ENT3: Trans-national architecture for multimodal information

Background and contents

The need for the Action Group was identified as a result of the Targeted Workshop on "ITS and reliability of passenger transport", which was carried out on the 29th and 30th of November 2004 in Paris, France. Five countries (Finland, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden) expressed their interest for co-operation on the subject of an international architecture for multimodal information.

Key ideas and objectives

The action group ENT3 has decided to produce a short report summarizing, on a European level, the different topics that could be seen as prerequisites for building a transnational architecture for multimodal information (e.g. : database of stoppoints …). This report will mention the existing projects, standards, standardization works… and then identify/synthetize the gaps or missing spots in these main topics relevant for ENT3 and list them with the different things that must be done on each point in order to promote the appearance of a transnational architecture for multimodal information.

Participating countries

Finland, France (leader), Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Expected results and aim of cooperation

It is expected to retrieve a trans-national strategy in this field that gives partner countries an indication on core interests of other countries and can serve as a solid foundation for common cooperation and coordination activities. A concrete cooperation action shall not be the objective of this action group. However it can be recommended for other or newly to be founded action groups.

Status and intermediate results

The ERA-NET TRANSPORT initiatives on the topic "Transnational architecture for multimodal information" were at first heading towards project clustering of currently ongoing national projects or setting up new joint projects in the field of architecture for multi-modal information.

The kick-off meeting of this action group was held between France and Norway. The discussions went on pre-trip planning and the foreseen developments for the Action Group based on several key topics : back-office architecture, business models, disabilities, different languages, interoperability with other services have to be taken into account….

The second meeting gathered all 5 participating countries together. A large overview of participating countries' ongoing research programs related with ENT3 was presented. Various existing architectures were presented (Arktrans, MeriArkki, ACTIF, TosiArkki…).

After the two first meetings, the participating countries to this Action Group have come to the conclusion that it will be difficult, regarding to existing architectures, to achieve a european framework architecture without working on either standardization or interoperability on several key issues. These reflexions and agreements must exist before building a transnational global architecture.

During the third meeting, ENT3 decided to build a final report (could be regarded as the technical annex of the MoU) that will include following components :

A short overview on “political organization for travel information”
A summary of the different topics of interest for ENT3 and that could be seen at prerequisites for building a transnational architecture for multimodal information. A final document will identify and synthetize the gaps or missing spots in these main topics and list them with the different things that must be done on each point.

In order to promote activities and works in ENT3 to a wider audience and also to get other European countries involved in this AG, ENT3 partners have decided to :

participate in IST conference 21-23 November in Helsinki
use ITS international network to enlarge our cooperation
organize a meeting in Brussels with the DG-TREN and get a cross-presentation with the TransportDirect team.

The fourth meeting was held in Brüssels with the participation of DG-TREN and TransportDirect as foreseen.

The possibility of a co-ordinated call has not been turned down.