  The  main  gain  would  come 
from better cooperation, faster decision-making procedures and shorter times for processing 
legislative work. 

ITS applications will be deployed faster, leading to quicker savings on travel times, accidents 
and emissions. Option B+ would also reduce the risks associated with working with a High 
Level Group recommending purely voluntary actions. 

Industry  would  benefit  from  a  clear  policy  and  vision  and  could  build  value-added  services 
onto  the  (mandatory)  introduction  of  specific  ITS  measures  of  public  interest.  Consumers 
would benefit from a wider availability of services related to driving safety and comfort, and 
lower prices thanks to economies of scale. 

Since Option B+ would accelerate the implementation and deployment of ITS applications, it 
can be assumed that the accumulated benefits will be higher by 2020. 

5.5. 

Administrative costs  

Administrative costs for the European Commission include the setting up of a more intense 
cooperation among stakeholders; coordinating financial support for research, real-life testing 
and  European-wide  deployment;  defining  functional  requirements  and  organising  their 
standardisation; conducting legislative work and monitoring progress. Costs might be higher 
for  Option  B+  (€70 000  p.a.)  compared  to  Option  B.  A  faster  reduction  of  external  costs, 
though, would immediately result in macro-economic savings of billions of Euro.  

6. 

COMPARISON OF POLICY OPTIONS 

Impacts on… 

Interoperability 

Cooperation 

Privacy & liability

Option A 
no additional new action 

Option B 
enabling actions and coordination 

Option B+ 
extended with comitology procedure 

reference 

reference 

reference 

++ 

++ 

+ 

++ 

+ 

+ 

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COM(2007) 607 Freight Transport Logistics Action Plan. 

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Comparison of direct impacts 

Option B and B+ represent major improvements compared to Option A. Option B+ scores 
higher  on  the  issue  of  cooperation  and  provides  an  optimal  basis  to  move  on  rapidly.  By 
giving  the  Commission  the  possibility  to  propose  legislation  via  comitology  after  intensive 
stakeholder  consultations,  the  risk  of  not  delivering  the  expected  results  within  the  given 
timeframe is largely minimised. 

Economy 

Society 

Environment 

Impacts on… 

Option A 
no additional new action 

Option B 
enabling actions and coordination 

Option B+ 
extended with comitology procedure 

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Comparison of indirect impacts 

The  analysis  confirms  that  compared  to  the  baseline  scenario  both  Options  B  and  B+  will 
deliver  a  positive  overall  impact  towards  all  of  the  policy  objectives.  In  Option  B+  the 
expected  positive  impacts  on  congestion,  road  safety  and  emissions  will  be  reached  earlier, 
showing this option to be more effective by saving more lives and more time otherwise spent 
in traffic, and by lowering CO2 emissions. 

Considering both the direct impact (boosting uptake of ITS) and indirect impact (support for 
economic,  social  and  environmental  policies)  the  preferred  option  is  Option  B+,  because 
better  and  faster  results  will  be  obtained  through  the  strong  cooperation  aspect  and  the 
potential  to  speed  up  agreements  on  particular  issues  hampering  deployment  of  ITS  across 
Europe. 

The  proposed  legal  instrument  to  set  up  this  framework  would  be  a  Directive,  which 
recognises the different levels of ITS use and deployment, while at the same time leaving the 
power and responsibility to the Commission to define, with the European ITS Committee, the 
technical details in support of the implementation of the Directive. 

7. 

MONITORING AND EVALUATION  

It is necessary to monitor and evaluate any new policy on ITS. The full version of the impact 
assessment  provides  a  list  of  possible  indicators  to  measure  progress  on  the  general  and 
specific objectives. It is proposed that a progress report be produced by 2012. 

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