“M-apperò” project - The role of Vehicles-Sensor in road safety and maintenance
About this good practice
The Province of Brescia and the Lombardy Mobility Cluster promoted M-apperò, a project which aims to create a tool to improve road safety and optimise maintenance operations. In the framework of M-apperò, a fleet of vehicles equipped with sensors was created to detect the state of the road surface, improve safety, and optimise maintenance work on the Brescia Road network. The project also led to the implementation of an integrated digital information management platform to monitor the state of wear and tear of road infrastructures to guarantee the safety of citizens. At the same time, it made available a Decision Support System to public bodies and road managers to plan, manage and optimise repair and maintenance work, guaranteeing not only safety, but prevention and quality in spending and in the service offered to citizens. In the context of the development of ICT solutions (including Artificial Intelligence), based on open data and/or big data for smart, safe, and sustainable mobility, the project impacted transversally on different innovation ecosystems, such as: Smart Mobility, Connectivity and Information and Sustainability.
Resources needed
M-apperò is an initiative co-financed by the Brescia chamber of commerce and Confindustria Brescia. It required an investment of €1.1 million, of which €600,000 came from a regional tender.
Evidence of success
The project led to the realisation of 10 sensorised cars in the Province of Brescia and involved 205 municipalities. It affected 250,000 km of roadways and enabled the creation of an integrated platform of digital information management. Reductions in deaths, injuries and damages with related insurance and health costs for the citizens involved, less damage and longer infrastructure life are other evidence of success of the project.
Potential for learning or transfer
To date, in the market there are no consolidated and 'industrial' solutions related to the use of sensor-vehicles, although some players are emerging with mostly experimental and very expensive solutions. The work carried out is thus susceptible to entrepreneurial developments in support of public administrations and infrastructure managers with positive spin-offs for the competitiveness of the territories concerned. The project has a high potential for transfer and replicability at regional, national and european level. Firstly, because by funding DSS (Decision Support System) and dedicated tools, it offers a solution that can be transferred at national level to face a common problem of PAs: the difficulty of mapping and maintaining roads and the lack of tools, especially the ITC-based ones. Secondly, because by broadening the stakeholder base and bringing in universities and research centres, the potential for replicability is enhanced also for teaching purposes.
Good practice owner
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