Speeding is the main cause of road accidents. From 2022 onwards, all new types of vehicles and from 2024 onwards all new vehicles marketed in the EU must be equipped with Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA). As vehicles are on average between 6 and 11.5 years old, it will be some time before real effects can be expected. ISA-FIT aims to provide a solid all-in retro-ISA solution for urban environments to speed up the introduction for the benefit of drivers and other road users. ISA-FIT will test a V-TRON retro-ISA in the municipality of Helmond. 15 ISA vehicles will be evaluated on quality of service, driver acceptance and behavioural results within different use cases. Meanwhile, a European strategy will be developed to scale up the implementation of ISAs, with a focus on cooperation on speed limit databases, deployment standards and procurement strategies. At the end of the project, an off-the-shelf ISA retrofit product will be launched and consultancy services deployed.
Working together to accelerate the rollout of Intelligent Speed Assistant (ISA)
Abstract
ISA is one of the most promising Advanced Driving Assist Systems (ADAS) with a proven effect on speed reduction, the environment, road safety and increased driver comfort. ISA therefore has the potential to improve the quality of life in cities. However, large-scale implementation and use of ISA systems does not yet exist, but could in principle gradually replace other measures (such as speed bumps and enforcement) in the longer term. Many organisations and agencies have been working for many years to accelerate the introduction of ISA technology. For example, the Municipality of Helmond was one of the founding fathers to launch the “ISA Manifesto” at the 2018 Polis Annual Conference in Manchester. An important step towards large-scale roll-out was taken with the revision of the General Safety Regulation. The European Commission’s proposal to, among other things, make ISA mandatory for new vehicles was approved by the European Parliament in 2019. The new regulations should then apply to all new vehicle types from 2022 and to all new vehicles entering the European market from 2024. Thanks to the EU regulation, more and more vehicles (cars, buses, trucks) will be equipped with ISA technology in the coming years. However, there are still many challenges to unlocking the potential benefits: data availability, service reliability in different conditions and environments and reliable systems that are ready for the market (retrofit).
ISA-FIT aims to address these challenges by (i) testing a retroactive ISA system in different urban conditions in order to achieve a more robust and market-ready product. Secondly, by (ii) providing a framework or strategy for the introduction of retroactive ISA, addressing digital and physical infrastructure, regulatory aspects and procurement. The ISA-FIT concepts should lead to new business models in a public-private partnership.
Results and impact
ISA-FIT aims at a (i) market-ready and user-validated ISA retrofit system and (ii) strategies for stakeholder involvement in digital and physical infrastructure, regulatory aspects and procurement. These outcomes will impact:
End users: improved user acceptance, awareness and affordability By “end users” we mean primarily drivers. ISA-FIT should lead to better and sustainable ISA services that enable more comfortable and safer driving for drivers, but also for everyone living in the city, without negative side effects or significant behavioural change.
Cities: The introduction of ISA will increase safety and livability in urban areas. The use of in-vehicle technology can save costs as certain infrastructure and enforcement measures will not be needed – or at least much less – in case of large-scale introduction. ISA-FIT will provide realistic, conceptually proven solutions that can help accelerate deployment.
Business ecosystem: One of the main challenges for ISA providers (especially retrofit) is that demand is too low today – which means high production costs. ISA-FIT would like to bring the demand of the companies to an EU scale, making production and supply relevant to the sector. The efficiency of ISA services will depend on digital maps, geofencing and on-board cameras to provide data to end users and speed data updates. ISA-FIT’s hands-on solutions can be relevant for (data) service companies.
ISA-FIT can provide new insights for the relevant industry, government departments and academia and should lead to adequate consultancy and the creation of a market-ready product that can be used by government departments to, for example, define their policies and achieve their objectives.
