Performance Assessment of Local Mobility Policy-Making Administrations Using the Principles of Total Quality Management in Flanders, Belgium: Expounding the Decision-Making Processes

peer reviewedThis article describes a quality assessment of the processes underlying municipal mobility policy-making in Flanders, Belgium. 25 criteria and 176 aspects were queried during 25 interview sessions. Results were aggregated at the level of 7 quality domains of action and suggest that Flemish municipal mobility policy-making is generally fairly frail and of an ad-hoc nature. Four factors are found to be determining for this finding: default of political continuity, internal conflicts between stakeholders, lacking internal expertise, and deficient financial resources. Inter-stakeholder collaboration, residents’ participation, and policy-integration with higher-level programs are the strengths of current mobility policy practices in Flanders

The effect of wind turbines alongside motorways on drivers’ behaviour

This paper presents the results of a first study aimed at investigating whether the presence of wind turbines in close proximity to motorways leads to behavioural adaptations among passing drivers. Empirical data from loop detectors and temporary video cameras were analysed in a study employing a before-and-after design at a site near Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Analyses of driving speed and standard deviation of speed (corrected for trend effects through the use of control sites) were performed as well as analyses of the lateral position and standard deviation of the lateral position and an observation of serious traffic conflicts. The results showed that constructing wind turbines alongside a motorway led to some clearly observable effects on drivers’ behaviour. The analyses of the speed data showed that the mean speed was lowered by 2.24km/h (corrected for trend effects) after the construction of the wind turbines while the standard deviation of the speed significantly increased. After the construction of the wind turbines, drivers took a lateral position somewhat more to the left-hand side in their driving lane. There was an indication close to the 0.05 significance level (p=0.057) that the standard deviation of the lateral position slightly increased when the rotor blades were in transversal position. In the before period as well as in the after period, no serious traffic conflicts were registered. The increase in standard deviation of speed and in lateral position are two factors that intrinsically can have an unfavourable effect on road safety. However, the observed order of magnitude of the change was shown to be quite limited. Earlier research suggests that negative effects on road safety are only expected for changes substantially greater than the ones that were observed in this study. On the other hand, there was a significant reduction in driving speed, which might have a favourable effect on the expected number and severity of crashes, although it could also be a compensatory mechanism that indirectly indicates a reduced driving performance. From these findings, it can be concluded that, based on the observed variables, no substantial negative effects for road safety were found in the present study. The authors recommend continuous monitoring and further research on the topic

Transferring the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Approach and Best Available Techniques (BAT) Concepts to Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco

The principles introduced by the Directive Concerning Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) (currently known as the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU)) are innovative and have raised interests in the framework of the literature debate on environmental regulation. Many articles describe and analyze the application of the Directive in European countries, but only a few articles focus on how the interest for the Directive's principles, including the integrated approach, have reached countries outside the European Union. This paper aims to contribute to this topic, describing the experience of the authors in carrying out an EU-funded project on transferring the IPPC approach and Best Available Techniques (BAT) concepts to three Arab countries, i.e. , Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. The paper presents the experience referring to two sectors falling within the scope of the IPPC Directive: the textile and dairy sector. The objectives, methodologies, activities and experiences are described and can be used and valorized to integrate the IPPC approach and BAT concepts in the current environmental legislation of the three countries

Child Pedestrian Safety: Study of Street-Crossing Behaviour of Primary School Children with Adult Supervision

Road traffic accidents are the primary cause of injuries and fatalities among children. The current study focuses on children’s (un)safe crossing behaviour in a real traffic situation accompanied by an adult at a crosswalk in front of their school. The study aims to investigate if there are differences in crossing behaviour related to road infrastructure (i.e., one-way and two-way street, elevated and non-elevated street crossing), the gender of the child, and the effect of the accompanying adult’s behaviour on the child’s crossing behaviour. Primary school children from two urban schools in Flanders (Belgium) were observed for three days while crossing the street in front of their school in the morning and afternoon. A total of 241 child–adult pairs were observed. Descriptive analysis, Pearson chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression models were used to find differences between groups. More than half of the crossings exhibited two or more unsafe behaviours. Not stopping at the curb before crossing was the most unsafe behaviour, exhibited by 47.7% of children; not looking for oncoming traffic before and during the crossing was the second most unsafe behaviour, exhibited by 39.4% of the children. The only difference between boys’ and girls’ crossing behaviour was in stopping at the curb with girls 1.901 times more likely to stop before crossing as compared to boys. Adults holding hands of the child resulted in safer behaviours by children. The children not holding hands displayed significantly riskier behaviour in running or hopping while crossing the street and being distracted. The study reinforces the need to improve the transportation system through infrastructural interventions (elevated crosswalks), as well as educating and training children and the parents on safe crossing behaviour in traffic

Assessment of Safety of VRUs Based on Self-Reporting of Accidents and Near-Accidents

This report describes a study on self-reporting of accidents and near-accidents that was carried out to gain more knowledge about the safety of vulnerable road users, i.e. pedestrians, cyclists and moped riders. In the study, the participants registered their accidents and near-accidents in monthly questionnaires for a period of nine months (01.09.2016 - 31.05.2017). The study was conducted in Belgium, Denmark, Spain and Sweden. In total, 2343 participants contributed to the study, mainly from Belgium and Denmark. Therefore, the results in this report are based on the Belgian and Danish data. The results of the study show that more than one third of the registered accidents are single accidents of cyclists and pedestrians. In most cases, the registered accidents are less severe than what is registered by the police or at the hospital. The results indicate that as few as 2-7% of the participants, who were involved in an accident, have been in contact with the police. Furthermore, only 9% have registered that they had received treatment at the hospital or emergency room. This study thus indicates that selfreporting is a useful tool for gaining knowledge about a larger share of accidents. By including near-accidents as well, the amount of data can be further increased