Smart streetlights: a feasibility study

The world's cities are growing. The effects of population growth and urbanisation mean that more people are living in cities than ever before, a trend set to continue. This urbanisation poses problems for the future. With a growing population comes more strain on local resources, increased traffic and congestion, and environmental decline, including more pollution, loss of green spaces, and the formation of urban heat islands. Thankfully, many of these stressors can be alleviated with better management and procedures, particularly in the context of road infrastructure. For example, with better traffic data, signalling can be smoothed to reduce congestion, parking can be made easier, and streetlights can be dimmed in real time to match real-world road usage. However, obtaining this information on a citywide scale is prohibitively expensive due to the high costs of labour and materials associated with installing sensor hardware. This study investigated the viability of a streetlight-integrated sensor system to affordably obtain traffic and environmental information. This investigation was conducted in two stages: 1) the development of a hardware prototype, and 2) evaluation of an evolved prototype system. In Stage 1 of the study, the development of the prototype sensor system was conducted over three design iterations. These iterations involved, in iteration 1, the live deployment of the prototype system in an urban setting to select and evaluate sensors for environmental monitoring, and in iterations 2 and 3, deployments on roads with live and controlled traffic to develop and test sensors for remote traffic detection. In the final iteration, which involved controlled passes of over 600 vehicle, 600 pedestrian, and 400 cyclist passes, the developed system that comprised passive-infrared motion detectors, lidar, and thermal sensors, could detect and count traffic from a streetlight-integrated configuration with 99%, 84%, and 70% accuracy, respectively. With the finalised sensor system design, Stage 1 showed that traffic and environmental sensing from a streetlight-integrated configuration was feasible and effective using on-board processing with commercially available and inexpensive components. In Stage 2, financial and social assessments of the developed sensor system were conducted to evaluate its viability and value in a community. An evaluation tool for simulating streetlight installations was created to measure the effects of implementing the smart streetlight system. The evaluation showed that the on-demand traffic-adaptive dimming enabled by the smart streetlight system was able to reduce the electrical and maintenance costs of lighting installations. As a result, a 'smart' LED streetlight system was shown to outperform conventional always-on streetlight configurations in terms of financial value within a period of five to 12 years, depending on the installation's local traffic characteristics. A survey regarding the public acceptance of smart streetlight systems was also conducted and assessed the factors that influenced support of its applications. In particular, the Australia-wide survey investigated applications around road traffic improvement, streetlight dimming, and walkability, and quantified participants' support through willingness-to-pay assessments to enable each application. Community support of smart road applications was generally found to be positive and welcomed, especially in areas with a high dependence on personal road transport, and from participants adversely affected by spill light in their homes. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that our cities, and roads in particular, can and should be made smarter. The technology currently exists and is becoming more affordable to allow communities of all sizes to implement smart streetlight systems for the betterment of city services, resource management, and civilian health and wellbeing. The sooner that these technologies are embraced, the sooner they can be adapted to the specific needs of the community and environment for a more sustainable and innovative future

Driver interaction with vulnerable road users: Modelling driver behaviour in crossing scenarios

Every year, more than 5000 pedestrians and 2000 cyclists die on European roads. These vulnerable road users (VRUs) are especially at risk when interacting with cars. Intelligent safety systems (ISSs), designed to mitigate or avoid crashes between cars and VRUs, first entered the market a few years ago, and still need to be improved to be effective. Understanding how drivers interact with VRUs is crucial to improving the development and the evaluation of ISSs. Today, however, there is a lack of knowledge about driver behaviour in interactions with VRUs. To address this deficiency and contribute to realising the full potential of ISSs, this thesis has multiple objectives: 1) to investigate and describe the driver response process when a VRU crosses the driver path, 2) to devise models that can predict the driver response process, 3) to inform Euro NCAP with new knowledge about driver interactions with crossing VRUs that may guide the development of their test scenarios, and 4) to develop a framework for ISS evaluation through counterfactual simulation and analyse the impact of the chosen driver model on the simulation outcome. The thesis results show that the moment when a VRU becomes visible to the driver has the largest influence on the driver’s braking response process in driver-VRU interactions. Data gathered in driving simulators and on a test track were used to devise different predictive models: one model for the pedestrian crossing scenario, and three for the cyclist crossing scenario. The model for the pedestrian crossing scenario can estimate the moments at which key components of the driver response process (e.g. gas pedal fully released and brake onset) happen. For the cyclist crossing scenario, the first model predicts the brake onset time and the second predicts the experienced discomfort score given the cyclist appearance time. The third predicts the continuous deflection signal of the brake pedal based on the interaction of two visually-derived cues (looming and projected post-encroachment time). These models could be used to improve the design and evaluation of ISSs. From the models, appropriate warning or intervention times that are not a nuisance to the drivers could be adopted by the ISSs, therefore maximizing driver acceptance. Additionally, the models could be used in counterfactual simulations to evaluate ISS safety benefits. In fact, it was shown that driver models are a critical part of these simulations, further demonstrating the need for the development of more realistic driver models. The knowledge provided by this thesis may also guide Euro NCAP towards an improved ISS test protocol by providing information about scenarios that have not yet been evaluated

Factors Associated with Traffic Crashes in Pasto, Colombia: 2005-2006

Road traffic injuries (RTI) currently rank as the 11th leading cause of death world wide and the leading cause of injury related deaths worldwide. Globally, road traffic crashes kill over 1.2 million people per year with over 90% of the deaths occurring in low and middle income countries. Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists, collectively called vulnerable road users, are often times the victims. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the factors that are associated with traffic fatalities as well as the factors that are associated with being a vulnerable road user in traffic injuries and traffic fatalities in Pasto, Colombia. The results from this study showed that males had increased odds of being involved in a traffic fatality (OR=2.16 95%;CI 1.03-4.53). Rural road users are more likely to be involved in fatal traffic crashes than their urban counterparts (OR=5.92 95%;CI 3.00-11.71) Other groups such as young adults, vulnerable road users, and those not using safety equipment were also more likely to be injured or die in a traffic crash. Interventions specifically targeting these groups are needed

Exploring cyclists’ and pedestrians’ personal exposure, wellbeing and protective practices on-the-move

In dieser Doktorarbeit wurde untersucht, welche Faktoren Wohlbefinden, wahrgenommene Gesundheit und Mobilitätspraktiken von Radfahrenden und Fußgänger:innen während des Unterwegsseins beeinflussen. Ziel war es, die persönliche Exposition gegenüber Feinstaub und Lärm unterwegs zu messen und diese der individuell wahrgenommenen Belastung gegenüberzustellen. Zudem wurden weitere Faktoren, die das Wohlbefinden beeinflussen, untersucht. Die Arbeit beleuchtet überdies, wie über gesunde und angenehme Mobilität informiert werden könnte. Zuerst wurden mobile qualitative Interviews (Go-/Ride-Alongs) durchgeführt und mit tragbaren Sensoren zur Messung von Feinstaub und Lärm ergänzt. Der situative Kontext, die sensorische Wahrnehmung und soziale Aspekte beeinflussen, ob das Unterwegsseins in der Stadt als gesund und angenehm empfunden wird. Diese Faktoren können in vergleichsweise als hoch belastend gemessenen Situationen ausgleichend wirken. Weiterhin wurden Informationsmöglichkeiten für eine gesunde Mobilität in der Stadt exploriert. Ein Literaturreview hat aufgezeigt, dass Gesundheitsthemen wenig Berücksichtigung in Forschung zu Mobilitäts-Apps finden. Daran anschließend wurden Fokusgruppen durchgeführt. Es wurde ermittelt, wie gesunde und angenehme Routen kommuniziert werden können. Hier könnendas Vorhandensein von Routenalternativen und Bewältigungsstrategien ein Gefühl von Selbstwirksamkeit geben. Es wurde eine „pleasant routing app“ vorgeschlagen, die angenehme und gesunde Routenaspekte integriert. Um die Attraktivität des Fahrradfahrens und zu Fuß Gehens zu steigern, sollten Erfahrungen, Wahrnehmungen und Praktiken von Radfahrenden und Fußgänger:innen berücksichtigt werden. Letztendlich kann somit aktive Mobilität ihr Potenzial entfalten und zu einer lebenswerten, gesunden und umweltfreundlichen Stadt beitragen.This thesis investigates factors influencing cyclists’ and pedestrians’ health and wellbeing on-the-move. Moreover, the possibilities of smartphone apps for supporting a healthy and pleasant trip are investigated. The scope of this thesis is to combine the topic healthy and pleasant mobility with possibilities of mobility apps. First, the thesis explores how cyclists and pedestrians perceive their personal exposure towards air pollution and noise as well as other factors influencing commuting experience and wellbeing on-the-move. This is contrasted to actual measured particulate matter and noise. Qualitative interviews on-the-move (‘go-/ride-alongs’) are complemented by wearable sensors measuring particulate matter and noise. The results show discrepancies as well as coherences between perceived and measured exposure. The situational context, sensory awareness (e.g. water views) and social cues (e.g. seeing other people) are important for a perceived pleasant commute, even in polluted areas. Second, this thesis identifies how far health impacting factors are considered in research using mobility apps to identify their possibilities for supporting a healthy commute. A literature review reveals that research applying mobility apps is lacking the consideration of health topics and it is proposed to integrate health topics in mobility app development. Following these findings, the thesis investigates communication options to inform about a healthy and pleasant commute. Focus groups were applied showing that information should include feasible coping strategies and increase self-efficacy. Pleasant trip characteristics could be included in a healthy mobility app. If active mode users’ experiences, perceptions and practices are considered, cycling and walking can become more attractive and more people are encouraged to cycle or walk. Hence, active modes can unfold their potential for supporting the transformation towards liveable, healthy and environmentally friendly cities

Analysis of good practices in Europe and Africa

According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015 of WHO (WHO, 2015), “road traffic injuries claim more than 1.2 million lives each year and have a huge impact on health and development”. Based on the WHO regions, there has been a deterioration in road fatality rates in the WHO Africa region from 24.1 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants in 2010 to 26.6 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013. Over the same period, there was an improvement in road fatality rates in the WHO Europe region. Road trauma in Africa is expected to worsen further, with fatalities per capita projected to double over the period 2015-2030 (Small and Runji, 2014). The SaferAfrica project aims at establishing a Dialogue Platform between Africa and Europe focused on road safety and traffic management issues. It will represent a high-level body with the main objective of providing recommendations to update the African Road Safety Action Plan and the African Road Safety Charter, as well as fostering the adoption of specific initiatives, properly funded. The main objective of work package 7 (WP7) is to analyse good road safety practices realised at country, corridor and regional levels in Africa and to compare these practices with those of other countries and with international experiences. Also included in this WP7, are good practices in road safety management and in the policy-making and integration of road safety with other policy areas. WP7 includes the definition of a transferability audit, tailored to Africa conditions that can be used to assess the suitability of road safety interventions in the context of African countries. Finally, promising local projects were identified, that may be implemented in selected African countries (Tunisia, Kenya, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and South Africa); to this end, a procedure for assessing the potential adaptability to the local contexts (transferability audit) will be developed in WP7 and applied to promising interventions. Following a successful transferability audit, a detailed concept definition of the retained interventions will be made by SaferAfrica participants and local road safety experts. Furthermore, factsheets on five key challenging African safety issues will be developed as synthesised working documents, containing all technical and financial information necessary for understanding the corresponding set of proposed interventions...

The influence of fairness and ethical trade-offs on public support for road safety measures. An international and intercultural exploration

The research questions of this thesis are: ‘When is a road safety policy measure fair?’ and ‘Which factors influence the support for road safety policy measures?’. The core approach used to address these research questions was to present citizens, experts and policy-makers with contentious measures in road safety and identify the factors associated with their views on these measures. Three complementary methods were used: a global analysis of the associations between national indicators, in-depth interviews with experts and policy-makers in five countries, and an online survey of a representative sample of adults in ten countries. An original scheme has been developed for categorizing arguments in favour and against policy measures. The research undertaken has led to a better understanding and operationalisation of fairness. A (road safety) policy measure is perceived as fair if it is equitable, not restricting human liberties, relevant and feasible to implement. Perceiving a measure to be fair is indicative but not sufficient for supporting it. Many factors influence public support for policy measures. The level of support for policy measures in road safety differs strongly between countries, and is associated with the level of economic development and national culture. When road safety performance is relatively high and societies are individualistic, the opposition against new measures tends to be higher. Important factors influencing public support are beliefs concerning the importance of the problem which the measure is intended to address, the expected consequences, and the confidence that the measure can be implemented effectively. Individuals’ support for a policy measure is strongly associated with the social norm, i.e. the belief that their friends would support that measure. Recommendations are made for further research on fairness and support for measures, as well as for improvement of policy-making in road safety

Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Mobility (Non-Motorised Transport): A Case Study of Eveline Street in the Windhoek Municipality, Namibia

Windhoek has several inherited structural challenges that include a trend of decreasing densities of urban settlements, along with social inequalities and highly skewed levels of access and mobility. The most vulnerable members of the society in Windhoek currently carry the majority of the transportation costs and inconveniences. Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) in Eveline Street forms a significant part of the daily activity of people as they commute to and from public transport stops and stations, places of work, places of education and walking to water collection points and means of creating a living. The implementation of Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) facilities as a manner of supporting NMT trips has been largely neglected in Eveline Street thus, exposing NMT users to road accidents. Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) is a core aspect in the development of a sustainable transport system for the City of Windhoek. Its importance derives from the high percentage of persons in Windhoek who depends on NMT, as well as its economic and ecological efficiency compared to Motorised Transport (MT) on distances up to approximately 5 km. Approximately 20% of Windhoek's households can afford to own a car, therefore roads alone are not enough to secure social sustainability and only worsens already existing income inequality (Araes, 2007). Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) supplements public transport, contributes to lively urban quarters and is an integral part of the transport system of Windhoek. Low income households in Windhoek spend up to one quarter (25%) of their income on transport (Zwicky et al., 2013). Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) users are the most vulnerable traffic-group, often involved in severe accidents and there is a need for special attention and provision to enable, strengthen and develop NMT as a proper and feasible mode of transport in Windhoek. Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) has an important role to play in greening the economy in the context of providing and promoting more sustainable transport options, forming part of more cost-effective solutions in establishing a sustainable transport system to improve economic progression for the residents of Windhoek. The main motivating reason for this research was to investigate the current opportunities and challenges being experienced that affects the promotion of the Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) in providing a sustainable urban mobility within Eveline Street in the Windhoek Municipal area, Namibia. This study further seeks to examine the potential and sustainability for effective transportation planning for Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) and its effects in the reduction of Motorised Transport (MT) congestion in the area. In Windhoek, the main types of Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) users are pedestrians (majority type) and cyclists (minority type). The research paper aims to come up with the conclusive proposals and possible intervention measures that will help in the provision and management of Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) infrastructure to ensure a sustainable urban transport system. Thus, helping Windhoek municipality, Namibian government, stakeholders and practitioners to make better informed decisions when addressing the transport challenges of NMT users in urban areas. The scope of the research was limited to Non-Motorised Transport (NMT), more specifically, walking and cycling as a mode of transport in the infamous Eveline Street in the high density suburb of Greenwell Matongo in the area of Katutura in the greater Windhoek municipality. Eveline Street being used as a case study to understand what potential value NMT trips could be for Windhoek. There are various benefits to Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) as a mode of transport. Safety benefits of successful NMT facilities include lower risk of road collisions, injuries and fatalities, while there are also several health benefits of NMT trips, which include lowered levels of stress, obesity and other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). NonMotorised Transport (NMT), as a mode of transport, is one of the most sustainable modes of transport, as it does not rely on fuel and, is one of the cleanest modes of transportation. Furthermore, Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) trips have various socio-economic benefits that help to address equality concerns, which are highly relevant for pedestrians in Windhoek. An example, of how improved NMT trips could address equality issues, would be increasing the mobility and accessibility of vulnerable members of society. This can be for socio-economic reasons or physical and mental abilities that influence the individual's ability to commute. The research methodology involved the review of literature, primary and secondary data collection, validation and analysis, interpretation and subsequent recommendations to address urban mobility challenges and policy recommendations to promote NMT for Windhoek Municipality. The methodology comprises surveys, traffic counts; direct observation and behavioral studies. The tools used included questionnaires, tally sheets, walkability audit tool, maps and photographs. The secondary data was obtained mainly through the literature review of the existing work by academic and researchers on NMT, land use and transport planning, institutional setup and policy administration. Other sources of secondary data included universities, libraries, internet, GIZ Studies, MVA Namibia, SUTMP, Local authorities records, Namibia Statistics Agency, and Government documents on transport and environment. The data was collected by administering roadside questionnaire, direct observations of behavior and the walkability of the area, interviewing key informants, photographs and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) locations

Surrogate safety measures and traffic conflict observations.

The chapter primarily focuses on observing traffic conflicts (also known as near-accidents) as a site-based road safety analysis technique. Traffic conflicts are a type of surrogate safety measure. The term surrogate indicates that non-accident-based indicators are used to assess VRU safety instead ofthe more traditional approach focusing on accidents (see chapter 2). The theory underpinning surrogate safety measures is briefly described, followed by a discussion on the characteristics of the traffic conflict technique. Next, guidelines for conducting traffic conflict observations using trained human observers or video cameras are presented. Chapter 4 concludes with examples of the use of the traffic conflict technique in road safety studies focusing on VRUs

Traffic Safety Potential and Effectiveness of Lane Keeping Support

In the road transport system, crashes due to lane departure account for a large proportion of the most severe crashes that passenger car occupants are exposed to. While Electronic Stability Control (ESC) effectively prevents lane departure due to loss of control, lane departure due to unintentional drifting has not been addressed to the same extent. This thesis is based on four papers providing knowledge of lane keeping support integrated in vehicles and road infrastructure. More precise, the safety potential and effectiveness of Lane Departure Warning (LDW) was studied as well as the effectiveness of centreline rumble strips (CLRS). Also, the potential safety benefits of Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) and Autonomous Emergency Steering (AES) with enhanced lateral vehicle positioning were studied. Reviewing real-world in-depth data of 138 fatal crashes in Sweden 2010 and 114 in 2017, the results show that virtually half of the single vehicle and head-on crashes involved unintentional drift-out-of-lane, where LDW, ELK and AES should have had the potential to prevent the majority of these crashes. Estimating the effectiveness of LDW by analysing 1,853 police reported real-world injury crashes during 2007‒2015 extracted from the Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition (STRADA) database and applying the induced exposure method, it was found that LDW halved the risk of being in a head-on or single passenger car injury crash. Posted speed limits were at 70 km/h and above and the road surface had not been covered by ice or snow. Estimating the effectiveness of CLRS by merging STRADA injury crashes during 2011‒2016 involving 7,490 cars with the National Road Database in Sweden (NVDB) and applying the induced exposure method, the results show a reduction in head-on and single car crashes. Crashes involving drift-out-of-lane to the left were reduced by 40% (19‒56%) for ESC-equipped cars, and by 29% (11‒44%) for cars without ESC. It could be confirmed that in-depth data with high detail can provide benefits in evaluating future road safety features. Furthermore, it was found that merging STRADA, NVDB and individual vehicle equipment data has significant methodological benefits in combination with data efficient methods such as the induced exposure approach.LDW provided by the vehicle industry and detectable lane markings provided by road authorities are parts of a system showing significant traffic safety benefits. As both components are dependent on each other, this makes safety the responsibility of both road authorities and the vehicle industry. Not only do LDW and CLRS complement each other, they also complement ESC and are able to avoid critical situations. LDW and CLRS are two of the most important traffic safety features for the foreseeable future, in which the share of unintentional lane drifting crashes is expected to increase. ELK will in the near future be mandatory for new cars, hereby detectable lanes and lateral vehicle position awareness will be even more important. Future research should focus on increasing the synergy between car and infrastructure interventions, holistically and systematically utilising the integrated safety chain