Copenhagen, one of the world’s premier cycling cities, was the host of the MegaBITS third in-person meeting which took place between on the 12th and 13th of March. Despite the eery and foggy weather conditions, MegaBITS partners irradiated enthusiasm and ideas for how the project would achieve its goals for the next 6 months.
Figure 1: MegaBITS Partners presenting during the Steering Group meeting in Copenhagen.
Some key takeaways from the meeting include:
- City and Regional partners are at the early stages of their implementations. Increasing cooperation between the partners on their implementations was highlighted as an important way the project would be able to maximise its impact and ensure that efforts are not duplicated.
- Partners were enthusiastic about developing new sources of data to improve cycling. Notably, several of the partners reinforced their willingness to develop Floating Bike Data. Given the pioneering nature of this work, setting up work to standardise the nature of this data set will continue to be a priority for the project.
- The group heard from the City of Copenhagen’s Traffic Department about how their smart traffic lights and ‘green wave’ system operates. Several partners within the project are looking to deploy such technologies or other types of GLOSA (Green Light Optimized Speed and Advisory) systems, so the deep-dive provided by Copenhagen in this area was highly appreciated. In addition, the practical demonstration from the City of Copenhagen of their VMS (Variable Message Signs) illustrated to partners how this technology can incentivise more cycling.
- Project partners also explored how synergies could be developed with other European initiatives, such as the Meridian project, the NAPCORE initiative as well as how collaboration with other cities external to the project could be valuable. Partners were keen to work with partners such as POLIS to collaborate on cycle data standards.
- Events such as Velo-City in Ghent (18 – 21 June), Smart Cities Expo (5 – 7 November), and the upcoming Transport Research Arena conference (15 – 18 April) in Dublin were all signalled as important opportunities to showcase the developments of the project.
- While still in the early stages of implementation, it is vital to consider the impact these implementations should have and how they will be assessed. Good evaluations are crucial for further replication. Under the leadership of Chalmers University, participants collectively elaborated on the expected effects of implementations and how they will be measured. The main goal: fostering a greener transport system through increased cycling.
Providing project partners with the valuable opportunity to meet face to face enables genuine rapport to develop between all those involved in the project. As the host of this meeting, a huge thank you to the City of Copenhagen for its warm hospitality and excellent bike tour offered. The project would also like to thank Interreg North Sea Programme advisor Peter Racz for making it to Copenhagen to meet the partners and give an update on the Interreg North Sea Programme’s administrative and reporting processes.
Figure 2: Cycling Tour of Copenhagen Cycling ITS Implementations and Landmarks