Author: Ioannis Papadogiorgakis
The European Commission and the Hungarian Public Roads together with the European Transport Research Platforms ACARE, ALICE, CEDR, ECTP, ERRAC, ERTRAC, ETRA and Waterborne organized with great success the Transport Research Arena Conference (TRA2026) which took place in Budapest, Hungary on 18-21 May 2026. The Conference aimed to advance sustainable, inclusive, and innovative transportation solutions under the theme “ReGeneration in Transport“. 
NTUA actively contributed with 32 innovative presentations:
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Modeling Determinants of Sustainable Travel Behavior: A Multivariate Regression Approach - Predicting driver behaviour in a cross-country naturalistic driving study using machine learning techniques
- Factors Influencing Speed Limit Violations on Athens Road Network
- Classifying and Predicting Urban Traffic States Based on Temporal and Weather Conditions
- Investigation of Illegal Pedestrian Crossings at Crosswalks in the Center of Athens, Greece
- Investigation of Non-Compliant Pedestrian Crossings at Signalized Intersections Using Computer Vision Techniques
- A Dual Graph Framework for Edge Embedding and Clustering in Road Safety Analysis
- Lane Segmentation from Street-Level Imagery via Noisy Label Generation and Contrastive Self-Supervision
- Self-Supervised Detection of Harsh Cornering Events at Scale using Smartphone Sensor Data
- From Trend Observation to Risk Interpretation: A Machine Learning Analysis of Micromobility Injury Severity in 2022
- CulturalRoad: A Five-Pillar Framework for Equitable CCAM Implementation Across Europe
- Enhancing Risky Driving Behavior Classification Using Conditional GANs (cGANs): A Data Augmentation Approach
- Understanding speeding through Key Performance Indicators
- Testing of KPIs for the enforcement of traffic regulations
- Investigation of Traffic Safety Culture among Greek drivers
- Advancing Traffic Safety Culture: Developing a Conceptualisation of Cultural Maturity Among Traffic Safety Stakeholders
- TRUST – growing a positive Traffic Safety Culture in the EU
- Exploring the Complex Influences on Sustainable Driving: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach with Multisource Data
- Fuel-based Trip-level Behavior Optimization Employing Metaheuristics
- Video-Based Analysis of Pedestrian Behaviour in Contrasting Greek Urban Environments Using Smartphone Cameras
- A Literature Review on Techniques for Describing and Modelling the Interaction Between Automated Vehicles and Pedestrians
- Assessing Traffic Safety of Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction at Intersections, Mid-Block Crossings and Jaywalking
- Structural equation model analysis for the identification of the Safety Tolerance Zone
- Predicting Conflict Severity and Safety Impacts of Automated Vehicles in Simulated Urban Networks
- Evaluating Safety Performance of Automated Shuttles Through Hard Braking Analysis in European Urban Pilots
- Analyzing Harsh Events with Spatiotemporal Machine Learning Techniques using Mobile Data
- Understanding Behavioral Relapse in Driving: A Trip-Based Survival Analysis of Risk Indicators Post Feedback
- Comparative Analysis of Liability Frameworks for Automated Vehicles: Legal Readiness in the EU, US and China
- Investigating the Influence of Physical Fitness on Driving Performance and Road Safety
- A Hybrid Extreme Value Theory Framework for Adaptive Pedestrian Crash Risk Estimation
- RSImpact: A global road safety impact model for policy assessment
- MetaCCaze – Flexibly adapted MetaInnovations to accelerate deployment of smart and shared Zero Emission mobility
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the City of Athens organized with great success the 2026 UCI Mobility & Bike City Forum, which took place in Athens, on 10-11 May 2026. The programme covered a range of themes central to the development of cycling worldwide, including (1) Strengthening cycling tourism: emerging trends and successful approaches, (2) Urban mobility strategies: integrating cycling into city planning, (3) Cycling events as drivers of sustainable sport tourism and impact and (4) Global road safety: collaborative approaches for safer cycling. NTUA actively participated and contributed in the panel discussion entitled “Global road safety: collaborative approaches for safer cycling”, showcasing experiences in holistic safety gained from the PHOEBE project.
The Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS Hellas) in cooperation with the I-Sense Group of the Institute of Communications & Computer Systems (ICCS) are organizing the 11th ITS Hellas Conference which will take place in Athens, Greece on 23-24 June 2026, under the theme “Greece on the Move: Smart Transportation of People and Goods Today and Tomorrow”. The Conference will focus on current challenges and opportunities in the transportation sector, highlighting the role of Intelligent Transportation Systems in shaping an efficient, safe, and sustainable mobility ecosystem for people and goods. Particular emphasis will also be placed on the role of Artificial Intelligence in transportation and mobility, as a catalyst for the development of smarter, more adaptive, and more efficient systems. Registration is available here.
Politecnico of Milano is organizing a Webinar titled “City 30 in Action: From Evidence to Implementation” which will take place online, on 25 May 2026, within the framework of the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. Across Europe and beyond, City 30 policies are increasingly discussed not only as a technical road-safety measure, but also as a question of public acceptance, political feasibility, street design and quality of urban life. This youth-led Webinar will connect the broader international evidence on 30 km/h cities with practical implementation lessons. Participation is free upon registration.
A paper titled Spatial dynamics of crash hotspots under autonomous vehicle adoption scenarios authored by Maria Oikonomou and George Yannis has been published in Accident Analysis & Prevention. This Paper conducts a spatial modelling analysis to predict crash hotspot occurrences under different AV deployment scenarios. The study combines microsimulation-derived conflict data, a quantitative crash-risk formulation, validated using field crash data, based on Time-To-Collision (TTC) thresholds, and spatial statistical analysis using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic to detect statistically significant hotspots of elevated crash risk. The findings suggest that automation significantly alters the spatial distribution of crash risk, leading to a gradual reduction and spatial diffusion of hotspots as AV penetration increases. However, a temporary rise in the probability that conflict events occur within hotspot areas occurs under moderate automation shares, highlighting the transitional instability of mixed-traffic conditions. Furthermore, intersections and other high-interaction areas remained the most critical locations, while congested segments were associated with a higher probability that conflict events occur within hotspot areas. Consequently, the proposed framework supports data-informed planning and policy decisions during the transition toward automated urban mobility. 
A paper titled Safety effects of take-over requests on vehicle conflicts in realistic mixed traffic simulation authored by Marios Sekadakis, Maria Oikonomou and George Yannis has been published in Accident Analysis & Prevention. This Paper investigates how take-over-related dynamics in Automated Driving (AD) influence safety interactions in mixed traffic using a spatial Generalized Additive Model (GAM) applied to a calibrated microsimulation of a real highway corridor in central Greece. Methodologically, this study combines microsimulation, SSAM-based surrogate safety analysis, and multivariate spatial GAM modeling to quantify TOR effects on AD-Human Driven Vehicle (HDV) interactions at the network level. The findings suggest that higher automation shares and speed limits were associated with longer Time-to-Collision (TTC) , reflecting smoother and more stable interactions, whereas take-over events consistently reduced TTC regardless of Time Budget (TB), confirming elevated short-term risk during control transitions. Furthermore, automation benefits scale with market share but are constrained by transition management and roadway geometry, emphasizing the importance of spatially aware, take-over-sensitive safety strategies in mixed traffic.
The International Road Federation (IRF Global) is organizing the IRF Global Summit on Funding & Leveraging AI Applications for Roadway Innovations which will take place in Varna, Bulgaria on 3-4 June 2026. The two-day Summit combines strategic dialogue with applied and technical sessions, focusing on practical experience, case studies, and lessons learned from implementation with a particular emphasis on moving from concepts and pilots toward approaches that can be scaled and embedded within road agencies. This Event brings together senior policymakers, road agency leaders, engineers, and industry experts to examine how new approaches to funding, delivery, and system management can support more sustainable, efficient, and safer road networks. The Programme can be found here. Researchers can register here.
The Traffic Department of Police Headquarters Cyprus together with the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organized with great success a High-Level Road Safety Performance Index titled “Improving the safety of young drivers & riders” which took place Nicosia, Cyprus on 14 May 2026. This Event mainly focused on the safety of young drivers and riders. The event included statements from high-level speakers including the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, the Minister of Justice and Public Order and the Chief of Cyprus Police, as well as presentations from the Cyprus Road Safety Council, the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, the Road Transport Department and the Cyprus Motorcycle Federation. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The Greek Auxiliary Fund organized with great success a 50 Year Anniversary Conference which took place in Athens, Greece on 12 May 2026, marking 50 years of uninterrupted service to the Greek society. This Event aimed to highlight the Auxiliary Fund’s social role and to foster public dialogue on critical issues related to road safety, auto insurance in Greece and Europe and the safety of citizens. Some of the topics included road safety in Greece, protection of road accident victims and the role of organizations in Europe. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) organized with great success a “Brown Bag” Session Event which was held online, on 12 May 2026. Brown Bag Sessions are an informal platform for GRSP team to discuss, present, and share knowledge on good practices, success stories, and road safety research. The participants included GRSP staff, consultants, and grantees with a particular focus on implementation and impact of evidence based approaches to road safety. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The European Platform of Transport Sciences (EPTS) together with ÖVG organized with great success the 24th European Transport Congress which was held in Vienna, Austria on 7-8 May 2026, under the theme “Resilient and Reliable Mobility Systems“. Key topics discussed in this Conference were labor and diversity, climate change and resilience, asset management & availability, as well as geopolitical change and strategic dependencies. NTUA actively contributed with the following paper and poster presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following paper and poster presentation:
Eurocities recently published the results of a Survey on 30 km/h speed limits in European cities, based on responses from 38 cities in 19 European countries. 75% of cities report clear positive results, with fewer road deaths and injuries, while 91% report at least one positive impact on urban life, such as a lower number of accidents and fatalities, a decrease in air and noise pollution, and an increase in active mobility modes. Cities report reductions in accidents, fatalities and serious injuries for all road users, alongside lower vehicle speeds and reduced noise pollution. Crucially, these gains come without trade-offs: respondents report no overall negative effects on congestion, traffic volumes or journey times, and only limited, manageable impacts on public transport.
Engineers Australia is organizing the Transport Conference 2026, which will be held on 9-10 June 2026 in Cairns, Australia under the theme “Access all areas”. This Conference will bring together engineers, leading professionals, innovators and decision-makers from across the transport sector, championing the creation of inclusive, equitable, and resilient transport systems. The Conference will feature a dynamic program of invited speakers, thought-provoking discussions, gala dinner and real-world insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping Australia’s transport future. Programme is available here. Registration is available here.
The Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of NTUA organized with great success a Workshop titled “Emerging Challenges in Road Geometric Design” which was held on 7 May 2026 in Athens, Greece. This Workshop explored emerging challenges in road geometric design in the context of rapidly evolving mobility systems and user needs. It brought together insights from three complementary perspectives: the integration of lane support systems supported by machine learning, international experience with turbo roundabouts based on Polish practice, and innovative approaches from Japan addressing pedestrian–vehicle coexistence.
The Sustainable Mobility and Road Safety Committee of the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK) organized with great success a Meeting on Sustainable Mobility and 30 km/h speed limit in cities, which was held online on 5 May 2026. This Event focused on relevant policy recommendations, supporting Cyprus cities to adopt 30 km/h speed limits. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published the 50th PIN Flash Report titled “Improving the safety of cycling in Europe“. This Report analyses recent trends in cyclist deaths and serious injuries across Europe and identifies the key risk factors affecting cyclists on European roads. Furthermore, it examines the policies and measures that can help improve cycling safety while supporting the continued growth of cycling as a safe, healthy and sustainable mode of transport such as the introduction and enforcement 30 km/h speed limits on urban roads. The European Union has committed to reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030, as part of its Vision Zero ambition. Ensuring that cyclists benefit from progress towards these targets is essential, especially as cycling levels continue to grow.
The International Road Federation (IRF Global) is organizing the 9th IRF Global R2T Conference which will be held in San Francisco, USA on 3-6 November 2026. This year’s Theme is “Transforming the Future of Mobility”. This Event will offer a dynamic platform for learning, collaboration, and forging influential partnerships—ensuring you stay at the forefront of a rapidly changing industry. Programme is available here. Early Bird registration is available until 3 September 2026.
Virginia Petraki has successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “A Multilevel Integrated Assessment of Safe and Green Mobility”, under the supervision of NTUA Prof. George Yannis. Sustainable mobility is a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing road safety, as well as economic and environmental impacts. This doctoral dissertation develops a data-driven framework for the multilevel assessment of safe and green mobility, spanning from individual trips to the road network, by fusing road infrastructure, traffic, and weather-related data with high-resolution naturalistic driving behavior data. The developed framework is structured around three complementary analytical modules, including (i) the identification of safe and green mobility patterns, (ii) the joint modeling of safe and green driving outcomes, and (iii) the assessment of sustainable driving efficiency. The results reveal that safe and green mobility are strongly interconnected yet context-dependent, exhibiting both synergies and trade-offs across levels of analysis, while highlighting the critical role of driving behavior and external conditions in shaping these interactions. Overall, the dissertation provides a comprehensive and interpretable analytical framework that supports informed and targeted interventions towards more sustainable mobility for all.
The European Commission is organizing the annual Excellence in Road Safety Awards which will be held on 23 November 2026 in Brussels, recognizing the contributions of the European Road Safety Charter’s community of members towards the common goal of improved road safety across Europe. The Award categories for 2026 include education, technology, vulnerable road users, at work and urban measures and urban initiatives. Submissions are available until 10 June 2026.
The Horizon Europe research project IMPROVA has recently released its 4th Newsletter, focusing on enhancing road safety by addressing the complexities of long-term consequences (LTC) caused by road traffic crashes. This version of the Newsletter focuses on WP updates and advancements, as well as two IMPROVA papers presented during the IRTAD 2026 Conference in Athens. Key WP updates include the launch of the Functional Capacity Index and the integration of European crash data into a new head-injury metamodel. Furthermore, the Newsletter announces the upcoming IMPROVA General Assembly in Athens.
The Horizon Europe research project CulturalRoad is hosting a Webinar titled “Co-Creating Mobility Solutions with Local Communities: Insights from the CulturalRoad Demo Sites” which will take place online, on 13 May 2026. This webinar will explore how CulturalRoad is working with local stakeholders across its five demonstration sites — in Catalonia, Karlsruhe, Eilat, Ljubljana and the United Kingdom (West Midlands and Oxfordshire) — to better understand expectations, challenges and opportunities related to automated mobility. City representatives, mobility planners, public authorities and stakeholders from the sector are welcome to join the discussion and contribute with their perspectives. Participation is free upon registration. 
The EU co-funded research project GreCO successfully participated in a direct dialogue with the European Commission and in a Focused Policy Lab of the European Urban Initiative on Sustainable Tourism, held on 22–23 April 2026 in Copenhagen. GreCO Project in collaboration with the Municipality of Elliniko-Argyroupoli, actively contributed to the discussions focused on the green transition, digitalization, inclusion and balanced tourism management, as well as the promotion of sustainable behaviours and experiences, directly contributing to the shaping of the upcoming European Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. This participation was an important opportunity for the exchange of knowledge and experience with representatives from the European Commission, policymakers and professionals from across Europe.
A paper titled Tram or Bus? A Stated-Preference Analysis of Road User Mode Choice in Larissa, Greece authored by Athanasios Theofilatos, Apostolos Ziakopoulos, Apostolos Anagnostopoulos, Georgios Georgiadis, Ioannis Politis and Nikolaos Eliou has been published in Systems. This Paper aims to investigate Public Transport (PT) preferences in the city of Larissa, Greece. To this end, a SP survey was designed and implemented, resulting in 972 observations that were collected for further statistical analysis. Survey results show a slight preference for trams over buses, with 54.63% selecting the tram and 45.37% favoring the buses. The findings also indicate that passengers place a high value on the quality of infrastructure related to access and waiting times, underlining the need to improve the overall user experience beyond the vehicle itself. In summary, the present research offers valuable insights into how the introduction of a tram system could possibly reshape PT usage patterns when compared with the legacy existing bus services.
Micro-Mobility for Europe (MMfE) recently published its latest incident data, covering more than 450 million trips across the EU27, Israel, Norway, Switzerland and the UK. The data confirms that injury risk for shared e-scooters and e-bikes continued to decline for the fifth consecutive year, with shared e-bike injuries per million trips falling by 18.4% compared to 2024, and a 24% reduction in shared e-scooter injury risk per million trips since 2021. MMfE is currently working together with NTUA on a more detailed analysis of micro-mobility safety trends, aimed at further strengthening the evidence base for policymaking and infrastructure improvements. Despite the positive trajectory, reductions in serious injuries and fatalities are not yet happening fast enough to meet European Commission targets under its Vision Zero objective.
The Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) is organizing the Australasian Road Safety Conference 2026 (ARSC), which will be held in Sydney, Australia on 26-29 October 2026. This Conference under the theme “From Evidence to Action: Shaping a Brighter Future” will bring together road safety stakeholders and decision-makers from Australasia and international jurisdictions to facilitate collaboration and share information. Early Bird registration is available until 24 July 2026.
The President of the United Nations General Assembly recently submitted the Draft Resolution “Scope, modalities, format and organization of the high-level meeting on improving global road safety“. Τhe Draft Resolution decides to convene a High-Level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety in New York, on 20-21 July 2026, under the theme “Scaling up and accelerating implementation of commitments to halving road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030”, in line with the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. It also calls for a multi-stakeholder hearing as part of the preparatory process, bringing together governments, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector.
Τhe African Road Safety Charter has recently been ratified by 15 African Union Member States, which is the minimum threshold required for it to come into force. This marks an important step towards stronger accountability, coordinated action, and safer roads across the continent. To support members in understanding this development, the Alliance recently held a capacity building session focused on the Charter and its implications.
The International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD), the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) co-organized with great success the 8th IRTAD International Conference: Better Road Safety Data for Better Safety Performance which took place in Athens, Greece, on 15-17 April 2026, with the support of FERSI and ECTRI, under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. The objective of the Conference was to explore improvements in the quality of data systems and related analyses globally, achieved through three days of vivid discussions with more than 330 road safety experts from 45 countries and 146 road safety Organisations, with focus on human factors, speeding behaviour, safety of vulnerable road users, automation, artificial intelligence, big data, and advanced modelling to support evidence-based policies and measures for safer roads everywhere and for all.
The International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD), the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) co-organized with great success the 8th IRTAD International Conference: Better Road Safety Data for Better Safety Performance which was held in Athens, Greece, on 15-17 April 2026, with the support of FERSI and ECTRI, under the auspices of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. NTUA actively contributed with the following papers and presentations:
- Development of a road safety impact tool for policy assessment
- Attitudes and Self-Declared Behaviours Among Greek Road Users: Evidence from the ESRA3 survey
- Probabilistic Modeling for Node-Based Partitioning of Telematics-Informed Road Networks
- Transformer-Based Driver Behavior Recognition Using the UAH-DriveSet Dataset
- Temporal Modeling of Heart Rate Variability for Driver Drowsiness Detection with LSTM Networks
- Comparative assessment of speed characteristics in the European Union
- The European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO): Supporting evidence-based policy for safer EU roads
- A Cross-City Survey on Personal Protective Equipment Use in Vulnerable Road Users
- A method to estimate the number of people suffering from long-term consequences
- Integrating Telematics and Video-Based Recognition for Vehicle Behavior Analysis in Athens
- Assessing public opinions on city-wide 30 km/h speed limits: The case of Athens
- Do Key Performance Indicators really measure road safety performance?
- Towards a Traffic Sustainability Culture: Integrating Safety and Sustainability in Line with the Stockholm Declaration
- Development of a conceptual model for traffic safety culture
- Evaluating Self-Reported and Attitudinal Indicators as Proxies for Observed Road Safety Behaviour
- Subjective Safety of Vulnerable Road Users from a European Perspective – Insights from the ESRA3 Survey
- Examining Driver Behaviour along Motorway Exit Ramp Terminals
- Opening Speech
