About

The European C-Roads Platform is a joint initiative of European States and road operators deploying and operating secured and trusted C-ITS services all across Europe in order to significantly improve the exchange of information between vehicles and road infrastructure. The C-Roads Platform unites more than 20 European States working jointly on the strategic and coordinated implementation and operation of C-ITS services across Europe. C-Roads forms the basis for the setup of the European C-ITS ecosystem by enabling harmonised C-ITS deployments, and operation all across Europe, based on common C-ITS specifications. With the intent to ensure the desired spillover effect, from the achievements and lessons learned between the automotive industry and road operators, these communication profile specifications are made accessible to third parties.

The C-Roads Platform is steered by the C-Roads Platform Steering Committee which is composed by European State representatives which can be both, EU and non-EU Member States.  At the Steering Committee level decisions for contributing to the implementation and operation of interoperable C-ITS end-user services are done. In this respect specifications, which are proposed and recommended by specific Working Groups, are approved. These specifications form the basis for C-ITS deployments and operation of secured and trusted C-ITS services within the C-Roads member countries. This especially goes with technical specifications, which form an important element for deployment and procurement decisions along the European transport infrastructure.

Working Groups are installed as decision support for the Steering Committee to ensure proper decisions supporting pan-European interoperability. Individual experts contribute to these Working Groups to prepare proposals and recommendations.

The governance structure of the platform can be seen in the following picture.

In accordance with the European ITS Directive 2010/40/EU “cooperative intelligent transport systems” or “C-ITS” means intelligent transport systems that enable ITS users to interact and cooperate by exchanging secured and trusted messages, without any prior knowledge of each other and in a non-discriminatory manner.

Hereby ITS users are covering all vehicle types and users (public transport, vulnerable road users, bicycles, road workers, etc.). The envisaged C-ITS ecosystem includes Road-Side Units (RSUs) and central infrastructure elements and is based on security mechanisms as defined by EU certification.

In that respect, the European C-Roads Platform focuses on the proper setup of the European C-ITS infrastructure along the European Transport network to enable the exchange of secured and trusted messages supporting infrastructure operators as one key ITS user.

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) enable effective data exchange between actors and components of the transport system through wireless communication, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication. The deployment of C-ITS is a gradual process that started with simpler use cases known as “Day-1 services.” These include information about traffic jams, hazardous locations, road works, weather conditions, and speed advice to improve road safety and to optimise traffic flow. The primary aim is to make European roads safer by informing and warning users without distracting them.

The implementation and operation of C-ITS faces numerous challenges, including legal, organisational, technical, and standardisation issues, as well as procurement and governance complexities. The C-Roads Platform addresses these challenges by fostering collaboration among authorities and road operators to ensure harmonised and interoperable deployment of secured and trusted C-ITS services across Europe. It emphasizes sharing experiences, promoting user acceptance, and using national deployments as a foundation for pan-European implementation. All C-ITS implementations are tested across borders to demonstrate transnational interoperability in a multi-stakeholder environment.

Harmonisation is at the core of the C-Roads Platform, ensuring a sustainable and efficient deployment and operation of secured and trusted C-ITS services. Through its efforts, the C-Roads Platform plays a crucial role in supporting a cohesive and long-term operation of C-ITS across the European Union.

The C-Roads Platform unites State authorities and road operators as partners covering 21 European States, which can be both, EU and non-EU Member States. In particular, the C-Roads Platform is driven by partners from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In addition, associated partners from Europe (Croatia, Serbia, Switzerland) and abroad (Australia, Israel, New Zealand, Türkiye) are following C-Roads Platform activities.

Even if C-ITS deployments along the Trans European Transport road Network (TEN-T) formed the starting point of C-Roads activities, in the meanwhile an additional focus is on urban environments.