What is the importance of the NAP? Who manages it? What data can I find there?
What is the importance of the NAP?
Transportdata.be is Belgium’s National Access Point (NAP) for information on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS): the NAP ITS. The NAP ITS was launched in February 2020 following the European ITS Directive, which aims at making mobility in the European Union safer, more efficient and more sustainable.
By centralising access to mobility datasets and services, the NAP ITS aims to facilitate their reuse by other parties, such as developers of ITS applications and services (e.g., traffic and travel information services), thus enabling innovation. In this way, Europe wants to facilitate travel within the European Union and make mobility more sustainable.
Therefore, registering data on the NAP ITS is also beneficial to the data owner. The data they provide can be reused for ITS applications developed for the general public, such as route planners. In this way, transport operators and demand-responsive transport providers increase their chances of being included in a multimodal route planner, allowing them to reach more customers. By entering their data, road authorities can increase traffic safety, help direct traffic flows and encourage sustainable modes of transport, such as bicycles.
What are intelligent transport systems (ITS)?
Intelligent transport systems (ITS) are advanced applications that provide innovative services in the areas of modes of transport and traffic management. With ITS, users can be better informed and make safer, more coordinated and smarter use of transport modes and networks. ITS combine telecommunications, electronics and information technologies with traffic engineering to make transport systems more efficient, more environmentally friendly and safer.
Who manages the NAP ITS?
The development and management of Transportdata.be are entrusted to the National Geographic Institute, at the request and on behalf of the ITS steering committee.
The National Geographic Institute (NGI) is a semi-governmental organisation under the supervision of the Minister of Defence. The NGI positions itself as the information broker and authentic source of geographical information, while it makes sure the public data created by the federal administration are readily accessible to the outside world.
The ITS steering committee unites the federal and regional administrations involved in the implementation of intelligent transport systems. For the NAP ITS, the following administrations are involved:
- the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport;
- the Public Service of the Brussels-Capital Region Brussels Mobility;
- the Department of Mobility and Public Works of the Flemish Region;
- the Walloon Public Service Mobility and Infrastructures.
What data does the NAP ITS include?
The NAP ITS contains links to datasets and services of all types of transport modes, and that information comes from all possible parties, both public and private. To facilitate data exchange, specific data formats are imposed or recommended for different data types.