EasyWay is a project for Europe-wide ITS deployment on main TERN corridors driven by national road authorities and operators with associated partners including the automotive industry, telecom operators and public transport stakeholders. It sets clear targets, identifies the set of necessary ITS European services to deploy (Traveller Information, Traffic Management and Freight and Logistic Services) and is an efficient platform that allows the European mobility stakeholders to achieve a coordinated and combined deployment of these pan-European services. EasyWay incorporates all current Euro Regions and facilitates the integration of new Member States and new areas such as the Baltic countries, Greece and Southern Italy. It reinforces the cooperation between the existing participating countries by providing a new integrated framework with clear objectives and reporting.

EasyWay objectives

ITS are very effective in mitigating the negative effects of transport in Europe. To achieve a really good grip on the effects of ITS, it is necessary to put the European road user at the centre of the perspective. The White Paper, to which the EasyWay Programme is linked, sets targets for 2020 to make a positive impact on traffic flow, traffic safety and the environment. The EasyWay programme activities stretch over a seven-year period, from 2007 until 2013, but set the targets for 2020 similar to the White Paper. To promote future creativity, more ambitious targets are set for future years according to the experiences gained by the Swedish “Vision Zero” and the Hessian “Zero Congestion Vision” and will be transferred to a European scale. The targets for EasyWay are therefore projected for the year 2020. From analysis of the current effects and estimates of the potential of ITS, the following main objectives of the EasyWay Programme have been established:

Traffic safety improvement · Traffic flow/reduction of congestions · Better environment

EasyWay priorities

• Important  European Corridors crossing international, regional
  and natural obstacles (such as the Alps and the Pyrenees);
• Institutional borders;
• Large conurbations connects to urban network and public transport;
• Important seasonal peaks;
• High percentage of HGV on the corridors (up to 30% on some stretches);
• High percentage of foreign drivers (up to 40%); and
• The gaps in terms of systems and services deployed on the TERN
  to achieve Europe-wide coverage to an appropriate level of service (Interoperability).

EasyWay partners will undertake projects to achieve the above objectives, deploying ITS services in the fields of Traffic Management, Travel Information and Freight and Logistics. The current level of service needs to be enhanced by improving the existing infrastructure and systems, filling in remaining gaps in network coverage and ensuring a continuity of service on the TERN corridors.

Elements of EasyWay

• An integrated approach to major road network (TERN) management
• Focus on the deployment of (common) seamless European services
• A number of Expert & Studies Groups
• Enhance the evaluation of activities and exchange of best practices
• Optimal integration of new Member States and candidate countries
• An integrated approach to TERN operation, fostering cooperation
  between infrastructure and the vehicle, with the involvement of the private sector
• Upgrade urban interfaces and support co-modality
• Introduction of the EasyWay secretariat