ITS on the digitisation wave
During the ITS World Congress that is being held in Hamburg this week, the entire city around the trade fair and the port operations has become a real-life laboratory for intelligent transport systems.
Until Friday, 15 October 2021, around 10,000 participants will learn about mobility and logistics solutions of the future and watch "live" presentations of numerous pilot projects. These include an ETCS test track in the city with newly automated and robotised timing allowing 25 to 30% more trains.
The "Tabula-Log" project combines autonomous mini-bus transportation with a small delivery robot called "Laura."
At the Cruise Centre in Steinwerder, TBS Cargo uses magnet train technology to "walk" containers intended for transhipment on a 120-m-long track that was built in six months. The train is indeed surprisingly silent.
However, not everything is equally "revolutionary". Protected turning systems, for example, are still important and are already being tested at four intersections in the port area that are heavily frequented by trucks.
Hamburg's mayor, Peter Tschentscher, is pleased with "numerous gimmicks" from the real lab. More than 90 projects, which were of course heavily promoted by the ministry of transport in view of the ITS Congress, are on trial. Will they be pursued beyond the conference?
Tschentscher: "We are investing billions in the modernisation and digitisation of our infrastructure." As Europe's third-largest port, Hamburg in particular is inextricably linked with logistics, he adds. (kk)