05
June
2019
|
11:53
Europe/Amsterdam

Smart innovation always gives emergency service vehicles the green light

Summary

The innovative invention “GreenFlow for BlueLights” automatically switches traffic lights to green for emergency service vehicles. This was announced by Dynniq and its partner KPN on June 3, 2019 at the ITS European Congress in Eindhoven. In Helmond this smart innovation will help to reduce traffic accidents involving priority vehicles (such as emergency service vehicles) and allow them to reach their destination faster and more safely.

With one press of the button, the clients – the province of Noord-Brabant and the municipality of Helmond – and technology partners Dynniq and KPN launched a major pilot project that gives right of way to emergency service vehicles (ambulance, fire brigade, police and highway agencies) at intersections in the municipality of Helmond. This pilot project is part of a national rollout of priority protocols within the framework of the Talking Traffic partnership. Thanks to the “GreenFlow for BlueLights” technology developed by Dynniq and the KPN Data Services Hub developed by KPN, on-call emergency service vehicles displaying a blue flashing light will be able to communicate with the traffic lights on their route. They will be recognized as priority vehicles and given right of way upon request, so they can negotiate intersections unhindered.

Innovation that prevents accidents and casualties

A total of 148 accidents involving priority vehicles took place in 2016 and 2017[1]. The most frequently occurring accidents (25%) involving priority vehicles occur at intersections controlled by traffic lights within built-up areas, in situations where the priority vehicles have been shown a red light and other motorists have been shown a green light. Driving a priority vehicle is not without its dangers. Because normal traffic rules are not followed, it is more difficult for other road users to predict how priority vehicles will behave, resulting in accidents and casualties.

Safer and more sustainable society

“Thanks to Talking Traffic’s data exchange infrastructure we are able to implement innovative technologies that make society safer and more sustainable,” says Cees de Wijs, CEO of Dynniq. “We are proud to facilitate this life-saving pilot in cooperation with our partners. To make sure such pilots can also be scaled up, it is important to create appropriate conditions that encourage the parties involved to make major investments and to embrace co-creation.”

Uniting parties in an open ecosystem

“We have created an open ecosystem for the mobility market, which unites companies and encourages them to develop innovative data solutions,” adds Anja de Vos, regional director South Netherlands at KPN. “The KPN Data Services Hub helps us to support organizations so they can share their data in a secure and scalable manner. But the issue also requires real-time data access. We are pleased that our efforts will help to improve road safety.”

The future of mobility

“In the Brainport region, you can already see the direction in which the future of mobility is heading,” says Elly Blanksma-van den Heuvel, mayor of the municipality of Helmond. “Helmond is dedicated to innovative technologies and smart mobility so we are happy to be part of this pilot, which will help to improve road safety in our city when priority vehicles are called into action.”

Christophe van der Maat, Mobility executive at the province of Noord-Brabant confirms this. “Innovations like this can be realized only if all parties work together – regionally, nationally and internationally. The GreenFlow pilot in the Brainport region is also in keeping with the image of Brabant, where we like to put innovations into practice. We learn from this and can further improve our knowledge so innovations can be implemented more widely. This means working together to improve comfort and safety for all road users.”

Underlying figures

In 2016 and 2017, accidents involving priority vehicles resulted in 1 fatality and 67 casualties, comprising 22 emergency workers and 46 other road users. Ambulances were involved in 55 accidents, police vehicles in 63 accidents and fire service vehicles in 27 accidents.

About Dynniq

Dynniq is a technology services provider that provides integrated solutions in the field of mobility, parking and energy. The company designs, develops and maintains high-grade technological solutions such as flow-related traffic systems, intelligent parking solutions and energy solutions based on, for example, solar energy or direct current. Dynniq employs over 1,600 people and is active in the European market as well as in South America, the United States and Canada.

About Talking Traffic

Dynniq and KPN are part of the Talking Traffic partnership, in which the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management collaborates with over 80 local authorities and around 20 market parties in the traffic industry, telecom sector, services sector and automotive industry to develop innovative traffic applications. The aim is to improve traffic safety, efficiency and flow on the Dutch road network – in the busiest regions and cities – by allowing road users and traffic systems to continuously exchange real-time data. The government and market parties are working together under a long-term innovation partnership running until 2020 to develop and operate innovative traffic applications like the ITLC [intelligent traffic light controller]. Talking Traffic’s ITLCs allow traffic to be controlled more intelligently and effectively.

[1] source: Statistics on accidents involving priority vehicles in 2016-2017 of the IFV [Physical Safety Institute] Priority Vehicle Knowledge Center