Scoping Study for a Realistic Driving Simulator: Final Report.

1. INTRODUCTION This report documents the results of a study carried out between December 1989 and March 1990 to determine the most suitable equipment to be purchased for building a driving simulator at the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds. This "scoping study" was intended to accomplish three main tasks: 1. A review of existing facilities both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe to ascertain what has already been achieved and what is the current state of the art. 2. Initial discussions with potential users on desired features to be built in to the simulator. 3. Discussions with equipment suppliers in the light of what was found out in Tasks 1 and 2, so that the appropriate equipment could be specified. The report documents in subsequent sections the findings of the first two tasks. It then summarizes the conclusions that were reached on the overall simulator design, on the required features of the simulator and on the effort required to develop an operational simulator from the various hardware components. Finally, recommendations are made on the equipment to be purchased in the light of the recommended configuration, the discussion with equipment suppliers under Task 3 and the budget allocated

Problems for Vulnerable Road Users in Great Britain

INTRODUCTION In Britain pedal cycle and, in particular, pedestrian travel are important transport modes for the population. However, given the vulnerable nature of these modes of transport, the number of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists is high, and in particular the number of killed and seriously injured victims is high. Technical measures to improve safety and efficiency focus almost exclusively on motorized traffic, disregarding the needs of non-motorized traffic participants. In order to determine how technical measures, such as Road Traffic Informatics (RTI) applications, can be used to increase the safety and mobility of pedestrians and cyclists, more information is needed about the causes of accidents to these groups. This report aims to look at a number of the attributes of accidents which involve vulnerable road users and at the characteristics of their travel, in order to identify areas where safety and mobility improvements may be obtained. It is intended to serve as a tool in subsequent stages of this project, and thus is not a general survey of safety and mobility problems for vulnerable road users, but rather a review of those issues that are related to the RTI measures envisaged by the project. The project is aimed at improving VRU safety and mobility both directly, through the enhancement of signalized junctions and pedestrian crossings, and indirectly, through the creation of a model of the traffic system incorporating vulnerable road users. It is intended that this model will permit the routing and guidance of motorized vehicles in such a way as to enhance VRU safety and reduce VRU annoyance and delay from trfic. Both the direct and the indirect measures envisaged will only be relevant to VRU safety and mobility on main roads in urban areas; they are unlikely to be applicable to residential streets or minor roads unless these have substantial VRU flows. The report therefore concentrates (in so far as existing information permits) on VRU safety and mobility on main roads and on VRU use of facilities that are intended to be upgraded through the planned RTI measures. The report is split into two main sections; the first of which will examine safety and mobility problems for vulnerable road users on a national level, and the second will examine safety and mobility problems for vulnerable road users at a more local level, specifically for Bradford in West Yorkshire. Parallel reports are being produced for Sweden and The Netherlands, which will examine the situations regarding the safety and mobility of vulnerable roads users in those countries as a whole, and in one urban area from each (namely the town of Vaxjo in Sweden and the City of Groningen in The Netherlands)

Problems for Vulnerable Road Users in Great Britain, The Netherlands and Sweden

INTRODUCTION In many countries in Europe pedal cycle and pedestrian travel are important transport modes for the population. However, given the vulnerable nature of these modes of transport, the number of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists is high, and in particular the number of killed and seriously iDjured victims is high. Technical measures to improve safety and efficiency focus almost exclusively on motorized traf£ic, disregarding the needs of non-motorized traffic participants. In order to determine how technical measures, such as Road Trac Informatics (RTI) applications, can be used to increase the safety and mobility of pedestrians and cyclists, more information is needed about the causes of accidents to these groups. The aim of this report is to compare the hdings of three previous reports (Tight, Carsten and Sherborne, 1989; Van Schagen and Rothengatter, 1989; and Ekman and Draskhy, 1989), which examined the problems faced by vulnerable road users (VRUs) in Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden, and in one city from each of those countries, namely Bradford, Groningen and VGo. The aim of these reports was to examine a number of the attributes of accidents which involve VRUs and the charaderistics of their travel, in order to identify areas where safety and mobility improvements may be obtained. It is not intended that this report should provide a general comparison of the safety and mobility problems faced by VRUs in the three countries, but rather a review of those issues that are related to the RTI measures envisaged by the present research programme (DRIVE Project V1031). This project is aimed at improving VRU safety and mobility both directly, through the enhancement of signalized junctions and pedestrian crossings, and indirectly, through the creation of a model of the traffic system incorporating vulnerable road users. It is intended that this model will permit the routing and guidance of motorized vehicles in such a way as to enhance VRU safety and reduce VRU annoyance and delay from traffic. Both the direct and the indirect measures envisaged will only be relevant to VRU safety and mobility on main roads in urban areas; they are unlikely to be applicable to residential streets or minor roads unless these have substantial VRU flows. The report therefore concentrates (in so far as existing information permits) on VRU safety and mobility on main roads and on VRU use of facilities that are intended to be upgraded through the planned RTI measures. This report is split into two main sections, the first of which examines comparisons of safety and mobility at the national level, and the second examines such comparisons at the local (city) level. The analyses undertaken in this report concerning the national level are largely based upon published information, while at the local level, due mainly to the lack of any regularly published information, a number of special tabulations have been made. The information given in the tables is for the most up-to-date year available. As with most international comparisons, this study encountered a number of compatibility problems when trying to bring together data from the three countries involved. These included problems of definition, problems of interpretation and differences in the levels of inaccuracy and underreporting of accident statistics. It is not intended to expand upon the possible effects of such problems at this point, as these have been adequately covered in other reports (see for example Tight et al, 1986). Where possible comparable data have been used in the analyses which follow, however on occasions it was not possible to produce exactly comparable data, and in such cases mention is made of this in the text

A Simulator Based Evaluation of Speed Reduction Measures for Rural Arterial Roads

In Great Britain accident rates on rural roads are not falling as fast as those on urban roads. In 1993 the number of casualties from accidents on rural A roads was 4% higher than the average for 1981-85, which is the baseline for the Department of Transport target of a one third reduction in road accident casualties by the year 2000. Driving too fast for the conditions is a major factor in accident causation. High speeds in conjunction with the varying geometric conditions common on rural single-carriageway A roads, result in a fatal accident rate which is higher than that for any other type of road. The aim of the research was to investigate, in a safe and controlled manner using the University of Leeds Advanced Driving Simulator, the effectiveness of a variety of measures for reducing driver speeds on rural single-carriageway arterial roads, in order to identify practical and cost-effective combinations of treatments to reduce both the frequency and severity of accidents on such roads. Treatments appropriate to each of three situations were investigated. These were: (1) treatments that reduce speed and speed variance on fairly straight roads (general treatments); (2) treatments that reduce curve entry speeds for sharp bends; (3) treatments that reduce speeds on the approach to and through villages. Treatments investigated included the use of road markings to reduce lane width or produce horizontal deflection; the use of signs both on posts and on the road surface; and the use of optical illusions to affect the driver's perception of speed or road width. Many of the treatments have been used previously, but few have been evaluated in a controlled way. The first phase of the research involved the evaluation of each individual treatment. The treatments were evaluated with respect to their effect on speed, vehicle lateral position, and incidence of overtaking. The second phase of the research involved the evaluation of variations on and combinations of the most effective treatments. Substantial reductions in speeds were obtained by some of the treatments evaluated, for all three situations studied. There were also reductions in speed variance. These reductions are significant both in statistical and practical road safety terms. For the village situation the most effective combination of treatments was the chicane without hatching, yellow or white transverse lines throughout the village, and countdown speed limit signs on the approach to the village. For the bend treatments the most effective treatments were transverse lines with reducing spacing (including a central area filled with transverse lines); a central hatched area; a Wundt illusion (a series of chevrons with increasing angles but constant spacing, pointing towards the driver); and hatched areas at the edges of the road. Further speed reductions may be produced by combining one of the above treatments with the most effective sign treatments — SLOW or a triangular, warning sign style, advisory speed sign painted on the road surface. For the general treatments all those which involved lane narrowing produced speeds significantly different from the control. Shoulders delineated by continuous lines were more effective, than those delineated by broken lines. Shoulder width was not important, but carriageway width was. For central hatching, type of delineation and width of hatched area was not important. The location (central/edge) and type (removing carriageway or lane space) of the narrowing was not important

The Evaluation of Route Guidance Systems

BACKGROUND We were commissioned by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory to: "collaborate with the German government and their representatives who are responsible for conducting the LISB trial in Berlin in order to produce an agreed methodology, which is acceptable in both Germany and the UK, for assessing the automatic route guidance systems which will be provided in Berlin and London." The brief suggested a number of aspects to be included, and required detailed proposals, timescales and costs for implementation in London. 1.1.2 The background to the brief lies in decisions to introduce pilot automatic route guidance systems in the two cities. The principles of the systems are similar, and have been described in detail elsewhere (Jeffery, 1987). In brief, they involve : (i) a central computer which retains information on a specified road network, which is updated using real time information from the equipment users; (ii) infra red beacons at selected junctions which transmit information to equipped vehicles and receive information from those vehicles; (iii) in-vehicle equipment which includes a dead-reckoning system for position finding, a device for requesting guidance and specifying the destination, a micro-computer which selects the optimal route, and a display which indicates when a turn is required on the main network, and the compass direction and distance to the final destination; iv) transmission from the equipped vehicles of origin, requested destination, links used since passing the last beacon and, for each link, the time of entry and departure and time spent delayed. It is this travel time information which is used to update the central computer's knowledge of the best routes. (Continues..

Safety Assessment of Driver Assistance Systems

This paper reviews issues in and procedures for the safety evaluation of in-vehicle Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. Contrasts are drawn between the two main areas of driver assistance systems — on the one hand information systems which interact with the driver and on the other hand intervening systems which interact directly with the vehicle. Navigation systems are typical of the former category and adaptive cruise control of the latter. It is argued that, for information systems it is possible to develop a “generic” safety assessment procedure, with a single generic test. A contrast is drawn with In the area of intervening systems (driver warning and vehicle control systems), where no such generic evaluation by means of a single test is possible. Such systems differ widely in their purpose, in their intended operating environment, in their functionality and in their operating envelope. The authors propose a structured procedural approach for the safety assessment of intervening systems

Sustainability assessment approaches for Intelligent Transport Systems: The state of the art

The appraisal of ITS systems has become increasingly important in order to capture their full range of potential impacts. The goal of this paper is therefore to assess the appropriateness of conventional transport appraisal models and tools for this task, particularly in reflecting the environmental and socio-economic impacts of ITS. These include the most common Environmental Systems Analysis tools (ESAT), which incorporate international standards and are of considerable importance in indicating sustainability. A review of how emerging methods relate to the goal of a successful transition to a low carbon future is reported, based on the literature. The appraisal of ITS is inherently uncertain due to the decentralised nature of Information Communication Technology (ICT), therefore a range of methods to capture this aspect are reviewed. The models, weights and methods are analysed concerning their ability to estimate sustainability performance, given the numerous configurations of ubiquitous technology that may comprise ITS services. Weighting methods are important in reflecting perceptions of how sustainability should be assessed. These can be incorporated by identifying, classifying and selecting one or more ESAT's based upon their suitability for a particular application. Finally, recommendations are given on which tools can be integrated to more comprehensively reflect the performance of ITS