Recommendations to Harmonize Travel Behaviour Analysis

Among several other efforts to identify data needs and to harmonize travel surveys in Europe, this report aims to define recommendations to collect and report travel data with the identification of main data needs and gaps, and with the analysis of alternative sources of information and new data collection techniques. Based on the findings of the previous tasks and a stakeholder workshop in OPTIMISM project, and after a brief review of past studies in the same direction, this report starts from a list of variables which are needed for policy making but are unavailable/insufficient in the context of existing data collection methodologies especially with respect to NTS. The report then, explores alternative sources of information, potential use of modern data collection techniques (mainly ICT applications such as GPS and smart phone technologies) and options to merge them with NTS data. Finally, it discusses recommendations for a Europe-wide travel survey considering the current data needs for policy making in transportation. The research has been conducted under the OPTIMISM project which was received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), grant agreement n° 284892. The report has been produced as the OPTIMISM project deliverable 2.3: Recommendations to Harmonize Travel Behaviour Analysis.JRC.J.1-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

The additional value of TGFβ1 and IL-7 to predict the course of prostate cancer progression

Background: Given the fact that prostate cancer incidence will increase in the coming years, new prognostic biomarkers are needed with regard to the biological aggressiveness of the prostate cancer diagnosed. Since cytokines have been associated with the biology of cancer and its prognosis, we determined whether transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1), interleukin-7 (IL-7) receptor and IL-7 levels add additional prognostic information with regard to prostate cancer

The Potential of ITS to Enhance Co-modality and Decarbonise Passenger Transport in Europe

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are expected to provide valuable contributions to a more integrated and sustainable passenger transport system in the future. In this paper we studied the potential role three ITS applications (personalised travel information, car sharing schemes and mobile payment devices) could have in enhancing co-modality and decarbonising EU passenger transport. Based on a thorough review of existing and planned schemes, the mobility impacts of these ITS applications were estimated for single ‘model’ countries. To estimate the EU-wide decarbonisation potential of the options, a scaling methodology was developed, taking country specific aspects affecting the effectiveness of these schemes into account. The results of our analyses showed that particularly personalised travel information and mobile payment devices could significantly contribute to decarbonising the EU passenger transport system (1 - 3% and 0.5 - 1%, respectively) although the estimated CO2 reduction figures are rather uncertain. Further research on this topic is for that reason highly recommended

NEWBITS - Overview of ITS initiatives in the EU and US

<p>This project deliverable provides a mapping of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) initiatives in the EU and US. The methodology applied follows a 3-stage categorization process which is based upon (1) iterative data gathering, (2) conceptualization and (3) codification of data, and is developed to operate in a two-tier level at initiative (macro) and service (meso) levels. At the macro level, the report lists 65 FP7/H2020 projects, 62 further initiatives and 12 interviews with external ITS experts generating an inventory of deployed and on-going initiatives. At the meso level, the report captures 94 ITS services based on pilot projects and operational applications.</p

Measuring success of ITS services and their implementation

Over the last decade significant developments in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) have emerged as"br" innovative tools have been developed based on the application of Information and Communications Technologies"br" (ICT) in the transport sector. There is agreement in the transport research and practice communities that the main"br" functions of ITS and related services include increasing efficiency in transport, improving traffic safety, increasing"br" transport comfort and improving environmental performance of transport. However, it is widely acknowledged"br" that deployment of ITS services is fragmented and slow, as there are several barriers hampering successful"br" implementation of these services. They range from technical barriers (e.g. lack of interoperability of services) to"br" institutional (e.g. lack of robust legislative framework), economic (e.g. high investment costs) and"br" social/organisational (e.g. lack of cooperation between stakeholders) ones. Furthermore, a set of ITS service"br" performance measures which can be widely accepted by all relevant stakeholders is still required."br" As part of a wider research initiative, this research builds on the need for a better understanding of the barriers"br" hampering ITS services deployment and the set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) currently used for ITS"br" services. The main objective is to identify the main barriers and KPIs for both different market segments and types"br" of ITS services, based on a systematic review of the relevant literature, complemented by a series of interviews"br" with participants from a number of ITS service initiatives."br" This research makes a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge on barriers hampering ITS service"br" deployment and measuring success of ITS services. In doing so, it helps transport research and practice in their"br" efforts to develop and deploy service initiatives that successfully meet the expectations of their key stakeholders