TM 2.0 discusses Mobility Network Management during a special webinar

On 15 July, TM 2.0, ERTICO’s leading innovation platform in interactive traffic management, organised a webinar on Mobility Network Management (MNM), discussing how this important concept can be achieved and further developed through cooperation with all the mobility stakeholders.

Dr Johanna Tzanidaki, Chief Innovation Officer at ERTICO and moderator of the webinar, welcomed the participants and introduced the important work conducted by the TM 2.0. Bringing together 42 member organisations from the public and private sectors, and with half of its members being public authorities, the TM 2.0 Innovation Platform focuses on solutions for advanced interactive traffic management, with a governance concept based on the principles of dialogue, co-opetition and trust among traffic stakeholders. These principles, that form the basis for road-based traffic, are the same upon which, the entire mobility network can be managed in becoming safer, more efficient and sustainable.

The webinar was held in the form of a dialogue among four mobility experts who shared their views and knowledge on the topic from an industry, integrator, a public authority and the MaaS community perspective. The discussion first explored the link between traffic management and Mobility Network Management. Martin Dirnwoeber, working on Digitalisation and Traffic Management at AustriaTech, a leading member of the TM 2.0 and already working towards implementing MNM, highlighted the importance of the interaction between the different modes to enhance urban mobility and the vital role that traffic management plays in that. Jop Spoelstra Innovation Manager at ERTICO member Technolution, added that public-private collaboration is key to achieving dynamic, real-time traffic management, as well as understanding the users. The need to create technologies and sharing data to support multimodality was discussed by Dr Laura Coconea, Head of Global Portfolio Management at ERTICO member SWARCO. Roelof Hellemans, Secretary-General at MaaS Alliance, agreed that input from users in the form of data is crucial to encourage the use of different modes towards making cities more livable, sustainable and accessible. All speakers agreed that end users need to be aware of the transport options at their disposal and make the right choices.

The type of data that can be shared among mobility stakeholders (including the users) and the public authorities was an important point in this webinar dialogue, as sharing data is essential to make the Mobility Network Management operational. The role that National Access Points play was also addressed, as well as the role of the collaboration between the public and private sectors to tackle the mobility challenges that cities are facing at a more local and regional level.

“The discussion among the mobility stakeholders on MNM has started five years ago and is a topic also put on the table at all our ITS European and World Congresses. The smart mobility community is more and more convinced that smart, efficient and sustainable cannot happen unless the stakeholders recognise and respect each other’s needs and priorities,” concluded Dr Johanna Tzanidaki.

The panel agreed that unless data is available to the mobility stakeholders, the mobility system or network will continue to be managed in silos, while all modes are increasingly interconnected in achieving or causing a mobility network balanced flow. An important point raised during the discussion among the panellists was on environmental targets as these are set by the public authorities who have the role of orchestrating the mobility network.

The discussion on the MNM will continue with a forthcoming webinar between the members of the TM 2.0 and the MaaS Alliance while it will also be the topic of the International Forum, Sustainability and Resiliency with Mobility Network Management on 19 September at 13.00 during the ITS World Congress in Los Angeles (18-22 September 2022).