Potential for in-car speed assistance systems:results of a large-scale survey in Belgium and the Netherlands

Speeding is generally considered to be a major cause of road traffic accidents. In-car speed assistance systems aim at reducing speeding. Several trials with different types of in-car speed assistance systems, in particular intelligent speed assistance (ISA), have shown that ISA can be an effective way to reduce speeding. A basic condition for achieving significant improvements in safety involves the adaptation of ISA among vehicle drivers on a large scale. This study focuses on the issue of acceptability of ISA. It is based on a large-scale survey of 6370 individuals in Belgium (Flanders region) and 1158 persons in the Netherlands. The respondents indicated that they believed that their own driving behaviour is of great influence on accidents and traffic safety, and that contextual issues like infrastructure or other drivers are less important. Almost 95% of the respondents are in favour of ISA: seven out of ten drivers state that they want to have some informative or warning system. Three out of ten drivers even wanted to go further; they indicated a preference for a restricting type of ISA. However, drivers would only choose for more restricting systems if the penetration rates of such systems in the vehicle market were high enough

Organizing integrated services in mobility-as-a-service systems: Principles of alliance formation applied to a MaaS-pilot in the Netherlands

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) involves integration of various forms of public and private transport services into a single mobility service, accessible on demand. For MaaS to become successful, different suppliers of transport services have to cooperate in alliances in order to bring new benefits in the short and long term. Past experience demonstrates that this is a challenge, and existing transport providers are struggling with this cooperation. Various factors, including divergent interests of stakeholders, may limit the formation of such alliances. In this paper, we resort to the theories of alliance formation to extend our understanding of the formation of alliances within MaaS. Based on the economic, sociological and business literature we propose a conceptual model and formulate ten fundamental propositions for alliance formation to offer MaaS systems. The model takes the perspective of business firms for whom the institutional environment is an exogenous influence. We then apply this conceptual alliance-formation-model for a MaaS-pilot in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Stakeholders within this pilot were interviewed on their conditions for forming an alliance. It appears that shared goals, limited risks for the partners involved, trust, and stimulating public actions are crucial for a successful alliance. For the pilot, however, learning appears to be the main motive for the firms to get involved. For future transition from the exploration to the exploitation phase of MaaS alliance, these results should be taken into account. The framework and the propositions developed in this paper could be adopted as the necessary preconditions for designing a proper governance structure for providing MaaS services.Accepted author manuscriptTransport and Plannin

What drives the Acceptability of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA)?

To have knowledge about the acceptability of Intelligent Transport systems (ITS) is most beneficial for the development of supported implementation strategies. So far, different theories and methods, also stemming from other domains, have been used to define and conceptualize the notion of acceptability. In a previous paper, we developed a theoretical concept to define acceptability of ISA based on different theories and methods used in ITS & ISA research. In the current paper we aim to find out which predefined indicators are relevant to define the acceptability of ISA. Background factors, contextual issues and ISA-device related factors are used as indicators to predict the level of acceptability. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is used to define the direct and indirect effects.Infrastructures, Systems and ServicesTechnology, Policy and Managemen

Low-dose fenfluramine significantly reduces seizure frequency in Dravet syndrome : a prospective study of a new cohort of patients

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Dravet syndrome (DS) is a severe, drug‐resistant epilepsy. Fenfluramine has been reported to have a long‐term clinically meaningful anticonvulsive effect in patients with DS. METHODS: This prospective, open‐label study assessed the safety and effectiveness of low‐dose fenfluramine in a new cohort of patients with DS. Following a 3‐month baseline period, fenfluramine was added to each patient's current antiepileptic drug regimen at a dose of 0.25–1.0 mg/kg/day (max. 20 mg/day). The incidence of major motor seizures (tonic, clonic, tonic–clonic, atonic and myoclonic seizures lasting >30 s) in both the baseline and treatment periods was assessed via a seizure diary. Periodic echocardiographic examinations during the treatment period were used to assess cardiovascular safety. RESULTS: Nine patients (aged 1.2–29.8 years) enrolled in the study and were treated with fenfluramine for a median duration of 1.5 (range, 0.3–5.1) years. Median frequency of major motor seizures was 15.0/month in the baseline period. All patients demonstrated a reduction in seizure frequency during the treatment period with a median reduction of 75% (range, 28–100%). Seven patients (78%) experienced a ≥50% reduction in major motor seizure frequency. The most common adverse events were somnolence (n = 5) and anorexia (n = 4). No evidence of cardiac valvulopathy or pulmonary hypertension was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness and safety of low‐dose fenfluramine as an add‐on therapy for DS in this new prospective cohort supports previous findings