ETISPLUS · European Transport policy Information SystemDevelopement and implementation of data collection methodology for EU transport modelling

ETISplus sets out to build upon the strengths of the ETIS project (2005) and to address the lessons learnt. In principle, the Commission’s objectives have not changed, but greater emphasis is required upon the frameworks.In ETISplus several innovations and extensions are proposed:•the use of intelligent transport systems to provide data feeds•the development of a business model, by which the system can be self-supporting•the widening of the geographical scope•the institutional organisation of data collecting will be assessed and based on a benchmark improvements will be proposed and tested.•the inclusion of more data on logistics, variables that influence transport and on data on effects (consequences) of transport•the existing and new data will be laid down in a data framework – information architecture model:•the base year of the present ETIS database is 2000; it is proposed to add 2005 and 2008 as new reference years•the data on transport are not restricted to interregional transport. ETISplus will also address data on intraregional transport•ETISplus will further revive the idea of a server based system•the introduction of a specific data validation procedure•a strong focus on stakeholders participation and commitmentBy proposing the innovations and extensions as mentioned above the proposal gives a balance between at the one hand building on existing results through updating and at the other hand innovation using new technologies for data collection, new efficient cost-effective methods in cases where the quality is still behind standards, a new retrieval tool, extending both geographically and by adding new variables and developing a business model for the future.TRANSTOOLS is the key application that the project ETISplus must support. The presence of TRANSTOOLS also simplifies the role of this task, by allowing it to focus more on the data, and less upon the need to calculate indicators, a major task within the original ETIS project.