Dear Readers,

It is our pleasure to launch the third issue of OJP4Danube Newsletter. With each new issue, we will try to enhance the exchange of significant information on our common multimodal cross-border trip within the OJP4Danube project.

Contents of OJP4Danube Newsletter#3:

• Welcome from ICS
• OJP4Danube Status: Outputs and Deliverables of WPs (September 2021 – March 2022) 
• Current Events: Conferences, Meetings, Presentations and Publications (September 2021 – March 2022) 
• Prospective Project-related Events (March 2022 – on)
• Status of Deliverables
• OJP4Danube Social Media Channels Update
• OJP4Danube Publication and Conference Options

Welcome from ICS

The Institute for Computer Science and Control (ICS) is an expert in concept and strategy building, analysis of passenger transportation systems, evaluation of multimodal journey planners, implementation of routing algorithms, handling of different data formats, testing and validation, and supporting application development. With this technical expertise, the Institute is a part of the Core development team in the project and in putting forward the knowledge from LinkingDanube where it has developed various ICT-tools. Using that experience, ICS is leading “WP T2 Development of tools and methods for interconnection of multimodal transport networks”, and within the WP, it mainly contributes to the multimodal transport network connection and the mock-up service development. 
 

n the project, ICS supports the strategy creation, the tool development, the pilot construction (WPT3), and the development of e-learning materials. The mission of ICS includes the transfer of up-to-date research results and state-of-the-art technology to university students. The Institute is very active in providing graduate and postgraduate education and cooperating with most technical universities in Hungary. As the Institute’s research and development activity aims primarily at generating custom-designed computer-based application and implementing the related software, we are especially grateful that we have the opportunity to provide our expertise in realizing effective multimodal networks. Our scientists and engineers have sufficient theoretical, technological, and methodological competence to support the implementation of strategic and functional plans of a complex system, followed by a software design and system development. With the completion of the project, we believe that not only technical solutions will be realized, but quite a few benefits will be gained by the end users, while seamless planning of multimodal travelling is enabled.

Sincerely Yours,

Dr. Domokos Esztergár-Kiss
Senior Research Fellow
The Institute for Computer Science and Control
Budapest, Hungary

OJP4Danube Status: Outputs and Deliverables of WPs (September 2021 – March 2022)

WP T1: O.T1.1 – Strategy for a Coordinated and Aligned Deployment of Open Journey Planning (OJP) by ATE, Vienna, Austria

The output describes the strategy for a coordinated and transnational deployment of Open Journey Planning (OJP) and defines the long-term framework regarding the organization and operation of the network of journey planners after the project. The focus is not only within the consortium of OJP4Danube but also on the potential European wide implementation. The strategy describes the legal framework, technical standards, various system architectures, possible governance and cooperation structures as well as organizational processes. Furthermore, the output provides basic information about the cooperation within the network as well as an overview of requirements that future adopters have to fulfil to become part of the network.

OJP4Danube — Project Implementation at KORDIS JMK, Brno, Czech Republic

For almost 20 years KORDIS is interested in connecting the South Moravian region to cross-border towns in Austria and Slovakia. Regarding the establishment of bus and train lines, we have had a success. We have got connections in our tariff to Austria by bus to Laa/Thaya, Drosendorf and to Retz by train. There are also local trains going from Breclav to Hohenau – Wien. In the summertime, there is a tourist-bus-line Mikulov-Poysdorf-Valtice. Similar cross border connections are operated towards Slovakia. The infrastructure already exists, and locals know these lines.  However, there is still an important issue – journey planners of the neighbouring regions are not interconnected. It is very easy to find a connection within the Czech Republic, but if you want to get to the neighbouring town in Austria or Slovakia, the connection in journey planner is not available even if it exists. We believe there is a solution. That is why we are in the OJP4Danube project.

Current Events: Conferences, Meetings, Presentations and Publications (September 2021 – March 2022)

1.1. 3rd OJP4Danube SCOM

The 3rd OJP4Danube SCOM took place on September 21, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 situation, it was only held virtually. Part of the SCOM was the First Year Review. Therefore, Horst Schindler and Mirjana Petrovic (JS) joined the SCOM and provided feedback on the project progress.  

1.2. OJP4Europe event

On September 22, 2021, the OJP4Europe event took place, organised as a cross-project meeting of the consortia of the Interreg projects OJP4Danube and LinkingAlps as well as representatives of EU-Spirit. The overall objective of that occasion was to bring all interested and already involved stakeholders together, foster knowledge exchange and strengthen the collaboration between the key OJP-based journey planning networks across Europe and even beyond. The agenda included presentations from the European OJP projects, setting the focus on their individual use-cases and contributions, as well as insights from the currently ongoing revision of the ITS directives presented by a representative of the European Commission.

Holding this event was a great success. About 90 participants online and on site in the AustriaTech premises joined the speeches and the following discussions, sharing their experiences and challenges. Overall, a strong commitment to a European-wide collaboration to continue the development of OJP-based transnational journey planning services from all participants was noticeable. We are excited to see what we can achieve in the future.

Front from left to right: Roberto Cavaliere (STA), Matthias Günter (SBB), Anina Döbeli (BAV), Markus Liechti (BAV), Andreas Partusch (VAO)
Back from left to right: Martin Böhm (ATE), Bettina Neuhäuser (VAO), Patrick Dejaco (STA), Daniela Gamper (ATE), Stefan Mayr (VAO), Gerhard Menzel (BMK), Helge Molin (BMK)

1.3. OJP4Danube 3rd Project Management Team (PMT) meeting

On November 16, 2021, there was held 3rd Project Management Team (PMT) virtual meeting organised by ATE. During the meeting, OJP4Danube Project Progress Report 2 was overviewed and evaluated by ATE. The project management members discussed the status of all WPs, upcoming deadlines of the deliverables and further strategies for successful project tools implementation. Martin Böhm (ATE) wrapped up the meeting:

1.4. 4th OJP4Danube SCOM

On February 28, 2022, the 4th OJP4Danube SCOM took place virtually hosted and moderated by ATE. The meeting was moderated by Martin Böhm (ATE). The agenda included presentations from each work package leader. Special attention was given to work package T3 as the assessment of the exchange points is currently underway and is of great importance. Furthermore, both Outputs developed in the last Reporting Period, O.T2.3 "Validation Tool" and O.T4.1 "E-learning Webtool" were approved by the Steering Committee. The following important steps will be the development of the National Action Plans, documents created by each implementer defining the necessary steps to include OJP into the organizational and operative processes and facilities, and the expansion of the provided content on the E-learning platform.

Prospective Project-related Events and Activities (March 2022-on)

Submitted proposals:

ITS European Congress 2022 

One priority for OJP4Danube for 2022 is to prepare for wider dissemination of results. Two congresses were highlighted as particularly in line with the aims of the project: the Transport Research Arena (TRA conference, https://traconference.eu/), from 14th to 17th November 2022 in Lisbon, and coming soon, the ITS Europe Congress (https://itseuropeancongress.com/), from 30th May to 1st June in Toulouse. The Core Development Team (CDT) therefore went ahead with submitting one research abstract for TRA and a special interest session for ITS Europe.

The ITS European Congress is a leading event providing the occasion for learning, for networking, for sharing innovative solutions and presenting all that is great about European Mobility. Over the years, the ITS European Congresses have established a unique platform where mobility stakeholders can form an extensive network of collaborations, exchange knowledge and create synergies with other EU projects in the area of smart and sustainable mobility and transport.

The 14th edition of the ITS European Congress, organized by ERTICO ITS Europe and Toulouse Metropole, offers a unique opportunity for all active players of the mobility ecosystem to promote their cutting-edge solutions and products concerning the ongoing development of smart and sustainable mobility. Participating top mobility experts will have a possibility to attend specialist discussions called research paper sessions and special interest sessions (SIS), and present mobility topics focused on existing challenges, emerging technologies, and future trends. 

The University of Zilina (UNIZA), as a partner in the OJP4Danube project and the leader of dissemination & communication work package (WPC), proposed the organization of a half-day special interest session entitled "Speeding up European Integrated Multimodal Journey Planning." OJP4Danube, LinkingAlps, EU-Spirit and Ride2Rail are four examples of EU projects working towards the development and coordination of cross-border multimodal travel information services based on the ITS directive. The premise for the session is that these projects approach the problem differently from a system architecture and data format point of view. This session therefore will pull in high-level speakers and panellists from DG MOVE, UNIZA, ELSOL, ICS, ATE and UITP to discuss technical options, potential innovative solutions, and policy needs to fully implement seamless and coordinated multimodal journey planning services across Europe. 

This event will take place in Toulouse, France, from 30th May to 1st June 2022.

TRA Conference in Lisbon 

The research paper submitted to TRA is entitled “Enabling Multimodal Cross-border Trip Planning in the EU: Learnings from the Interreg OJP4Danube Project”. It is a truly team effort covering all innovative aspects of the OJP4Danube project in terms of architectural design, algorithms to enable cross-border routing, and user interface features and designs. The submission was accepted for presentation under Track 3.1 “Single market for TEN-T and the Wider Europe” with the focus on cross-border information integration and interoperability. The team was asked by reviewers to reflect on both additional functionalities that could be added as they become relevant and the flexibility and adaptability of the OJP4Danube system.
The CDT team is looking forward to taking part in these two key events!

OJP4Danube-related occasions in 2022. Feel free to apply:

• 30th International Symposium on Electronics in Transport (https://isep.si/ ) – 28/03/2022 –Ljubljana, Slovenia.
• Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility (https://csum.civ.uth.gr/) – 31/08/2022 -02/09/2022 – Skiathos, Greece.
• the 10th Symposium of the European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART) (https://heart2022.com/)  – 31/05/2022 – Leuven, Belgium.

Status of Deliverables

D.C. 1.3. Project Leaflet: e-version published 10/12/2021

A total of 1100 printed versions sent out to physical addresses of project partners in January 2022.

D.C. 1.3. Brochure on the OJP4Danube Strategy (policy brief format): e-version published 20/12/2021

A total of 450 printed versions sent out to physical addresses of project partners in January 2022.

OJP4Danube Social Media Channels Update

The OJP4Danube website serves as a dissemination and communication instrument for the project. The project website is envisaged as the main gateway to the outside world, including key project information. 
The project website is hosted by INTERREG DTP platform.
Every month the UNIZA Communication Team publishes a story about one of the partners of OJP4Danube on its social media. You can also find all current and prospective events on our Facebook and LinkedIn channels. See the latest ones:

Please visit us and share information about us via the following media:
 
Social media channels – LinkedIn, Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ojp4danube
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9016380/

OJP4Danube Publication Options

Dissemination through high-ranked scientific journals:

1. Transportation Q1: https://www.springer.com/journal/11116
2. Transportation Research Part A-policy And Practice Q1: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/transportation-research-part-a-policy-and-practice
3. Transport Policy Q1: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/transport-policy
4. Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems Q2: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gits20
5. IJURR - International Journal of Urban and Regional Research: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/14682427/homepage/productinformation.html
6. Sustainability (MDPI) Q2: Special Issue -   Intelligent Mobility: Technologies, Applications and Services: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/IMTAS

Dissemination to broad public:

1. Magazine of the Institute of the Regions of Europe: https://institut-ire.eu 
2. European Week of Regions and Cities: https://europa.eu/regions-and-cities/