The approval of the National Road Safety Strategic Plan for the period 2021 – 2030 took place at the Fourth Meeting of the Road Safety Governmental Committee which was held on 29 November. The Strategic Plan adopted, developed with the scientific support of NTUA, aims to reduce road fatalities by 50% by 2030 through 44 actions and 200 measures following the safe system approach and the vision zero fatalities by 2050. Committee Chairman, Deputy Minister for Transport, Mr. Michalis Papadopoulos, stated that “the improvement of road safety level in our country is one of the key priorities of the Government and the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for safe traffic for everyone and everywhere“. 

The Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) and the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) are co-organizing  the 11th International Congress on Transportation Research (ICTR 2023), which will be held on 20-22 September 2023, in Heraklion. The spotlight theme of the 2023 Congress will be “Clean and Accessible to All Multimodal Transport”. Final paper submission deadline is 30th June 2023. 

The Turkish National Police Academy – Directorate of Traffic Institute has organised with great success the 2nd International Road Safety Congress which was held in Istanbul on 17-20 November. The International Road Federation (IRF Global) organised a special session on Artificial Intelligence for Safer Road Mobility in which NTUA contributed with the following presentation:

•  Artificial Intelligence In Proactive Road Safety Management

The Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS Hellas) together with the Research University Institute of Communication and Computer Systems of NTUA, are co-organising the 8th ITS Hellas Conference, which will take place in Athens on 7-8 December 2022.  This Conference will be held under the theme “Transportation & Logistics 2022: Research. Reshape. Innovate.”, focusing on the developments in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems in Greece.  

SAFER Vehicle and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) are co-organising the 9th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI2024), which will be held in Michigan, on 22-24 October 2024. DDI2024 is the primary international event on this topic, attracting delegates from more than 20 countries. It is designed to bring participants – from academia, industry and government – up-to-date on the developments and trends in the field of inattention and distraction in driving. 

The United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in cooperation with participating ESV member countries are organising the 27th International Technical Conference on The Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) which will take place in Yokohama, Japan, on 3-6 April 2023. The conference will be held under the theme “Enhanced and Equitable Vehicle Safety for All: Toward the next 50 years”.  

Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published the 2nd LEARN Flash Report titled “The Role of Education in Reducing Deaths among Children and Youngsters on European Roads“. This Report provides an overview of the road safety of children and youngsters across Europe. It focuses on the progress in reducing road deaths during the past decade (2011-2021) as well as differences in road safety between the different countries, age groups as well as genders. It also provides recommendations to improve the provision and quality of traffic safety and mobility education.  

The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) organised with great success the Road Safety on Five Continents (RS5C) Conference, which was held in Grapevine, Texas, on 10-12 October 2022. The Conference aimed to be a leading source of research results and interaction in the transport area with focus on safety and health associated with road transport. Based on this theme, participants from about 20 countries joined and about 70 presentations were held, about hot topics and the latest research in the road transport area. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation :

•  The Baseline project: Key Performance Indicators for Road Safety in EU countries, based on a common methodology for data collection and analysis

NTUA Professor George Yannis has received the prestigious EU TRAVisions 2022 Senior Researcher Award during the European Commission Transport Research Arena Conference (TRA 2022), held on 14-17 November 2022 in Lisbon. Professor George Yannis won the competition of EU Senior Researcher for Road Transport Research based on his exceptional and long-standing research contribution on Open Road Safety Decision Support Systems (ERSO, SafetyCube, SafeFITS, PRACT, Levitate).   

The European Commission and the Agência Nacional de Inovação (ANI) together with the European Transport Research Platforms ACARE, ALICE, CEDR, ECTP, ERRAC, ERTRAC, ETRA and Waterborne, organised with great success the Transport Research Arena Conference (TRA2022) which took place in Lisbon, on 14-17 November 2022. The pillars of the Conference were the scientific excellence, research and innovation challenges, the latest technological and industrial developments and innovative policies regarding the European Transport Research and Innovation and the cooperation of Europe with other continents.    NTUA actively contributed with 33 innovative presentations:

•   Development of the road safety strategic plan in Greece, 2021-2030
•   Effective road safety measures in Greece
•   EU countries’ ranking in different road crash types
•   Harmonization of National Access Points to Intelligent Transport Systems data: A data content and added value perspective
•   Potential safety outcomes of communication difficulties in mixed nationality crews: A study of Greek and Norwegian vessels
•   The Baseline project: Key Performance Indicators for Road Safety in EU countries, based on a common methodology for data collection and analysis
•   Assessing Driver Safety Behaviour in Greece
•   Establishing the relationship between crashes and unsafe driver behaviors in motorway segments
•   A methodology for the network-wide, in-built safety assessment of roads
•   Simulation platform from data collection to impact assessment of autonomous vehicles
•   Identifying the automated vehicle driving policy in the vicinity of pedestrian
•   The LEVITATE Policy Support Tool of Connected and Automated Transport Systems
•   The impacts of automated urban delivery and consolidation
•   How to Define a Safety Tolerance Zone for Speed?
•   Investigation of the time spent in dangerous driving conditions: Findings from the i-DREAMS project
•   Framework for behaviour change implemented in real-time and post-trip interventions of the H2020 i-DREAMS naturalistic driving project
•   Effectiveness of real-time and post-trip interventions from the H2020 i-DREAMS naturalistic driving project: a sneak preview
•   Safety impact assessment for seamless interactions through Human-Machine Interfaces: Indicators, requirements, and practical considerations
•   Traffic & Environmental Impact Assessment Under Distinct Operational Speeds For Automated Shuttle Bus Services
•   Was average speed affected by the COVID-19 response measures? Findings from Athens, Greece
•   A critical assessment of Athens Traffic Restrictions using multiple data sources
•   Traffic Impacts of Innovative Traffic and Parking Arrangements in Athens, Greece
•   The impact of cognitive disorders and other risk factors on reaction time of drivers: a Structural Equation Model approach
•   A socioeconomic analysis for a green traffic restrictions scheme in Athens
•   The impact of mobility characteristics on public transport and road safety performance in selected European cities
•   Critical impact factors of pedestrians traffic combining multiple data sources in Athens
•   Free Public Transport in Athens: a stated preference approach
•   Electric or not? Factors affecting Greek Drivers’ Preference when Purchasing a New Vehicle
•   Critical Factors Affecting Mobile Phone Use While Driving Through the Exploitation of Data from Smartphone Sensors
•   Critical travel time impact factors at the implementation of the Athens Great Walk
•   The Comparative Evaluation of Road Safety Developments in Greek Regions
•   Association Rule Mining for Island and Mainland Road Crash Injuries in Greece
•   The impact of weather conditions and driver characteristics on road safety on rural roads

An NTUA Diploma Thesis called “Impact analysis of gasoline price on traffic conditions in Athens” was recently presented by Stylianos Peithis. For the purpose of this Diploma Thesis, data concerning traffic conditions, gasoline prices and a wide variety of traffic shaping factors such as weather data was collected. In order to accomplish this thesis’ objective Linear Mixed Effects models with random effect intercept were deployed using as independent variables various metrics with explanative power about traffic volume’s fluctuations. The results showed that the rise of gasoline prices has a negative impact on traffic volume while the impact of other factors such as weather conditions like temperature and rainfall are also substantial. Schools’ vacations, weekends and public holidays also have a decreasing impact in traffic conditions.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Imbalanced learning analysis for driving behaviour prediction using naturalistic driving data” was recently presented by Antonis Kostopoulos. For the purpose of this Diploma Thesis data was collected through the telematics company OSeven, in order to classify and predict driving behaviour in terms of harsh accelerations and brakings occurences. More precisely this thesis intends to determine the most crucial predictors for the occurrence of harsh events, through a feature selection process and to identify two safety levels for harsh accelerations and brakings using Machine Learning techniques. The imbalanced classification results showcased that the total driving distance was the more impactful variable to harsh events occurence, whilst the best techniques for this particular imbalanced learning process, were achieved by Gradient Boosting and Multilayered Perceptrons algorithms.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Analysis of distraction characteristics due to mobile phone use in Greece” was recently presented by Marilena Merakou. The data used for the statistical analysis were collected from field measurements during November-December 2021 in Greece. The collected data are related to distraction measurements but also to driver’s age and gender, the type of vehicle, the weather conditions, the time period and the road type in three areas (in and around Athens, Thessaloniki and Larisa). The results demonstrate that old and middle aged drivers are less likely to use mobile phone while driving than younger drivers. It was also found, that van drivers tend to use mobile phone more often than drivers of any other vehicle type.  

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) has recently released the SHOW 6th Newsletter. The Newsletter provides information on the latest outcomes of the project. Many of SHOW’s demonstrations have kicked off during the past weeks, and numerous congresses, conferences, and various events have already showcased its pilot sites to the public with positive feedback. Another pivotal component of the project is international cooperation and participation in cross-border twinning events.  SHOW’s aim now is to enhance urban mobility by understanding people’s needs. 

The World Road Association – PIARC recently published a Report titled “Utilizing Data to Optimize Road Network Operations“. This work builds on the “Big Data for Road Network Operations” report from the 2016-2019 PIARC work cycle by providing current, real world examples of current application of big data concepts. The case studies included in this Report represent the current state of practice and highlight the progress being made by road network operators to utilize the growing amount of data available for road network operations. 

The South African Roads Federation (SARF) together with IRF and PIARC co-organised with great success the 7th African Regional Conference, which took place in Cape Town on 18-20 October 2022. This year’s conference theme was “Connecting Africa through Smart, Safe and Resilient Roads: Stimulating Growth and Trade on the Continent“. PIARC Technical Committee 3.1  on Road Safety organised a seminar to demonstrate and discuss the challenges of safe and efficient road transport especially in Low and Middle Income Countries. Special emphassis was given to PIARC extensive work on road safety (Road Safety Manual, Tunnels Manual, Road Safety in LMIC, etc.).   

The European Commission together with the European Partnership on Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) and the FAME project are organising the fourth European Conference on Connected and Automated Driving (EUCAD 2023), which will be held in Brussels on 3-4 May 2023. This event will bring together political leaders from the European Commission and Member States with high-level representatives of industry, academia, and road authorities from across Europe and internationally, to discuss whether our societies are prepared for the deployment of smart, inclusive, and sustainable mobility solutions.  

The Fondation VINCI Autoroutes has recently published the results of a unique study on “Sharing the road”. This Ipsos survey offers an overview of the behaviour of Europeans dealing with the coexistence of different modes of transport. This includes drivers of cars and motorised two-wheelers, cyclists, users of personal light electric vehicles (PLEVs) and pedestrians. According to the results, Greece has the highest rate of drivers (77%) who use the phone while driving in Europe (EU average 66%). 89% of Greek cyclists are afraid of other road users’ behaviour and 58% of them wear helmet when cycling. Moreover, 98% of Greek motorised two-wheelers fear the behaviour of other road users. On the other hand, 26% of Greek drivers open the door without checking if a cyclist is coming, whereas the European average is 36%.   

A new book titled “Digitalisation for Sustainable Infrastructure : The Road Ahead” has been published on October 2022, highlighting the importance of technology and digitalisation and the tremendous impact they have on infrastructure worldwide. This book was edited by Carlo Secchi and Alessandro Gili and was published by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI).  NTUA Associate Professor George Yannis and Research Associate Apostolos Ziakopoulos actively contributed with the following chapters :

•  Artificial Intelligence and Mobility: What Is at Stake for Safety?
•  The Way Towards Smart, Green and Efficient Road Transport

The Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) has recently developed the Fleet Safety Guide 2022 , under the title “Global NCAP Fleet Safety Guide And Safer Vehicle Purchasing Policy”. Ensuring safer fleet purchasing decisions will not only help safeguard the safety of their staff, but also help accelerate the global uptake of safe vehicles and contribute to the United Nations (UN) Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 target to achieve at least a 50% reduction in road fatalities and injuries by 2030. This important guide provides recommendations on vehicle selection using NCAP ‘five star’ ratings and identifies the most important UN safety standards for passenger cars. Importantly, it also now includes recommendations for commercial vehicle categories and motorcycles.