Month: December 2020
Rhodes’ Rescuers Association have organised with great success a three-day Webinar titled “Road accidents: Don’t just observe – Act” which was held online on 18-20 December 2020. The Webinar results are expected to bring significant value to road safety efforts at local, regional and national level.
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
A new book titled “Advances in Mobility-as-a-Service Systems” has been published on June 2020, highlighting the innovative solutions for urban mobility, as long as describing effective strategies accelerating urban transformation. This book was edited by Eftihia G. Nathanail, Giannis Adamos and Ioannis Karakikes and was published by Springer. NTUA Associate Professors George Yannis, Eleni Vlahogianni and Research Associate Foteini Orfanou actively contributed with the following chapter :
NTUA Associate Professors George Yannis, Eleni Vlahogianni and Research Associate Foteini Orfanou actively contributed with the following chapter :
A new book titled “Frontiers in Sustainable Cities” has been published on July 2020, highlighting the importance of innovations in the approach to future urban living in order to address the challenges cities are facing. The book was released as an e-book by Frontiers Media SA. NTUA Associate Professor George Yannis, Senior Research Associate Alexandra Laiou and TOI Senior Researcher Tor-Olav Naevestad actively contributed with the following chapter :
NTUA Associate Professor George Yannis, Senior Research Associate Alexandra Laiou and TOI Senior Researcher Tor-Olav Naevestad actively contributed with the following chapter :
The 4th ESRA2 Webinar took place with great success on 16 December 2020 including the NTUA presentation titled: “Moped drivers and Motorcyclists”. This presentation was based on the results of the ESRA2 Thematic Report titled “Moped drivers and motorcyclists” focusing on key PTW attitudes from a survey that collected data from more than 35,000 road users across 32 countries worldwide. Speeding, drink and drive, helmet use and mobile phone distraction as well as self-declared safety perception of using mopeds and motorcycles, were among the key issues highlighted. 
We leave behind a strange year, lucky to continue progressing with great scientific achievements against all odds. We persisted with dedication and passion to promoting evidence based safe traffic everywhere and for all and much-needed new sustainable mobility schemes too.
We thank you all for the excellent cooperation and we are sending you our very best wishes for Merry and Safe Christmas and a New Year with New Hope and New Values, full of personal and professional achievements. Let’s hope that the exceptional shared responsibility during the pandemic will become the new trend for responsible traffic behaviour, making our roads much safer and soon victims-free, in line with the UN decade and vision zero targets.
May the spirit of true solidarity keep up our faith this Christmas and this New Year 2021: 
The European Commission (DG Move) has recently developed the Sustainable Urban Mobility Indicators, which is a set of practical and reliable indicators that support cities to perform a standardised evaluation of their mobility system and to measure improvements that result from new mobility practices or policies. Two out of the 18 mobility indicators concern key urban road safety indicators to be jointly considered within the new urban sustainable mobility policies. The complete set of indicators is now available
The complete set of indicators is now available 
The European Commission (DG Move) recently presented the EU Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy together with an Action Plan of 82 initiatives (several of which aim to promote and enhance road safety), which lay the foundation for how the EU transport system can achieve its green and digital transformation .
Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said: “As the backbone that connects European citizens and business, transport matters to us all. Digital technologies have the potential to revolutionise the way we move, making our mobility smarter, more efficient, and also greener”.
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Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said: “As the backbone that connects European citizens and business, transport matters to us all. Digital technologies have the potential to revolutionise the way we move, making our mobility smarter, more efficient, and also greener”.
The “Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems – ITS Hellas, has organised with great success the 6th Intelligent Transport Systems and Developments in Greece Conference which was held online on 14-15 December 2020 with the support of the European Commission Representation in Greece, focusing on issues related to European goals and national aspirations and efforts for the transition to a sustainable and “green” mobility. The recordings of the presentations are now available: NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
The recordings of the presentations are now available: NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
The European Union Road Federation (ERF) has organised a Roadside Safety Event which was held with great success online on 15 December 2020. The conference was a unique opportunity for road safety experts around the globe to exchange information concerning the latest trends and developments in the area of roadside passive safety and road safety design. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The World Health Organization has released an information resource for decision-makers and practitioners titled “Cyclist safety”, which describes the magnitude of cyclist death and injury, the key risk factors, and effective interventions. The document stresses the importance of a comprehensive, holistic approach that includes legislation, enforcement and behavioural measures specifically for cyclists, design of the built environment, as well as integrating cyclist safety into overall road safety and transport strategies.
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has recently published a Report titled: Alcohol Interlocks in Europe: An Overview of Current and Forthcoming Programmes. This new Report aims at providing a more practical approach showing how each country has implemented their national scheme or intend to implement it in the future. It also identifies strengths and weaknesses to advocate for more effective measures and to inspire other Member States to deliver successful programmes.
The IRF Data Warehouse is a web-based global road data platform and warehouse that can complement and support national and regional efforts to collect and manage data. The IRF Data Warehouse also contributes to capacity-building and advocacy activities on a number of topics and in particular, road safety. The entire time series of the IRF World Road Statistics enables immediate and effective data analysis and is complemented by a series of dashboards and interactive data visualisation tools.
Africa’s Road Safety Data Challenge (ARSO), Asia Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO) and Ibero-American Road Safety Observatory (OISEVI) with the support of international development organizations, co-organised the Global Meeting of Regional Road Safety Observatories which was held online with great success, on 8-9 December 2020. This Global Conference helped in keeping the momentum created at the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, and contribute to strengthening collaboration and harmonization across these regional observatories.
The World Road Association – PIARC published a Report titled “Prevention and Mitigation of Tunnel-Related Collisions”. This report presents and recommends possible organizational and technical measures one can implement to lower the probability or the mechanical consequences of tunnel related collisions, that is, collisions in which the specific characteristics of a tunnel play a role in either the cause or the effect.
POLIS, the European Cities Network, has organised with great success the 2020 Annual Polis Conference which was held online from 30 November to 3 December. Cities and Regions showcased their transport achievements and get connected with up to 600 committed transport innovation professionals who work in local and Regional Governments and related public and private sector Organisations. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to support a EUR 470 million nationwide Scheme to reduce death and injury caused by traffic accidents across Greece. NTUA had contributed to the economic analysis of this major road safety scheme. Over the next three years, national road operator Egnatia Odos will improve road safety at 7,000+ of the most dangerous sites, located across 11 Regions of Greece. The small scale safety schemes will include installation of traffic barriers, provision of anti-skid surfaces and improved warning signs and markings on roads identified as high-risk.
Greek Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Kostas Karamanlis, stated that “improving road safety across Greece is a national priority and the EIB support will reduce significantly the risk of accidents at the Greek interurban road network”.
The European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI) organized with great success the TG Safety & Security Meeting, which was held online on 30 November 2020. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organising with great success an online PIN Talk titled “How to improve the safety of goods vehicles in the EU?“, which was held on 14 December. The event focused on the safety of goods vehicles in the EU, looking at goods vehicle safety but also the safety of goods vehicle drivers and all other road users.
The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) organised with great success the 1st Ideathon, which was held online on 15 January 2021. Amongst others, the participants had the chance to contribute to the development of automated urban mobility solutions that address end-users’ real needs and get access to advanced knowledge on automated mobility and gain insights in the needs of different user groups.
A paper titled “Economic Assessment of Road Infrastructure Safety Schemes in Greece Using Crash Prediction Methodology”, authored by G. Yannis, A. Dragomanovits, J. Roussou, D. Nikolaou, was presented at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 99th Annual Meeting, on January 2020. This research presents a case study for the economic assessment of road safety schemes in crash prone locations in selected rural highways in Greece, using crash prediction models from the AASHTO Highway Safety Manual. The analysis results demonstrate the high impact of this large Road Safety Scheme. 
The Horizon 2020 project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) organised the 1st Concertation Workshop, which was held online on 16 December 2020. The workshop focused on discussions about the planning of demonstrations for fleets of Automated Vehicles around Europe, concerning mainly road transport for both passengers and goods.
