In recent years, an increasing number of European cities have started introducing different kinds of Urban Vehicle Access Regulations (or UVARs) to manage air quality, climate change, congestion and the protection of historic centres. The types of UVARs deployed include Low Emissions Zones, Congestion Charges, Limited Traffic Zones, Parking Regulations and Pedestrian Zones. Their implementation brings opportunities but also certain challenges.
CORTE plays a role in addressing these challenges as a partner in a new EU project UVAR Exchange which aims to enhance the experience of road users by improving the communication of information to drivers in the vicinity of UVARs, as well as to facilitate the city’s access to information, especially of foreign vehicles and drivers, for their seamless travel and the city’s enforcement of UVARs. Communication to drivers will be improved by addressing the need for EU-wide harmonised physical signs and variable message signs (VMS) for different UVARs, as well as by demonstrating the provision of information to the vehicle via Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS) messages. The project will address the cross-border sharing of vehicle information, which will on one hand, allow the automatic compliance check of foreign vehicles, reducing the need for multiple pre-registration (and related fines). On the other hand, with access to vehicle information, cities will be able to effectively enforce non-compliant vehicles.