Author: agouma
POLIS, the European Cities Network, organised with great success the 2023 Annual Polis Conference, which took place in Leuven, on 29-30 November 2023. The POLIS Annual Conference is Europe’s leading sustainable urban mobility event, providing an opportunity for cities and regions to showcase their transport achievements, including recent safety developments, to a large audience of mobility experts, practitioners, and decision-makers from both the public and private sector. Urban Road Safety is a key conference priority. 
The SWOV – Dutch Road Safety Research Institute organised with great success the 11th International Cycling Safety Conference (ICSC2023) which took place in Hague, on 15–17 November 2023, bringing the conference back to the Netherlands after 10 years. The ICSC is a forum for researchers and experts in the field of cycling safety to exchange their knowledge and bring up new research topics and safety solutions. This year’s conference focused on safer cycling for a better future. NTUA actively contributed with the following paper:
The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT) organised with great success the 35th Conference which took place in Catania, Italy, on 26-27 October 2023 under the theme “Challenges and actual opportunities offered by new technologies to improve traffic safety”. The conference was organized in close co-operation with the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture of University of Catania.
DDI2024 – 9th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention, Michigan, October 2024
SAFER Vehicle and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) organized with great success the 9th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI2024), which was 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 World Road Association (PIARC) organised with great success the XXVIIth World Road Congress, which was held on 2-6 October 2023, in Prague. The theme of the congress was “Together on the road again” and provided a unique opportunity to discuss in depth all subjects related to road infrastructures and road transport, with safety being one of the Congress key topics. The program included ministerial sessions, 60 technical sessions covering all key aspects and topics of road infrastructure, valuable poster sessions, various specialised workshops and foresight sessions. A special workshop on “Boosting Sustainable Road Safety Solutions in LMICs” was also foreseen. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
A special workshop on “Boosting Sustainable Road Safety Solutions in LMICs” was also foreseen. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
The 8th International HUMANIST Conference took place with great success on 21-22 September 2023 in Berlin. The theme of the conference is “Accelerating the transformation towards sustainable mobility by human-centred design“. The Conference brοught together researchers, experts and stakeholders from several multidisciplinary communities that are active in the field of Human Factors in Transport. It was a unique and attractive forum to present current and planned activities as well as to share ideas and experiences.
The Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) co-organized the 11th International Congress on Transportation Research (ICTR 2023), which was held on 20-22 September 2023 in Heraklion, Greece. The spotlight theme of the 2023 Congress was “Clean and Accessible to All Multimodal Transport“. Special focus was given to innovative and sustainable traffic safety concepts in Greece and worldwide. NTUA contributed actively with the following 16 scientific papers and presentations:
NTUA contributed actively with the following 16 scientific papers and presentations:
Spatial analysis of telematics surrogate safety measures across road environments (Young Researcher Best Road Safety Paper Award)- Road Safety Key Performance Indicators in Greece
- A novel methodology for crash hotspot identification and network-wide safety ranking
- Implementing traffic simulation for road safety assessment: A systematic literature review
- Evaluation of safety interventions on risky driving behavior using data from a novel naturalistic driving experiment
- Identification of safe driving behavior using an ensemble of machine learning algorithms and data from the i-DREAMS experiment
- How do task complexity and coping capacity influence risk? Findings from a novel naturalistic driving experiment in Greece
- Modelling the inter-relationship among task complexity, coping capacity and crash risk
- Impact Assessment of a novel Human-Machine Interface Prototype: A descriptive analysis from the HADRIAN project
- Impacts of automated driving vehicles on bus depot operation using naturalistic data
- Modelling the behaviour of automated vehicles when interacting with pedestrians in jaywalking
- Risk analysis of Western Greece road network using the Highway Safety Manual
- Can we predict safe driving for the elderly through a self-assessment of driving behaviour?
- Analysis of speeding characteristics in Greece
- Analysis of distraction characteristics due to mobile phone use in Greece
- Cost Benefit Analysis of reducing speed limits at the Greek interurban road network
The International Alcohol Interlock Symposium, organised by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), took place with great success on 17-19 September 2023, in Oslo, Norway under the theme “Technology saving lives”. Since 2000, the Alcohol Interlock Symposium global forum has hosted leading experts to discuss ongoing research and development regarding alcohol and drug impaired driving, interlock programs, and road traffic safety. This year, international policy makers, criminal justice and health professionals, licensing authorities, researches, government officials, innovators, and industry representatives were part of a three day exploration of new ideas and innovative technological developments in the expanding field of alcohol interlocks.
The 11th Symposium of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART2023) took place with great success in Zurich, on 6-8 September 2023. The Symposium offered an opportunity for in depth discussion in all scientific methods and analyses in transport. The topics of this year’s conference were: mobility, transport, logistics.
University of Cantabria organised the 25th Euro Working Group on Transportation Conference (EWGT 2023) which was held with great success on 6-8 September 2023 in Santander, Spain. There were 4 different topics discussed, including Transport Modeling and Control, Planning and Operation, Transport Economics and Policy and Innovative and Sustainable Solutions. This year the 25th EWGT, wanted to reward the excellent quality of all the papers received, therefore the organization had established the following 3 categories of prizes. 1. EWGT2023 Award for the best paper of the congress, 2. EWGT2023 Award to the best PhD poster, 3. Mention and diploma for the best papers in each of the congress topics.
The Università degli Studi di Brescia and the Friendly City Study Center (CeSCAΜ) co-organised the LWC International Conference, which took place with great success on 6-8 September 2023 in Brescia. The LWC International Conference traditionally deals with the topics of urban mobility and quality of life in urban areas, with a specific focus on vulnerable road users. Τhis year’s LWC Conference focused on defining the new challenges for sustainable urban mobility.
The Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS Hellas) in co-operation with the University of Patras, Department of Civil Engineering and TSS-Transport Simulation Systems: Aimsun & Aimsun Online, organised the International Conference ITS2023, which took place with great success in Patras on 2-3 November 2023. This Conference was held under the theme “Intelligent Systems and Consciousness Society” to ensure comfortable, fast, and safe movement of people and goods in smart cities and communities. NTUA actively contributed with the following paper:
NTUA actively contributed with the following paper:
The Vision Zero Conference organised by the Government Offices of Sweden, Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) and Vinnova (the Swedish Innovation Agency), took place in Stockholm on 26-27 June 2023. High-level representatives of road road safety Authorities and Stakeholders discussed on Vision Zero, Agenda 2030, Private sector role and engagement, Knowledge transfer and capacity building, Safe modal shift including safety for powered two-wheelers and New technologies and innovations. The conference also provided an opportunity to link road safety to other global sustainability challenges.
The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT) organised with great success the 34th Conference which took place in Winneba, Ghana, on 8-9 June 2023 under the theme Enhancing traffic safety: prospects and challenges for Safe System approach on African continent. The conference was organized in close co-operation with the University of Education, Winneba.
The European Platform of Transport Sciences (EPTS) organised the 21st European Transport Congress under the theme “The strengthening the resilience of smart cities”, which took place with great success in Prague, on 25-26 May 2023. This Conference was special, as it was a joint event with the Smart Cities Symposium and researchers with different background were encouraged to participate and share their findings.
NTUA Professor George Yannis has contributed actively at the ITF 2023 Summit held in Leipzig, Germany, on 24-26 May 2023, on key discussions on the design of safe and equitable future transport systems for all. In his presentation on Social Cost–Benefit Analysis of Key Urban Mobility Policies in Athens demonstrated the high usefulness of the social Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for the promotion of key urban mobility and safety policies, including comprehensive appraisal of externalities (impact on safety, environment, congestion, etc.). The policies investigated concerned City-wide Speed Limit 30km/h, Congestion Charging Schemes, Ridesharing Services and Telematics Insurance Schemes, which were proved highly beneficial for the society welfare.
Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published the 44th PIN Flash Report titled Reducing Road Deaths among Powered Two Wheeler Users. This Report examines the latest data on PTW user road deaths from across the EU and other countries that form part of ETSC’s Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme. It also looks at the main measures for reducing the risks to PTW users including training, licensing, infrastructure, technical inspections, the use of protective equipment and new technologies.
The Horizon 2020 project i-DREAMS (smart Driver Environment Assesment and Monitoring System) organised its Final Event which was held in Brussels, on 26 April 2023. In this i-DREAMS Workshop the main accomplishments of the project for the role of human factors in transport safety were discussed. Results indicated that the integrated treatment of task complexity, coping capacity and risk can improve behavior and safety of all travellers and all transport modes, through unobtrusive and seamless behaviour monitoring.
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
An NTUA Diploma Thesis called “Analysis of the acceptance and cost benefit analysis of reducing the speed limit to 80 km/h on the interurban road network in Greece” was recently presented by Konstantinos Makrydakis. For the purpose of this Diploma Thesis, a special questionnaire was developed and answered by 408 travellers, from different parts of Greece, based on the stated preference method for 10 hypothetical scenarios with variations of the variables travel time, fuel consumption and probability of road accident with serious injury. The analysis calculated the investment costs and the impacts on traffic, road safety and the environment expressed in monetary units and showed that the reduction of the speed limit to 80 km/h on the interurban road network in Greece is considered to be economically very positive for the society, with a positive economic Net Present Value (ENPV=€170.7 million) and a high ERR (ERR=39.1%).
A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigating the influence of mobile phone use on driving behavior with Machine Learning analysis of imbalanced data” was recently presented by Konstantinos-Eirinaios Kaselouris. For classification and regression of mobile phone usage, telematics data from the OSeven telematics company were used as collected from naturalistic driving measurements. Mobile phone use was defined as an indicator of risky behaviour and classification was performed on two levels of driving behaviour (risky and not risky). Variables related to travel speed were found to be the most significant independent variables, while according to the classification evaluation metrics, the most appropriate model was considered to be that of ‘Linear Discriminant Analysis’.
An NTUA Diploma Thesis called “Analysis of seatbelt and helmet use characteristics in Greece” was recently presented by Nikolaos Lagonikakos. For the purpose of this Diploma Thesis, data were collected from field observations during November-December 2021 in Greece and are related to seatbelt and helmet use, driver’s age and gender, the type of vehicle, the weather conditions, the time period and the road type in three areas (Athens, Thessaloniki and Larisa). Regarding the statistical models of seatbelt and helmet use by drivers, the results demonstrated that female drivers are more likely to use their seatbelt compared to male drivers. With regard to age, middle-aged and elderly drivers present lower probabilities of using a seatbelt while driving, compared to young drivers. Moreover, in adverse weather conditions the probability of using a helmet is lower in comparison with good weather conditions.
The Horizon 2020 project MEDIATOR organised its Final Event which was held in Hague, on 13 April 2023. The MEDIATOR Workshop combined speeches, discussion with perspectives from industry and policy and discussion of main scientific contribution and next steps.
FERSI expresses its concern that European road safety research is no longer delivering what it ought to, impeding the improvements needed to achieve the European ambitious road safety targets. This position paper details how the structure of road safety research funding in Europe impacts the potential progress that can be made in European road safety and provides some suggestions for solutions.
The Eighth Global Meeting of Non-Governmental Organizations Advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims took place in El Salvador and online on 6-10 March 2023, co-hosted by the Vice-Ministry of Transport of El Salvador and WHO. It was a hybrid event, enabling wider participation of NGOs and other stakeholders. The Global Meeting featured capacity building opportunities, inspiration from well-known safe mobility and sustainability experts, a high-level symposium with key influencers from government, multilateral organizations, private sector, and academia, as well as extensive networking opportunities.
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, has presented proposals to modernise driving licence rules, including the introduction of a digital driving licence valid throughout the EU and new provisions to facilitate the enforcement of traffic rules across borders. More than 20,000 lives were lost on EU roads last year and the majority of victims were pedestrians, cyclists and users of scooters and motorbikes. The new rules will improve safety for all road users, and will help the EU achieve its Vision Zero – having no deaths on EU roads by 2050.
The UN Road Safety Collaboration organised the global campaign for the 7th UN Global Road Safety Week, which was held on 15-21 May 2023. World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with partners, organized periodic UN Global Road Safety Weeks. This 7th edition focused on sustainable transport, in particular the need to shift to walking, cycling and using public transport. Road safety is both a prerequisite for and an outcome of this shift.
The UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) organised the PACTS spring Conference 2023, which was held online, on 28 March 2023. The main theme of the Conference was Micromobility, Safety and Sustainability. Speakers from government, industry and user groups set out the landscape and particularly address safety and sustainability, both which remain key priorities for the Government.
The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for an EU cycling strategy, in an important step for equal treatment and financial support for the healthy and clean mode of transport. The Parliament’s resolution highlights the importance of cycling as a fully-fledged mode of transport that should be treated with the same importance as any other mode of transport. The initiative follows action on the issue by 11 EU countries, including France and Spain, through the “European Cycling Declaration,” which also calls for an EU cycling strategy.
The International Transport Forum (ITF) has recently published a new Report titled “Shaping Post-Covid Mobility in Cities“. This Report explores how urban mobility changed during the pandemic, focusing on changes in how people work, examining also implications on safety. Based on a review of international best practices, the report provides recommendations for better urban mobility in a post-Covid world.
Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) together with the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) recently published a new Report titled “Recommendations on Safety of E-scooters“. The Report is in response to the rapid growth of e-scooter usage over the last five years and an associated increase in deaths and serious injuries. It takes into account a wide body of available data, hospital studies, vehicle safety testing and research from across Europe and beyond.
