'Connected Transport is particularly attractive to the floriculture sector'

Connected Transport is an initiative of the central government, provinces, metropolitan and transport regions, and companies. The partnership utilises the opportunities offered by digitisation to make logistics more sustainable, safer and more efficient. Royal FloraHolland contributes to this because we want our locations to remain easily accessible and to make transport more sustainable.

The benefits of Connected Transport are broad: reduced fuel consumption, time savings, lower costs, reduced CO2 and nitrogen emissions, improved traffic flow and increased road safety. The initiative is particularly attractive to the floriculture sector, states Robbert Janssen, Technical Project Manager at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

With Connected Transport, also known as Connected Driving, key routes for freight traffic are set up with smart traffic lights that give trucks the right of way over other traffic – as long as traffic conditions allow. This way, drivers need to brake and accelerate less frequently and they save time, fuel, as well as CO2 and nitrogen emissions.

This is particularly attractive to transporters in the floriculture sector, Robbert explains. "They mainly drive on N roads to Royal FloraHolland locations, and those roads are usually equipped with smart traffic lights."

A well-prepared driver contributes to road safety
However, Connected Transport offers more than just the ability to drive on at traffic lights. It also benefits road safety. "Drivers receive notifications on their on-board computers, for example, about traffic jams, accidents, a stationary vehicle, a red cross, or an approaching ambulance. They receive these notifications via an icon or voice message. This allows drivers to concentrate on the traffic and prepare for situations on the road in a timely fashion."

Connected Transport is about trucks that are connected to the internet. For the system to work properly, the IT supplier of the on-board computer must share data – on the location of the truck, for example – with other parties in the chain, as well as with the infrastructure under the management of provincial and municipal road authorities, "We want to organise this data exchange as optimally as possible so freight transport becomes smarter, more efficient and more sustainable. The aim is to inform the driver as well as possible," says Robbert, who himself can be found fulfilling the role of driver in the container transport sector one day a month and therefore knows what it is like in practice. "Just think: if you are in the car yourself and you know that an ambulance will soon be approaching from behind, you are somewhat less overwhelmed by the noise and you have time to make room for the emergency service."

On the way to 1,700 smart traffic lights
The national initiative is now being rolled out in a number of regions, including Amsterdam Westkant with Mainport Schiphol and Royal FloraHolland Aalsmeer, North Brabant and Limburg, Zeeland and South Holland with among others, Royal FloraHolland’s Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg locations, and of course, the ports of Rotterdam. It primarily concerns areas with a high volume of freight traffic.

There are currently about 1,300 smart traffic lights in the Netherlands. Agreements have already been made to increase that number to 1,700 by the end of 2024. When you consider that our country has a total of around 5,000 traffic lights, quite a substantial proportion are already smart. "Each municipality still varies in terms of the extent to which freight traffic is given priority. Emergency services are naturally given top priority everywhere, but other than that, we see differences. In Utrecht, for example, you see that cyclists are given priority. The state does not have that much say in it, that is the couleur locale and the municipal and provincial road authorities are allowed to decide for themselves."

The Netherlands leads the way in Europe
Smart Mobility – a kind of umbrella term for smart solutions in mobility – is being worked on in several places around the world – including the US, Japan and Singapore. "It is fair to say that the Netherlands is leading the way in Europe," according to the expert. "No country has as many smart traffic lights. Germany and Belgium in particular are watching us. Of course, one hopes this development will spread across Europe like wildfire."

Incentive payment

Carriers have been able to use Connected Transport services on on-board computers for about six months. Incentive schemes for this are available from Amsterdam Logistics and SmartwayZ.NL. It concerns a one-off compensation of 70 Euros per truck, so transporters can try out the services in an accessible way on a low-cost basis.

The initial results have been positive. Robbert: "There are still teething problems and hurdles to overcome, but more and more parties in the chain are adopting the services; it's really becoming more mainstream. What makes it particularly interesting now is that before, we were mainly busy with the technical preparations, but we now going to scale up."

"Scale is needed to make Connected Transport services cheaper. Ultimately, you want this to be able to operate without an incentive payment. The market needs to get moving and then it can go all out. We are now at a point where the initial pricing arises: how much can something cost per month? The central government does not interfere with price negotiations between private parties, but I expect the service to cost around €5 per month per vehicle. When you consider that accelerating uses about half a litre of diesel, that a driver can allow his vehicle to coast more, that brakes will experience less wear, and that the driver will experience less waiting time, the return on investment is definitely viable."

Join us
Connected Transport is particularly attractive to transporters in the floriculture sector, the expert asserts. "Participating in trials, with incentive schemes reducing costs, is an accessible way to experience for yourself how much time and fuel you can save and what it does for driver comfort and safety. This is especially true for trucks commuting on N roads between the Westland and Aalsmeer."

Applications are still welcome. Are you a carrier and are you interested? Click here for Amsterdam Logistics’ incentive scheme (for the Amsterdam Westside region) and click here for more information and registration for SmartwayZ.nl's incentive scheme.