The kilometers of traffic jams and the number of traffic accidents in Belgium are constantly increasing. The solution lies not in upgrading road infrastructure, but in making it smarter. Mobilidata lays the foundation for safe and sustainable mobility.

The increasing urbanization of Belgium and especially Flanders brings with it many mobility challenges. Endless traffic jams in the morning and evening rush hours have been the order of the day for years and the more road users, the higher the risk of (fatal) traffic accidents. There have been more than 300 fatalities on Flemish roads since 2019. The many traffic jams are not only frustrating for road users, but also have a negative effect on the climate due to the high level of environmentally harmful emissions.

Strong mobility is a basic requirement for economic and social growth. But our country’s road infrastructure is clearly reaching its limits. Due to the lack of open space, there are few expansion options. In the future, it will therefore be crucial to use the existing infrastructure more efficiently and economically. The key to this is the use of data in the transport network.

For this reason, the Mobilidata project was launched in 2019, a collaboration between private and public organizations to solve the mobility problem. The aim is to set up smart data systems that provide road users with traffic data in real time. With this, Mobilidata wants to achieve more pleasant mobility for all types of road users.

Don’t invent the hot water

We spoke to Wim Vandenberghe, expert in intelligent transport systems at imec and the Flemish Agency for Roads and Transport. He immediately makes it clear to us that Mobilidata is not an attempt to invent hot water.

“The area C-ITS (cooperative intelligent transport systems) has been around for fifteen years,” says the engineer. “During this period, various technical options for realizing C-ITS applications have emerged, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. After the necessary study work, it was decided to base Mobilidata on the same concepts that European initiatives such as C streets And Traffic safety data And TalkingTraffic from the Netherlands. They have shown that using 4G networks, cloud services and smartphone applications can create a channel for super-fast data exchange.”

“Because these technical concepts are already common today, applications that warn of dangers or regulate the flow of traffic more efficiently can be rolled out more quickly. Based on this principle, we have built a specific infrastructure of data and applications aimed at exactly what mobility in Flanders needs,” says Vandenberghe, who clarifies his point that you don’t always have to invent hot water to be innovative .

Intelligent traffic lights

The moment of the rollout has come for Mobilidata. Vandenberghe looks ahead: “For the initial introductory phase, we proposed 31 traffic solutions. The construction of the platform was complex and also completely new; we also want to roll it out as a completely open ecosystem. Over time we will add more use cases and allow parties to join. For the time being, the focus is briefly on further thorough testing of developments and the actual roll-out of all approved use cases.”

What does that mean in concrete terms for Flemish road users? Vandenberghe has the following answer to this question: “The solutions will be added to partner apps such as Flitsmeister and Karta GPS with future updates. Once the platform has proven sufficiently stable and valuable to the end user via this initial rollout, we can then turn our arrows to other parties. It is important to be able to prove with practical examples that interested affiliate companies can also do something for their users.”

One of the first projects that Mobilidata wants to realize is the introduction of intelligent traffic lights. This allows the light control to be adjusted proactively for a smoother traffic flow. For example, certain types of vehicles, such as ambulances, fire engines en route to an emergency, or buses that are running late, may be given priority at a traffic light to clear the way.

Setting up a system to warn road users about current traffic situations such as accidents, traffic jams or the risk of skidding or “static infrastructure” such as traffic signs is also at the top of the wish list, emphasizes Vandenberghe. In addition, data can also provide added value when searching for parking spaces where they are scarce. The current list of applications is therefore far from complete.

Open but subject to conditions

In order for Mobilidata to be profitable, there must be good interaction between the parties involved. Public transport authorities publish information in the data network, which service providers make available to road users via their own channels. Traffic can also go in the opposite direction as users can also provide feedback on the information.

The Mobilidata ecosystem is open to anyone interested, but not just like that. Vandenberghe explains: “The quality of the information is crucial, so we can only admit reliable parties. Companies that want to access the data themselves or share data with the ecosystem must meet certain conditions, which are now being finalized.”

In addition to quality, data protection is also an important point in the development of Mobilidata, assures Vandenberghe. The platform must also comply with European data protection regulations. “Mobilidata is a government service that can help road users move safely and smoothly. It is absolutely not intended that the government can control road users via this system. Therefore, the applications are not directly connected to government systems. This is done through the backend of the service provider, which only shares essential data with the ecosystem while complying with the requirements of GDPR legislation.”

Vandenberghe hopes the partner ecosystem will expand quickly. “The growth of the ecosystem is important in order to achieve the hoped-for impact with Mobilidata. Nobody seems to doubt the architecture anymore, it was different at the beginning, but how the cooperation between the public and the private sector will develop is still open. That is why we regularly organize events with various stakeholders.”

From smart traffic to smart city

With Mobilidata, Flanders is taking a first step towards safer, more efficient and more sustainable mobility. Every road user on our roads will ask for it. But the uses do not have to be limited to mobility. Intelligent traffic must form the basis for the smart city, says Vandenberghe.

“For example, data from a city’s logistics network can be linked to traffic data. Although the architecture you need may be completely different in a different context. That’s why we also involved other disciplines in the Mobilidata project. Whatever you do with the data, I’ll reiterate to make sure you’re not trying to reinvent hot water.”