Using passenger personas to design technological innovation for the rail industry

Research with end users can contribute to the design of technologies such as intelligent transport systems. However, it is important to use methods that can facilitate the uptake of research outcomes by the industry. This paper presents the use of passenger personas as part of the process of developing new technologies for the rail industry in the UK. Personas represent archetypal users and can facilitate the understanding of user behaviours, needs, motivations, characteristics and limitations. We aggregated existing knowledge and complemented it with bespoke data collection to understand passengers’ perceptions about the rail system. The study design focused on current user experiences and also where technology can improve these experiences. A set of four personas was produced in order to illustrate who the users of the train systems are as well as their characteristics. This knowledge informed the requirements of innovative technologies that can enhance user experiences during rail travel

A proposed hybrid evaluation methodology for intelligent transport system deployment

The rapid deployment of intelligent transport systems in practice requires serious evaluation of new construction projects. Traditional transportation evaluation methods are insufficient to capture the new features of intelligent transport systems, particularly the applications of recently developed information technologies. This research aims to develop a new conceptual framework to evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts of intelligent transport systems deployment, with explicit consideration of impacts of information technologies on variant travel behaviours. The research would provide a systematic evaluation methodology to enable decision makers and publics better evaluating and understanding the social, economic and environmental benefits of implementation of intelligent transport systems. <br /

Analysis of In-Vehicle Warning System for Rail-Road Level Crossings: Case Study in the City of Thessaloniki, Greece

The present research has investigated the impact of a Cooperative – Intelligent Transport Systems service for increasing Rail – Road Level Crossing safety, in terms of driving dynamic of the taxi drivers who used the service at the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. The Cooperative – Intelligent Transport Systems service informed drivers when approaching a Rail – Road Level Crossing, through 6 different paths, at the western area of the city of Thessaloniki. The results were yielded after comparing two datasets concerning the use of the Cooperative – Intelligent Transport Systems service by 168 taxi drivers for 28 days and without the use of the Cooperative – Intelligent Transport Systems service by 15 taxi drivers for 25 days. Even if conclusions are contrasting for the different types of the Rail – Road Level Crossing transits, the findings highlight a relation between speed reduction with types of transits whose first road segment is rectilinear, during Cooperative – Intelligent Transport Systems service use, while minor differentiations are noticed for Rail – Road Level Crossing transits with sharp turns and stop signs

Intelligent transport systems harmonisation assessment: use case of some Spanish intelligent transport systems services

From the 1980s, new telematic technologies have meant a great evolution in several areas. In the transportation domain, their use has implied the development and implementation of several intelligent transport systems (ITS). However, these deployments were done in an isolated way. Traffic managers, public and private organisations, stakeholders and others have implemented ITS without much perspective, that is, without providing ITS as services for end users. In the last few years, several European Union (EU) funded projects have been dealing with the development of harmonised ITS services. For example, the EasyWay Project is involving most of the European countries (EU member states and others) to deploy harmonised ITS services taking into account the European citizen as the final target. In this study, an introduction of the EasyWay project is made, including the ITS concept services and the deployment guidelines for harmonisation. In November 2012, EasyWay presented a new version of DGs, which were approved with minor editorial changes. An overview on these DGs for the ITS services is presented and two real Spanish road traffic ITS services are analysed

Acoustic based safety emergency vehicle detection for intelligent transport systems

A system has been investigated for the detection of incoming direction of an emergency vehicle. Acoustic detection methods based on a cross microphone array have been implemented. It is shown that source detection based on time delay estimation outperforms sound intensity techniques, although both techniques perform well for the application. The relaying of information to the driver as a warning signal has been investigated through the use of ambisonic technology and a 4 speaker array which is ubiquitous in most modern vehicles. Simulations show that accurate warning information may be relayed to the driver and afford correct action

Shared automated mobility : the legal and governance considerations

Automated vehicle technology is a fast-growing phenomenon which has, in recent years, found itself at the forefront of research projects being carried out in jurisdictions all over the world, and is a vital component to the modern revolution of the transport sector in the race against climate change. However, attaining a world with driverless cars and digital infrastructure, which eliminates the role of the driver, requires a detailed study from multiple aspects, including from a legal and governance perspective. A holistic, proportionate, and harmonised approach towards a dedicated body of legislation, which strikes the right balance between safeguarding consumers and a free market, is crucial to reaping the full potential of this technology, as the demand for alternative mobility solutions increases. This paper considers the legal impacts, which automated vehicles are expected to have on mobility, analysing in particular the challenges posed, the adequacy of existing legal systems, and the improvements that need to be made, on the basis of international research, with a particular focus on Malta. Project MISAM (Malta’s Introduction of Shared Autonomous Mobility) was launched specifically for the purpose of assessing the viability of enabling the use of automated vehicles in Malta, including from a legal and governance perspective.Project MISAM (REP-2020-017) is financed by Malta Council for Science & Technology, for and on behalf of the Foundation for Science and Technology, through the FUSION: R&I Research Excellence Programme.peer-reviewe

Work domain analysis and intelligent transport systems: Implications for vehicle design

This article presents a Work Domain Analysis (WDA) of the road transport system in Victoria, Australia. A series of driver information requirements and tasks that could potentially be supported through the use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are then extracted from the WDA. The potential use of ITS technologies to circumvent these information gaps and provide additional support to drivers is discussed. It is concluded that driver information requirements are currently not entirely satisfied by contemporary vehicle design and also that there are a number of driving tasks that could be further supported through the provision of supplementary systems within vehicles