IT-based intelligent transport systems (ITS) are systems in which information and communication technologies are used in the field of road transport for traffic and mobility management, and they are critically important for Latvia to comply with and be included in the common European mobility space. Developing ITS can improve traffic efficiency and safety, reduce time spent on the road and harmful effects on the environment, etc. ITS also open up opportunities for the development of new and innovative products, contributing to a national economy. According to preliminary estimates, 26 million euros are needed for the introduction of ITS in Latvia.
BRIEFLY
- By not implementing ITS in Latvia in a targeted manner, a negative impact is caused on both the public and private sectors, and we risk remaining in the “grey zone” of the European mobility space.
- ITS are being used increasingly to reduce the negative impact of transport systems on the environment. ITS solutions can improve transport systems, making them more efficient and sustainable.
- Since there is no strategy, a multi-year ITS implementation plan has not been developed in time regarding whether and what the next steps in the development of the National Access Point (NAP) will be and how it will be financed. For the successful operation of the NAP, regulatory framework should be elaborated.
- To address the challenges in ITS, the current governance model needs to change. In addition, the NAP should be established as a single point of contact for all transport and traffic sector data and its integration into the Latvian Open Data Portal should be evaluated.
The prerequisite for the implementation of ITS is the establishment of the NAP of the Latvian transport sector, where data is collected, processed and its availability for reuse is ensured. However, Latvia was one of the last EU Member States to implement it. The NAP has been publicly available to everyone since January 2024.
During the audit, the State Audit Office of Latvia assessed what was done so far and what was planned in the future and concluded that unfortunately, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) had not implemented ITS in a planned and coordinated manner. The fact that ITS is not implemented purposefully in Latvia has negative consequences for both the public and private sectors. “First of all, you cannot create new, innovative services without using the technological capabilities and data of ITS. Secondly, the public sector cannot make data-driven, informed decisions with poor use of data. ITS is a new, innovative field, and it opens broad opportunities for cooperation between state institutions and individuals, which would be beneficial both at the individual and national level. It is important that we do not remain in the “grey zone” in the European mobility space, therefore creating prerequisites for the targeted implementation of ITS in Latvia is crucial,” explained Ms Ilze Bādere, Council Member of the State Audit Office of Latvia.
With the introduction of ITS, various transport services are available to road users, e.g., traffic management solutions and smart road signs, real-time traffic information, route planners and navigation tools, public transport route, service time and actual location information, information on available parking spaces and their actual filling, location and status of the nearest alternative gas stations, warning on dangerous weather conditions on certain road sections, use of digital solutions for paying toll roads. Increasingly, ITS is being used to reduce the negative impact of transport systems on the environment. ITS solutions can improve transport systems, making them more efficient and sustainable.
Although the ITS Directive was already adopted in 2010 and the definition of ITS has been included in the Road Traffic Law since 2012, Latvia was in no hurry to establish the NAP and develop ITS services purposefully. Latvia is one of the last EU Member States to start the development of the NAP only after the infringement procedures against Latvia initiated by the European Commission in 2020. The NAP was handed over for public use in January 2024, the environment created for 4.9 million euros and portal with the first published data sets (annual maintenance will cost 435,000 euros). By gradually expanding and effectively using the NAP data, involving the private sector, services in the field of ITS can be created and developed and also generate measurable benefits, which were estimated at 16.3 million euros per year during the policy planning.
Since there is no strategic vision for the future of ITS in Latvia, there is also no plan for the implementation of these systems
“ITS should be an integral part of large road infrastructure projects. However, due to the absence of a strategic vision, a clear action plan, and also a plan for the wider implementation of the NAP, there are no clear “rules of the game” for those involved in the development of highways,” stated I. Bādere.
Best practice dictates that a strategy is needed, moreover, the outsourced experts had already prepared a draft strategy in 2017. For example, the expert evaluation includes the goals of ITS implementation and proposed activities with high priority, including (1) improve road safety, (2) optimize the collection of real-time data on road conditions, traffic, and driving conditions, (3) integrate ITS solutions into essential road infrastructure projects and ensure that ITS solutions are an integral part of them, (4) improve ITS infrastructure capabilities and functionality to manage a transport network effectively. Since there is no strategy, a multi-year ITS implementation plan has not been developed in time regarding whether and what the next steps in the development of the NAP would be and how it would be financed. In addition, the lack of a plan to add new data sets for publication in the NAP means that the capabilities are not being used to their full potential.
To solve the problems in the field of ITS, the current organizational model needs to be changed
In the maintenance of NAP and the development of ITS, there is no clear division of roles between the Ministry of Transport (the authority responsible for the development and implementation of ITS policy) and state-owned Limited Liability Company “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” (Latvian State Roads) (obliged to establish and maintain the NAP). In addition, the delegation agreement envisages “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” Ltd to manage the implementation of ITS generally, so it is not possible to track and monitor the tasks to be performed by “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” Ltd and the performance of the achievable indicators accurately.
The current organizational model does not address problems in the field of ITS and basically provides cooperation and supervision only at the level of the NAP development project. Although the overall scope of the ITS and the operation of the NAP envisages many participants such as state institutions, state-owned and municipal enterprises, local and regional governments, the private sector (not only the Ministry of Transport and “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” Ltd), their responsibilities and duties are not defined. This hinders the identification of various needs and development ideas of Latvian institutions and the private sector, as well as the implementation of coordinated, complementary and non-duplicating ITS development solutions.
The NAP should be created as a single point of contact for all transport and traffic industry data and its integration into the Latvian Open Data Portal should be evaluated
Currently, data in the field of transport is available in a decentralized manner, it is accumulated in several places (state institutions, local and regional governments, state-owned or municipal enterprises) and is maintained by railway carriers, shipping lines, highway maintainers, and private service providers. In its turn, the NAP has published only the data sets maintained by “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” Ltd and only some data sets of other data owners received from the systems of “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” Ltd (bad road condition, temporarily slippery road, changing road signs, speed limits, and alternative gas stations).
Already since 2018, priority open data sets have been determined, including in the transport sector, for instance, data of the Road Transport Directorate on bus stops and their timetables. These data are available on the Open Data Portal but have not been implemented in the NAP. Therefore, the planning and implementation of the NAP as an access point in the field of open data takes place separately from the national open data policy in the field of transport. Continuing this way will waste resources maintaining the same data sets in different open data solutions. After the audit, the State Audit Office of Latvia calls on the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development to cooperate much more actively, especially now when decisions must be made on the implementation of the next data sets in the NAP. The State Audit Office also invites “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” Ltd to evaluate the possibilities of integrating the NAP into the Latvian Open Data Portal.
A regulatory framework should be developed for the operation of the NAP
The NAP is a state information system, so its operation should be regulated by an appropriate legal framework. However, when the NAP starts operating in 2024, the regulatory framework has not been developed and approved. Accordingly, the operation of the NAP, the distribution of duties and responsibilities of the parties involved, as well as the procedure for transferring data to the NAP etc. have not been determined. In the process of harmonizing draft regulatory acts, in the opinion of the auditors, there is a risk of extensive discussions about the responsibilities and deadlines of the participating institutions and local and regional governments, which can delay the adoption of regulatory acts significantly and thus prolong the transfer of data and availability in the NAP. “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” Ltd has also not identified the possibilities of transferring data from other institutions, the time and financial resources required for this, and plans to start solving these issues only this year.
The auditors point out that significant resources are currently being devoted to collecting the existing data of the transport sector and publishing it in the NAP, but the further use of this data for the development of various services, which is the main goal and planned benefit of the introduction of the NAP, is not encouraged. There is still no action plan to promote the NAP to obtain data sets from other institutions and publish them in the NAP. “When establishing Latvia’s NAP, it is important to make maximum use of the possibilities of this tool and ensure the broadest possible availability of data on the portal, so that it is a single point of contact for all involved. Otherwise, we risk that the NAP will not cover the most important and useful transport and traffic data for ITS service developers for a long time, which will hinder the development of new and innovative ITS services in the foreseeable future and will not ensure the potential contribution to the national economy,” explained I. Bādere.
Recommendations #PēcRevīzijas
The State Audit Office of Latvia has provided six recommendations to the Ministry of Transport after the audit and expects that after their implementation: (1) the further planning of ITS implementation will be targeted and coordinated by achieving the goals and estimated benefits of ITS development; (2) the NAP will be developed as a single, central data access point in the field of transport; (3) NAP data publications will be used more efficiently, as well as the regulatory acts regulating NAP activities will be adopted. The deadline for implementing the recommendations is April 2028.
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Additional information
Ms Signe Znotiņa-Znota
Head of PR and Internal Communication Division
Ph. + 371 67017671 | M. + 371 26440185 | E-mail: signe.znotina-znota@lrvk.gov.lv