EU Delegated Regulation 2017/1926 governs “the accuracy and cross-border availability of EU-wide multimodal travel information services for ITS users” (ITS: Intelligent Transport Systems). Member States must implement and provide access points and reports from 1 January 2020. The key points are summarised briefly below.

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Articles 1 and 2 deal first with the subject matter, scope, legal basis and definitions for the subsequent articles of the Regulation.

Article 3 relates in particular to so-called “access points”, at which at least static and historical traffic data and the necessary metadata are made available. Metadata describe the content and use of this data. Each Member State must provide a national access point (NAP). The data must be provided and updated by transport operators, transport authorities, infrastructure operators or providers of on-demand transport services (hereinafter referred to as ‘operators’). The access points also provide search services for the data made available.

Article 4 deals with the accessibility, exchange and re-use of static journey and traffic data. For data that does not relate to road traffic, the NeTEx CEN/TS 16614 standard and subsequent versions apply. Other specifications are only permitted insofar as they are compatible and interoperable with this standard. Interfaces (APIs) to data must be identifiable via the national access point and must be publicly accessible.

Article 5 concerns dynamic data. For dynamic data (the provision of which is not yet mandatory), the standard SIRI CEN/TS 15531 and subsequent versions apply outside the road transport sector. APIs must be identifiable via the national access point and must be publicly accessible. The data must be updated on an ongoing basis. Data inaccuracies must be rectified promptly.

Article 6 sets out rules on data updating. In principle, operators must carry out this updating for all data, whether static or dynamic, whenever the data changes. Reported inaccuracies must also be disclosed.

Article 7 concerns route planning results (start and end points of the journey, as well as departure and arrival times, additional options, transfer points between multiple journey information service providers, etc.), which must be made available by journey information service providers both statically and, where possible, dynamically.

Article 8 stipulates that, for the re-use of all journey and transport data within the EU, this data and associated metadata must be made available to all users in a timely, accurate, up-to-date and non-discriminatory manner. The data must be accompanied by details of the data sources, as well as the date and time of the last update. Use may be governed by a licence agreement. This licence agreement must contain as few restrictions as possible. Any remuneration must be appropriate and proportionate to the costs of provision.

Article 9 stipulates that Member States must verify whether operators comply with the rules set out in Articles 3–8. To this end, the competent authorities of the Member States may request reports from the data providers on the status and quality of the data. In addition, they may require a declaration, supported by evidence, that the provisions have been complied with. Member States may also carry out random checks on these declarations.

Article 10 requires – and this is a particularly important deadline for access point providers to note – a report by 1 December 2019 on the progress made in establishing the national access point. In addition, Member States must inform the European Commission every two years of the progress made in data provision, as well as the geographical coverage and the declarations of compliance with the Directive.

Of particular importance in the context of this Directive is the Annex, which defines and describes the data categories and specifies the provision deadlines. The categories are divided into scheduled transport services, on-demand transport services and private transport. Within each category, three service levels are specified for both static and dynamic data. These are

  1. for static data: Service Level 1: origin/destination, topographical locations, points of interest, as well as route maps, location search, route calculation for scheduled services and roads,
  2. for static data: Service Level 2: park-and-ride information, bike- and car-sharing stations, petrol stations and charging points for electric vehicles, bicycle parking spaces; information services on ticket purchase, demand-responsive transport services, route maps, assistance information and availability checks
  3. for static data: Service Level 3: detailed enquiries regarding standard and special fares (scheduled services) and information services (all modes of transport), route maps, route calculations
  4. for dynamic data: Service Level 1: journey times, route maps, assistance information (disruptions, status updates)
  5. for dynamic data: Service Level 2: as above, estimated departure times, closed cycle paths, diversions, availability of public charging points, petrol stations etc., car-sharing availability, parking spaces
  6. for dynamic data: Service Level 3: estimated future journey times

See also: EU Directive 2017/1926