ITS magazine

ITS magazine
The Magazine for Intelligent Traffic Systems I 1/2007
Intelligent Traffic Systems
S
The English
patient
Four years of city toll:
the right therapy for London?
Traffic jam’s
on the air
Life saving information as
competitive advantage?
Gray area of mobility
Our aging mobile society challenges its children:
how do politics and economy react to the demographic revolution?
Editorial & Content
Editorial
Content
20
Focus
Partners & Projects
4 Gray area of mobility
The first ones to ring the alarm bell
were mainly the actuaries, but today
our Aging Society is widely discussed
also in relation to traffic
9 Improving mobility conditions for
older people in public road space
Prof. Dr. Maria Limbourg presents
concrete recommendations for our
aging mobile society
Dear Reader,
You know the feeling? When I was last on
vacation, this time in Ireland, it struck me
that something was completely different
to Germany. No matter where you looked
– whether in a pedestrian precinct, by
the side of the road or in the park – everywhere there were children, an amazing
number of children. A scene that has
become so rare in Europe, you can’t help
but notice. And in this case the impression
agrees with the actual statistics. With a
birth rate of around 2.0, the Irish are the
European champions in childbearing. In
contrast, we Germans have reached an
all-time low of 1.3, the lowest since 1945.
The value in the eastern part of the country
Traffic jam’s on the air
10 Shortcuts
Some of Siemens’ recent traffic
technology projects in Germany,
Russia, Austria and the Netherlands
Trends & Events
12 Looking backwards into the future
The new Deutsches Museum
Transportation Center (DMVZ) and
its unique concept
14 “History unlimited”
DMVZ Director Sylvia Hladky talks
about the realization of a vision and
the obstacles to overcome on the way
16 Off to the Middle Kingdom
Intertraffic China 2007 opens the
door to a gigantic market
17 In the best company
The countries of the Arab world
make their transport systems fit for
the future
2 its magazine 1/2007
is even lower: 0.77, just above the Vatican
City. This is accompanied by two further
developments. Firstly, life expectancy continues to rise (by around 0.3 years per
year), further accelerating the aging of
society. Today already every fourth German
citizen is over 60, while in 2050 it will be
every third. Secondly, this Aging Society
is more adventurous than ever before.
According to a study by polis, the Society
for Political and Social Research, 86 percent of over 65-year-olds want to live
through a “fit and active old age,” while
over half of those questioned were looking forward to “more time for travel.”
Looking at such statistics, there is no
doubt that we must get used to changing
conditions and expectations in regard to
mobility. But what will be the practical
effects on vehicle equipment, the streetscape and the political decision-making
process? What concrete recommendations
can science offer to an aging society that
wants to remain mobile? Our cover story
will contrast these questions with some
thought-provoking ideas. I hope you will
enjoy reading about them, just as the
other topics in your new ITS magazine.
Kind regards
Dr. Michael Ostertag
4
18
Gray area of mobility
The English patient
Mobility & Living Space
18 The English patient
Four years of London city toll: does the
widely discussed therapy reduce congestion
and air pollution?
20 Traffic jam’s on the air
Traffic information on the radio: its quality
has a decisive influence on market share –
and sometimes even on life and death
Know-how & Research
25 Ready, steady, ...
“Floating Object Data“: that’s the
theme for the next round of the
ITS Award, which comes with a
€10,000 cash price
Rubrics
26 Profile
Dr. Paul Mathias,
Inventor of the Year
2004 of Siemens AG:
“Today’s ideas are
tomorrow’s business!”
28 Imprint
22 How traffic bulletin quality
influences dynamic navigation
Summary of Dr. Urte Helling’s paper that
was honored with the ITS Award 2006
1/2007 its magazine 3
Focus
4 its magazine 1/2007
Our aging mobile society challenges its children
Gray area
of mobility
Aging Society ■ The inversion of the
age pyramid is now being widely discussed also in the field of traffic. More
and more experts are demanding a
“Senior Citizens’ Roadworthiness Test”
to protect our mobile society from
oldies who may not be fit to drive. But
who is going to protect these selfsame
oldies from mobile society?
1/2007 its magazine 5
Focus
“Above a certain age, it is in the drivers’
own interest to have their driving abilities
checked regularly.”
Karl-Heinz Daehre, Transport Minister of Saxony-Anhalt
For Karl-Heinz Daehre, it’s all quite
clear: “Above a certain age, it is in the
drivers’ own interest to have their driving
abilities checked regularly.” Checks would
have to include reactivity, hearing and
vision as well as the effect of any medication taken. This is needed as much for
the senior citizens’ own safety as for that
of other road users. Many traffic experts
see things the same way. But hardly any
of them does have the same chances to
put these ideas into practice as KarlHeinz Daehre, who is not just anybody:
he is the Transport Minister of the German
state of Saxony-Anhalt and has just taken
over the chair of the Conference of
Federal and State Transport Ministers
for a period of two years. He can be sure
that his mission will be supported by
high-ranking scientists.
Is the lifelong validity of German driver’s
licenses an anachronism in our Aging Society?
One of those who regard the German
idea of having a driver’s license for life
as an anachronism is Professor Bernhard
Schlag, Director of the Institute for Road
Traffic Research at the Technical University of Dresden. “Other countries are
going much, much further,” he says. In
Italy, for example, drivers past the relatively low age of 50 can extend their
driving licenses by five years only; and
drivers older than 70 by no more than
6 its magazine 1/2007
three years each time – and then of
course only after passing vision and reaction tests. Anyone who fails can tear up
their license there and then.
Everything OK: Idris Evans, 97, has passed the
British senior citizens’ roadworthiness test
But here in Germany, Daehre will also
have to prepare for some headwind
because the public process of opinion
forming in that matter is not over yet –
not by a long way. What in politically
correct terms is known as a “Driving
Fitness Check,” is colloquially given the
rather disrespectful label “Senior Citizens’
Roadworthiness Test” by some of the parties involved in the debate in Germany.
This is just a small clue of how this question has stirred up the conflict between
generations as much as any other.
Full vision? German traffic experts demand vision tests for older drivers and other safety measures
The rifts between the opponents could
hardly be any deeper. Some want to
push all those who have reached pensionable age onto public transport, while
others insist on their God-given right
to motorized mobility.
To justify their own point of view, both
camps present statistical data and
strangely enough, the statistics prove
both of them right. For example, in 2003,
according to data provided by the German
Federal Office of Statistics, road users
past the age of 65 were less likely to be
involved in an accident than younger
drivers. On the other hand, older drivers
involved in an accident resulting in personal injuries were also the cause of the
accident in the majority of cases. In the
70-75 age group, they were responsible
for nearly two thirds of the accidents, in
the higher age groups for more than
three in every four.
However, when it comes to softer arguments, it still looks like a draw for the
time being. Even the grayest panthers do
not dispute that as age increases, their
senses become weaker, their motor function less reliable and their reaction times
longer. But they are just as convinced
that these handicaps are more than compensated for by their greater experience
and well adjusted approach to driving.
These conclusions cannot be simply
ignored. In 2005, a study entitled “Mobility
and Safety” was carried out by the
Rheingold Institute, Cologne, on behalf
of the petroleum company Aral. It proved
that older drivers will often only get
behind the wheel when the weather is
fine, drive just short distances in an area
that is well-known to them and avoid
rush hours or motorways. But the study
also provided facts that support the opposite view. Deficits in their physical abilities
mean that senior citizens cause mainly
certain types of accidents, particularly in
complex situations where, compared to
younger drivers, they are more likely to
lose the overview of the situation.
The Gray Generation is growing faster than any
other group of potential voters and customers
The discussion regarding driving fitness
checks and the Senior Citizens’ Roadworthiness Test will presumably culminate during Karl-Heinz Daehre's term
of office as Chairman of the Conference
of Transport Ministers, but the inconvenient inverse question has not yet met
with as much media interest. If mobile
society wants to protect itself from oldies
who are not fit to drive, who will protect
those selfsame oldies from mobile society? Or put another way: what can be
done, in political and economic terms, to
make mobile life easier for older people?
There is no doubt that the Aging Society
issue ranks high on the agendas of our
political representatives and the captains
of industry, because the Grey Generation »
Listen who’s honking: the seniors’
hearing is to be tested also
1/2007 its magazine 7
Focus
The new seniors: Germany’s senior citizens a more adventurous and
eager for travel than ever before
is now growing faster than any other
group of potential voters and customers
in the country. In the year 2050, according to current forecasts, the proportion
of those over 60 years old will amount
to a third of the total population. Without the support of pensioners, governing
will become more and more difficult.
And even before then, selling will become
much harder. “We expect that by 2015
every third car buyer will be over 60 years
old,” says Professor Ferdinand Dudenhöffer,
Director of the Center of Automotive
Research at the University of Applied
Sciences in Gelsenkirchen.
But even so, crocheted covers for the roll
of tissue paper on Grandpa’s rear parcel
shelf will be rare, despite persistent prejudices. The new old folks are different, as
Dudenhöffer is well aware. “They choose
cars according to whether or not they are
suitable for them personally – but also
by whether or not they make them appear
younger.” Industry insiders are confidently
reckoning with a further rise in demand
for sports utility vehicles (SUV’s) – vehicles that look like off-roaders but which
can meet several items on the senior citizen’s wish list at the same time: they are
easy to get into and out of, they have a
raised seating position with good all-round
view and usually a high level of comfort
too, creating a wonderful feeling of
security and adventure at the same time.
8 its magazine 1/2007
Hidden high-tech gadgetry is very popular
with the older generation
There is another sphere where older people want to have the best of both worlds.
Modern driver assistance systems are
generally popular with them. But not just
because such innovations as night vision
systems or parking sensors can help
in precisely those situations where their
age-related handicaps are particularly
apparent. It is also because this high-tech
gadgetry is usually not on show and thus
does not give the vehicle the stigma of
being a pensioner’s car.
Here the industry has obviously investigated their customers’ sensitivities rather
well already. For example, the new
head-up displays that project the navigation system’s directional arrow onto
the windscreen, avoiding the need for
a risky glance downward, are not in any
way marketed as assistance for old folks.
Associations with the world of air transport seem to be more opportune: “Drive
like a pilot flies,” is the title of the corresponding promotional video on the BMW
website. Only then does one find out
what it is actually all about – “Everything at a glance – including the road.”
In the opinion of some experts, manufacturers have some catching up to do
in another discipline. “Operating a vehicle should be as simple as possible,”
insists Marion Steinbach of the German
Traffic Safety Organization. “Car owners
should not have to study thick instruction manuals to be able to adjust a car
radio.” Whether the voice command
systems advertised will actually bring
advances to the operation of car accessories is open to doubt – and not just
from those with a few more years behind
them. Even computer savvy kids have
been seen biting the handset when making calls to fully automated help lines.
Not just inside the car itself, but also on
the political level of mobility management, things need to change so as to
integrate the constantly growing number
of senior citizens more effectively into
the world of driving, which is becoming
ever more hectic and complex. In her
paper on “Approaches for improving mobility conditions for older people in road
traffic,” Professor Dr. Maria Limbourg
of the University of Essen-Duisburg has
set down the “Four E’s” of road safety
management:
• Engineering = planning and technical
measures
• Enforcement = legislative measures,
control and surveillance
• Education = educational measures
and information campaigns
• Encouragement = incentive systems
Improving mobility
conditions for older people
in public road space
In an in-depth research paper, Prof. Maria
Limbourg from Duisburg-Essen University developed efficient “Approaches for improving mobility conditions for older people in road traffic.”
An overview of some of her concrete recommendations:
The intelligent combination of measures within these areas of intervention
is certainly very important, but, according to Limbourg, it is just as decisive
that all types of traffic are given due
consideration in any package of measures to be initiated. “A dangerous
pedestrian crossing,” claims the expert,
“also represents an increased risk of
accident for drivers.” The logical conclusion: “If one improves the conditions
of mobility for one type of traffic, all
other groups of road users also profit
from it.” The catalog of recommendations assembled by the professor is thus
very extensive. It includes for example
surveillance of stationary traffic, in particular parked cars blocking sidewalks,
bikeways and pedestrian crossings;
reduction in the forest of road signs;
traffic light switching programs leading
to fewer conflicts, and the creation of
a public transport system designed to
suit senior citizens.
Unlike attention-grabbing demands
for a Senior Citizens’ Roadworthiness
Test, such complex suggestions are,
by their very nature, less likely to make
the headlines. Nevertheless, one of
Limbourg’s core recommendations
has certainly attracted the attention
of the general public: the reduction of
the speed limit in built-up areas to
20 mph. «
For pedestrians
• Traffic space infrastructure adapted
to the mobility needs of senior citizens (20mph zones, traffic calming,
sidewalk ledges, raised pavement,
pedestrian crossings with middle
islands, narrowed street sections,
pedestrian crossing aids, green
phases sufficient for older pedestrians, acoustic traffic signals, wellmaintained sidewalks, lowered
curbs, pedestrian zones etc.)
• Speed surveillance in 20mph zones
and on main arteries
• Surveillance of stationary traffic
(vehicles parked on sidewalks, bikeways and pedestrian crossings)
• Driver education regarding senior
citizens’ special needs and behavior
as pedestrians
• Education of senior citizens regarding the risks incurred by pedestrians
in public street space
For cyclists
• Appropriate traffic planning measures (extensive and well-maintained
networks of sufficiently broad
bikeways, streets reserved for
cyclists, traffic signals for bikeways,
slowing-down of motor traffic, etc.)
• Surveillance of stationary traffic
(vehicles parked on bikeways)
• Speed surveillance of motorized
traffic
• Media campaigns aimed at increasing the use of safety helmets by
cyclists
• Risk management education of senior citizens (danger prevention
options for older cyclists)
• Driver education regarding senior
citizens’ special needs and behavior
as cyclists
For drivers
• Slowing-down and simplification of
traffic (speed limits suited to older
people’s abilities: 20mph within builtup areas; speed limits on motorways)
• Thinning out of the “forest of signs
and panels”
• Traffic signal switching programs that
create fewer conflicting situations
• Vehicles equipped for convenient use
by senior citizens (e. g. driver assistance systems, extra mirrors or electronic parking assistance)
• Education on the effects of age-related
performance declines and medication
on senior citizens' driving abilities
• Regular medical and psychological
check-ups required for driver license
renewal
• Encouragement of senior citizens
to use public transport
In public transport
• Transport services designed to suit
older users (routes more frequently
served, low-entry buses, dense network of stops, etc.)
• Effective protection against criminal
assault
• Timely training in the use of public
transport networks
The full text of the research paper
can be accessed on the Internet at
www.uni-essen.de/traffic_education/
alt/texte.ml/pdf/SeniorenSalzburg2005
as PDF and in html format.
It was published in print in: Frank, H.,
Kalwitzki, K., Risser, R. and Spoerer,
E. (Eds): 65 plus – Mit Auto mobil?
In Motion – Humanwissenschaftliche
Beiträge zur Sicherheit und Ökologie
des Verkehrs. Volume II, AFN and
INFAR, Cologne and Salzburg.
1/2007 its magazine 9
Partners & Projects
First networked payand-display machine
Memento: model of the first
Siemens traffic light from 1924
Moscow ■ The city administration of
Moscow is planning to have a fully networked parking system installed within
the next four years. The goal of the project is to improve the traffic and parking
situation in the Russian capital while
creating an additional source of revenue
for the public coffers at the same time.
The first step on this path was the solemn
unveiling of the first networked payand-display machine on Tverskaja 4 by
Siemens CEO Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld and the
Mayor of Moscow Yuriy Luzhkow in fall
2006. The GSM module integrated in the
machine directly exchanges all relevant
information such as parking duration
and applicable fees with the operations
center. Users pay their parking fees by
means of smartcards, which can be
recharged at dedicated cash-payment
facilities. The pay-and-display system
itself does not accept cash, resulting in
Inauguration in Moscow: Siemens CEO Klaus
Kleinfeld (2nd on l.) and Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov
(3rd on l.) at the inaugural ceremony
a reduced risk of break-in and theft.
In addition, this eliminates the need for
regular cash removal. By 2011, according
to the authorities’ plans for the expansion of the system, the network will
cover a total of about 43,000 parking
spaces throughout the city. The required
1,800 pay-and-display machines will be
connected to the parking control center
via a wireless link. «
“De Informatieve Weg” pilot project launched
The Netherlands ■ Insights into the
effects of real-time roadside traffic information on accessibility, conditions for
nearby residents and safety are what the
Dutch province of North Brabant hopes to
gain with the pilot project “De Informatieve
Weg” (the informative road) that was
launched in late 2006. Siemens Netherlands has developed the INFORM platform, which provides far-reaching integration of a number of dynamic traffic
management systems on a trunk road
between Oosterhout and Dongen. If the
project is a success the concept will be
applied more broadly and possibly even
serve as a trendsetter on the international level. The 12-month pilot project
investigates the question if and to what
extent the direct provision of information
to road users, for example on current
travel times, speed limit and actual speed,
10 its magazine 1/2007
approaching emergency services, faulty
traffic lights, crossing cyclists or “tailgating,” will help increase road safety and
promote smooth traffic flow.
The Siemens solution INFORM is based
on far-reaching integration of standard
actuators and sensors (such as variable
message signs, detection loops and
speed sensors), five universal roadside
stations and the traffic control system
itself: a server that has a constant GPRS
link with the roadside stations. The intelligent connection of different components enables the provision of road users
with real-time information about a wide
range of factors related to road safety
and traffic flow. The information is displayed by specially developed roadside
signs. These variable message signs use
RGB LEDs to generate full-color images
for different indications. «
“INFORM“ informs: special display panels
provide real-time data for drivers
Dynamic LCD-based parking guidance system
Bamberg ■ In an article published in the
regional newspaper “Fränkischer Tag” on
December 6, 2006, Bamberg was hailed as
“a new member of the league of major
Bavarian cities.” The day before, Bamberg’s
Mayor Andreas Starke had inaugurated the
new dynamic parking guidance system,
which he considers to be an important
building block in the city’s traffic development plans. He said that the new system
would be a valuable promotion for the
city’s retailers because the display panels
also transported the message that Bamberg
has ample space. The mayor also expects
that the traffic burden on the inner city
will be reduced thanks to the minimization
of parking-related traffic. This will in turn
enhance Bamberg’s attractivity for inhabitants, shoppers and tourists alike. In the
Upper Frankonian city with its roughly
70,000 inhabitants, a total of 51 LCD display panels now guides drivers on the
shortest possible route to free parking
spaces in one of the four central parking
garages and underground car parks, which
offer 80 percent of the roughly 3,900
parking spaces available in the inner city.
The system was implemented within only
16 weeks in cooperation with the companies Siemens and Dambach. «
Traffic technology for new 160 kph test section
Austria ■ A 12-kilometer stretch of the
two-lane A10 Tauernautobahn in Austria,
on which another “speed limit flexibilization” trial started in November 2006, has
been equipped with state-of-the-art traffic technology. During the trial phase
drivers are allowed to travel at speeds of
up to 160 kilometers per hour (kph) –
but only in suitable weather conditions:
dry road surface, temperature of at least
4°C and visibility of at least 300 meters.
As soon as these or other traffic-relevant
conditions change, the allowed maximum speed is adapted correspondingly
and displayed by the outdoor equipment.
Siemens ITS supplied components for the
outdoor equipment and the intelligent
substation that calculates the speed limit
on the basis of continuously updated
parameters. «
Digital trunked radio system speeds up buses
Klagenfurt ■ Klagenfurt, the capital of the
Austrian province of Carinthia, now benefits from an innovative acceleration system for public transport (PT) realized by
Siemens. For the first time worldwide,
the combination of a digital trunked radio
system and an anticipatory traffic light
switching program will be used to enable
buses to cut down travel time by several
seconds at every intersection. Especially
on long routes, the resulting time savings
for the buses of the Klagenfurter Stadtwerke (KSW) really add up. This will not
only enhance the attractivity of the public
transport system, but also reduce the
transport provider’s costs because the
planned further expansion of the system
will soon allow reducing the number of
buses.
The use of the existing digital trunked
radio system suggested itself in particular
because of the widely differing arrival
times at individual intersections. The digital trunked radio system enables the transmission of the buses’ position data determined via GPS to a defined receiver at the
intersection ahead within no more than
Tuned with TETRA:
at every intersection,
Klagenfurt’s buses
save a few seconds
250 milliseconds. Data transmission to the
receiver integrated into the traffic light
controller is effected when the bus is still
about 250 meters away from the corresponding intersection. This leaves enough
time for switching the traffic light in such
a way that the bus can pass the intersec-
tion without stopping. When the bus is
traveling with the main traffic flow, all
vehicles driving in front of the bus in the
same direction are accelerated too. This
means that, in addition, the intersection
is cleared in front of the bus so that it can
pass quickly and smoothly. «
1/2007 its magazine 11
Trends & Events
Looking backwards into
Deutsches Museum: new Transportation
Center ■ Following an innovative concept,
this new “temple of knowledge” for our
mobile society faces the challenges of
the future. The magnificent exhibits are
embedded in their respective systematic
and cultural contexts.
Sometimes even dictionaries provide
only half the truth. For example, the
authoritative German Duden dictionary
defines the term “museum” as a “collection of antiquities.” Now, after the inauguration of the new Deutsches Museum
Transportation Center (DMVZ) in October
2006 in Munich, the Duden's editors
might be prompted to review their
one-dimensional definition. Because the
museum’s presentation is not only about
the past, but also about the future. Not
only about documentation, but also
about reflection. Not only about technology, but also about emotion.
12 its magazine 1/2007
The future-oriented
concept is the answer to
a simple yet provocative
question
The new ideas are the answer to a provocative yet simple question that the project
team asked themselves during the planning phase: There are already numerous
museums engaged with the topic of
transportation and its history – so do we
really need another one exactly alike? In
her opening address at the inauguration,
DMVZ Director Sylvia Hladky summarized
the reasons: “If a new Transportation
Center is to be created, it must deal with
the challenges and questions of the 21st
century – based on the development of
mobility during the past 200 years. The
presentation must highlight the networked nature of transportation and its
systematic and cultural-historic context,
exemplified by the topics of urban traffic, travel, mobility and technology.”
And this is precisely what the new Transportation Center of the Deutsches Museum
does. For instance, one of the two most
recently completed pavilions shows how
the development of new means of transport has changed travel culture and our
perception of the world. The pavilion
recounts arduous journeys on foot; the
evolution of the carriage from an individual means of transport for the rich to
a vehicle providing regular, scheduled
transport services; about the railways,
which suddenly enabled mass travel in
the 19th century; and about the automobile, which caused a true explosion in
mobility in the 20th century.
The opportunities to learn all this are not
limited to simply marveling at exhibits
such as the first continental horse-drawn
Networked memories: vintage road and rail vehicles in context
the future
railway called “Hannibal” or the legendary
express steam locomotive S 3/6 – some
exhibits invite visitors to “physically experience” historical traveling conditions. They
can, for example, take a seat in a carriage
simulator and will immediately understand why, in his letters, Mozart complained at length about the pains and
strains of travel.
In another location, the historic vehicles
are arranged along a time axis in the
form of a street setting, embedded in the
corresponding infrastructure. Here one
sees automobiles, bicycles, tricycles, trams,
buses and special utility vehicles such
as a historic moving truck or a street
sweeper. Historic and futuristic traffic
lights along the route give evidence of
the technical development in traffic
control. Visitors to the new Transportation
Center take a breathtaking walk through
time and earlier centuries, past the milestones of mobility like the original of the
world's first automobile, past vehicles
with cult status such as the Opel “Laubfrosch” (Tree Frog) and “Snow White's
Coffin” (Volvo P 1800 ES), as well as
post-war “compacts” like Goggomobil
and Isetta. During the inauguration festivities last October, automotive history
The examination of the
cultural-historic dimensions increases the
awareness for undesirable developments
even came doubly alive: prominent
Munich politicians were conducted to
their seats in a historic three-wheeled
motor carriage driven by Jutta Benz,
the great-granddaughter of Carl Benz.
The successful premiere, if nothing else,
finally silenced the last of the critics who
objected to Sylvia Hladky’s concept during the planning phase as not technical
enough. Because the contents presented
in the light-flooded 12,000 sqm space
of the new Transportation Center are
not only spectacular but also trendsetting – exactly as envisaged by the basic
concept: “The discourse involving the
historic roots and cultural-historic dimensions of transport sheds a new light on
today's age of mobility. It promotes the
search for innovative solutions for the
traffic problems of the present and the
near future, and increases the awareness
for undesirable developments.” »
Special guest at the inauguration:
Carl Benz' great-granddaughter Jutta
1/2007 its magazine 13
Trends & Events
“The biggest challenge was
the delicate task of balancing monument conservation
and the demands of a
modern museum.”
Sylvia Hladky
“History unlimited”
Interview with DMVZ Director Sylvia Hladky ■ She could have made it
easy on herself and set up a standard transportation museum. However,
that was exactly what Sylvia Hladky wanted to avoid. Instead of displaying vintage vehicles in separate sections grouped along the lines of their
technical evolution, the Deutsches Museum Transportation Center (DMVZ)
presents a holistic panorama of the history of mobility. In an interview
with ITS magazine, the DMVZ director talks about the obstacles that had
to be overcome in creating the new approach.
“Vehicle history from the user’s perspective”:
Sylvia Hladky about the DMVZ concept
Ms Hladky, in a newspaper interview
you recently looked back on the criticism to which you were exposed during
the planning stage. What was the
main objection?
The allegation that I was on the point of
destroying the Deutsches Museum. Some
critics at the time thought that we were
openly violating a taboo by not wanting
to elevate technology to fetish status.
Instead we were more interested in historical relationships and the social consequences of technical inventions and
achievements. After all, mobility is an
issue that affects everybody – not only
engineers, car nostalgics and vintage
railway enthusiasts, although they are
all very welcome at any time of course.
Were you ever tempted to take the
easier option of realizing a “traditional”
transportation museum approach?
No, I was not. Also because the inte-
14 its magazine 1/2007
grative approach was adopted from
the outset. The idea had already taken
pretty concrete shape by the time
Bavarian Minister of Finance Prof. Dr.
Kurt Faltlhauser cleared the way for the
new Transportation Center with startup financing in 1996: transportation
was to be portrayed in a holistic context and exemplified by urban traffic,
travel, mobility and technology. I only
came on board a year later, in 1997.
The Transportation Center is currently
headed by three women. Could the
concept be interpreted as a feminine
approach?
If you mean that women have a more
user-oriented approach to technology,
I agree with you. We aim to examine
the vintage vehicles’ history also from
the user’s perspective and here we tie
directly into what we all experience in
traffic on a daily basis. This also
involves shedding light on the competitive
scenarios to which the various means of
transportation were exposed in their
respective eras. However, I wouldn’t
describe the overall concept as a feminine
approach but rather as highly experienceand practice-oriented. We offer a variety
of exhibits that appeal to the whole
family, ranging from technology to cultural history, and all the way to special
exhibits for children.
After the initial criticism from the
technology purists, you had to jump
another hurdle on route to this innovative approach. Lack of space made it
impossible to display the enormous
complexity of the subject right there
on the Museum Island, the main location of the Deutsches Museum.
Transportation can be defined as the
result of the desire for mobility. And if
we want to make visitors experience how
much this desire has changed over the
past 200 years in function of the means
of transportation available during the
respective era, we need space to develop
this overall approach. For this reason,
the Munich municipal authorities have
provided us with three exhibition halls
in the historic exhibition grounds set up
on the Theresienwiese in 1908.
It was no simple matter to convert
the former exhibition halls into a
museum …
Of course not and, in view of the new
use to which the halls were to be put,
they were subjected to comprehensive
inspection and measuring, which revealed
considerable structural deficiencies.
Leading straight to the question of
who was going to foot the bill?
That’s true, too. The Munich municipal
authorities and the Free State of Bavaria
finally agreed to split the rehabilitation
costs down the middle but that was of
course by no means the end of it. The
greatest challenge was now to restore
the buildings to their original structural
condition, as required by their status as
monuments, while ensuring at the same
time that they meet the operational
demands of a modern museum. This
balancing act naturally involved the
repeated emergence of unexpected
impediments, such as every developer
is familiar with from bitter personal
experience. However, as you can see,
we nonetheless managed to preserve
the filigree iron construction of Halls I
and II and the concrete-steel construction
of Hall III.
Yes, public interest was phenomenal.
Over 60,000 spectators attended the
anniversary procession in 2003 alone,
when we opened the first Transportation
Center hall right in time for the
Deutsches Museum’s 100th birthday;
and 25,000 people showed up to see
the transfer of the S 3/6 in April 2006.
This would probably have been to
the delight of Wilhelm Bertsch, the
original architect.
I hope so. In his view, one of the greatest
strengths of his buildings was that they
did not hamper the exhibitor’s artistic
freedom in terms of spatial allocation
or decoration in any way. I think we’ve
managed to get that quite right.
Do current visitor statistics point to
a positive response in the future?
Things are looking good. In the first
seven weeks since the two new halls
were opened, we have already welcomed roughly 30,000 visitors, and
hope to receive around 250,000 visitors
per year in the medium term.
“Moving the vehicles to
their new home was a
major historic and logistical feat.”
Now you had the halls ready, but still
no vehicles. How did the exhibits
make it unharmed from their former
locations to their new home?
That was truly a major historic and logistical feat. In the area of road vehicles
alone, a total of around 85 automobiles,
50 motorcycles, 45 bicycles, and six
coaches had to be transported. Shifting
the coaches from the Museum Island
to the Theresienwiese was particularly
demanding, as they couldn’t move a
single meter on their own wheels.
Transferring the trains wasn’t any
easier, I suppose.
Quite true. Just take the S 3/6, one of
the handsomest steam locomotives of its
time, weighing in at about 85 tons all
told and of huge proportions of course.
The removal team had to work accurately to the millimeter in the strictest sense
of the word: The gate through which it
had to be moved is just about two centimeters wider than the locomotive.
The vehicles were not only shifted
without a hitch but the transport also
provided a fine spectacle for the public.
You announced that you aim to
expand the Transportation Center’s
range of topics on an ongoing basis.
Do you already have any definite
plans for the future?
In our areas of special interest, we
would like to go more deeply into local
public transportation, the environment,
and traffic guidance systems. In this
context we will also examine the interplay between transportation planning
and urban planning. For example, the
question of how to distribute the various focal points with respect to traffic
when planning a new urban district.
The Transportation Center will always
be a place that reflects the mobility of
the past but also that of the future.
And what do you expect the mobility
of the future to look like?
I believe that the intermodal approach
will increasingly come to the fore, and
that we will have to learn to set up
transportation chains because the only
reasonably way to cover long distances
will be a combination of various means
of transportation. This presupposes, of
course, that the user has easy access
to continuously updated transportation
information. Who knows? Maybe there
will soon be mobility agencies to help
customize trips and provide “tailormade” information on the fastest outward route and the most environmentallyfriendly homeward trip, for instance.
Thank you for the interview, Ms Hladky. «
1/2007 its magazine 15
Trends & Events
Intertraffic China preview ■ “Off to the Middle Kingdom!”
This translation of the Chinese headline on this page could
serve a kind of unofficial motto for the Western traffic
industry’s participation in the Intertraffic China. The reason:
the first Intertraffic China, held at the Beijing Exhibition
Center in March 2007, will give international traffic technology providers access to a gigantic market. Dramatically
mounting traffic volumes and upcoming mega-events are
confronting the Chinese transportation infrastructure with
truly Olympic challenges.
Guaranteed demand: in China, cities need modern traffic technology
Major events make themselves felt long
in advance. In summer 2008, the world’s
best athletes will compete at the Olympic
Games in Beijing, with innumerable fans
and functionaries from around the globe
arriving in their wake. Only two years
later, the doors of the World Expo will
open in Shanghai – another event certain
to pull an enormous crowd. The expected throngs of visitors are considerably
restricting the time-frame within which
the Chinese authorities need to master
at least part of the challenges that they
would have to tackle even without these
mega-events. The booming economy is
leading to sharp increases in car owner16 its magazine 1/2007
ship, and mobile society in the Far East is
now facing the same mobility problems
that previously developed first in the USA
and later in Europe. No doubt, the Chinese
authorities have long since realized that,
in the fight against the impending traffic
gridlock, restrictive policies such as the
limitation of the number of newly registered cars in Beijing to 1,000 per day will
not suffice. This is why the People’s
Republic has set up transport infrastructure programs that involve definitely
breathtaking investment sums, totaling
over €20 billion between 2000 and 2005
alone. The largest part is being spent for
building highways, but in view of the
upcoming mega-events, traffic technology
solutions are gaining in importance.
What better background for the first
Intertraffic China to take place at the
Beijing Exhibition Center on March 15 to
17, 2007? The exhibition will be a welcome information forum for the national
architects of new mobility in the most
populous country on Earth as well as for
the leading companies of the international traffic technology industry, who
can be sure that their offerings will meet
with strong demand. A member of the
Founder’s Circle of the Intertraffic China
2007, Siemens was involved in the successful "export" of the leading traffic
technology trade fair.
Holistic approaches such as the one
adopted by Siemens ITS are especially
likely to be in great demand in Beijing.
As experiences gathered in other countries show, modern traffic information
systems that favor cooperation instead
of competition between transport modes
promise the highest degree of efficiency
in optimizing road and rail capacities.
Siemens sees much potential in the timely deployment of sophisticated traffic
management systems and high-capacity
mass transit networks.
But regardless of whether they focus on
traffic control computers or toll charging
systems, intelligent traffic lights or parking space management: in view of of the
high economic momentum in China, the
guiding principle for the participants of
the Intertraffic China 2007 will be the
same as for the athletes competing at
the Olympic Games a year later: “It’s the
taking part that counts.” «
Exchange of ideas:
ITS experts from all
over the world met
in Dubai
In the best company
ITS Arab ■ A newly founded not-for-profit organization is to help the
Arab states make their transport systems fit for the future. The first
Middle East Conference on Intelligent Transport Systems, which took
place in Dubai on December 4 and 5, 2006, was the occasion for a
first exchange of ideas with ITS experts from around the world.
Probably the most striking statement
of the entire conference was uttered by
Riyadh Dabbo, the Director of the Arab
Road Safety Organization: “if we look at
the number of people who die every day
in traffic accidents worldwide, we have
to realize that, on a global scale, every
day is 9/11.”
Consequently, increasing traffic safety is
one of the most important, though not
the only goal that the newly founded ITS
Arab has set out to achieve. The general
objective of this network of experts is
to promote the adaptation of the Arab
states’ transport networks to the drastically increased transport demand. His
Excellency Eng Abdullah al Mogbel,
Deputy Minister of Transport of the
Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia and President
of ITS Arab, is convinced that capacity
expansion alone will not be enough:
“What we need are ‘managed’ transport
networks in which technologies play a
vital role.”
As ITS Arab wants to benefit as much as
possible from international know-how
for its adopted task of “Shaping the
future with ITS solutions” (as the conference was themed), the organization
invited leading ITS experts from all over
the world to an exchange of ideas held
in Dubai in late 2006. Siemens was
among the participants of the first Middle
East Conference on Intelligent Transport
Systems on December 4 and 5, where
mobility strategies for the future of the
Middle East were discussed. The conference agenda listed topics such as incident detection, traffic and route information, traffic control, safety and security
enforcement as well as road user charging.
Further topics discussed, for example at
the Siemens stand, included the concrete
question of how Public Private Partnerships
can contribute to promoting the implementation of new technologies.
In any case, demand in the region is high
and manifold. For instance in Dubai
where population numbers are expected
“We need managed transport systems”: H. E. Eng
Abdullah al Mogbel, President of ITS Arab
to double to about 2.3 million within the
next three years – a development quite
typical for the entire region. In Dubai
alone, a total of 450 new road kilometers
and 120 intersections are planned to be
built and equipped with modern traffic
technology by 2020. However, given the
high car ownership ratio of currently 54
percent, these measures will hardly suffice.
Therefore the Emirate plans the realization of a new road user charging system
by mid-2007. On the other hand, in order
to make alternative means of transport
more attractive, the density of Dubai’s
public transport network will be considerably increased. Plans call for four new
subway lines and six new tram lines with
a combined total of 550 rail kilometers
to be constructed within the next years. «
1/2007 its magazine 17
Mobility & Living Space
The English patient
London city toll ■ Hardly any other European city suffers
more from air pollution and constant traffic gridlock than
London. After four year of the congestion charging regime,
the metropolis on the Thames is gradually improving and,
owing to a loop hole in the toll law, has even acquired a
touch of South-European charm.
No chance for toll-dodgers:
Mayor Ken Livingstone (above) had more
than 700 cameras installed for monitoring
the toll zone
18 its magazine 1/2007
Nicknamed “Red Ken,” Livingstone is
no stranger to criticism. And he got more
than his share of it again when, shortly
after taking over as the first directly elected Mayor of London, he landed his big
coup: in February 2003, Ken Livingstone,
the strong-minded politician with a decidedly left-wing past, introduced the city
toll, officially called London Congestion
Charge. Today, all drivers entering the
20 square kilometer zone between Tower
Bridge and Hyde Park have to pay the
equivalent of about €12.
In spite of their widely diverging goals
and objectives, interest groups in the
British metropolis immediately rallied for
unanimous protest. All major parties
voiced their skepticism or even outright
rejection of the toll; drivers felt discriminated against, retailers and hotel owners
feared a sizable drop in revenues and did
everything to block the toll scheme. But
Livingstone unwaveringly followed his
course. At the same time he practiced
a virtue that does not count among his
characteristic strengths in other contexts:
patience. Again and again he affirmed
his ambitious plans: “Our goal is to create a world-class transportation system
that operates efficiently, generates prosperity and improves the quality of life for
all of London’s inhabitants and visitors.”
The success proves him right – more or
less, depending on the point of view.
Over the past four years, traffic volume
in the Thames metropolis fell by around
15 percent. Although central London is
still swamped by around 120,000 vehicles every day, these account for no
more than 15 percent of daily commuting traffic. The remaining 85 percent of
commuters use the mass transit systems.
City authorities also record less traffic
jams and accidents. All this will not turn
one of Europe’s most polluted cities into
a health resort, but it is a first step, as
even former critics admit today. All the
more so as control surveys outside the
charging zone have shown that the city
toll has in fact slightly reduced overall air
pollution, and not just relocated the
problem.
However, London’s pollution values still
exceed by far the limits stipulated by the
EU Directive on particulate emissions.
But the next steps are already on the
agenda: Livingstone plans to extend the
toll charging zone, retrofit all buses and
taxis of the capital with diesel particulate
filters and, last but not least, ask still
higher fees from the drivers of cars with
especially high emission levels. As the
dynamic Mayor underlines, the new fees
will deliberately be set painfully high so
as to raise the drivers’ awareness of the
negative effects that their choice of car
has on our planet’s atmosphere.
It is more than probable that the second
phase of the city toll will rekindle the discussion about the measure’s financial
C as in Congestion Charge: the official name for the city toll
aspects. In total, the toll charge channels
an additional €275 million per year into
the city coffers, of which close to €145
million are left after the deduction of all
operational expenses for the scheme. A
significant detail: only about €40 million
of the total are actually accounted for
by toll fees paid by drivers the same day
and in due form, either online, per SMS
or telephone, or at one of the on-street
payment facilities. The largest part by far
comes from the pockets of toll-dodgers,
who are fined between €75 and €225
every time they are caught.
And this even though the public should
be aware by now that toll-dodgers in
London have hardly a chance to escape
detection. Imitating the Big Brother concept as imagined by his famous fellow
countryman George Orwell, Livingstone
had more than 700 cameras installed
for the surveillance of the Congestion
Charging Zone. A central computer stores
the license plate numbers of all recorded
cars and then checks at midnight every
day if the corresponding drivers have
paid their toll charges in time.
An invasion of small three-wheelers
brings a touch of Italy to London
American and German diplomats have
found a remarkably ingenious way of
fighting the toll system. They consider
the toll charge as an additional tax
and invoke the Vienna Convention that
exempts them from all taxes during their
stay abroad. Until a definitive ruling, the
flow of toll-fine tickets is kept going by
the authorities, adding up to an estimated total of more than half a million
euros by now.
All other people unwilling to pay the toll
have no choice but to take advantage
of one of the numerous loop holes left
open due to the exemptions specified by
the toll law. This is in any case the most
plausible explanation for the invasion of
those small three-wheelers that are rather
known as typically Italian and now bring
a touch of Naples to London. The sporty
little vehicles are classified as mopeds
and are thus exempt from the toll. «
Alternative means of transport:
Angela Rippon rides to work to save
on toll fees
1/2007 its magazine 19
Mobility & Living Space
Traffic jam’s on the air
Traffic news ■ No music star gets as many plays on the radio
as chronically overloaded motorway sections. Consequently,
listeners and radio stations attach much importance to traffic
information: its quality has a decisive influence on market
share – and sometimes even on life and death.
The traffic editors at Antenne Bayern, a
radio station in Bavaria, Germany, really
like listening to the legendary British
rock band Genesis. But on Tuesday,
December 5, 2006, just before half past
six in the morning, they would have
been prepared to cut off even the Pope
in mid-sentence. Thank God for that.
“Attention! All drivers on the A3 from
Passau to Nuremberg! On the stretch
between Hengersberg and Deggendorf a
vehicle is proceeding towards you. Please
keep as far as possible to the right and
do not overtake. We will let you know
when the danger is past.” Luckily this
message was listened to by Karin A. on
her way to work. As she was in a hurry,
she was “driving in the overtaking lane,
flooring the little car’s accelerator.” That’s
what she wrote half an hour later, and
with still shaking hands, in an email to
the radio station. “Thanks to your mes20 its magazine 1/2007
sage, I pulled over onto the right lane
only seconds before the wrong-way driver
raced past me. A big, big thank you! You
guardian angels probably saved my life.”
For Detlef Kuschka, editor-in-chief at the
private radio station Antenne Bayern,
spontaneous feedback like this is of
course a wonderful acknowledgement
of the effort the radio station puts into
its traffic information service. Because,
ever since Germany’s publicly owned
radio stations first started broadcasting
regional traffic bulletins in the early
1970's, the effort has been continually
growing in step with the quality of the
traffic bulletins. In the beginning, all
they needed was a dedicated line to the
State Traffic Information Center and perhaps another to the ADAC, the German
Automobile Association. Today, in the
age of networked communication, everything has become much more complex.
“Our 11,000 listener-reporters are not just a
number based on projections from audience
ratings. Our 11.000 are genuine.”
Detlef Kuschka, editor-in-chief at Antenne Bayern
But of course, the results are better and
faster too. Antenne Bayern has a total of
22,000 eyes on the roads, looking out
for traffic jams, wrong-way drivers and
other traffic obstructions and dangers.
Even though on occasion some radio stations may boast higher numbers of listeners from whom they receive motoring
information by telephone, the difference
is, says Detlef Kuschka, that “our 11,000
listener-reporters are not just a number
based on projections from audience ratings. Our 11.000 are genuine. Every one
of them is personally registered and an
active traffic monitor, with the card
index regularly weeded through.” Around
the turn of the millennium everyone was
starting to talk about a new era in the
information society, about Web 2.0 with
all its knowledge communities such as
Wikipedia & Co. The Antenne Bayern editors could hardly stop themselves from
grinning because user-generated content
had been very much part of their programming for years. Or more precisely,
since 1993, when they were the first
radio station in Germany to introduce a
traffic monitoring system based on the
input of their own listener-reporters. Any
concerns that may initially have existed
regarding this innovative method of providing information were quickly dealt
with. The doubters argued that the listeners doubling as traffic monitors could of
course only provide very subjective information: they could only say on which
road section they were currently stuck
in a traffic jam, but would have no idea
how long the queue of vehicles actually
was. “That’s true,” admits Detlef Kuschka,
“but first of all there is usually more than
one caller, and secondly there are generally calls from people who are traveling
in the opposite direction and therefore
are most probably able to provide solid
data regarding the length and often even
the cause of the tailback.” Since one cannot discount the dubious sense of humor
of some of today’s drivers who think it is
fun to phone in and report freely invented accidents, tailbacks or drivers traveling in the wrong direction, the professionals at Antenne Bayern have built in
several safeguards. Thanks to the registration system, each caller can be identified. In particular from those motorway
sections where traffic jams are common
(the A9, A3, A8 and A7), a large number
of “regular customers” report in to the
Antenne Bayern traffic center – these
traffic monitors are often on first name
terms with the team.
In 13 years Christian Franz has not fallen
for a single deliberate false alarm
And last but not least, there is of course
the extensive experience of the traffic
editors. “When you have been in the job
as long as I have, you can make out pretty quickly if someone is pulling your leg,”
says Christian Franz. “In 13 years of working in the traffic section, I have not fallen
for a single deliberate false alarm.” If you
consider how many calls he takes day by »
1/2007 its magazine 21
Mobility & Living Space
How traffic bulletin quality influences dynamic navigation
In her paper on “Dynamic navigation and its benefits in terms of travel time and information,”
for which Dr. Urte Helling was honored with the ITS Award 2006, she investigated, among other
questions, in which ways such benefits depend on the quality of the traffic bulletins used.
The German Autobahn network is
increasingly subject to obstructions that
lead to considerably longer travel times
for road users, especially during peak
hours. One approach to reducing individual loss of time is the use of dynamic
navigation systems. Such systems tell the
driver how to avoid obstructed sections
and thus cut down travel time (travel
time benefit). Dynamic navigation – in
contrast to static navigation – presupposes access to constantly updated traffic information, usually in the form of
traffic bulletins broadcast on the Traffic
Message Channel (TMC), as the basis of
dynamic route calculation. If the traffic
information is not correct this can lead
to erroneous route calculations. The
author wanted to investigate the quality
of traffic bulletins today and quantify the
corresponding travel time benefits.
In a first step, traffic bulletin quality was
defined in terms of their utility for navigation calculation, that is on the basis of
travel times. The navigation device combines the broadcast traffic information
with the relevant road map information
and calculates the expected travel time
for the road section concerned. After all
traffic messages have been processed,
the navigation computer determines the
fastest route to the destination. If the
traffic information is incorrect, the calcu-
22 its magazine 1/2007
lated route may not be the optimum
route in terms of travel time. Thus the
assessment of traffic bulletin quality was
based on the comparison of the travel
time calculated on this basis and the
actual travel time on the corresponding
route section. For Dr. Helling’s investigation, actual travel times were verified by
measuring trips carried out on motorways around Stuttgart within a period of
ten months. The extent to which both
time values coincide is a measure of the
traffic bulletins’ quality. Summary of the
empirical research: average information
quality was 35 percent, that is, on average the predicted travel time differed
from the actual travel time by 65 percent.
In order to determine the benefits for
dynamic navigation that are achievable
with traffic information of this quality
level, a specially developed simulation
software was used. Over a utilization
period of one year, commuter trips
assisted by dynamic or static navigation
systems were simulated for a wide range
of German regions. The traffic bulletins
needed for the dynamic navigation version of the simulation were obtained
from an archive. The routes and travel
times calculated by the two systems
were compared and possible advantages
for the dynamically guided drivers determined.
The consideration of the entire 12month period showed that in most cases
the announced obstruction could in fact
be driven around – even if not always
on the fastest route due to the inaccuracy of the traffic information. Drivers in
the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main conurbations, which offer an above-average
number of alternative routes but are also
burdened by high traffic density, can
expect the largest travel time benefits,
presently in the scale of about 5 percent.
Then the simulation calculations were
repeated under the assumption of “optimum traffic information quality.” This
showed that with the current information quality, about 40 percent of the
theoretically achievable benefit of such
systems can be reached. Because in an
ideal case, commuters would be able to
reduce their travel time on average by
about 15 percent in the above-mentioned conurbations.
For an employee commuting between
Düsseldorf and Cologne this would have
meant a travel time reduction by 31 hours
within the simulated 12-month period
since the navigation system could have
directed him around the announced
obstruction in 159 cases. Based on today’s
actual traffic bulletin quality, the same
driver would have to be content with a
reduction of 14 hours. Additional calcula-
The flow of information
between the police
and the station’s traffic
editors “is by no means a
one-way street anymore”
tions showed that doubling the quality
from today’s 35 to then 70 percent
would lead to a disproportionately
high increase in travel time benefits:
in this case, 95 percent of the theoretically possible benefits would be achievable. In respect to possible improvements, Dr. Helling points to the adaptation of the current standards for
bulletin generation, the so-called
"incident list." This list contains roughly
1,500 traffic incidents, but in most
cases there is no indication of the
resulting travel speed, which would
be relevant for navigation. Another
useful improvement factor would be
a more comprehensive detection system covering the traffic situation and
providing travel time data for roads
outside of the motorway network.
But Dr. Helling also would like to
involve the manufacturers of vehicles
and electronic devices because she
is convinced that only a cooperative
approach by all parties concerned will
lead to significant progress in this
interdisciplinary field of action.
Dr. Urte Helling works for
DaimlerChrysler AG in Sindelfingen,
currently in a quality management
position; from 2001 to 2006 she was
responsible for the development of
navigation systems. Duisburg-Essen
University has made the full text
of her paper on dynamic navigation
systems available as a PDF file
(Diss_Helling.pdf) at http://
duepublico.uni-duisburg-essen.de.
day, this feat would easily allow Franz
to appear on the TV program “You bet!”
During the rush hours between 6:30 and
10:00 a.m. and 3:30 to 8:00 p.m. alone,
he takes around 150 telephone calls –
under normal conditions. During holiday
periods or after the sudden onset of winter, the number increases substantially.
Franz would probably be an entertaining
talk show guest too, were he to talk
about the types of traffic obstacles he
has had to announce in the course of his
career. In Bavaria, no one is surprised
any longer by messages about cows and
oxen wandering around on the motorway. One of the presenters’ popular running gags is the “mooowing” of the grass
on the side of the road. And almost anything that can fall off a badly secured
truck has done just that at one time or
another. “But the other day there was
something that left me almost speechless,” remembers Franz. “There was a
unicyclist riding on the A9 motorway –
no idea how he got there or what he
was doing.” The team work between the
station’s voluntary traffic monitors and
its editors has developed so well that
today already around one third of the
broadcast traffic messages is generated
in this way. However, at the station
headquarters in Ismaning no one wants
to put too much emphasis on the fact
that they are often up to 30 minutes
faster than the State Traffic Information
Center. Christian Franz puts it into perspective: “When there has been a serious
accident, of course there are more
important things to do than provide
information on tailbacks.”
On the other hand, the traffic editor
does not make much of an attempt
Christian Franz “on air”
to hide his pride when talking about
the fact that “the flow of information
between the police and the station’s
traffic editors is by no means a one-way
street anymore.” More and more often,
the editors have up-to-the-minute news
on traffic disruptions that the State
Traffic Information Center is not yet
aware of. The cooperation with the
state’s official traffic monitors works
extremely well, just as it does with the
ADAC – the German Automobile Association. During peak travel times the latter
supplies information for the “Flying
Traffic Service” that is jointly operated by
Antenne Bayern and the ADAC. Traffic is
monitored from a Cessna aircraft and
reported exclusively back to the studio –
with live broadcasts from the cockpit of
course. The secret is in the intelligent
networking of all available information,
which is certainly going to be intensified
in the future. At the end of last year,
increasingly detailed discussions were
held between the radio station’s management and the new Bavarian Traffic
Information Agency (VIB). Here a genuine win-win relationship is being built,
with one side appreciating the additional
input from a state-wide traffic manage- »
1/2007 its magazine 23
Mobility & Living Space
ment system while the other values an
effective means of distributing the information generated. And what is more, a
means of distribution that is becoming
ever more potent: with an average of
1.139 million listeners per hour, Antenne
Bayern has become the most successful
radio station in Germany – even the
allegedly unbeatable SWR3 couldn’t keep
up despite the fact that it broadcasts in
several states in the Federal Republic.
The reasons for this triumphal success
are there for all to see in the Bavarian
radio analysis report for 2006. Over the
last two years, positive evaluations from
listeners have risen significantly for nearly
all parts of programming – whether the
music or the news, or the “useful traffic
information” category.
The quality and accuracy of
traffic information has long been
a vital competitive factor
In the past, presenters used to announce
the repetitive messages from their colleagues in the traffic section with jokes
that also belong to the stone age of radio
broadcasting. Today, no one would think
to say “hourly greetings from the groundhogs” anymore. The quality and accuracy
of traffic information has long been
a vital competitive factor in the fight
between radio stations for the listeners’
attention – who for their part are happy
to cooperate. The regular contact and
involvement has meant that the broadcasters are closer than ever to their target
group and can also identify opportunities
to finetune their services faster than ever
24 its magazine 1/2007
before. That’s why Antenne Bayern
changed the normal rhythm of traffic
bulletins in the “Morning Show” from
half-hourly to every fifteen minutes. And
recently speed trap warnings have also
been added – after some controversial
discussions, both internal and external,
according to editor-in-chief Kuschka. At
the end of the day, the general view
was that such messages do by no means
encourage speeding. “Quite the opposite. They remind drivers again and again
of the risk of being caught speeding and
have thus even increased the degree to
which speed limits are observed. Listeners
tell us that when they hear one of our
speed trap warnings, they automatically
take their foot off the gas, even though
the radar speed trap is not anywhere
near their section of road.” Folks in
Ismaning are not worried about good old
radio broadcasting being sacrificed, despite
the continuous improvements that have
been made, on the altar of the digital
revolution. On the one hand the modern
radio stations also use new communication
channels such as TMC (Traffic Message
Channel) for navigation systems and SMS
texts for cell phones. On the other hand
the medium of radio, so often pronounced
dead, lives on because of its versatility.
“The mix decides whether or not we are
successful,” says Detlef Kuschka, referring
to his full range program of music, news,
entertainment and service. In other words,
an MP3 player may be able to play wonderful songs by Genesis, and a satellite
navigation system may take account of
tailbacks in calculating a route, but also
in the future the information when the
Pope will visit Germany again is going to
come from neither one nor the other. «
Ready, steady ...
“Floating Object Data“: the theme of the ITS
Award 2008 is of high practical relevance
ITS Award 2008 ■ Go-ahead for the sixth round of the ITS
Award! Every other year, creative answers to practice-oriented
questions from the field of traffic engineering that are of high
current interest and provide innovative potential for the industry are honored with this award, which was established in
1997 and includes a prize money of €10,000. The 2008 edition
of the award is themed “Floating Object Data.”
On one of the last days of the past year,
the organizers of the ITS Award received
a special e-mail, which may have made
them think for a moment how nice it
would be to switch their office for a quite
different place. In her mail, Dr. Urte
Helling wrote: “Hello everybody, I would
like to let you know about the great uses
that your prize money can be put to. The
money came in really handy for a fantastic trip to New Zealand, especially since
I still had all of my annual leave to take.”
The winner of the ITS Award 2006 spent
almost five weeks among palm trees and
kiwi plants to refuel for the challenges
ahead. Attached to the mail were PDF
files with the photographic evidence.
The winner who might write an e-mail in
2008 will be determined within the coming 20 months. The deadline for submission of papers to the sixth round of the
biennial award, which was established
in 1997 and includes a prize money of
€10,000, is the end of July 2008. The
winners selected by the jury will be
honored three months later at the end
of October. As always, the prize will be
awarded for the most creative and effective solutions to current traffic engineering problems with high practical relevance. This time the research papers are
to treat the complex issue of “Floating
Object Data.”
New communication technologies, especially for wireless communication, open
up new and increasingly important ways
of collecting information within road
traffic networks. These alternative detection methods are based on the automated localization of objects that “go with
the flow” of road traffic. Such objects
can be private cars or fleet vehicles,
mobile phones, PDAs, radio tags (RFIDs)
or other technical devices.
The ITS Award 2008 focuses on the
question how the data acquired by the
new methods can be processed and
integrated into the existing data handling systems for traffic control in such
a way that they generate a significant
additional benefit. The members of
the jury will pay particular attention
to the quality and possible uses of the
data collected, as well as to the proposed technical systems, processes and
methods that optimally combine Floating Object Data with data from other
sources, thus providing additional validation and further refinement for the
generated data.
Detailed information and the complete
registration documents for the ITS
Award 2008 are available by writing to
[email protected]. We wish all
participants much success – and a nice
time in New Zealand, maybe? «
1/2007 its magazine 25
Profile
“Today’s ideas are tomorrow’s
business!”
Interview with Siemens inventor Dr. Paul Mathias ■ If non-inventors
think of an inventor they tend to picture a solitary ivory-tower tinkerer
reminiscent of Gyro Gearloose. In an interview with ITS magazine, Dr. Paul
Mathias describes the real life and work of the creative people that keep
the wheel of innovation going in a global, technology-based corporation.
Dr. Mathias, in 2004 Siemens AG
awarded you the title of “Inventor of
the Year.” In honor of which of your
ideas?
You aren’t awarded this title for a single
specific idea, but for your extraordinary
inventive performance over a period of
several years. However, for the award
ceremony itself, one invention is highlighted – in my case it was a new method
for the exchange of data between traffic
lights and vehicles. This “cooperative
system” will considerably increase the
safety and convenience of inner-city
driving. Besides, it will turn vehicles into
an active part of the overall traffic control system.
Is there already a product that uses
this new technology?
Not yet. Here we have to think in terms
of a mid- to long-term trend in urban
traffic engineering. But I expect that this
26 its magazine 1/2007
innovative approach will show its true
significance within the next years.
All in all, patents for 21 of your ideas
have already been filed, some even
in several countries worldwide. This
sounds like an extraordinary inventive
performance indeed – especially in
view of the fact that you have managerial responsibilities in addition.
My task is the coordination of research
activities at Siemens ITS and encompasses
everything from applications for public
project funding to project handling and
cooperation with scientific institutions
and university departments in different
fields, something from which we have
benefited a great deal in recent years.
Involvement in national and European
research initiatives also plays an important role. Such initiatives usually provide
a suitable framework for investigating
complex interrelations in cooperation
with competent partners, evaluating new
approaches in a testing environment and
getting the public sector involved at an
early stage.
All this hardly corresponds to the
cliché of the inventor as a solitary
ivory-tower tinkerer ...
The qualities a good inventor primarily
needs today besides creativity and knowhow are a practice-oriented attitude and
market knowledge. The starting point
for all conceptional work is always the
currently applied solution. On this basis
I make a projection into the future
and ask myself what new needs might
emerge tomorrow in this context and
what will be an easy and efficient way
to meet these needs.
And the answer to this question just
happens to pop into your mind between
two meetings or a couple of phone calls?
“The qualities a good inventor primarily needs today besides creativity
and know-how are a practice-oriented
attitude and market knowledge”
It might, but that’s rather the exception. Most of my ideas develop while I
travel by plane or train, that is, whenever I have the time and leisure to let
my thoughts roam a little.
Siemens AG describes itself as “global
network of innovation.” Does the
company create an atmosphere
where ideas can thrive?
Absolutely and for a very simple reason:
today’s ideas are tomorrow’s business!
This means that the issue of innovation
is nothing less than a question of securing our future. This is why Siemens systematically supports the inventiveness
of its employees, for example in special
workshops and through the strict integration of intellectual property protection into the development process. In
2005, more than 8,800 inventions were
made within Siemens corporation; ITS
alone registered about 80 inventions
within the last two years. These numbers certainly say more about the innovation-friendly atmosphere in our company than a thousand words.
But in the end, not all flashes of
genius lead to a product?
Of course not. This would be neither
possible nor desirable. The challenge is
to recognize the really decisive innovations among the large number of good
ideas and to promote them in a timely
fashion. To this end, Siemens ITS even
affords a specialized department, New
Business & Telematics, which focuses
mainly on the systematic identification
and implementation of innovations.
Could you give us a few examples of
successfully implemented innovations?
Certainly. Just take our new SITRAFFIC
UTC traffic center system: to a large
extent it is freely scalable and configurable and eliminates the boundaries
between traffic computer and traffic
management system. Or our networkwide MOTION MX traffic signal control,
which has broken new ground in process
engineering with its sophisticated mathematical models and algorithms and constitutes ITS’ direct answer to current customer demands and requirements. But
naturally, innovations are not limited to
new products; also new business models
are conceivable. For a certain time now
we have been offering a so-called LED
energy saving contract, which enables
municipalities to modernize the signal
heads in their traffic light installations
in an especially elegant because selffinancing manner.
At the time when an innovation is
launched on the market, it is probably
yesterday’s news for you since you are
already busy investigating tomorrow’s
trends. Would you tell us a little about
what you are currently thinking about?
One of the most important issues on our
agenda is the interlinking of traffic and
environmental management. Owing to
changing legal conditions, among other
factors, municipal authorities are starting
to develop a totally new environmental
awareness, which we would like to serve
with our solutions portfolio. Another
worldwide megatrend over the next ten
years will be the “cooperative systems”
mentioned earlier. An especially interesting aspect for us in this context is the
field of those applications that are based
on data exchange between vehicles and
technical traffic infrastructure.
As a traffic engineer, what is your vision
for urban traffic in the year 2025?
I imagine that the technical traffic subsystems will be even more intensively interlinked and thus even more intelligent.
In the future, the relevant information
will be available virtually everywhere and
at any time and support the most diverse
range of assistance functions, services
and management tasks. I hope that, as
a consequence, the number of accidents
and other negative effects of traffic will
continue to diminish.
Dr. Mathias, thank you very much
for this interview. «
Dr. Paul Mathias:
Key career steps at a glance
• Born 1959 in Monschau (Eifel)
• University Studies in mathematics
and physics; doctoral degree from
RWTH Aachen
• 1984 - 1991 Software development
at Heusch-Boesefeldt
• 1992 - 1997 Software development
at Siemens Aachen
• 1998 - 2006 Product and system
management as well as research
coordination and innovation
management at Siemens ITS Munich
• Since October 2006 Responsibility
for the “car2infrastructure systems”
innovation field of Siemens ITS
1/2007 its magazine 27
www.siemens.com/traffic
IMPRINT
ITS magazine · The Magazine for Siemens
Intelligent Traffic Systems
Publisher: Siemens AG · Industrial Solutions
and Services · Intelligent Traffic Systems ·
Hofmannstrasse 51 · D-81359 Munich
Editors: Dr. Michael Ostertag (responsible
for contents), Karin Kaindl: Siemens I&S ITS ·
Wolfgang Schumacher: BFW Werbeagentur
GmbH, Munich Office
Coordination: Roland Michali: Siemens I&S
GC Erlangen
Editing: Peter Rosenberger,
Wolfgang Schumacher · www.bfw-nw.de
Photographs: Fotosearch P. 1 · Antenne Bayern,
München: P. 21, 23 bottom · Corbis: P. 7, 20, 24 ·
dpa picture-alliance: P. 6, 16, 18, 19 ·
Getty Images: P. 4 · Plain picture: P. 8 ·
Ullstein: P. 23 top
English Translation: Dr. Barbara Gutermann
Sprachendienste GmbH
Concept & Layout: Agentur Feedback,
Munich · www.agentur-feedback.de
Printing: Aumüller Druck KG, Regensburg
Copyright: © Siemens AG 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or used without express
prior permission. Subject to technical modifications. Printed in Germany.
The next issue of the ITS magazine will be
published on May 15, 2007.
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