Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/670 of 2 February 2022 supplementing Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the provision of EU-wide real-time traffic information services (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport (1), and in particular Article 7 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Article 3(b) of Directive 2010/40/EU sets as a priority action the provision of EU-wide real-time traffic information services for the development and use of specifications and standards.

(2) Article 6(1) of Directive 2010/40/EU requires the Commission to adopt specifications necessary to ensure compatibility, interoperability and continuity for the deployment and operational use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for the provision of EU-wide real-time traffic information services. The Commission establishes these specifications in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/962 (2), with a view to improving the accessibility, exchange, re-use and update of data required for the provision of high quality and continuous real-time traffic information services across the Union.

(3) Data continues to provide the contextual basis for the generation of real-time traffic information. As the deployment of ITS accelerates across the Union, it requires continued support in the form of increased and seamless access to existing and new data types relevant to the provision of real-time traffic information services, with a higher geographical coverage. Therefore, an update of the requirements on data provision is necessary to continue ensuring effective re-use in information services to end users. These updated requirements can potentially affect the entire data chain, from data sourcing, formatting and aggregation to distribution and inclusion in traffic information services.

(4) Article 5 of Directive 2010/40/EU provides that specifications adopted in accordance with Article 6 of this Directive should apply to the ITS applications and services when these are deployed without prejudice to the right of each Member State to decide on the deployment of such applications and services on its territory.

(5) These specifications should apply to the provision of all real-time traffic information services without prejudice to particular specifications adopted in other acts under Directive 2010/40/EU, notably Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 885/2013 (3) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 886/2013 (4).

(6) A market for the provision of real-time traffic information services already exists in the Union and it is in the interest of both the users and customers as well as the providers of those services that the right conditions are created for this market in order to be preserved and further developed in innovative ways. As regards the provision of real-time traffic information services, Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) sets out minimum rules for the re-use of public sector information throughout the Union. With respect to the re-use of data held by road authorities and public road operators, the rules established by this Regulation, in particular the ones concerning data updates, are applicable without prejudice to the rules established by the Directive (EU) 2019/1024. With respect to the re-use of data held by private data holders, the rules established by this Regulation do not impose sharing data free of charge. Data held by private data holders may be subject to licence agreements to regulate their re-use.

(7) Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) creates a European Union spatial data infrastructure in order to enable the sharing of and public access to spatial information (including the spatial data theme ‘transport networks’) across the Union with a view to supporting Union environmental policies, and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment. The specifications set out in this Regulation should be compatible with the specifications established by Directive 2007/2/EC and its implementing acts, in particular Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 (7). The extension of the application of these specifications to all data types on infrastructure might also promote further harmonisation in this field.

(8) Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) defines the road transport infrastructure that is part of the core and the comprehensive trans-European transport network. Recurring traffic externalities and other traffic management difficulties, such as congestion, air pollution or noise, are not limited to the trans-European road network or to motorways. In fact a significant share of recurring traffic congestion occurs in urban areas. Furthermore, EU-wide real-time traffic information services should allow door-to-door travel and should not be limited to the comprehensive network trans-European road network and other motorways. Member States should therefore apply these specifications to the entire road network, with the exception of roads not owned by a public road or transport authority. Roads owned by a public road or transport authority but assigned to a private entity in the form of a management concession should not be part of this exception.

(9) Specific data types considered crucial for the further development of reliable traffic information services and to improve traffic safety, such as traffic regulations, restrictions and road or lane closures, should be made available by road authorities or road operators. Due to their importance, those data types need to be made accessible as an earlier milestone compared to other data types.

(10) To allow the necessary developments in the field of data accessibility and standardisation to take place, a phased implementation should be considered. This phasing should provide a feasible and gradual increase in geographical coverage and accessibility to data. For that purpose, Member States should define a primary road network within their territory. To define this primary road network, Member States may re-use the network definition as required by Article 1 of Directive 2008/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (9).

(11) Given the diversity of data sources ranging from infrastructure based sensors to vehicles acting as sensors, it is important that the specifications are aligned to the relevant data categories and data types, covering multiple possible sources of the data and technology used to create or update the data.

(12) Where the measures provided for in this Regulation entail the processing of personal data, they should be carried out in accordance with Union law on the protection of personal data and privacy, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10), and, where applicable, Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (11). Parts of Directive 2002/58/EC also apply for the processing of non-personal data.

(13) In order to develop a harmonised and seamless provision of real-time traffic information services, Member States should rely on existing technical solutions and standards, provided by the European and international standardisation organisations, such as DATEX II (CEN/TS 16157 and subsequently upgraded versions) and ISO standards. For data types for which no standardised format is available, Member States and stakeholders should be encouraged to cooperate in order to reach an agreement on data definition, data format and metadata.

(14) Several dynamic location referencing methods already exist in the Union and are being applied in Member States. The use of different location referencing methods should continue to be allowed. Member States and stakeholders, however, should be encouraged to cooperate with a view to reaching an agreement on allowed methods for location referencing, if necessary through European standardisation bodies.

(15) The accessibility and regular update of data by road authorities and road operators are essential for enabling the production of up-to-date and accurate digital maps that are a key asset for reliable ITS applications. The digital map producers should be encouraged to integrate relevant data updates into their existing map and map update services in a timely manner. In order to comply with public policies such as road safety, service providers and digital map producers should collaborate with public authorities to correct inaccuracies in their data.

(16) The accessibility of accurate and up-to-date data are essential for the provision of real-time traffic information services across the Union. The relevant data are collected and stored by road authorities, road operators, holders of in-vehicle generated data, recharging and refuelling-related stakeholders, tolling operators and real-time traffic information service providers. In order to facilitate the easy exchange and re-use of these data for the provision of such services, road authorities, road operators, holders of in-vehicle generated data, recharging and refuelling-related stakeholders, tolling operators and real-time traffic information service providers should make the data, corresponding metadata and information on the quality of the data discoverable and accessible to other road authorities, road operators, recharging and refuelling-related stakeholders, tolling operators, real-time traffic information service providers, digital map producers via the national or common access point. The access point can take the form of a repository, registry, web portal or similar depending on the type of data. National or common access points may also point to other locations where the data can be accessed, without hosting the data itself. Member States should regroup the existing public and private access points in a single point enabling access to all the types of relevant available data that fall within the scope of these specifications. Member States may continue using the access points set up under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/962 and they should be free to decide to use the access points established under other delegated acts adopted under Directive 2010/40/EU as the national access points for the data falling within the scope of this Regulation.

(17) In order to allow road authorities, road operators, recharging and refuelling-related stakeholders, tolling operators, service providers and digital map producers to successfully and cost-efficiently discover and use the relevant data, it is necessary to properly describe the content and structure of this data using appropriate metadata.

(18) Real-time traffic information services need to be accurate in order to provide the best possible information to end-users in terms of reliability and timeliness. To improve the benefits for road users in terms of increased road safety and less traffic congestion, these services should also reflect the priorities of road authorities, as expressed for example through digitally accessible traffic circulation plans.

(19) These specifications should not oblige any stakeholder to start collecting any data that they are not already collecting or to digitise any data that is not already available in a digital machine-readable format. The specific requirements regarding the updates of data should only apply to the data that is actually collected and available in a digital machine-readable format. At the same time Member States should be encouraged to look for cost-effective ways that are appropriate for their needs to digitise existing data on infrastructure and data on regulations and restrictions.

(20) These specifications should not oblige road authorities or road operators to define or implement traffic circulation plans and temporary traffic management measures. They should not oblige service providers to share any of their data with other service providers. Service providers should be free to conclude commercial agreements between themselves for the re-use of relevant data.

(21) Member States and ITS stakeholders should be encouraged to cooperate to agree on common definitions of data quality with a view to use common data quality indicators throughout the traffic data value chain, such as the completeness, accuracy and up-to-dateness of the data, the acquisition method and location referencing method used, as well as quality checks applied. They should also be encouraged to work further to establish associated methods of quality measurement and monitoring of the different data types. Member States should be encouraged to share with each other their knowledge, experience and best practices in this field in the on-going and future coordination projects.

(22) It is acknowledged that the use of data and real-time traffic information services generated by private service providers and holders of in-vehicle generated data can represent a cost-effective way for road authorities and road operators to improve traffic management, road safety as well as infrastructure management and maintenance. Common FRAND terms should be used by public authorities when receiving these data or services for the above-mentioned tasks, in order to lower the barriers for access and create transparency on the conditions for re-use. Member States and relevant stakeholders are encouraged to define the common FRAND terms applicable to the re-use of the relevant data types for the execution of these public tasks.

(23) Private service providers may use data collected by road authorities and road operators as input data for their own real-time traffic information services. The specific terms and conditions applicable for such re-use of these data should be left to the parties concerned without prejudice to the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/1024 (12). Certain data types provided by road authorities and road operators, such as traffic circulation plans, traffic regulations and restrictions and temporary traffic management measures, should be re-used by private services providers in order to ensure the accessibility for road users to the relevant information via real-time traffic information services.

(24) In order to make sure that these specifications are correctly implemented, Member States should assess the compliance with the requirements concerning the accessibility, exchange, re-use and update of the data by the road authorities, road operators, digital map producers, tolling operators, recharging and refuelling-related stakeholders, holders of in-vehicle generated data and service providers. To that end the competent authorities should be free to rely on evidence-based declarations of compliance submitted by road authorities, road operators, digital map producers, tolling operators, recharging and refuelling-related stakeholders, holders of in-vehicle generated data and service providers. Member States should work together to harmonise their approach towards the assessment of compliance in the on-going and future coordination projects, which help to implement the specifications of this Regulation.

(25) These specifications do not limit the freedom of expression of radio broadcasters insofar as they do not oblige them to take any specific position with respect to the information to be disseminated, and leave sufficient room for the Member States to take account of their national constitutional traditions as regards the freedom of expression of radio broadcasters.

(26) Taking into account the extent of the required changes, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/962 should be repealed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions in Article 4 of Directive 2010/40/EU shall apply.

The following definitions shall also apply:

(1) ‘core trans-European road network’ means the road transport infrastructure that is part of the core network as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013;

(2) ‘comprehensive trans-European road network’ means the road transport infrastructure that is part of the comprehensive network as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013;

(3) ‘motorway’ means a road which is designated as such by the Member State in which it is located;

(4) ‘accessibility of the data’ means a possibility to request and obtain the data at any time in a digital machine-readable format;

(5) ‘static data’ means data that do not change often or on a regular basis;

(6) ‘dynamic data’ means data that change often or on a regular basis;

(7) ‘data update’ means any modification of the existing data, including its deletion or insertion of new or additional elements;

(8) ‘real-time traffic information’ means information derived from any data on the infrastructure, data on regulations and restrictions, data on the state of the network and data on the real-time use of the network, or the combination thereof;

(9) ‘real-time traffic information service’ means an ITS service that provides end-users immediately with real-time traffic information;

(10) ‘road authority’ means any public authority responsible for the planning, control or management of roads falling within its territorial competence;

(11) ‘road operator’ means any public or private entity that is responsible for the maintenance and management of the road and management of traffic flows;

(12) ‘service provider’ means any public or private provider of a real-time traffic information service, excluding a mere conveyer of data to data users;

(13) ‘tolling operator’ means any public or private entity taking the role of toll service provider or toll charger as defined in Directive (EU) 2019/520 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13);

(14) ‘data holder’ means any legal person, data subject or public or private entity who has the right to grant access to or to share the data types listed in the Annex under its control, in accordance with applicable Union or national law;

(15) ‘data user’ means any road authority, road operator, tolling operator, service provider and digital map producer or any other entity using data to create real-time traffic information or, where allowed by the terms and conditions determined by the data holder, using the data for other mobility related purposes;

(16) ‘end-user’ means any road user, natural or legal person, who has access to real-time traffic information services;