Description
The European Commission has recently adopted a Green Infrastructure Strategy to promote ecosystem services as a key step in implementing the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy. The objective of this project is to establish collaboration between ecosystem service assessments in Spain and Norway. The project will assess how urban ecosystems services can enhance urban health and quality of life and identify economic costs and socio‐cultural impacts that can derive from the loss of ecosystem services and biodiversity in cities. The working plan is organized around four short research stays throughout 2015. The researcher from donor partner (Institute for Transport Economics - TOI - Norwegian Centre for Transport Research) will work in collaboration with the researcher from the project promoter Polytechnic University of Catalonia, sharing knowledge and data. The combined expertise of the project promoter and the knowledge the donor partner maximize the outcome and ensure a high probability for success. One of the strategic research directions of TOI is the application of new communication technologies and smartphone capabilities in order to improve road safety. In addition, TOI is also concerned with cyclists’ safety. The collaboration with the applicant in the proposed project will be the required impulse to launch this research direction into more ambitious projects. Beneficiaries of the project include the institutions involved in the project and the scientific community working on urban ecosystem services.
Summary of project results
The project faces the human factor in driving and its consequences for road safety. One of the main problems regarding the driving performance is the lack of feedback to the driver. Individuals tend to an overestimation of the social risks and underestimation of individual ones. The common idea is that “it is the behaviour of others that should be controlled, not mine”. Many drivers have driving habits with very high accident probability without being aware of it at all. External feedback is needed. The aim of the project was to build an app for smartphones in order to provide such feedback. During the three months stay at the Institute for Transport Economics (TOI) the following activities were carried out: 1) Definition of the aggressiveness indicator; 2) Development of the methodological tools for its computation from smartphone measurements; 3) Reorientation of the (x, y, z) jerk vector; 4) Development of the methodology for the characterization of different driving patterns; 5) Development of the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). The grantee’s work at the TOI, headed by Mr.Michael focused on developing accident prediction models. These are multivariate statistical models explaining variation in the number of accidents in time and space. Such models are used, for example, to identify locations of the road system that need particular safety treatment. Also, the grantee established contact with the Handbook of Road Safety Measures, which provides systematic descriptions of the effects of more than 140 road safety measures. After the completion of the stay, the project continues at Prof. Soriguera’s home institution (UPC/Barcelona Tech). The research project will benefit from the contribution of Bachelor / Master / PHD students. Prof. Soriguera will work on proposals for other funding schemes and involving private companies in the project in order to get funding to finalize the project. Together with the advancements made in the design and production of the app, among the intermediate results of the project a paper to be published in an international journal is under preparation, entitled Driver Feedback Mobile App: a Tool for Road Safety Improvement. Accident Analysis and Prevention. Once produced, the app should benefit various target publics, such as, on the one hand, the administration, decision makers and insurance companies; the fleet management companies; the road planning administration; and traffic administration.
Summary of bilateral results
The grantee was integrated at the TOI, and besides performing the project workplan, learned from the ongoing projects developed at the center. The collaboration with the TOI in the conceptual and mathematical part of the project was crucial for the development of methodologies and shall lead to the successful development of the app. Besides, two meetings were hedl with central decision makers and a leading company in the sector: a meeting with the technical staff of the Servei Català de Trànsit, the Catalan Traffic administration; and a meeting with representitives of the Reial Automóbil Club de Catalunya, the leadin drivers association and car insurance company in Spain. Such meetings allowed a higher visibility of the project. The collaboration started thanks to the NILS funding shall allow to develop further collaboration activities in the future, such as join proposal to the H2020 calls or to the calls by the General Traffic Direction in Spain. A first join activity is planned and the Department of Mobility and Organization at the TOI will be visiting Barcelona on October 2015.