ITS and Decarbonisation: MATIS’s Contribution to Greener Road Networks

Reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 also means squeezing the emissions out of the infrastructure we already have. Congestion itself is a carbon problem: a vehicle stuck in stop-and-go traffic burns far more fuel per kilometre than one moving at a steady pace. This is the specific problem the MATIS consortium’s ITS deployments are built to attack. Across MATIS 1 alone, the programme targets a 3% reduction in CO₂ emissions at major bottlenecks — a modest-sounding percentage that, multiplied across an entire TEN-T corridor, represents a substantial volume of avoided emissions.

Smoothing the flow to avoid stop-and-go emissions

The clearest emissions lever is preventing traffic from bunching up in the first place. On the Rennes ring road, DIRO’s ramp-metering system holds vehicles at the access slip roads for up to a minute, so the ring road itself never tips into gridlock. Each vehicle that doesn’t sit in a queue is a vehicle that isn’t idling and re-accelerating; the first deployment already delivered significant queuing time avoided per day across morning and evening peaks, a direct proxy for fuel and emissions saved, with four further access points now feeding into the same logic.

A share of a motorway’s emissions also comes from the jams that build up behind an accident or a false alert. This is where MATIS’s incident-detection work has a direct decarbonisation payoff. On Catalonia’s C-32, AUCAT’s tunnel-management upgrade goes further, cutting incident-related queues by more than 50% and freeing over 10,000 vehicle-hours a year that would otherwise have been spent stationary rather than moving.

The energy backbone behind a lower-carbon road

Decarbonising the network also depends on infrastructure most drivers never see. On the A4 Brescia–Verona–Vicenza–Padova corridor, a new SCADA system gives operators real-time remote monitoring of the power supply feeding tunnels and roadside equipment, catching faults before they cause an outage that would otherwise disrupt traffic flow — and with it, generate the very stop-and-go emissions the rest of MATIS is designed to eliminate.

Taken together, these projects make the same point from different angles: cutting road transport emissions is not only a question of which vehicles are on the road, but of how well the road itself manages the flow, the incidents and the conditions that push a smooth journey into a stationary, fuel-burning one.

 

Cybersecurity on the Road: Why MATIS Puts Digital Resilience at the Core of Road Safety

Road safety no longer depends only on the state of the asphalt — it also depends on the robustness of the digital systems running smart roads. Among its 89 projects along the Mediterranean, Atlantic and North Sea-Mediterranean TEN-T corridors, MATIS treats cybersecurity as one of its five core intervention areas. Two completed projects, in France and Portugal, show what that means in practice.

Securing the Sirius traffic management system in Île-de-France

The DGITM-DIRIF secured the Sirius traffic management system, covering the A13, A6, N104, A104, N184 and N10 — about 1,000 km. Sirius connects all roadside equipment outside tunnels (variable message signs, data collection points, access control) to the traffic centre, driving traffic plans and real-time information.

The upgrade covered three layers: encrypted, certificate-based exchanges at the software level; switches and routers replaced with firewall-equipped, cyber-secure devices at the network level; and firmware or module updates on terminal equipment to enable encrypted communication. It also had a human side: the project trained maintenance technicians, supervisors and traffic operators who weren’t previously familiar with cyber issues, and kick-started DiRIF’s broader cybersecurity policy.

Securing data communication on the A24 in Portugal

APCAP/NORSCUT renewed the telecom and telematics infrastructure of the A24, linking Chaves (Spanish border) to Viseu. The project deployed a 157 km Local Area Network with new backup hardware (a Backup Proxy server, a StoreOnce 3660 unit) connected to the existing fibre network — securing 24/7 data communication, including data transmission to the Portuguese State.

Cybersecurity, again central in MATIS 2

Now with MATIS 2, the approach is consistent: securing the digital layer is part of road safety, not an afterthought.

 

 

 

MATIS to attend Connecting Europe Days

MATIS will be taking part in Connecting Europe Days 2026, held in Brussels from 28 September to 1 October 2026. MATIS will be represented at the event by Christophe Boutin, Coordinator of MATIS.

This flagship event is organised by the European Commission specifically for projects that have received funding under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). It brings together the various beneficiary projects, offering a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences, identify potential synergies and discover best practice across the sector.

The gathering draws together a wide range of players in the transport world — elected officials, banks and other financial backers, businesses from across the industry, and representatives of the European Commission itself. Their shared aim is to work through practical steps and swap lessons learned, with a view to shaping a European transport network that is more competitive, better able to withstand shocks, safer and more sustainable. The program is built around several essential priorities:

  • how Europe’s transport system underpins competitiveness, resilience and global connectivity,
  • the future of infrastructure funding and financing,
  • how transport and connectivity policies contribute to strategic autonomy and resilience of essential supply chains, enable military mobility, and strengthen Europe’s ability to act with partners beyond its borders.

MATIS at the ASECAP Days 2026: The Technology Securing the A4 Turin-Milan Motorway

On 27–29 May 2026, the 53rd ASECAP Days — one of Europe’s most influential gatherings for toll road operators, infrastructure leaders, and mobility professionals, gathered more than 380 participants from 28 countries. The event set the stage for high-level discussions on the future of European road infrastructure, under the theme “Investing to make road infrastructure resilient for Europe’s future mobility needs.” MATIS was there — and took the stage.

A flagship project, front and centre

On Thursday 28 May, MATIS presented during the session “Strategic vision and regulatory foundations for cooperative and automated mobility”, with a concrete focus on one of the project’s most emblematic deployments: the C-ITS / Smart road, on the A4 motorway between Turin and Milan, operated by partner SATAP.

The presentation highlighted the solutions deployed along this stretch: wrong-way driving detection cameras, hazardous materials identification, dynamic weighing for heavy goods vehicles (Weigh-in-Motion), and the EMERAS C-ITS platform, with its roadside units enabling real-time communication between connected vehicles and the infrastructure. Together, these innovations illustrate a comprehensive approach to safety and sustainability, placing infrastructure at the service of smarter, more responsible mobility.

It was a concrete illustration of what MATIS stands for: not just vision, but verified, operational infrastructure delivering results on the ground.

A summit that echoed MATIS’s core ambitions

The broader conference, opened by ASECAP President and ASFA Executive Director Christophe Boutin, addressed the exact challenges MATIS was built to tackle. Boutin underlined that much of Europe’s motorway network — built in the 1960s — now faces mounting pressure from climate change, aging infrastructure, and shifting mobility needs. He called for continued investment in maintenance, modernisation, and decarbonisation and highlighted road safety as a key priority, with the fourth European road safety campaign set to launch on June 24th, focusing on the personnel working in the field every day.

For MATIS, this context was more than familiar. From C-ITS deployment to dangerous goods detection, from dynamic weighing to cross-border traffic data management, the project brings operational answers to the strategic questions that defined this year’s agenda.

MATIS 2 – One Year In: A Project Already Delivering on the Ground

One year after its launch, MATIS 2 is already a reality on European roads. The project is steadily translating ambition into concrete infrastructure, with two pilot projects fully completed and dozens more underway.

First deployments: ITS technology live on real infrastructure 

Two projects have already reached 100% completion. In Spain, project SP13 transformed the Artxanda tunnel and its evacuation galleries (operated by Interbiak) into a showcase for intelligent transport systems: more than 180 ITS devices are now fully operational, including 16 smart cameras enhancing safety monitoring around the clock. 

In Italy, project IT03 brought cutting-edge traffic monitoring to the A4 motorway (operated by SATAP : 16 stations combining radar, infrared, and ultrasound sensors are now live, feeding real-time data to 16 Variable Message Signs to improve both traffic flow and driver information. 

A consortium in motion 

Beyond these two completed projects, the broader picture confirms that MATIS 2 has hit the ground running. Three milestones are already achieved with more than half of the planned pilot projects already underway: 15 out of 27 in WP2 (Safe Road), 10 out of 14 in WP3 (Sustainable Road), and 10 out of 18 in WP4 (Smart Road). Overall completion rates stand at 21%, 18% and 18% respectively. 

Accountability built in from the start 

All four 2025 annual reports were submitted on March 9th, on schedule. This early commitment to reporting reflects the governance standards the MATIS 2 consortium has set for itself. 

The road ahead 

With 2026 KPIs already in sight (27, 14, and 18 projects started per Work Package), MATIS 2 is on track. Year one has shown that the consortium has both the capacity and the drive to make European roads safer, greener, and smarter. 

Visit to Lusoponte’s Traffic Control Centre

As part of the latest MATIS Steering Committee meeting held in Portugal, partners had the opportunity to visit the Lusoponte Traffic Control Centre.

From strategy to operations

Stepping into Lusoponte’s Control Centre brought a new dimension to the project: seeing, in real time, how traffic management and emergency response work on the ground. From monitoring live traffic flows to coordinating rapid interventions, the level of precision, organisation and technology involved is simply impressive.
Witnessing these systems in action brings a whole new perspective. It is a powerful reminder of the critical role infrastructure operators play in ensuring safety, efficiency and resilience every single day.

The MATIS project extends its sincere thanks to the Lusoponte teams for their warm welcome and for sharing their expertise with the Steering Committee.

Two visits, one shared ambition

The Lusoponte visit was part of a broader programme of technical exchanges during this Portuguese Steering Committee. Partners also visited the Grupo Brisa Control Centre, where presentations on operations and innovation, followed by a tour of the control room, offered a complementary perspective on large-scale motorway management.

Together, these two visits illustrated the depth of operational expertise that Portuguese partners bring to MATIS.

MATIS at the X4ITS Fifth Steering Committee

On 16 April in Klagenfurt, MATIS contributed to the fifth X4ITS Steering Committee, sharing its evaluation approach as part of the European Corridor Coordination efforts.

A central topic of the day was the evaluation of ITS and C-ITS services: assessing implemented activities through the lens of road safety, network efficiency, and emissions reduction.

Christophe Boutin presented MATIS‘s activities and evaluation methodology, contributing to the cross-corridor alignment effort. MERIDIAN also shared its own evaluation approach, amendment process, and latest milestone achievements, enabling direct comparison between corridor projects.

Christophe Boutin’s presentation extended beyond the current project: he also covered the activities and evaluation methodology developed for MATIS 2, the follow-up project, illustrating the continuity of approach between the two phases of the programme.

 

MATIS visits Grupo Brisa Control Centre in Portugal

The MATIS project Steering Committee visited the Grupo Brisa Control Centre in Portugal, exploring the systems behind large-scale motorway operations.

Three presentations on infrastructure management

The visit opened in the control centre’s auditorium with presentations by Ana Silvia Santos, Jorge Lopes and Helder Curado. They covered key topics such as operations, innovation and the challenges of managing a national motorway network.
Each session gave MATIS partners direct insight into how an operator of Brisa’s scale structures its decision-making, anticipates disruptions, and integrates new technologies into daily operations.

A control room at network scale

The centrepiece of the visit was the control room itself. The main screen notable for its size visualises live traffic data across the entire Brisa network, making the complexity of real-time coordination immediately tangible.

For MATIS partners, seeing this infrastructure in operation clarified what coordination at scale actually requires: not just technology, but the human organisation built around it.

Cooperation at the heart of innovation

This experience perfectly illustrates the power of European cooperation and knowledge-sharing in driving innovation within the transport sector. Through MATIS, these collaborative moments strengthen synergies between key players and help build mobility solutions that are smarter, more sustainable, and better connected.

MATIS in Action: Three Projects That Reshape Road Operations

For transport authorities and road operators across the TEN-T network, infrastructure investment decisions increasingly rely on measurable outcomes, documented methodologies, and replicable results. MATIS is now in a position to meet that demand. With more than 80 projects already launched, the project has moved well beyond concept. Three flagship cases illustrate what that means on the ground.

Safer tunnels through AI-powered incident detection

Tunnels concentrate risk. Reduced sight distances, limited escape routes, and the confined spread of smoke or toxic gases make incident response time a critical variable. Italian MATIS’ partner, CDT, has deployed AI-based software that detects incidents automatically and in real time, directly inside tunnel environments. The system identifies abnormal situations (stopped vehicles, pedestrians, smoke) within seconds, triggering alerts before operators would otherwise be aware.

The gain is twofold. Response times for both operators and emergency services are reduced. At the same time, false alarm rates decrease. This combination of faster detection and greater precision directly improves safety outcomes while reducing operational noise. The solution is documented as a best practice, making it assessable and adaptable for other operators managing tunnel infrastructure across the network.

Smoother traffic through ramp metering

Urban ring roads are among the most congestion-prone sections of the TEN-T network. Access points are where flow breaks down, where small variations in entry volume cascade into significant delays further along the corridor. French MATIS’s partner DIRO (part of the French Ministry of Transports) ramp metering system on the Rennes ring road addresses this directly: using real-time traffic data, the system regulates motorway access to smooth the flow before congestion builds.

The objectives are specific and quantified. MATIS 1 targets a 3% reduction in lost hours at strategic bottlenecks and a 3% reduction in CO₂ emissions at major congestion points. The Rennes deployment is a direct contribution to both. It also demonstrates a broader principle: that demand management at the point of entry, informed by live data, is a more effective intervention than reactive traffic control after congestion has already formed.

Smart parking management on cross-border area

Infrastructure managers are increasingly confronted with disruption scenarios that fall outside normal operating parameters. These situations overwhelm the network faster than standard traffic management protocols are designed to handle.

MATIS’ partner ASFA – Atlandes has developed an intelligent parking solution specifically engineered to optimise the use of HGV parking spaces. By combining real-time occupancy data with dynamic signage and routing, the system redirects heavy goods vehicles toward available parking areas before gridlock sets in on the mainline. The approach shifts the intervention upstream: informing drivers before they reach saturation points rather than managing consequences after the fact. For operators responsible for network resilience, this represents a concrete answer to a challenge that is growing in frequency and severity.

Three projects. One transferable methodology.

These cases are not isolated experiments. They belong to a 16,000 km real-life laboratory where advanced ITS and C-ITS technologies are deployed, tested, and evaluated at operational scale. Best practices issued from MATIS flagship projects are structured to capitalise on accumulated field experience, share documented methods, and create a cross-mentoring dynamic between network partners.

Bridging the Atlantic Divide: The MATIS 2 Program Expands to the Basque Country

MATIS is expanding its scope with MATIS 2. After connecting four regions across France, Italy, and Spain in its first phase, it now covers seven, with the Basque Country representing the most significant new geographic addition. The objective: to strengthen cohesion between major European transport corridors and improve cross-border mobility along the entire southern arc of Europe.

Two new Basque partners have joined the consortium: Interbiak and the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia. This signals a deliberate northward extension of the Mediterranean-Atlantic arc. Their inclusion closes a geographic gap that left part of the Atlantic TEN-T corridor underequipped in MATIS 1, addressing cross-border sections and bottlenecks that had never previously been covered. The ambition is clear: build a truly continuous ITS spine from the Adriatic to the Atlantic.

At the crossroads of Franco-Spanish trade flows, the Basque area is a vital link between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. By integrating this territory, MATIS 2 strengthens the interoperability of transport systems and promotes the deployment of sustainable digital solutions across the entire southern arc of Europe.

With its expanded scope and reinforced partnership, MATIS 2 exemplifies the European commitment to building a more coherent, safer, and more sustainable transport network — contributing to smart mobility on a truly continental scale.