Incident management and traffic monitoring from a bird's eye view

ASFINAG is responsible for the operational management of almost 2,270 kilometers of Austrian motorways and expressways nationwide. To ensure that users of these roads reach their destinations as quickly and safely as possible, it is important for ASFING to respond quickly and effectively in the event of an incident. This allows rescue chains to be set in motion quickly, large-scale traffic diversions to be put in place, and traffic jams to be cleared more quickly. In order to further improve on its current high standards, ASFINAG is seeking technological solutions for comprehensive incident management and event-related traffic monitoring from a bird's eye view as part of this IÖB Challenge.

The cameras currently in use provide live images, but they do not cover the entire ASFINAG road network and, due to their fixed locations, cannot provide bird's-eye views. However, images from above are often needed to better assess and coordinate the overall situation and to carry out comprehensive traffic monitoring. In addition, some of the cameras used to date provide images with too low a resolution to accurately identify important details, e.g., in the event of a traffic accident, and to be able to pass on the most important information to the emergency response teams before they arrive at the scene.

Although accidents cannot be completely avoided, ASFINAG works to prevent incidents as best as possible and to deal with any that do occur quickly and professionally. The focus is on restoring normal conditions as quickly as possible, providing clear and consistent information, and preventing further incidents. At the same time, close, coordinated cooperation with the police, authorities, and emergency services is required. Every incident and every accident is different. In order to coordinate rescue services effectively and provide organizations along the rescue chain with information as early as possible, the rapid and comprehensive collection of mission-critical information is becoming increasingly important.
In addition to stationary cameras, live images or information about the incident can currently be forwarded to the traffic control center by ASFINAG traffic managers. However, this is conditional on these traffic managers reaching the scene of the incident as quickly as possible, which often proves difficult in the event of traffic jams. Furthermore, information can only be passed on after the employees have arrived, rather than as soon as possible after the incident, ideally before the first responders arrive.

ASFINAG is therefore now looking for new solutions to collect information on incidents even faster and independently of the traffic situation and forward it to the traffic control center.

As part of this IÖB Challenge, ASFINAG is looking for technological solutions that can quickly forward comprehensive information from an incident location to the traffic control center. By transmitting live bird's-eye view images of the incident location, ASFINAG staff can quickly gain an overview of the situation and initiate appropriate countermeasures (e.g., quickly passing on mission-critical information to emergency services so that they receive the most important information before arriving on site) and provide further support after their arrival. To do this, the system needs to be on the scene faster than traffic managers or emergency responders can get there from the ground.

In addition to its use in the event of an incident, the solution should also be able to be used for traffic monitoring (e.g., during peak travel times or when heavy traffic is causing congestion and accidents) as a supplement to ground route services, thereby contributing to further improvements in quality, occupational safety, and efficiency.

Not only should the solution be available 24/7, it should also be able to be used in virtually all weather conditions (sun, rain, snow, strong wind, fog, etc.). Start-up and control should be automatic at the touch of a button, but ASFINAG must be able to intervene at any time (e.g., mission abort, emergency landing, diversion, etc.). Potential emergency landing zones are available along the existing route infrastructure for this purpose. In addition, the solution sought should be able to reach the scene of the incident independently/automatically without the need for an observer to be present on site or en route to the scene. It is important to observe the current legal framework in this regard. More information on this can be found below. After returning to base, the submitted solution should be ready for use again within a short time so that it can respond to further incidents as quickly as possible.

The organization is looking for technologies that cover the required aspects and support ASFINAG in incident management and traffic monitoring using live images. Depending on the situation, it should be possible to store live images for later evaluation in compliance with data protection regulations. This requires camera systems that deliver sharp images of the location both during the day and at night. The retrofitability of additional sensors or cameras should also be taken into account. ASFINAG is open to the technologies used, the size of the solution, and the drive technology that may be required, as long as they are suitable for the desired application scenario.

Not goals:
• Solutions that cannot automatically reach the event location
• Solutions that cannot be used in various weather conditions
• Solutions that do not meet current regulations and safety standards

Note on evaluation:
The evaluation of the legal implementation of UAS operations is carried out in particular within the legal framework of EU Regulation 2019/947 and national regulations such as the Aviation Act and Air Traffic Regulations in their currently applicable versions.
Links to relevant regulations:
https://www.dronespace.at/jart/prj3/dronespace/main.jart?rel=en
https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/regulations/unmanned-aircraft-systems-uas

Take advantage of this opportunity to present your innovative approaches. ASFINAG is looking for companies or cooperation partners who can help transmit high-quality live images to the traffic control center as quickly as possible in the event of an incident.
Companies, start-ups, and research institutions are invited to submit their concepts, prototypes, or solutions. Please provide a brief description of the solution, the added value in terms of safety and costs, and initial information on technical feasibility.
Companies must submit the following via the online form by May 19, 2026:

Description:
Submit your idea using the online form. Describe your technical solution, the overall approach, ongoing support, and possible training measures. Explain what support during operation might look like and how maintenance and replacement of individual parts might be handled. Make sure your concept meets the requirements and evaluation criteria.
Clearly outline the costs and feel free to discuss procurement models other than purchasing the solution. Also mention whether your solution already has valid approval or what is required for approval (especially with regard to SORA – Specific Operational Risk Assessment). In this context, also discuss implemented security systems and a possible timeline for permanent implementation.
Focus your submission on the use case of the ASFINAG Autobahnmeisterei Ried im Innkreis and explain how scaling to other ASFINAG locations could look. Further information on the location can be found in the download area.

Summary of added value:
What makes your solution particularly innovative? What sets it apart? Application examples in connection with the Autobahnmeisterei Ried im Innkreis, references, and a realistic project timeline will assist in the evaluation.

Confidential information (for the jury only):
This information can be submitted confidentially via the platform.
In this text field, you can enter additional information that you would like to share exclusively with the project managers. Alternatively, you can send a PDF by email to the challenge moderators.
You also have the option of attaching a file. This file should supplement the text in the form fields, but not replace or repeat it! Use the file attachment for graphics, for example.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
Submissions from consortia are welcome. Keep your submission brief (guideline: maximum 10-12 presentation slides or 4-5 A4 pages). We are currently in the market exploration phase of the challenge. It is therefore not necessary to prepare drafts or feasibility studies specifically for this occasion.