EU helpt met de implementatie van 'River Information Services' in Frankrijk (en)

A project to improve River information Services (RIS) in France was selected for funding under the 2010 TEN-T Calls and will receive an EU contribution of €1.16 million until December 2013. The “River Information Services II (RIS II)” project involves equipping barges and other vessels with transponders as well as the deployment of Automated Identification System (AIS) antennae on the French high capacity network and the development of new information services. This aims to make cargo transport and passenger services on inland waterways more efficient and ecologically sound while, at the same time, increasing traffic safety.

River Information Services (RIS) are customised information services for inland waterway transport which make it possible to co-ordinate logistical processes with actual transport situations on a constant basis.

This RIS II project builds on the RIS I project, which was also financed by the TEN-T budget to set up pilot installations for RIS. Once completed, the RIS II project will allow for the real-time collection and analysis of traffic data on the French fluvial network offering additional services to vessel owners, logistic operators and authorities.

In the framework of the RIS II project, transponders will be installed on the passenger vessels and the self-propelled barges on the French high gauge waterway network. To equip the entire fleet, the need is estimated at 1,360 transponders for the next three years. The AIS infrastructure will also be installed on all transnational waterways of class IV (capable of accommodating vessels of a tonnage between 1,000 and 1,500 tons, with a height of maximum 7 metres, a width of 9.5 and a length not exceeding 85 metres) and above.

The data gathered via the transponders on vessels and the antennae on the ground will be collected and centralised at the RIS centre and used to create new services based on the actual and precise location of vessels in the river and canal network (e.g. improved calamity abatement, better lock management, improved navigability instruments, etc).

All of these activities will increase the quality of service of inland navigation and facilitate modal shift towards this greener means of transportation.

For more information, please consult the project's page!