Empirical Analysis of the User Needs and the Business Models in the Norwegian Charging Infrastructure Ecosystem

Figenbaum, E.; Wangsness, P.B.; Amundsen, A.H.; Milch, V. Empirical Analysis of the User Needs and the Business Models in the Norwegian Charging Infrastructure Ecosystem. World Electr. Veh. J. 2022, 13, 185. https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj13100185The Norwegian charging infrastructure ecosystem was investigated from a user perspective by (1) developing knowledge of end-user experiences with public charging, (2) mapping BEV owners and future owner’s user-friendliness needs and the extent to which these needs are met, (3) pointing at potential user-friendliness improvements, (4) mapping the charging infrastructure ecosystem and business models, and (5) developing scenarios for the future system development and the impact on charging infrastructure user-friendliness. The article draws on the literature, a BEV (battery electric vehicle) and ICEV (internal combustion engine vehicle) owner survey, 15 BEV owner interviews, 21 charging infrastructure actor interviews, and open information sources on the charger actors. The unregulated charging system evolved into a complex web of actors that developed their own charging networks following their individually sensible business models, which in sum led to serious user-friendliness issues. To gain access to all chargers, users need to interact with up to 20–30 apps and 13 payment systems, which comes on top of different plug types, power levels, and charger interfaces. Some actors support roaming, while others oppose it. OEMs want users to interface with chargers through the navigation system. In the future, the system will become even more complex and less user friendly as more actors join unless, e.g., consolidation, regulation, or independent network orchestrators reduce the complexity.publishedVersio

Innovation and long-term planning in public policy: the case of national road safety plans in Norway

Vision Zero was adopted as the long-term ideal for transport safety in Norway in 2001. Starting in 2002, national road safety action plans covering a period of four years have been developed. This paper identifies innovative elements in these plans and explores the statistical relationship between innovation and the number of killed or seriously injured road users over time. A statistical relationship is found, but it is noisy and cannot be interpreted as a causal relationship. We show how road safety policy has become upgraded and more systematic over time, and that these developments co-exist with a gradual reduction in number of severe injuries and deaths. Important innovative elements are related to the process of policy development, which now ensures a much broader , consensus and commitment to improving road safety than before the action plans were introduced (i.e. before 2002)

Sykenærvær - et forsømt tema?: En kvantitativ undersøkelse av sykenærvær i en IA-virksomhet

Det har lenge vært fokus på at sykefraværet i Norge er for høyt, noe som har preget både samfunnsdebatten og forskningen i de siste tjue årene. I kjølvannet av dette har forsøk på å kartlegge årsaker for fraværet for å kunne iverksette forebyggende tiltak vært en viktig målsetning. Det har vist seg at sykefravær er et komplisert fenomen; årsakene synes å være mange og sammensatte. Et element som imidlertid har vært nærmest fraværende i debatten om sykefravær er det relaterte fenomenet sykenærvær, at arbeidstakere går på jobb til tross for at de av legitime årsaker kunne tatt ut sykefravær. Hensikten med denne studien var å belyse fenomenet sykenærvær, og samtidig bidra til økt forståelse for hva som gjør at enkelte arbeidstakere går på jobb til tross for at de er syke. Det ble gjennomført en surveyundersøkelse som omfattet arbeidstakere på Hydro Sunndal (N =478), en IA-virksomhet som over lang tid har opprettholdt lavt sykefravær. To separate logistiske regresjonsanalyser ble gjennomført for å kartlegge hva som karakteriserte sykenærværende arbeidstakere i forhold til langtidsfriske og sykefraværende. Hovedfunnene fra studien viser at sykenærværende arbeidstakere rapporterte høyere grad av nærværspress og dårligere selvoppfattet helse enn både langtidsfriske og sykefraværende

Interorganizational complexity and organizational accident risk: A literature review

Due to increased outsourcing in many industries, organizations are becoming larger and more interorganizationally complex and numerous operations now require cooperation among employees from different organizations. This paper presents a review of empirical literature addressing safety issues in complex interorganizational systems wherein the potential for major organizational accidents is present. Thematic analysis of the literature resulted in four main themes: economic pressures, disorganization, dilution of competence and organizational differences. The themes were viewed in light of different theoretical perspectives on organizational accident risk. The findings suggest that issues due to interorganizational complexity can hinder efficient safety management and thereby elevate the risk of organizational accidents. It is emphasized that further research is needed to better understand the implications of interorganizational complexity on safety management

The influence of interorganizational factors on offshore incidents in the Norwegian petroleum industry: Challenges and future directions

In the petroleum industry, incident investigations are an important means to understand and learn from undesired events. Whereas investigations in the petroleum industry typically focus on technical, human and organizational factors, there is a growing tendency towards outsourcing and more complex forms of organizations. Processes occurring at the interfaces between companies represent important influences that should be considered when investigating incidents. The current study aimed to gain a better understanding of the influence of interorganizational factors on offshore incidents on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Twenty-two investigation reports were analysed to identify interorganizational factors that contribute to incidents. Factors at the interorganizational level contribute to both occupational incidents and major near accidents. Four themes were identified: Ambiguities in roles and responsibilities between personnel from different companies, inadequate processes to ensure sufficient competence across interfaces, inadequate quality control routines across organizational interfaces and communication breakdowns between companies. The identified factors reflect underlying systemic deficiencies at the interorganizational level that contribute to obscure operational processes and at the same time reduce the effectiveness of existing safety barriers. Broadening the scope and incorporating factors at the interorganizational level when investigating undesired events is important in order to sufficiently learn from incidents

Sustaining safety across organizational boundaries: a qualitative study exploring how interorganizational complexity is managed on a petroleum-producing installation

A qualitative study was undertaken to explore how interorganizational complexity is managed on a petroleum-producing installation. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analysed by means of thematic analysis. Long-term organizational relations, management’s role in the field and worker involvement appear to facilitate high-quality work relations which, along with similar safety practices and philosophies across companies, appear to foster commitment to mutual operational goals and contribute to an open environment in which employees were inclined to report errors and problems. Still, due to the vast number of companies involved and the vast amount of information, coordinating work processes among companies was regarded as a constant challenge. Moreover, variations in experience among sharp-end workers from sub-contractor companies in periods of high activity and marked fluctuations were identified as a challenge. The quality of interorganizational work relations appears to have important implications for safety performance in this context, indicating that high-quality work relations across collaborating companies constitute an important component for achieving and sustaining safety. As research addressing relational factors in safety research to date has been sparse, more research is needed to further explore the safety functions of high-quality work relations. Theoretically, the current study contributes to extend the high-reliability organizations framework by highlighting the role of high-quality work relations as an element for achieving mindfulness

Traffic Safe Municipality: a Norwegian approval scheme to facilitate development of a municipal traffic safety culture

This study examines the consequences of being approved as a Traffic Safe Municipality for municipal traffic safety culture, based on surveys (n = 2255) and interviews (n = 17) in 24 municipalities. Traffic Safe Municipality is an approval scheme for Norwegian municipalities, which defines criteria for systematic traffic safety work. Development of a positive municipal traffic safety culture is an explicit aim of the approval scheme. The respondents in the survey state positive consequences for the traffic safety culture in their own workplace after being approved as a Traffic Safe Municipality. The self-reported focus on traffic safety has increased among immediate managers and among colleagues, and it has become easier to address issues related to traffic safety in one's own workplace. In multivariate statistical analyses, we see that these changes are also linked to the respondents stating that they think more about traffic safety in their everyday work and they state that they behave safer in traffic during working hours. The study has also mapped factors that promote or impede implementation of Traffic Safe Municipality. Lack of resources in the municipality, time pressure, high workload and replacement of personnel may hamper implementation, while top managers' involvement throughout the implementation period is one of the most important prerequisites for successful implementation. We conclude that Traffic Safe Municipality can be interpreted as a measure to establish a traffic safety culture through the implementation of a safety management system in the municipality. Such systems are required as a measure to create a positive safety culture in a number of different high-risk sectors (aviation, nuclear power, oil, and gas). Our study is unique, since we apply this perspective in the municipal sector.Traffic Safe Municipality: a Norwegian approval scheme to facilitate development of a municipal traffic safety culturepublishedVersio

Traffic safety effects of economic driving in trucking companies

The present study examines the relationship between economic driving and road safety in trucking companies that have received support to work with economic driving, and a Reference sample of drivers from assumed average companies. The study is based on survey data (N = 366), and qualitative interviews (N = 26) with managers and employees. We first test the relationship between economic driving and traffic safety at the driver level (aim 1) and find a clear relationship: drivers with high scores in the fleet management systems, which record key aspects of economic and safe driving style, have a lower accident risk than drivers with lower scores. We then test the relationship between economic driving and traffic safety at the organizational level (aim 2), using the Eco Ladder for energy management approach to describe companies with different levels of measures to facilitate economic driving. Results indicate a lower accident risk for companies at the top level in the Eco Ladder for long-distance and regional transport (but not in distribution transport). This is due to the fact that the companies at the top of the Eco ladder have the most measures to facilitate economic driving, and thus the largest proportion of drivers with high scores in the fleet management system. We find relationships between focus on economy and safety at both driver, technology and company level. We also discuss potential conflicts between economic driving and traffic safety.Traffic safety effects of economic driving in trucking companiespublishedVersio

Evaluation of an Influencer Campaign on Social Media Targeting Young E-scooter Users

This study evaluates the effect of an influencer campaign on e-scooter risk behavior among adolescent e-scooter users in Norway. The analysis shows no statistical differences in self-reported risk behaviors (dual riding, riding under the influence and mobile phone use) among respondents who had seen one of the campaign films, compared to respondents who had not seen the films. Neither did the campaign change norms or attitudes. Hence, the campaign did not appear to have intended effects. On the contrary, differences in perceived attitudes, descriptive norms and intentions were found, which could imply a backfire-effect. Respondents who had seen the campaign held *poorer* attitudes, were *more* likely to claim that it was normal, and were *more inclined* to perform some of the risky behaviors

Traffic safety in bus transport: An analysis of Norway’s largest transit authority’s contract requirements to bus companies

The main objective of the study is to evaluate direct and indirect traffic safety consequences of the requirements that Norway’s largest transit authority (Ruter) sets in the contracts with bus companies. To assess the representativity of Ruter’s requirements and its consequences, the data focuses both on Ruter and transit authorities from other areas in Norway, serving a mix of urban and rural areas. The study is based on qualitative interviews (N = 18), a workshop, reviews of documents and a quantitative survey (N = 1012). The study indicates that transit authorities may have direct influence on traffic safety, especially if they set requirements that exceeds (inter) national legislation. Ruter does that when it comes to driver collision protection and blind zone warning systems. We also find indications of indirect impact on traffic safety through the contracts. This is firstly related to the requirements for punctuality and regularity, which we find to be related to drivers’ stress, driving style and accident involvement in our quantitative analysis. It is secondly related to environmental concerns, which motivate maintaining (and increasing) a high level of passengers. Interviewees said that this influences the types of buses specified in contracts (e.g. large high capacity buses), and their routes (e.g. in narrow streets, “where people live”). They also emphasized that roads and infrastructure, for example in Oslo, are poorly adapted to bus transport. In our quantitative analysis, we found that buses that are poorly adapted to the roads they are used on, and roads that are poorly adapted to bus transport were related to bus drivers’ reported stress and time pressure, which were related to risky driving style, which in turn was related to accidents. Based on the study, we developed several policy implications, that we believe also can be relevant for, and inspire other transit authorities. Ruter has applied several of these changes after our study (e.g. requiring ISO:39001 certification from the bus operators in the contracts, starting to develop a system to learn from accidents), and may thus stand out as a transit authority that other may learn from when it comes to management of traffic safety