The Saudi Traffic Safety Society organized under the patronage of His Royal Highness Governor of the Eastern Region the sixth International Traffic Safety Conference, which took place with great success in Dammam, Saudi Arabia on 4-6 December 2023. The theme of the conference was “Artificial intelligence and big data for transportation and traffic safety”. Experts, researchers, academics from internationally renowned research centers, institutions and international scientific organizations took part in this conference.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Artificial intelligence and big data applications in road safety

The Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move) of the European Commission released the Statistical Pocketbook 2022 “EU Transport in figures”. In this Statistical Pocketbook, key road safety Tables are contained, together with several other Tables on transport statistics, providing a complete picture of current trends in transport in Europe. Data on road fatalities for the EU member states and associate countries allow for time series comparisons and country rankings.  

The European Commission adopted a series of proposals designed to improve the experience of passengers and travellers by strengthening their rights. These proposals focuse on stronger passenger rights, protection of package travellers, better multimodal travel information services and the creation of a common European mobility data space. The new rules will also provide for safer and smoother journeys, especially those involving different travel services or transport modes, ensuring that passengers have access to direct support, and enhanced real-time information, for example on delays and cancellations. 

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to tunnels, as presented by the chair of the PIARC Technical Committee 4.4 “Road Tunnels”  Ingo Kaundinya. Throughout the year, PIARC focuses on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

The Road Traffic Safety Agency (RTSA)  of the republic of Serbia in cooperation with NTUA, several Serbian and international road safety Governmental, Academic and other organizations are organizing the 19th International conference Road Safety in Local Communities (RSCL 2024) in Zlatibor, Serbia, on 17-20 April 2024. The Conference is organized within second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021-2030), second national strategy for road safety (2023-2030) and after significant changes in road safety regulations. Researchers can submit their papers until 1 December 2023.   

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Impact of compliance for the reduction of sulphur oxide emissions in the shipping industry” was recently presented by Maria Konti. In order to achieve this, two case studies based on data taken from two existing bulk carriers were presented. The study indicates that options i) and iii) are accompanied by significant capital expenditures (CapEx), while the Scrubber option is shown to be the most cost-effective considering 5 and 10-year depreciation scenarios. Other important parameters such as the vessels’ age, the management companies’ cash flow and risk appetite, and the hire rates are shown to influence the results.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Analysis of traffic behaviour and road safety of delivery riders” was recently presented by Konstantinos Choumis.  To achieve this, a questionnaire was developed, and 200 food delivery drivers from all over Attica were asked to respond based on the stated preference method for various hypothetical scenarios involving changes in delivery time, crash risk reduction and profit loss per delivery. The results of the multinomial logistic regression model revealed that the variables influencing the food delivery drivers’ choices in hypothetical scenarios include: delivery time, crash risk reduction, profit loss, age of the driver, the number of fines received, and their opinion on stricter penalties as a measure to improve road safety.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Survey of analysis of the acceptance of reduced speed limits on Greek motorways from 130km/h” was recently presented by Christina Agourou. In order to achieve this, a questionnaire was created to collect data using the stated preference methodology, examining three different scenarios regarding speed limits. In conclusion, the participants, depending on their individual characteristics and beliefs, agree more or less about the criticality of the role of some variables, such as cost of fuel, journey time and estimation of the number of number of people injured or killed in motorway crashes.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Impact factors of children’s road safety in Europe” was recently presented by Alexia Georgiou. For this purpose, data from the European CARE database on the number of victims aged 0-14 in road crashes and the characteristics of these crashes were used. Linear regression models and negative binomial regression models were developed. These models led to the conclusion that the percentage of drivers who develop speeds higher than the permitted ones in residential areas and the percentage of drivers who transport children over 150cm tall without a seat belt significantly affect the number of victims aged 0-14. Regarding crash characteristics, good weather conditions are associated with an increase in the number of victims.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigation of the impact of eco driving on fuel consumption using smartphone data” was recently presented by Aimilia Triantafyllou. To achieve this objective, data collected from 15 drivers who participated in a naturalistic driving experiment for a period of six months are analyzed. The results demonstrated that by improving the participants’ driving style, a remarkable reduction in fuel consumption was observed; and smoother and more ecological driver behavior was achieved.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigation of eco driving benefits at the rural network using driving simulator” was recently presented by Panagiota Kourenti. To achieve this objective, driving data from 39 participants were collected and the experimental procedure was carried out using a driving simulator. To complete the collection of the necessary data, the driving characteristics of the participants were collected through a questionnaire survey. The key conclusions of this thesis are that eco-driving reduces the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere, the fuel consumption of vehicles and the probability of road crashes.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Comparative Evaluation of Road Safety Performance of the European Union Countries” was recently presented by Panagiotis Konstantopoulos. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for road safety were exploited as collected in 2021-2022 within the Baseline project, together with data from Eurostat and EC CARE road crash databases. It was observed that an increase in the percentage of vehicles travelling within the speed limits on urban roads and of the percentage of seat belt use, as well as an increase in the proportion of new vehicles in the total fleet, are associated with a clear reduction in crash severity.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Comparative analysis of road safety performance in the Regions of Greece ” was recently presented by Lydia Papagianni. For this purpose, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for road safety in Greece were collected and calculated for the year 2022 as part of the European Union’s Baseline project. It was found that as the KPI for the use of protective equipment, distraction from handheld devices, compliance with speed limits, the per capita GDP, and the number of hospital beds increase, the number of road fatalities per population decreases. Conversely, as the employment rate increases, the road fatalities also increase.  

The NTUA Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering organised with great success a Scientific Workshop titled “Telematics boosting mobility behaviour” which took place at the NTUA Campus in Athens on November 22nd, 2023. The rapid spread of innovative technologies in the field of telematics creates new opportunities to monitor, evaluate and improve driver behaviour through feedback tools, providing incentives to drivers for safer and greener behaviour, with spectacular results. During this workshop, the new interactive SafeRoadsMap tool for safe and green travelling in Greece was released.    Workshop Presentations:

•  Telematics and mobility behaviour – nrso
•  OSeven application and improvement of mobility behaviour – SmartMaps
•  Collection and processing of smart map data  – SmartMaps
•  Development of infrastructure, driving behaviour and fuel consumption maps  – SmartMaps
•  Development of algorithms for multiparametric analysis of driving behaviour and road segment risk– SmartMaps
•  Fleet, traffic and mobility management in interconnected environments   – Dit4tram
•  Driver-vehicle-environment interaction and comparison by transport mode – iDreams
•  Safety assessment of Athens Great Walk segments with telematics data – PHOEBE
•  Artificial intelligence and safe mobility  – Ivory
•  Driver behaviour optimisation for safe, green and energy efficient mobility  – OptiMo

The European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI) celebrated the 20 Years of Achievements in Sustainable and Multimodal Mobility Research, in conjunction with the Annual Plenary Meetings of Members and of Thematic Groups, which took place with great success in Brussels, on 16 November 2023. Key achievements were highlighted and discussions focussed on how can research drive future green and inclusive mobility and the transformative impact of research on transport policy. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  Predictive Approaches for Safer Urban Environments
•  AI for Vision Zero in Road Safety

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is observed on the third Sunday of November each year, launched in 1995 by the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) and since 2005 adopted by the United Nations and is dedicated to remembering the many millions killed or injured in road crashes and their families and communities, as well as to pay tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals who daily deal with the traumatic aftermath of road death and injury. A book written by Jeannot Mersch and Briggite Chaudhry has been published for celebrating 30 years for the Day of Remembrance.     

Based on the new interactive map of EUROSTAT on road safety performance of European Union regions (NUTS 2), there were 19,917 road fatalities on EU roads in 2021, equivalent to 45 road fatalities per million inhabitants. In total, there were 24 EU regions with at least 80 road fatalities per million inhabitants and the highest incidence rates for road fatalities were recorded in rural regions. In urban and capital regions much lower rates of road fatalities are reported with the lowest incidence rates observed in Brussels,Belgium (7 fatalities per million inhabitants), Wien, Austria (8), Stockholm, Sweden (9), and Bremen, Germany (9). 

The European Commission is organising the EU Road Safety Conference which will be held in Dublin, Ireland, on 16 April 2024. The Conference provides an opportunity to engage with EU Member State Authorities, Experts and all Stakeholders across the road safety community. In addition, it will facilitate exchanging views and experiences on the efforts to reach Vision Zero. 

The 9th Road Safety & Simulation International Conference 2024 (RSS2024) hosted by the Kentucky Transportation Center will take place in Lexington, Kentucky, on 28-31 October 2024, under the theme “Improving Decisions Through Safety and Simulation Tools”. The aim of the Conference is to improve upon the existing knowledge in the area of road safety and contribute to reducing the number of crash fatalities and injuries occurring worldwide, through the dissemination of innovative research and applications. The deadline for abstract submission is February 1st, 2024.  

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to infrastructure, as presented by the chair of PIARC Technical Committee 3.1 John Milton. Throughout the year, PIARC focuses on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

The Network of Regional Road Safety Observatories (RSO), namely the European (ERSO), Ibero American (OISEVI), African (ARSO), Asia and Pacific (APRSO), the Easter Parnership (EaPRSO) and Arab (AIRSO), organised  with great success an informal meeting which was held in Paris and online, on 9 November 2023. The main topic discussed was the update on programme of Work and activities of Regional Road Safety Observatories. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Update on the european road safety observatory

A new book titled “La Vitesse: Enjeux contemporains et politiques publiques” authored by Laurent Carnis and Dominique Mignot, was recently published. This book guides the reader through the theme of the reflection of speed in society. Speed is at the heart of  society as it continues to structure everyday behavior, expressing a form of modernity and reflecting the relationship with time and risk. Furthermore, speed is also a matter of public policy, with road safety and public health at stake. It is the result of interactions between behavior, vehicles and infrastructure. These policies must ensure that the measures taken are acceptable and effective on the ground, but they require strong commitments from decision-makers. 

Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has recently published the 45th PIN Flash Report titled “Reducing Older People’s Deaths on European Roads”. This report highlights road safety challenges faced by older road users examines the latest data regarding road deaths of older people across the EU and other countries that form part of ETSC’s Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme. Key measures aimed at reducing risks for older road users, encompassing strategies that address behaviour, infrastructure and vehicle safety, are provided. Remarkable is that 55% of older people road deaths are vulnerable road users, while one third of them are pedestrians.    

IVORY – AI for Vision Zero in Road Safety is a new Industrial Doctoral Network funded by the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks 2022 Framework of the EC, coordinated by TU Delft with the active contribution of NTUA. The objectives of IVORY is to develop a new framework for optimal integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in road safety research, and train a new generation of leading researchers in the field through state-of-the-art doctoral research. In total, 15 PhD candidates will be fostered within the project, 4 of which will be within NTUA. Their topics concern proactive risk mapping, multiscale crash prediction, multiparametric data fusion for road safety and ethical physiological measurements for road safety risk prediction. Potential PhD Applicants are welcome.

Bar-Ilan University is organising the 8th International Conference on Traffic and Transport Psychology (ICTTP), which will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 19-22 August 2024. This conference is the 1st ICTTP conference in the middle East and is oriented towards the next generation of traffic psychology researchers. The aim of this conference is to provide a platform for communication between researchers, young and established, and between researchers and practitioners. 

EPFL is organising an one-week program on 11-15 February 2024 that undertakes an in-depth study of discrete choice models and their applications. It provides participants with the practical tools necessary for applying new discrete choice techniques. The course will cover various topics such as fundamental methodology, data collection, model design and estimation issues, forecasting techniques, examples and case studies. Researchers can apply for a scholarship until 8 December 2023. 

European Commission and the European Parliament launched with great success the EU Road Safety Exchange project for a second three-year phase with the active support of ETSC and NTUA. The project connects road safety experts from various European countries to tackle specific road safety challenges through twinning activities. A high-level event in Brussels marked the official launch of the project on 18 October 2023. The project and its launch event  covered various themes, including the safety of infrastructure, effective enforcement, the protection of vulnerable road users and driver training. 

The European Commission  hosted with great success the annual Excellence in Road Safety Awards on 19 October 2023 in Brussels, recognising 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 2023 included best use of data promoting road safety, best project promoting fitness to drive and supporting road safety in the e-commerce sector and best road safety project for road users with reduced mobility. Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)  was chosen by the audience at the awards ceremony to receive the Jacques Barrot Award.  

The European Commission published the latest figures on Road safety in the EU, showing that 20,640 people were killed in road crashes in 2022, a 4% increase in relation to 2021 as traffic levels recovered after the pandemic. While the underlying long-term trend is downward (-9% compared to pre-pandemic year), it is not decreasing at a fast enough pace to reach the EU target of halving the number of deaths by 2030.  Preliminary figures for the first six months of 2023 indicate the number of deaths on EU roads has fallen slightly, compared with the same period in 2022. 

Bolt micromobility operator is actively engaged to high level safety of its services and has recently published a Report introducing e-scooter safety and gaining a deeper insight into the world of safe Bolt e-scooter and e-bike rides.  Bolt is assisted by a Micromobility Safety Committee composed by renown urban safety experts, with the active contribution of NTUA, which provide advice, feedback and recommendations regarding micromobility safety performance, strategy, and future initiatives.