City settings and mobility challenges

Vigo is a city of almost 300,000 inhabitants located in the autonomous community of Galicia, in the northwest of Spain. Industrial centre of Galicia and reference harbour on the European Atlantic coast, the city concentrates an important activity related to automotive manufacturing. With 110 km2 the city leads the shipbuilding sector in Spain, has a very important automotive industry, with an OEM factory and a net of suppliers (Tier 1 and 2) and it is connected with an International airport and a touristic seaport.

The high concentration of companies and institutions from many different economic sectors means more than 540,000 people live, work or study in Vigo every day.

Vigo is well connected to the roads system, highways and motorways that connect it to other Galician capitals and major cities in Spain and Portugal. Its orography (e.g. high traffic density, sharp curves, slopes, tunnels, roadworks, fog and rain weather conditions,) gives rise to a complex network of peripheral roads that connect Vigo with the rest of the municipalities and parishes, as well as with the countryside.

Vigo has participated actively and continues to do so in different projects to improve urban mobility thanks to the development of connected and cooperative mobility technologies to provide solutions supported by intelligent services.

The main lines of development are focused on improvements in road safety and reduction of accidents, the improvement of traffic flow by solving saturation in the most critical points of the city, and environment protection promoting vehicles equipped with intelligent technologies and tackling the environmental issues.

C-ITS services

The C-ITS services which have been implemented in Vigo focus on safety and traffic efficiency, as drivers are provided with notifications aiming to improve attentiveness, inform about network conditions, and promote eco-friendly driving.

The services Road Works Warning, Road Hazard Warning (e.g. Traffic Jam Ahead Warning), Signal Violation Warning, GLOSA (Time to Red/ Time to Green), In Vehicle Signage (e.g. Dynamic Speed Limit), Probe Vehicle Data, Slow or Stationary Vehicle Warning, Motorcycle Approaching Indication are implemented on a large scale, covering main areas of the city of Vigo as well as main entrances to the urban zone (A55 and a AP9 highways). This whole area is commonly known as SISCOGA4CCAM corridor.

The C-ITS services implemented in limited scale or as proof of concept are Emergency Vehicle Warning, Warning System for Pedestrian, Green Priority, Emergency Brake Light, and urban Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC).

All services are supported by cellular communication technology, except the Green Priority and CACC supported by ITS-G5 communication technology.

C-ITS infrastructure

The necessary data for C-ITS services operation in Vigo rely on fusion of multisource data collected from a number of Traffic Info providers (e.g. DGT (Spanish Ministry of Traffic), Department of Traffic of Vigo Council, different traffic info apps, …)

Equipment installations include traffic light regulators, loop detectors, closed-circuit television cameras, and Variable Message Signs (VMS) while data are collected also from vehicles as well (Floating Car Data).

Regarding back-end systems, a GeoMessaging Platform developed by CTAG is responsible for C-ITS messages broadcasting considering the location of services end-users.

In addition, a tool developed by CTAG is available to monitor and integrate the C-ITS services in daily traffic management.

C-ITS App

The C-ITS App in Vigo has been entirely developed by CTAG, and is one single free app giving access to all the C-ITS services implemented in the road network of Vigo (SISCOGA4CCAM corridor). These services include infrastructure-to-vehicle safety, traffic efficiency and vehicle-to-vehicle safety. While driving, the application will be able to display different warnings, recommendations or signal information.

This type of information will provide to the user a safer environment where driving will be less stressful and will become a more positive and efficient experience. The app will be available soon in Google Play Store.

Moreover, the app provides interoperability as users can experience common C-ITS services in other cities where these services are applicable.

The C-ITS App in Vigo is a solution deployed on a large scale on the SISCOGA4CCAM extended corridor (including both urban and extra-urban environments), able to provide C-ITS services to several end-user groups. These services include infrastructure-to-vehicle safety (e.g., Road Works Warning, Road Hazards Warning, Emergency Vehicle Warning, Signal Violation Warning, Warning System for Pedestrian), traffic efficiency (e.g. Green Priority for emergency vehicles, Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory, In-Vehicle Signage, Probe Vehicle Data) and vehicle-to-vehicle safety (e.g., Emergency Brake Light, Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control, Slow or Stationary Vehicle Warning and Motorcycle Approaching Indication).

The C-ITS App in Vigo also provides real-time information about the phase of traffic lights (red, orange or green) while the driver is moving towards them and the time remaining for the phase change. By knowing in advance, the time for the phase change, the driver will be able to avoid sudden acceleration and braking, making driving more efficient.

End-users engagement

The end users of the C-ITS services in Vigo are both regular and professionals drivers. Regular drivers currently include CTAG employees and individual citizens either resident in Vigo or who need to travel to Vigo on a regular basis. In the future, the general public will be able to download and use the App free of charge. As for professional drivers, these include emergency vehicles, trucks and buses have been recruited. Some pedestrians are also involved in the proof of concept tests.

Local partnerships

The principal Stakeholder’s partnership, as CTAG like Pilot Site Leader in bold, are:

• CTAG
• Concello de Vigo

Associated:

• RadioTaxi
• VITRASA
• DGT Spain