Vienna, October 23, 2012 – Experts from around the world are currently in Vienna discussing the future of mobility. Kapsch, one of the world's leading providers of intelligent transportation systems, is holding numerous presentations, discussion sessions and demos at the 19th ITS World Congress to show how the latest technologies and innovative solutions can contribute to making traffic smarter, safer, and above all, more ecologically sustainable. The future lies in the intelligent networking of previously isolated applications for traffic control, traffic monitoring and electronic toll collection, all to help road users arrive more quickly and more safely at their destinations, reduce environmental impact and make better use of the existing capacity of transportation infrastructure. Opportunities are also created for infrastructure operators to offer new commercial services.
Automatic determination of the weight of trucks as they pass, graphical assistance for managing incidents in tunnels and the supply of detailed information about parking conditions at destinations: what sounds like a vision of the future is already reality. At the 19th ITS World Congress, Kapsch is presenting many such applications that are already in use or are technically ready for the market. Kapsch's Weigh-in-Motion, for example, has already been deployed at three stations in Switzerland and, as of just a few days ago, in the Czech Republic as well. The AlVis visualization software by Kapsch was successfully employed in a two-month test in Munich and will soon also help ensure correct responses to incidents such as wrong-way drivers and accidents in the Semmering Tunnel in Austria. Additional potential for increased transportation safety and improved traffic management lies in "cooperative systems", in which vehicles communicate with one another (Vehicle2Vehicle) and with infrastructure (Vehicle2Infrastructure). At a Kapsch demo, participants at the Congress can experience first-hand how such systems will in future supply real-time information about flight connections or parking spaces to drivers in order to ensure smart mobility.
Turning technological modules into complete solutions
"The technological modules are all there. Now it is a question of working together with traffic planners, urban developers, infrastructure operators and vehicle manufacturers to create complete solutions. In this sense, Kapsch is much more than just a provider of technical solutions. We like to make ourselves available as a discussion partner to drive the process forward," said Erwin Toplak, COO at Kapsch TrafficCom. One crucial element of this discussion is the "Vienna Manifesto on ITS" of the International Road Federation. Kapsch was involved in compiling this manifesto, which was presented during the Congress. It contains policy recommendations for implementing sustainable mobility concepts. "To fully exploit the potential of ITS, we not only have to adapt existing traffic concepts, but we also need strong partnerships between the various stakeholders, standardization as well as supporting educational measures to encourage sustainable behavior from road users," said Josef Czacko, who worked on compiling the document as a Kapsch representative.
Toll collection as basis for tomorrow's ITS business
"As a technology company, Kapsch has offered highly successful road transportation solutions for many years. Based on our experience with electronic toll systems throughout the world, we have begun to also offer other solutions in the field of ITS and especially transport telematics. In the coming years, we will expand this ITS portfolio in stages to offer our customers not only the familiar toll systems but also a broad spectrum of solutions in the areas of traffic management, traffic monitoring and electronic vehicle registration," said André Laux, member of the Kapsch TrafficCom Management Board. With 280 references in 41 countries on every continent, over 70 million on-board units delivered and roughly 18,000 equipped lanes, Kapsch has time and again proven its competence in devising solutions for electronic toll collection (ETC). According to analysts, this segment still has massive growth potential, with estimates in the region of 13 percent per year. Parallel to this, other ITS applications will also continue to gain in importance. "This Congress has made one thing very clear: At present, this is by far the most exciting technology-related topic in the industry. Kapsch also plays an active role in driving developments in this area. In the last fiscal year alone, we invested EUR 54 million in research and development," added Laux.
Environmental responsibility along the entire process chain
At the fair Kapsch presents the new on-board unit. The cover of the Kapsch NEXT can be customized according to customer requirements. Moreover, it is significantly smaller than models customary in the market and it’s more efficient in energy consumption. Environmental considerations have played a role with this development as well. The CO2 footprint for manufacturing, packaging and material is only 50 percent compared with conventional products.
Kapsch TrafficCom is a provider of high-performance intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in the application fields of toll collection, urban access management and traffic safety and security. Kapsch TrafficCom covers the entire value creation chain of its customers as a one-stop shop by providing products and components as well as subsystems as open market products, by integrating them into turnkey systems or by developing end-to-end solutions, including services for the technical and commercial operations of systems. Within its current core business of electronic toll collection (ETC), Kapsch TrafficCom designs, builds and operates ETC systems, in particular for multi-lane free-flow traffic. With 280 references in 41 countries on all five continents and with almost 70 million on-board units delivered and about 18,000 lanes equipped, Kapsch TrafficCom has positioned itself among the internationally recognized suppliers of electronic toll collection worldwide. Kapsch TrafficCom is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries and representative offices in 30 countries.