ITS World Congress Hall of Fame winners

The ITS World Congress 2016 Hall of Fame winners have been announced and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 23rd ITS World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, 10-14 October, Melbourne, Australia.

The Awards recognise individuals, industries and local governments striving to set the bar higher and enhance the end user experience. Local solutions often have wider applications, ensuring international transport, safety and technology improvements, enhancing liveability in cities and communities.
Automotive research and development, high speed rail and real time travel projects have been recognised for their outstanding contribution to intelligent transport systems in the 2016 ITS World Congress Hall of Fame Awards from Asia Pacific region.

The 2016 ITS Asia Pacific, Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award winner is Dr Hiroyuki Watanabe, former Chairman 556 ITS Japan.  With a strong background in automobile research and development, he exercised leadership in product design projects with innovative technologies at Toyota Motor Corporation for more than 40 years, such as electronic stability control, hybrid powertrain and fuel cell batteries. Dr Watanabe played crucial roles as a thought-leader at the frontier of technological and social innovations with both precisely structured logic and ambition. He presented the concept of integrated approaches of policy, infrastructure, advanced vehicles, participation of general public and ITS technologies as an enabler and led a number of projects for automated vehicles, low carbon transportation and big data analyses. Dr Watanabe also reached out to the global ITS community to share ideas and experiences to create an inclusive society.

The 2016 Asia Pacific Industry Award has been won by Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC), Chinese-Taipei, the licensed entity with exclusive concession to own and run HSR Taiwan, regarded as the largest build-operate-transfer (BOT) project of public transportation infrastructure over the world until now. THSRC has successfully self-developed innovation and created the Smart Railway Services system with its smart applications into high speed railway operations management, emergency management and passenger services.

Winner of the Local Government  Award is the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Australia, whose vision is to create a single integrated transport network accessible to everyone. In a Queensland first, the Department has deployed a Real-Time Travel Information system that provides accurate service information for public transport stops and stations across the 376 TransLink South East Queensland network. The system uses on-vehicle 3G/GPS technology to track vehicles and combines timetable data with prediction logic to determine service departure times. This multi-modal service (bus, train and ferry) covers numerous local government jurisdictions and over 18 operators.

Winners of the European ITS Hall of Fame Award 2016, who will also be recognised during the ITS World Congress in Melbourne,  have been named as Professor Eric Sampson who has won the Lifetime Achievement Award. He has had a major impact on ITS development and deployment in his various roles first at the UK Department for Transport, as one of the founders of 374 Ertico, as a visiting Professor at four universities, and the ‘guardian of the content’ of the ITS European and World Congresses. He has actively worked in developing academic–industrial collaboration and increasing contribution of science and technology to transport policy-making. He has also supported ITS stakeholders, both veterans and newcomers, in an efficient and friendly manner.

The Association of French Motorway Companies (ASFA), one of the founding members of Ertico-ITS Europe, receives the Industry Award. ASFA is the professional association of road concessionaries and operating companies. Its 23 members operate more than 9,053 km of toll motorway network.

Meanwhile, the Local Government award has been awarded to the City of Olsztyn, Poland, which has faced several issues in term of traffic and public transport. It has successfully implemented a full ITS solution for its citizens and public transport users. The implementation includes several cameras and sensors within the public transport network, which was also equipped with passenger information boards, ticket machines and the implementation of the city card.

ITS World Congress Hall of Fame Winners from Americas region who will also be honoured during the ITS Hall of Fame Ceremonies in Melbourne are:  

• Lifetime Achievement:  Kirk Steudle, Director, Michigan Department of Transportation

• Industry: General Motors

• Local Government: Michigan Department of Transportation
  
  

“As host nation of the 2016 ITS World Congress, and on behalf of ITS Asia Pacific, many congratulations to this year’s Hall of Fame winners. The ITS industry is competitive and to be nominated and win an Award is a wonderful achievement. We look forward to welcoming the Hall of Fame winners from Asia Pacific, and from 560 ITS America and Ertico - ITS Europe, to Melbourne and recognising their significant contribution to the industry,” 858 ITS Australia CEO Susan Harris said.