1. Intelligent transport systems

ITS are gadgets that only interest engineers and, at the cost of huge investments, will only be of use for luxury cars and professional fleets.

FALSE! It is true that up-market vehicles were the first to adopt individual connected equipment. However ITS will in time equip practically all the cars on the road and all infrastructures. The efficiency of a cooperative transportation system (towards a 2.0 type society) is proportional to the number of vehicles and infrastructures thus equipped. We cannot continue building roads and bridges forever. Only the development of ITS will make it possible to absorb the increase in traffic and improve safety and energy performance. Furthermore, ITS are not restricted to motorists; they facilitate the mobility of all travelers, even pedestrians. Yes, installing ITS will be expensive. However the cost must be compared with the savings made in the fields of road safety, traffic flow and speed and energy consumption. In all, it is estimated that ITS could lead to a 10% reduction in road fatalities and a 25% drop in transport time and cost.

2. Installation safety and equipment sustainability

What about ITS bugs? I won’t be able to use my car and “hackers” could even steal it. In addition, ITS will simply mean that we have to change cars every five years.

FALSE! ITS are assistance systems that help us to make better use of our vehicles and infrastructures. Even in the case of breakdowns, vehicles and infrastructures will continue to work normally, just like they do today. All the stakeholders are sensitive to safety, security and connection inviolability issues, both to prevent any risk of theft and any operating incidents whose consequences could be extremely serious. What’s more, the development of Near Field Communication (NFC), which offers short-range wireless communication between targets, will provide further safety and security guarantees. No, motorists will not be forced to change vehicles; they will be offered online application updates.

3. Health issues on board the connected vehicle

All these waves are bad for our health. Staying connected could become a dangerous form of addiction.

FALSE! To date, no scientific study has been able to prove that the waves emitted by on-board devices or roadside infrastructures are harmful to our health.

4. Driving pleasure

All these constraints and technical complexity will remove the pleasure from driving and traveling.

FALSE! It is true that we won’t drive tomorrow as we do today. The increase in worldwide traffic will impose even more individual and collective discipline on motorists for safety, efficiency and economic reasons. But users, however, will benefit from greater usage freedom: fewer risks of accidents, less traffic, less pollution. During peak summer traffic periods, ITS already make it possible to attenuate the effects of the largest traffic jams. In addition, ITS, wich will be as easy to master as a GPS, enhance the development of new integrated services that will improve the comfort of both driver and passengers.

5. Civil liberties and privacy

As a result of connected vehicles, closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV ) and all these sensors, governments and businesses will be able to spy on motorists; there will no longer be any respect for privacy.

FALSE! We are right to be wary of the intrusion of data systems into our private lives and about how such data could be exploited politically or commercially. However the implementation of ITS goes hand in hand with rigorous checks on the conditions of data collection, processing, dissemination and storage, all of which is in line with current national and international legislation. The respect for fundamental civil liberties and the preservation of privacy are part and parcel of the ground rules of ITS. ITS deal with driver and vehicle profiles, not individual motorists.

Categories: Connected mobility - Vehicles