Greece
Greece supports and conducts applied research activities in the field of ITS and advance telecommunications. Greek Research organizations (e.g. ICCS, CERTH, NTUA, etc.) are present to all major European eSafety research projects (e.g. AIDE, PReVENT, IMAGINE-IT, IN-SAFETY, SAFESPOT, FeedMAP, HUMANIST etc.). The same is true for many Greek industries and SMEs.
The Athens traffic management system is operated from two control centers fed with data from a variety of sources including close circuit television cameras, traffic signals, video-detection cameras, ground loop detectors, speed radar devices and security personnel and traffic police on the ground, and applications are also based on Floating Car Data Technology.
Systems related to infrastructure on some branches of Greek motorways are ramp metering, express lanes, incident management, traffic monitoring, traffic control, signaling, real-time traffic information systems, tolling systems and tunnel management. RTMS traffic counting stations, which include RTMS multi-zone, radar-based vehicle detectors, will provide data to assist with network planning and operational issues.
A funding Programme for Freight and public transport fleets supported by the Ministry of Transport & Communications to develop Telematic infrastructure will facilitate ITS deployment.
Another funding program for SMEs funded by the Ministry of Public Works aiming at developing e-services for drivers, will facilitate the progress towards eSafety objectives through the exploitation of real time traffic data for the Athens’ area provided by the city’s Traffic Control Center. This program will support the development of other Infomobility services such as: dynamic routing, navigation, eCall, traffic alerts.
Greece is being represented in all European and World Fora in relevant issues (EC Committees, ERTICO, ITS Organisations, ITU etc.) and follows all major initiatives (e.g eCall).
During the last years a wide infrastructure was created which allowed Greek institutes to have a more active role in the relevant research. This includes research vehicles (CERTH, ICCS, NTUA, etc.), simulators, VR and simulation labs, telecom labs, sensor labs, etc. Greece has a significant presence in international Conferences in the areas of automotive and transport and specifically in ITS Congresses.
Road Safety Vision, Plans, and Targets
In order to devise a road safety strategy for Greece, the Greek Ministry of National Economy assigned a research project for the "Development of a Strategic Plan for the improvement of Road Safety in Greece 2001 - 2005" carried out by the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA-DTPE) in collaboration with the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB Transport Research). The strategic plan was completed in March 2001, and was subsequently adopted in June 2001 by the Interministerial Committee on Road Safety. Although road safety in Greece is a highly prioritised matter, statistics and facts on eSafety are limited.
On the basis of the international experience, and the particularities of the existing situation in Greece, the selected structure of the Greek road safety Strategic Plan concerns four main directions / programmes, which should be implemented by the four main State Authorities (Ministries) responsible for road safety and at the same time correspond to the four basic axes of actions necessary to improve road safety.
These four main programmes concern:
- The safe road environment (Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works)
- The safety of the road user and the safe vehicles (Ministry of Transport and Communications)
- The effective road safety enforcement (Ministry of Public Order)
- The effective post-crash treatment (Ministry of Public Health)
The objective of the introductory research project was the development of the first Strategic Plan for the improvement of Road Safety in Greece. The implementation of this plan has the potential to a decrease road fatalities by 20% (2005) and 40% (2015).
Road Safety Priorities
The analysis of the road accident indices at international level shows that Greece has one of the lowest road safety levels in comparison with all developed countries. This is not only due to its low macro-economic indices but also mainly due to the lack of a co-ordinated effort with appropriate measures concerning the road user behaviour, the vehicle inspection, and the improvement of road infrastructure and the better enforcement.
The specific measures that are foreseen under the aforementioned headings, comprise:
- Upgrade of the drivers' and instructors' training and examination systems
- Programmes of traffic education
- Improvement and implementation of the legislation framework
- Incentives for the improvement of passive safety equipment
- Research for the analysis of accident causes
- Improvement of the accident data recording system
- Improvement of the immediate intervention system
- Integrated enforcement programme
Road Safety Management Organisation
The general strategic road safety plan 2001-2005, harbours the development, implementation and evaluation of five annual programmes. The main prerequisite for the successful implementation of each priority action programme is the appropriate organisation of the four directly involved ministries. Therefore, from the very beginning of the five-year road Safety Programme, a co-ordination and monitoring unit inside each ministry will be established and endowed with the necessary funding. The Interministerial Committee on Road Safety is responsible for the overall implementation of the Strategic Plan.
Links
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece): Laboratory of Highway Engineering. The Transport Engineering Laboratory (TEL) of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) is a multidisciplinary research group that focuses on transport-related issues. The Laboratory aims at promoting applied research and new methodologies in the field of transport. AUTh co-operates with various Greek and foreign organisations in studies and research projects in Greece and abroad.
National Technical University of Athens (Greece): Transportation Planning and Engineering e.g. land, air and sea transport systems; traffic flow, public transport. Planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance and safety.
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