Het Dutch Urban Data Access Platform (UDAP) has been live since the 1st of January 2021: offering one central data platform where all information about smart mobility can be received and sent.
Menno Malta, the founder of Monotch and supplier of the software for the platform and accompanying dashboard, explains how it works in the SmartReads of the Smart Mobility platform of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. “All intelligent traffic light controllers (iTLCs) in the Netherlands use the new platform, but much more is possible.”
Smart mobility requires a smart exchange of information between road users and road authorities. On behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Monotch developed UDAP to enable fast, reliable and accessible data exchange between road authorities, road users and service providers.
UDAP application
We expect UDAP to benefit more efficient traffic flows in many municipalities. A range of diverse service providers can develop all kinds of valuable in-car information services based on the data. For example, UDAP can prioritise emergency services en warn other traffic users via the service providers (app or navigation). Malta: “If you are the only one on the road at night and you use Flitsmeister Onderweg or RingRing, then, in principle, the connected traffic lights will always give you the green light.”
Opportunities
Implementing these applications lies with the users, but UDAP facilitates the underlying data exchange. That makes a lot of applications possible. Malta: “From time to green and advisory speeds for road users via apps to prioritising road traffic at intelligent intersections. But in the future, we can also use it for measuring tire pressure via sensors and all kinds of other data. We expect several thousand additional infrastructural objects to be connected in the coming years.”
Send large bulk safely
The distinctive strength of UDAP and the software is the mass of volume that the system can receive and send with ultra-low latency. “The platform is built to exchange large volumes quickly and securely. We immediately see the result in the first practical case where all Dutch iTLCs are connected. An example: within a few milliseconds, data travels from the iTLC on the street to UDAP and on to the applications of road users along the way.”
750 operational iTLCs on UDAP
Safety and speed are a requirement but also a significant challenge. The rules for connection to UDAP are, therefore, deliberately strict. “At the moment, there are approximately 750 iTLCs that are operational. For each iTLC, it is recorded how quickly it responds to the data sent. If that response falls outside x number of milliseconds, the software will issue a warning. If the response time is not adjusted, we disconnect that iTLC from the system. After that, it must first be demonstrated that the iTLC meets the requirements before reconnecting to UDAP. These audits are important to prevent strange data from intervening that does not belong on the platform. Not every road operator can be connected to UDAP just like that. Continuing to test extensively for conformity to the quality requirements is an important measure to ensure the data security.” Menno explains.
You can read the entire Dutch article on the Smart Mobility AMA site.
