ESTA hopes that the growing interest in Intelligent Access policies for the European transport sector will provide additional pressure on regulators and politicians to back much-needed reforms and investment – and that the needs of abnormal transport will be fully taken into account.
The thinking behind the Intelligent Access discussions – and possible next steps – was aired at a recent concluding event in Brussels discussing an international research project organised by CEDR, the Conference of European Directors of Roads.
The Intelligent Surface Access Community (ISAC) project is a collaborative research initiative exploring how Intelligent Access can improve infrastructure use, enhance road monitoring, and support more sustainable and efficient freight transport.
ESTA was represented at the event by Section Transport President Iffet Türken who spoke in the session “From Research to Implementation: Stakeholder perspectives”.
Türken, who is an Executive Board Member of semi-trailer producer Kässbohrer, said: “ESTA has an essential role to play in the discussions to endure that the requirements of abnormal transport are taken into account and understood, and also that resulting policy proposals are practical and deliverable.”
Intelligent Access is a system and regulatory framework that makes sure trucks and their loads are suited to the specific road and traffic conditions they use.
Its goals are to better manage roads and traffic, improve safety, ensure rules are followed, make transport more efficient, and support sustainability.
It works by using data—like the truck’s location, speed, and weight, along with infrastructure and traffic information—which is processed by private services and partly shared with public authorities.
Its supporters says that the aims are simple – to ensure that the right vehicle with the right load uses the right road at the right time – and that Intelligent Access is increasingly being seen as a future framework for freight transport policies in Europe.
Apart from ESTA, contributors to the event included Arjan van Vliet from the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure; Ana Pereira de Miranda from DG MOVE at the European Commission; Stephanie Leonard, Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at TomTom; Ivo Cré, Director of transport innovation body POLIS; and Marcel Otto from the Dutch water management and infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat. A round-table discussion was moderated by Steve Phillips CEDR’s Secretary-General.
Australia is already applying a similar Intelligent Access approach covering route compliance, infrastructure protection and conditional road access.
Türken continued: “From an ESTA perspective, it was important to highlight the difficulties our members face such as different permit systems and delays, varying escort requirements and infrastructure limitations.
“We can position ourselves as a bridge between policy and real operations, a provider of real use cases and constraints.
“For example, abnormal transport companies are carrying out – and paying for – engineering studies of roads and bridges to allow them to obtain the necessary permits.
“If they could feed a central system with the results of their studies, that system would soon contain much valuable information, perhaps avoiding the need for repeated surveys of the same piece of infrastructure, saving time and money.”
She concluded: “Some of the issues raised by the CEDR’s work are to an extent included in the work on the revisions of the EU’s Weights and Dimensions Directive and the Military Mobility Package, both of which are currently mailing their way through the legislative process in Brussels.
“For Intelligent Access, it is early days, but a Europe-wide policy would take the current planned reforms onto another level to the benefit not just of the transport sector, but the European economy as a whole.”
From left to right, the panel participants are: Ana Pereira de Miranda (European Commission – DG MOVE); Arjan van Vliet (Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure); İffet Türken (ESTA); Marcel Otto (Rijkswaterstaat); Ivo Cré (POLIS); Stephanie Leonard (TomTom / TISA).