Over the past five years, the European Commission (EC) and the Member States of the European Union (EU) have invested over 550 million euros in road traffic management projects aimed at deploying ITS under the Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T) structure. Similar or greater levels of investment are planned for the next five year period 2001-2005. A key aim of the TEN-T programme is to establish appropriate interconnections between national and regional approaches to provide a transport network which offers a high and continuous level of service in terms of user safety and comfort, network efficiency and minimising adverse environmental effects. This means that interoperability and accessibility of services are required both on long-distance routes and in conurbation areas. The promotion of ITS services in a co-ordinated and coherent way, particularly on a pan-European basis, is a key tool in helping to achieve this aim. As a means to manage the TEN-T budget line funding in a coherent way, the EC is establishing a Multi-annual Indicative Programme (MIP) in which a majority of projects are funded on a multi-annual rather than an annual basis. This paper describes the route towards the MIP, its requirements and its implications on the deployment of ITS on the Trans-European Road Network. For the covering abstract see ITRD E114174.
Samenvatting