Title: Evaluation of TMPs. Management of real traffic incidents.
Authors:
- Ignacio Sánchez Reig (Speaker)
Civil Engineer, ITS Senior Consultant.
LISITT, Instituto de Robótica. Universidad de Valencia.
Address: P.O. Box 2085, 46071 Valencia. SPAIN
Phone: (+34) 96 354 36 12
e-mail: i.sanchez@robotica.uv.es
-
Lluis Serrano i Sadurní
Head of area, in the Catalonian Traffic Control Centre (CIVICAT).
Servei Càtala de Trànsit, Generalitat de Catalunya
Address: Via Laietana, 60. 08003 Barcelona, SPAIN.
Phone: (+34) 93 567 4000
e-mail: rconte@gencat.net
Abstract:
Spain and France are linked by two major road corridors, one crossing the Basque Country on the Atlantic coast, the other bordering the Mediterranean Sea. This last corridor, a strategic one in the SERTI area, is characterised by an increasing cross-border transit (about +8% per year in average over the last 10 years) and with a high proportion of Heavy Goods Vehicles (32% in 2004). The high rate of HGVs crossing the French-Spanish border requires specific traffic management actions notably in times of crisis. For example during winter, heavy snow falls in the South of France could lead to major disruption of traffic if a heavy flow of HGVs keeps coming from Catalonia. Coordinated traffic management actions are not easy to take because a lot of different partners, including public authorities, are involved and people speak different languages!
This is the context in which the ASF and ACESA motorway companies together with the Catalan and French administrations SCT and CRICR have undertaken several joint projects to improve the operational coordination between their operational departments on the French-Spanish border zone.
Since 2.003 a workgroup started to define both technological and procedural mechanisms to solve existing crossborder traffic management dysfunction, between Spanish and French organisations. This workgroup, promoted under the euro-regional project SERTI, is composed by all organisations in both countries, public and private, with competences in traffic management and information services. These are:
In Spain:
• Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT), traffic administration with competences in Catalonia.
• Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), traffic administration with competences for the rest of Spain (except Basque Country).
• Ministry of Fomento.
• Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan traffic police.
• ACESA, toll motorway concessionary, that manages the main cross border corridor between Catalonia and France.
In France:
• CRICR de Marseille, which is a public organisation composed by three ministries representatives (Interior, Transports and Defence), that manages traffic and information services.
• DDE, regional department of the French Ministry of Transports, with competences in secondary crossborder paths.
• Gendarmerie and National Police, both with a deep knowledge of traffic management.
• Autoroutes du Sud de France (ASF), toll motorway concessionary, that manages the French side of the main cross border corridor between Catalonia and France.
This workgroup detected two main groups of problems concerning cross border traffic co-ordination:
• Procedural: this means many different organisations on both sides of the border, with different competences, and, also, with very different administrative procedures. To solve this main problem and after many discussion, a “communication procedure” was decided. In these procedures there is a distinction between “communication for informative purposes” and “demand of application of traffic management measures” (i. e. restriction for HGV, or border closure).
• Technical: There are different languages, and different ways for sending / receiving information. This was solved with an Internet based tool, on which a bilingual form can be filled with the action or information requirements. This tool is accessible to all partners, transparent, intuitive and user friendly and allows the evaluation of the management of crisis situations in order to improve it.
This contribution deals with the last experiences in applying this communications frame, especially in the evaluation of occurred incidents during the past years, and how this experience has caused the evolution of the procedures.
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