German highways safer thanks to construction site warnings
- Kapsch TrafficCom devices send warnings directly to vehicles
- 13,000km of highways already equipped with transmitters
- Largest connected infrastructure project in Europe
Vienna, May 20, 2025 – Kapsch TrafficCom and Autobahn GmbH des Bundes have completed the first phase of the project to increase safety on motorways using C-ITS (Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems).
A total of 1,000 ITS Roadside Stations (IRS) from Kapsch TrafficCom and other suppliers have been mounted on mobile barrier panels and put into operation over the past few months.
The devices send warning messages to approaching vehicles that they are approaching a construction zone. This reduces the risk of accidents in dangerous construction zones, as drivers are alerted to the construction sites earlier.
Carolin Treichl, EVP EMEA at Kapsch TrafficCom, is delighted with the rollout milestone: “This is the largest C-ITS project in Europe, so I am proud of the team for this achievement. We worked with 120 highway maintenance departments to get our technology on the road and prevent accidents.”
Kapsch TrafficCom's roadworks warning systems are in use on 8,600 of the total 13,000 kilometers of highway in Germany. Kapsch TrafficCom also supplies the software to control the devices. This ensures that the special safety requirements that apply to technology in the field of critical infrastructure in Germany are met.
By passing on the roadwork information to Autobahn GmbH's backend systems, it can also be made available at the National Access Point (Mobilithek).
Phase 1, which includes installing the hardware, activating the roadwork warning system, and setting up operations, has been completed. In the following phases, additional cooperative services will be added to further increase safety on German highways.
C-ITS as a technology of the future
The technology that enables vehicles, infrastructure, and road operators to communicate with each other is known as C-ITS and allows information to be exchanged directly between vehicles and infrastructure in real time. This means that safety-related information can be disseminated much more quickly than was previously possible. Warnings about roadworks, approaching emergency vehicles, traffic jams, severe weather, and much more safety-related information can be sent to vehicles easily and in a targeted manner.
Data from passing vehicles can also be received and used in traffic management. No additional connection to the internet is required for the vehicle; instead, the infrastructure hardware acts as a transmitter and receiver that can exchange information directly with vehicles in the transmission range. For this purpose, a special WLAN based on the Europe-wide harmonized specifications according to ETSI and C-Roads is established between the transmitter and receiver for the duration of the information exchange.
Kapsch TrafficCom is a globally renowned provider of transportation solutions for sustainable mobility with successful projects in more than 50 countries. Innovative solutions in the application fields of tolling, tolling services, traffic management and demand management contribute to a healthy world without congestion.
With one-stop-shop solutions, the company covers the entire value chain of customers, from components to design and implementation to the operation of systems.
Kapsch TrafficCom, headquartered in Vienna, has subsidiaries and branches in more than 25 countries and is listed in the Prime Market segment of the Vienna Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: KTCG). In its 2023/24 financial year, about 4,000 employees generated revenues of EUR 539 million.