As part of a European C-ITS (Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems) project, the 100% state-owned company that manages Slovenia’s extensive network of motorways, Dars, is working with Here Technologies to deliver an advanced safety messaging service for road users.
Under an agreement signed by Dars and Here, the road operator will make use of the Here Open Location Platform to deliver safety-critical alerts to drivers, warning them of, for example, a slow or stationary vehicle, sudden traffic build-up, roadworks or adverse weather.
Slovenia links the North Adriatic region with the Alps and Eastern Europe, is one of the continent’s major transportation corridors, with a high density of motorways. Safety has been high on Dars agenda, and the company now offers a smartphone app, DarsTraffic+, through which road users can stay up to date on conditions on the road.
As a result of the cooperation, the app will now run on the Open Location Platform, with Here handling the ingestion, analysis and distribution of accurate and localized safety information to impacted drivers on the road, as well as Dars’s Traffic Information Center (TIC), located just outside Ljubljana. While the system uses smartphones, the same architecture will in future also be able to support real-time communication among vehicles themselves, without the need for smartphones.
The deployment is part of the European Union co-funded C-ROADS project, which serves as a cooperative framework for EU member states to deploy C-ITS projects that ensure cross-border interoperability for all road users, and will pave the way for future connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) systems. REALIS, a Slovenia-based specialist in ITS technologies, is supporting Here and Dars with the implementation.
“This initiative provides a cost-efficient way of delivering real-time safety-critical information to drivers,” said Mika Rytkönen, director of EMEA solutions at Here Technologies.
“It requires no major investments, and instead takes advantage of modern location technology and Slovenia’s excellent mobile network infrastructure. We believe that C-ITS initiatives like this will be vital for Europe’s transport infrastructure, as they rely on technologies that are proven, work across borders, and are easy for people to use.”
Dean Herenda, head of Slovenia’s National Traffic Management Center, noted, “Slovenia is a strong supporter of efforts to implement C-ITS and autonomous driving as the vision of the mobile future. We believe Here is the right partner to help us greatly increase the safety and flow of vehicle traffic on the most crucial sections of Slovenian motorways as early as the pilot implementation stage.”
