Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1 2013
1 2013
COM
ROAD AND TR ANSPORT RESE ARCH | NO.1 2013
Smart Safety
New Technologies Improve Air
and Reduce Risks on the Road
No trespassing!
Reducing Fatalities
on Finnish Railways
Contents
New Programme Focuses on Norways Bridges and Tunnels . . . . . . . 3
Editorial Notes Road Safety on Four Continents Conference in Beijing 2013 . . . . . . . 3
Nordic Road & Transport Research is a joint
publication of six public road and transport Improving Safety on Finnish Railways by Prevention of Trespassing . . . 4
research organisations in the Nordic count-
ries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Electric Lorries Best in Congestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
and Sweden. The main objective of the pub-
lication is to disseminate research results ICT Technologies Reduce Emissions and Congestion on Roads . . . . . . 6
and news from the institutions, especially
to researchers and decision makers. Each Up to Date Knowledge About Traffic Safety Attitudes
institution is responsible for the selection of European Road Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
and presentation of the material from its
own scope of activities. Short Distance Between Lorries
Nordic Road & Transport Research is Can Save Energy and Increase Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
published two times a year. It is sent out,
free of charge, to recipients selected by Modelling Residual Salt Mors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
the six joint publishers. Free sample copies
are also sent out on special request. Tomorrows Pensioners Continue to Prefer Car Travel . . . . . . . . . . 10
Reproduction and quotation of the texts
are allowed if reference is made to the author Sustainable Urban Mobility Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
and source. However, legislation regula-
tes and restricts the right to reproduce the
Electromobility at a Crossroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
illustrations. Please contact the respective
Thin Layer Pavements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
publishing institution for information. Ad-
vertising is not accepted.
Protective Measures Against Avalanches and Floods . . . . . . . . . . . 14
If you have questions about the con-
tents of the publication, please write to Successful Introduction of Counter-Flow Cycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
the author or to the respective publishing
organisation.
Requests from readers outside the
Nordic countries for back issues, and noti-
fication of address changes is handled
by the Editor-in-chief at VTI, the Swedish
national road and transport research
institute, in Sweden. Readers in the
Nor d ic countries: please contact the
publishing institution of your country.
Contact: see back cover.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Karin Andersson, Editor-in-Chief,
VTI, Sweden
Anette Bill-Jessen, Denmark
Kari Mkel, VTT, Finland
G. Ptur Matthiasson, ICERA, Iceland
Anne Mari Norheim, NPRA, Norway
Harald Aas, TI, Norway
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Forma Viva, Linkping, Sweden
COVER Photos.com
ISSUE 3,400
ISSN 1101-517 9
WEB www.nordicroads.com
Photo: Photos.com
ing emissions and congestion. Hard shoulder VTT, Finland
running has been estimated to reduce travel
times up to 26 % in certain conditions and
locations and energy consumption and CO2 Full report: http://bit.ly/XBkTy5
Differing opinions among drivers Reduced energy consumption searchers will investigate vehicle platoons
During the project, VTI has investigated driv- To find out whether it is true that vehicle pla- with as short a distance as ten metres between
ers expectations on vehicle platoons through toons can reduce energy consumption by over the vehicles.
interviews and questionnaires. ten per cent even in actual traffic conditions, After the tests, we will also carry out new
Before the test, drivers wondered a lot the researchers will carry out a number of interviews and questionnaires to see whether
about the adjustment that would be needed for field tests in the course of the project. The field the drivers attitude to driving in platoons has
driving in a platoon, says Magnus Hjlmdahl. tests will also clarify the impact of vehicle pla- changed.
Some of the drivers expressed concern toons on other traffic.
Text: Katarina Ljungdahl
about the reliability of the systems and how The tests will take place in several stages.
the new method of driving would affect alert- To start with, the researchers studied vehicles
ness and the level of distraction. Some thought that drove in accordance with existing rou-
CONTACT
that they would experience driving in a pla- tines. The vehicles have then waited for one
Magnus Hjlmdahl
toon as more stressful, while others consid- another and then driven as a platoon with 70
magnus.hjalmdahl@vti.se
ered that the system could contribute to reduc- metres and three seconds braking distance
VTI, Sweden
ing stress. between each lorry. In a final stage, the re-
late traffic passing through the measurement Model validation use of salt application rate, without compro-
section halfway down the track . Permanently In order to validate the model and calibrate it mising traffic safety and road network acces-
mounted equipment includes a traffic counter, to different road and traffic classes, it will be sibility. Future development opportunities of
road surface sensors for salt amount, salt con- implemented and monitored in a number of the model include refined physical interpreta-
centration, temperature and water amount, road sections with different pavement charac- tion of the individual processes, input from
an automated weather station and an optic teristics, local conditions and speed limits automatic sensors, both in-vehicle mobile sen-
sensor for road conditions. Manual measure- during the winter of 2012/13. sors and mounted on-site and direct input
ment methods applied include salt amount by from weather forecast and observation sys-
SOBO20 device and the Wet Dust Sampler, Application and future development tems.
salt concentration by optical refractometer, Implementation of the model will be made Text: Skuli Thordarson
water amount with the Wettex-method, trays possible in a range of different complexity lev-
on the road edge to collect run-off, and petri- els from including comprehensive algorithms
dishes to collect redistributed droplets within into existing advanced decision support sys-
and in the vicinity of the road. tems, in the one end, to the use of simple print- CONTACT
Liquid water on the road surface during ex- ed graphical nomograms, describing the same Michel M. Eram
periments is either achieved by natural pre- processes, at the other end. With aid from the me5@vd.dk
cipitation or through spreading. The mea- model, decision makers have a better possibil- The Danish Road Directorate
surements resulted in knowledge giving a bet- ity of assessing the current and required salt
ter understanding of the residual salt develop- amount on the road surface and planning fu-
ment, and enables validation of automated ture operations. It is expected that the model More information:
sensors for real traffic situations. may contribute to a more precise and sound www.nordfou.org/english/projekter_eng.html
Tomorrows Pensioners
Continue to Prefer Car Travel
Lack of elderly research focusing on sustainability
Research on the elderly in traffic comes to achieving environmental goals. This led to the mobility of elderly people
has for a long time focused on safety Research on elderly road users very sel- being neglected.
dom takes up matters relating to sustainabili- Later, probably under the influence of
and mobility while a sustainability ty but focuses mainly on road safety and mo- more general tendencies in research where at-
perspective is still often lacking. bility. This is largely for historical reasons. tention was drawn to age discrimination and
This is shown by a literature study When road safety issues became more politi- when there was greater knowledge about el-
conducted by VTI. cally important at the end of the 1960s, el- derly drivers, there was a re-evaluation and
derly drivers were identified as a risk group in views about the risk of elderly drivers on the
Photo:Shutterstock
essential trends and correlations ture of development trends and policy op-
tions.
between driving forces, transport The indicator set is based on available
factors, environmental changes and regularly updated data for Norwegian
and policy performance are cities from Statistics Norways website
increasingly important for and TIs regular national travel surveys.
An active use of indicators of the drivers Red, yellow
planning and policymaking. or green?
behind the cities mobility patterns and
An active use
transport emissions provides a broader pic- of indicators of
It was emphasised that elderly people She explains that there is sometimes a goal considers that this is a key issue for, for ex-
should drive for as long as possible as use of a conflict between social and environmental ample, promoting social and ecological sus-
car helps even those with physical aches and sustainability when it comes to the elderly. tainability.
pains to get about relatively easily. Environ This may make it difficult to create simple A more overarching perspective on sus-
mental issues were absent in the discussion it general measures. tainability, including both ecological and so-
was perhaps far too sensitive to take them up. The elderly are a heterogenous group. At cial sustainability, is largely lacking in elderly
There may have been a fear that the elderly the same time as there are groups of elderly research. This is an important issue bearing in
would again be singled out and their mobility people who may need encouraging to contin- mind the fact that an increasing number of
restricted. After all, the elderly drive much less ue driving, there are others that drive a lot elderly people will probably choose to travel
than other age groups. who may need to reduce the amount of driv- by car in preference to other means of trans-
ing they do. port in the next few years.
Sustainable means of transport
Text: Katarina Ljungdahl
for the elderly as well Inexperienced users of public transport
Satu Heikkinen has also looked at what plans Many elderly people lack experience of using
have been made to enable the elderly to use public transport. Previous research shows
sustainable means of transport. that many of those retiring in the 2000s do
Time is passing and we cant avoid view- not have any experience of bus or train travel.
ing travel by the elderly in a sustainability per- Over 40 per cent say that they have never used CONTACT
spective. All groups need to participate in the public transport for their daily travel. Satu Heikkinen
transition to a sustainable society. Given that Matters relating to transport in relation to satu.heikkinen @ vti.se
the elderly make up a large proportion of the city planning are still unresearched when it VTI, Sweden
population, they are also an important group. comes to the elderly in traffic. Satu Heikkinen
CONTACT
small maximum aggregate size. Six test sites continue these measurement series through-
Hans Bendtsen
on urban roads and highways have been con- out the total lifetime of the test sections to the
hbe@vd.dk
structed, with a total of 44 pavements, in- extent that it is economically possible. In that
Danish Road Directorate
cluding a dense asphalt concrete as reference way it will be possible to create unique knowl-
pavement at each test site. edge about the development of noise on the
The test sections are now between two and many different pavements from cradle to CONTACT
seven years old. Road side SPB noise measure- grave. Lykke Mller Iversen
ments have been performed yearly supple- lykk@vd.dk
mented by CPX-noise-trailer measurements This knowledge can be used to: Danish Road Directorate
and friction surveys. Comparisons are made Examine and analyse why noise levels rise
between noise levels of the thin layers and the on various types of pavement
reference pavement which have been exposed Optimise and improve noise reducing thin
to the same traffic and weather conditions. layer pavements Full article: www.nordicroads.com
Successful Introduction
of Counter-Flow Cycling
Introduction of counterflow cycling in two streets in Oslo
increased the number of cyclists by 50 percent.
As part of a policy to improve cycling lanes. Some of the increased cycle traffic may cycle lanes in the one trial street where park-
conditions in Oslo, counter-flow be the result of transfer of cycle traffic from ing facilities had been removed, but opinions
neighbouring streets. were mixed in the other trial street.
cycling was permitted and cycle
In the interviews cyclists stated that they Video observations reveal that counter-
lanes were installed in both direc- cycled less on the pavements in the experimen- flow cycling led to few traffic conflicts. Thus
tions of two one-way streets. The tal streets after counter-flow cycling was per- such a measure would not seem to be detri-
cycle lanes were marked with red mitted and they considered the cycle condi- mental to road safety.
asphalt and combined with advanced tions to be very good and felt more secure
Text: Torkel Bjrnskau
than before.
stop lines and cycle boxes.
In contrast, in 2011 the cyclists were very
dissatisfied with the cycle conditions in these CONTACT
A joint publication with the latest research findings of six public research
organisations in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Contact
SWEDEN FINLAND NORWAY
Karin Andersson Kari Mkel Anne Mari Norheim (NPRA)
SE-581 85 Linkping P.O.Box 1000 Abelsgate 5
Phone: +46 13 20 42 26 FI-02044 VTT N-7030 Trondheim
Orderphone: +46 13 20 42 69 Phone: +358 20 722 4586 Phone +47 73 95 46 82
E-mail: nordic@vti.se E-mail: kari.makela@vtt.fi E-mail: anne.norheim@vegvesen.no
Web: www.vti.se Web: www.vtt.fi Web: www.vegvesen.no