Intertraffic Americas 2025: SMART, SAFE, AND SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY FOR ALL

The year seems to be passing us by at a rapid rate and it’s now only three months until Intertraffic Americas 2025 opens its doors. The must-attend traffic technology event on the Continent this year takes place from 17 to 19 June at the Centro Citibanamex in Mexico City, and boasts a fascinating conference programme and sold out exhibition hall featuring an exciting demo area. 

 If you are still deliberating about attending Intertraffic Americas 2025 in Mexico City, don’t take our word for it, find out why keynote speaker and panel moderator MAPtm’s Strategic Advisor Connected & Automated Mobility, Tom Alkim, also chair of the CCAM Taskforce, has chosen Intertraffic Americas  2025 as the ideal event to discuss The Future Of Urban Mobility - Autonomous, Connected, And Electric (CCAM) and Promoting the Adoption of Electric and Autonomous Vehicles in Latin America.

 

Intertraffic: What was the driving force behind your decision to go to Intertraffic Americas 2025 to talk about CCAM (Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility)?  

Tom Alkim: There are a couple of answers here. On a personal level it’ll be educational for me as I don't necessarily know what's happening in this domain in Mexico. I’m curious to know if they have any automation activities going on, but of course the primary reason for me to go to Intertraffic Americas is because Intertraffic and MAPtm, the company I work for, we collaborate in this field, where I also help with the conference program in Amsterdam. I’m obviously very happy to speak at Intertraffic events! They have also been a sponsor in the past for the ITFVHA (the International Task Force for Vehicle and Highway Automation) meeting that I organize annually.

This is an informal gathering, usually the day before the ITS World Congress, and is invitation only, and we get around 40 to 50 experts worldwide getting together, so that that's, that's one of the reasons, in terms of content.

Intertraffic: Tom, you are one of the most well-known names and faces in the European ITS scene. You must be enthused by the progress that has been made in the automation field over the length of your career.

Tom Alkim: I've been working in this domain for the past 25 years, and I believe in the potential of automation - not because it is possible, because I'm from the Netherlands. I was born on a bike. I ride my bike. I walk. In any responsible mobility system, you will have different modalities, but there will always be vehicles, so they might as well be connected, shared, electrified and automated. I think safety has been a driver in the past, and will remain a driver, but it's not the only driver. If done right, it can also help with reducing CO2 emissions. There are larger benefits to be had if automation makes a shared public mobility system attractive where, especially in urban areas, people are willing to give up their car. By that I mean give up owning a car, not just not driving it. What we've seen over the past few years is that there is a worldwide shortage of professional drivers so I think there is a huge potential for automation, if done right, and if done right is always the discussion point. 

 

 

 
"I've been working in this domain for the past 25 years, and I believe in the potential of automation - not because it is possible, because I'm from the Netherlands."

 

Intertraffic: What about the connectivity element of CCAM?

Tom Alkim: Connectivity needs to be there, and connectivity could also be used for communicating. I’m referring to externally sourced information, so information that is not generated by a vehicle’s sensors, but by other entities that could augment the performance of automated vehicles and that is something that I was working on in my 20 years at the Rijkswaterstaat. If you have information beyond the range of sensors, that could be helpful, but it can also be helpful to have information that, by the nature of that information, cannot be sourced by their own sensors, so a radar cannot detect how busy it is on the road. So traffic density cannot be measured by individual cars, but it can be measured by road operators or traffic management centres, and it can be shared to increase your performance.

OEMs are very conservative in using this kind of information for those kind of performances, but it can help you to be more proactive.  So, for instance, if you are approaching a work zone, and you can only detect it 200-300 meters in advance, you have to wait until the last minute to brake. You can still avoid crashing into it, but it's not very comfortable, is it? So if you got this information 600-700 meters in advance, you can plan for that and you can offer your customers also a more convenient and comfortable ride. So I think there are many, many ways where you can benefit from combining information from different sources. 

 

 

"So traffic density cannot be measured by individual cars, but it can be measured by road operators or traffic management centres, and it can be shared to increase your performance."

 

Intertraffic: You are also presenting at Intertraffic China 2025 in Shanghai in April. In terms of CCAM, China seem to have surged ahead in terms of development and deployment. What do you hope to achieve from speaking at both events and what do you have to do in your presentation and your approach to make sure you get the most from both trips and the audience gets the most out of you being there?

Tom Alkim: That’s a good question - several questions, in fact. I'm excited about going to China, not only for speaking there, but also because I get an opportunity to experience some of the advanced solutions that they have in the domain of automated mobility. I have heard about those developments, we all have, but I have not seen them first hand. I think it’s important to experience something for yourself so that you can evaluate it. I remember two or three years ago when I took my first ride in truly automated vehicle without a safety driver behind the steering wheel, it made quite an impact. I underestimated that, because I've been in many, many different demo rides, always with safety drivers and under controlled circumstances. But this was, let's say, for the first time for real, and that was quite impressive. And I heard from one of the other delegation members, Carlo van de Weijer, who was there last year, that he was very impressed by the technology level. 

 

 

"I remember two or three years ago when I took my first ride in truly automated vehicle without a safety driver behind the steering wheel, it made quite an impact. I underestimated that."

 

I'm a consultant in automated mobility, and there are, globally, four areas where you see automation. It's in the North Americas, the Middle East, it's in Europe and traditionally Asia Pacific and and Japan, Korea. And there are some in New Zealand and Australia, Singapore, but also China. China is an area not to be ignored. The Draghi reports that came out last year stated that Europe was at least one and a half years behind China in the domain of connected and automated mobility.

I want to be a good consultant, and I want to know what's going on on a global level, so I should be visible in all four regions.

Tom Alkim’s will make his Keynote Speech on Tuesday June 17 at 1130am and his Future Of Urban Mobility - Autonomous, Connected, And Electric (CCAM) session closes the conference on Thursday June 19 at 1600pm.