All new vehicle types within the European Union must now be equipped with a driver drowsiness and attention warning system starting from 2022. The specific requirements for the test procedure necessary for type approval are defined in the Annex of EU Regulation C/2021/2639. The objectives of this study were to: (i) investigate how sleepiness develops in professional truck drivers under real-road driving conditions; and (ii) assess the feasibility of a test procedure for validating driver drowsiness and attention warning systems according to the EU regulation. Twenty-four professional truck drivers participated in the test. They drove for 180 km on a dual-lane motorway, first during daytime after a normal night's sleep and then at nighttime after being awake since early morning. The results showed higher sleepiness levels during nighttime driving compared with daytime, with a faster increase in sleepiness with distance driven, especially during the night. Psychomotor vigilance task results corroborated these findings. From a driver drowsiness and attention warning testing perspective, the study design with sleep-deprived drivers at night was successful in inducing the targeted sleepiness level of a Karolinska Sleepiness Scale score of ≥ 8. Many drivers who reported a Karolinska Sleepiness Scale ≥ 8 during the drives also acknowledged feeling sleepy in the post-drive questionnaire. Reaching high levels of sleepiness on real roads during daytime is more problematic, not the least from legal and ethical perspectives as higher traffic densities during the daytime lead to increased risks.  

This editorial serves as an extended introduction to the Special Issue on Technologies for Risk Mitigation and Support of Impaired Drivers. It gives the context to recent advances in assisted and automated driving and the new challenges that arise when modern technology meets human users. The Special Issue focuses on the development of robust sensors and detection algorithms for driver state monitoring of fatigue, stress, and inattention, and on the development of personalized multimodal, user-oriented, and adaptive information, warning, actuation, and handover strategies. A summary of more recent developments serves as a motivation for each article that follows.

This paper presents initial work on a context-dependent driver distraction detection algorithm called AttenD2.0, which extends the original AttenD algorithm with elements from the Minimum Required Attention (MiRA) theory. Central to the original AttenD algorithm is a time buffer which keeps track of how often and for how long the driver looks away from the forward roadway. When the driver looks away the buffer is depleted and when looking back the buffer fills up. If the buffer runs empty the driver is classified as distracted. AttenD2.0 extends this concept by adding multiple buffers, thus integrating situation dependence and visual time-sharing behaviour in a transparent manner. Also, the increment and decrement of the buffers are now controlled by both static requirements (e.g. the presence of an on-ramp increases the need to monitor the sides and the mirrors) as well as dynamic requirements (e.g., reduced speed lowers the need to monitor the speedometer). The algorithm description is generic, but a real-time implementation with concrete values for different parameters is showcased in a driving simulator experiment with 16 bus drivers, where AttenD2.0 was used to ensure that drivers are attentive before taking back control after an automated bus stop docking and depot procedure. The scalability of AttenD2.0 relative to available data sources and the level of vehicle automation is demonstrated. Future work includes expanding the concept to real-world environments by automatically integrating situational information from the vehicles environmental sensing and from digital maps.

Eye tracking (ET) has been used extensively in driver attention research. Amongst other findings, ET data have increased our knowledge about what drivers look at in different traffic environments and how they distribute their glances when interacting with non-driving related tasks. Eye tracking is also the go-to method when determining driver distraction via glance target classification. At the same time, eye trackers are limited in the sense that they can only objectively measure the gaze direction. To learn more about why drivers look where they do, what information they acquire foveally and peripherally, how the road environment and traffic situation affect their behavior, and how their own expertise influences their actions, it is necessary to go beyond counting the targets that the driver foveates. In this perspective paper, we suggest a glance analysis approach that classifies glances based on their purpose. The main idea is to consider not only the intention behind each glance, but to also account for what is relevant in the surrounding scene, regardless of whether the driver has looked there or not. In essence, the old approaches, unaware as they are of the larger context or motivation behind eye movements, have taken us as far as they can. We propose this more integrative approach to gain a better understanding of the complexity of drivers' informational needs and how they satisfy them in the moment.

To successfully get around in traffic it is often necessary to keep track of several relevant targets at the same time. This can be done by combining foveal and peripheral visual information sampling. Especially if no detailed input is needed, for example when confirming the absence of road users, it may be enough to use peripheral vision only. Using a driving simulator with an urban scenery, 35 participants passed three zebra crossings with a) no pedestrians nearby, b) pedestrians standing nearby and c) pedestrians nearby of whom one started walking towards the street. In the last case, all participants foveated the walking person, albeit around one third of the participants already released the throttle before the first glance at the pedestrian. The standing pedestrians were foveated in almost all instances, whereas the roadside nearby the zebra crossing without people nearby was not foveated by around a quarter of the participants. Taken together, the results indicate that peripheral vision may suffice to confirm the absence or presence of pedestrians. With people present, a glance towards them is initiated, likely to check for additional information. Throttle release before foveation is an indication that the walking pedestrian was detected as relevant with peripheral vision.

Hours of service regulations govern the working hours of commercial motor vehicle drivers, but these regulations may become more flexible as highly automated vehicles have the potential to afford periods of in-cab rest or even sleep while the vehicle is moving. A prerequisite is robust continuous monitoring of when the driver is resting (to account for reduced time on task) or sleeping (to account for the reduced physiological drive to sleep). The overall aims of this paper are to raise a discussion of whether it is possible to obtain successful rest during automated driving, and to present initial work on a hypothetical data driven algorithm aimed to estimate if it is possible to gain driving time after resting under fully automated driving. The presented algorithm consists of four central components, a heart rate-based relaxation detection algorithm, a camera-based sleep detection algorithm, a fatigue modelling component taking time awake, time of day and time on task into account, and a component that estimates gained driving time. Real-time assessment of driver fitness is complicated, especially when it comes to the recuperative value of in-cab sleep and rest, as it depends on sleep quality, time of day, homeostatic sleep pressure and on the activities that are carried out while resting. The monotony that characterizes for long-haul truck driving is clearly interrupted for a while, but the long-term consequences of extended driving times, including user acceptance of the key stakeholders, requires further research.

The effects of driver sleepiness are often quantified as deteriorated driving performance, increased blink durations and high levels of subjective sleepiness. Driver sleepiness has also been associated with increasing levels of electroencephalogram (EEG) power, especially in the alpha range. The present exploratory study investigated a new measure of driver sleepiness, the EEG fixation-related lambda response. Thirty young male drivers (23.6±1.7years old) participated in a driving simulator experiment in which they drove on rural and suburban roads in simulated daylight versus darkness during both the daytime (full sleep) and night-time (sleep deprived). The results show lower lambda responses during night driving and with longer time on task, indicating that sleep deprivation and time on task cause a general decrement in cortical responsiveness to incoming visual stimuli. Levels of subjective sleepiness and line crossings were higher under the same conditions. Furthermore, results of a linear mixed-effects model showed that low lambda responses are associated with high subjective sleepiness and more line crossings. We suggest that the fixation-related lambda response can be used to investigate driving impairment induced by sleep deprivation while driving and that, after further refinement, it may be useful as an objective measure of driver sleepiness.

Assisted and automated driving brings new challenges and opportunities when it comes to driver fatigue. With lower levels of vehicle automation, driver monotony and boredom in combination with demanding attentive monitoring leads to higher levels of fatigue, especially during the night when the sleep pressure is high. With higher levels of vehicle automation, when the driver is not required to continuously monitor the roadway and the automation system, task-related fatigue can be counteracted by engaging in non-driving-related activities. Finally, with the highest levels of vehicle automation, it may even become possible for drivers to sleep while on the move. Aside from making it possible for private car drivers to take strategic naps during a drive, this also opens up the possibility for more flexible, risk management-based, hour of service regulations for professional drivers. This chapter summarises the current state of the art on how assisted and piloted driving affects driver fatigue and how automation may facilitate recovery and recuperation from fatigue while on the move. It also covers how automated functions will impact driver monitoring systems and how new ways of counteracting driver fatigue may arise when automation is available.

While the negative effects of alcohol on driving performance are undisputed, it is unclear how driver attention, eye movements and visual information sampling are affected by alcohol consumption. A simulator study with 35 participants was conducted to investigate whether and how a driver's level of attention is related to self-paced non-driving related task (NDRT)-engagement and tactical aspects of undesirable driver behaviour under increasing levels of breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) up to 1.0 ‰. Increasing BrAC levels lead to more frequent speeding, short time headways and weaving, and higher NDRT engagement. Instantaneous distraction events become more frequent, with more and longer glances to the NDRT, and a general decline in visual attention to the forward roadway. With alcohol, the compensatory behaviour that is typically seen when drivers engage in NDRTs did not appear. These findings support the theory that alcohol reduces the ability to shift attention between multiple tasks. To conclude, the independent reduction in safety margins in combination with impaired attention and an increased willingness to engage in NDRTs is likely the reason behind increased crash risk when driving under the influence of alcohol. © 2023

The objective of this study was to compare the development of sleepiness during manual driving versus level 2 partially automated driving, when driving on a motorway in Sweden. The hypothesis was that partially automated driving will lead to higher levels of fatigue due to underload. Eighty-nine drivers were included in the study using a 2 × 2 design with the conditions manual versus partially automated driving and daytime (full sleep) versus night-time (sleep deprived). The results showed that night-time driving led to markedly increased levels of sleepiness in terms of subjective sleepiness ratings, blink durations, PERCLOS, pupil diameter and heart rate. Partially automated driving led to slightly higher subjective sleepiness ratings, longer blink durations, decreased pupil diameter, slower heart rate, and higher EEG alpha and theta activity. However, elevated levels of sleepiness mainly arose from the night-time drives when the sleep pressure was high. During daytime, when the drivers were alert, partially automated driving had little or no detrimental effects on driver fatigue. Whether the negative effects of increased sleepiness during partially automated driving can be compensated by the positive effects of lateral and longitudinal driving support needs to be investigated in further studies. © 2021 The Author(s)

The number of bicycling fatalities was 19 450 between 2010 and 2018 in Europe. The number of bicyclists killed when intoxicated by alcohol is harder to establish given the lack of reliable data. In Sweden, drunk bicycling is socially acceptable and legal (unless reckless). This experiment aimed to investigate how alcohol intoxication affect bicycling stability performance, executive functions, and self-rated ability. The experiment was completed on a wide treadmill that allowed control of several influencing factors such as speed and physical effort. Intoxicated and sober participants bicycled on the treadmill for five 10 minute sessions. Alcohol as administered incrementally to reach a target breath alcohol concentration level of 0.8‰. Stability decreased with intoxication; especially roll rate measurements were identified as being adequate indicators of bicycling instability. Executive function was negatively affected, and ability ratings decreased due to intoxication. The intoxicated participants were aware of their reduced ability to bicycle in a safe manner on a group level but not on an individual level. However, this insight does not affect their intention to bicycle intoxicated.

Today, residents in villages and rural areas experience difficulties to achieve safe active mobility. This project aims to map the decision-making process for speed legislation different parts of the road network in sparsely populated and rural areas, to highlight the possibilities to consider and promote safe active mobility in the villages. The study has been conducted using legal methods, interviews, site visits, dialogues, and literature reviews. The investigation has shown that there is a general perception among both citizens and stakeholders that the existing legislations regarding how speed limits are determined outside densely populated areas are complex. Overall responsibility, coordination, guidelines, and a desire for a formal dialogue are requested by actors in the decision-making process.

Three main problems have been identified regarding the consideration of active mobility and implementation of appropriate speed limits in dilemma zones. Firstly, there is very limited room to consider active mobility as a reason for speed reduction in these zones. Secondly, insufficient resources are cited as reasons for lack of action and change. Thirdly, the ultimate responsibility according to the Vision Zero concept seems to fall in between different system designers.

To reduce emissions and resource use from the transport sector, new technology can be used to shift travel from cars to more sustainable modes of travel. One of these technologies is automated electric vehicles. However, these must fit into the transport system and be integrated with other road users in an acceptable way.

At Campus Valla and in Vallastaden in Linköping, the research platform Ride the future has been implementing automated vehicles for three years now. The business is now to be developed further and there is an interest in expanding the use of these vehicles. As research partners in Ride the future, VTI and LiU have looked further into this. For this report, the research team has used a multi-method approach, with an emphasis on qualitative data collection to understand the needs of future autonomous vehicles operating in a non-traffic separated environment. Methods include needs analysis, case studies of implementation of use cases, co-design workshops with student organizations, and observational studies.

The results presented in the report are promising and show that the respondents have a generally positive attitude towards the vehicles. The results also point to several possible new areas of use in a campus environment where some can be implemented with a short lead time while some require further development of technology, infrastructure and/or business models.

Challenges with current external HMIs are identified, where shortcomings in how other road users interact with the current vehicles have been in focus. The results indicate that other actors need to understand the automated vehicles’ intentions and worldview better. An insight into the possible consequences of the actions of other actors on the functioning of the automated vehicles is also needed. In order to improve the interaction with especially those who pass or meet the vehicles, a multimodal communication is recommended, and suggestions have been made of visual components that should be included in the communication. At present, it is unclear to other actors what role the vehicles play in the local transport system. An improvement in how they communicate their progress can be expected to contribute to their easier acceptance and how they become better integrated as part of the transport system.

Syftet med Ride the future - living lab

• Visa hur en autonom, elektrifierad buss kan vara en del av mobiliteten i den moderna, förtätade staden
• Erbjuda en plattform för forskning och studier
• Bidra till samverkan och regional utveckling

Going to and from school is a daily journey for millions of children around Europe. The crash statistics is lacking information about the exact number of child causalities during those trips, but available sources identify the most dangerous situation as the way to and from school buses, situations when the children are unprotected road users. In addition there are several proofs for the need of a door to door perspective in order to improve the safety for the children. SAFEWAY2SCHOOL aimed to design, develop, integrate and evaluate technologies for providing a holistic and safe transportation service for children, from their door to the school door and vice versa, encompassing tools, services and training for all key actors in the chain.

The project has a user-oriented approach and the European Union (EU) FRAME approach has been used for a stepwise process with a starting point in user wishes, moving on to identification of those in relation to the system being developed, formalisation of them into user needs and combine them into use cases. This is the ground for the definition of the system requirements. The requirements were grouped into blocks of functions.

The functional blocks identified based on system requirements were:

• safe route planning
• information and warning
• bus driver information
• notification
• training and education

The results are positive, showing cost effective solutions with high acceptance for the holistic approach but also for most of the sub systems behind. However, no chain is stronger than the weakest link and this is true also when it comes to school transportation. Based on a very extensive work to identify future work with standardisations and policy the most essential improvements identified were related to school travel plans, sign at all bus stops and improved driver education.

Att ha tillgång till transportsystemet är extra viktig, men även utmanande för personer med synnedsättningar. Resande med synnedsättningar är vanligtvis mer beroende av sin hörsel och av god förutsägbarhet under resans samtliga moment. I en framtid kan detta förväntas bli en ännu större utmaning med fler autonoma och elektrifierade fordon i transportsystemet.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att fånga synnedsattas behov och önskningar kring stöd för att tillgängliggöra resande med framtidens autonoma bussar. Fokus har varit på digitala lösningar och där två systerprojekt har använts som ingång. Det ena projektet handlar om Augmented Reality (förstärkt verklighet - AR) baserade lösningar i kollektivtrafiken, det andra är mobilitetsplattformen i Linköping kallad Ridethefuture, i vilken 2 mindre autonoma elektrifierade bussar har använts för medåkande med syftet att fånga synnedsattas reflektioner.

Studien omfattar en inledande kunskapsgenomgång där såväl en benchmarking som en litteraturgenomgång gjorts. Vidare har en inledande fokusgrupp med fokus på synnedsattas resande generellt och deras förväntningar på framtidens autonoma system genomförts och därefter medåkandeobservationer med synnedsatta. En kompletterade uppgiftsanalys genomfördes i syfte att öka kunskapen om vilka behov resande har i allmänhet.

The overall aim of this work is to develop guidelines for evaluation of potential treatments, categorized as “self-explaining treatments” by the use of a driving simulator. More specific the driving simulator study had the aim:

• • To evaluate the effectiveness of curve treatments, in particular to determine whether a combination of treatments on curves according to their severity could help drivers correctly establish the severity of a curve in advance, and therefore adapt their speed appropriately.

In total 35 participants, divided into two groups, drove approximately 46 minutes on a rural road with 3 baseline curves without treatment and 9 curves with treatment of varying levels. In total three different treatment levels and three different curves were used. One group received treatments before each curve that correspond to the severity of the curve (slight curve – low treatment level; moderate curve – medium treatment level; severe curve – high treatment level); the other group experienced inconsistent treatments by being exposed to all nine possible combination of curve and treatments.

The analysis of the effects on speed in average and at each point (v0 to v5) was done with Mixed Model ANOVA. Dependent variables were speed measurements in the different points along the curve (v0 to v5) and the average speed through the total curve (from point v0 to v5). The analyses were done both for absolute speeds and for the relative change in speed from starting point (v0). Independent variables were consistent/inconsistent group; curve (1-3), treatment level (1–3) and time on task, here called order (1–9). Subject was used as random and nested on group. In addition the most severe curve was analysed separately in order to compare the groups.

In conclusion the result showed that in most cases there were significant effects for treatment levels, severity of the curve, order (time on task), and for subject. There was no significant main effect on group (consistent/inconsistent). However, there was an interaction between curve and group, telling us that the consistent marking significantly reduced the average speed among those with consistent treatment. This holds true also for the speed at point v2, v3 and v5. A final argument for the effectiveness of consistent treatment is that if only the severe curve was considered, there was a significant effect of group.

Guidelines for evaluation

It was found that our used method to evaluate the effects of speed adjustment worked well. 35 participants each drove approximately 45 minutes. They were divided into a consistent and one inconsistent group. Three levels of treatment and three severities of curves were used. The dependent variable was the speed measured at three points along the curve. This methodology could be used to evaluate other types of self-explaining treatments. But since a driving simulator study requires a lot of planning (expensive) it is suggested to initially do an expert workshop to evaluate and select the suitable SER treatment and also detailed scenario description.

Travelling by bus is one of the safest modes of transport. However, crashes still happen and studies have found that the most severe crashes are related to rollovers, mainly on rural roads. The most severe injuries occur when unbuckled passengers are thrown out through the windows or get stuck under the bus. In Sweden the use of a seat belt and information about seat belt use when traveling by bus is regulated in Traffic Ordinance (1998: 1276) Chapter 4 §10a. In short, all bus passengers three years or older should be seated in a place with a seat belt, if there is such a place, and should use the belt. If there is no seat belt available, it is allowed to stand in the bus (if the bus is approved for standing places). The legal responsibility to inform and make sure passengers under 15 use the belt are on the bus driver. Despite existing regulations there is no clear view on the usage rate of seat belt in buses, or on the travellers’ view of their own usage and the reasons to not buckle up. This study aims to evaluate seat belt usage in buses and to understand travellers’ incentives of seatbelt usage.

This study aims to evaluate seat belt usage in buses and to understand travellers' incentives of seat belt usage. Methods used are observational studies (10 cities, with 328 bus observations), focus group discussion (7 groups with a total of 32 participants) and a web survey (n = 1737 respondents). The results show that the seat belt use among bus passengers can be improved especially in regional and commercial bus traffic. It is more common to buckle up on long trips than on short trips. However, even though observations show high usage during long trips, travellers report that they remove the seat belt after a while if they want to sleep or for comfort reasons. For the bus drivers it is not possible to control passengers' usage. Dirty seat belts and technical malfunction might deter some passengers from using them and therefore systematic cleaning and control of seats and belts are recommended. On short trips one reason for not using the belt is related to worries about getting stuck and not being ready to get off in time. In general, it is most important to increase the usage on high-speed roads (>60 km/ h), in lower speed it might be more important to provide a seat for each passenger. Based on the results a list of recommendations is presented.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 30% of Swedish urban bus drivers report having been exposed to threats or violence. As 50% of drivers have voiced concerns about the occurrences, threats and violence also represent contributing factors to driver stress and fatigue.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore bus drivers' experience of threats and violence; how threats and violence manifests and how the problem is handled by drivers. Gaining understanding of the circumstances is important to reduce the number of threats and violent incidents to provide healthy and attractive working conditions for drivers.

METHODS: This study is based on in-depth interviews with 12 urban bus drivers in the City of Malmo in Sweden.

RESULTS: Urban bus drivers experience threats daily from passengers, although physical violence occurs less often. The most common situations resulting in threats involve asking passengers to show valid tickets, denying child carriages onboard and running late to a bus stop. The drivers have not received clear guidelines as to strategic handling of the invalid ticket situation.

CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations include a clear policy and consensus with regard to handling invalid tickets, providing drivers with guidelines for appropriate procedures for passengers refusing to pay, improving reporting routines and establishing a strategy for the Public Transportation provider and operator to follow with regard to reports, in-vehicle surveillance cameras including informing passengers that they are being video recorded as well as harmonizing the location of alarm buttons on buses.

Under 2021 genomförde International Transport Forum (ITF) en kartläggning av förändrade resvanor. De konstaterade att långsiktiga resetrender främst påverkas av livsstil och förändringar i samhället i stort, till exempel pandemin, snarare än interna förändringar av transportsystemet, även om samspelet mellan dessa faktorer är viktigt. Den risk som lyfts i ITF:s rapport är att minskad användning av kollektiva färdmedel består och det pekas även på en risk för en bredare förändring i samhället till följd av pandemin t.ex. förändrade arbetssätt. När det gäller att förbättra transportsystemet är begrepp och åtgärder som ofta förknippas med detta kopplade till innovationsområdena elektrifiering och digitalisering. I många fall är det tekniska argument som används för att genomföra demonstrationer med till exempel autonoma elektrifierade fordon, men självkörande fordon av denna typ är utifrån ett användarperspektiv inget självändamål. För resenären handlar det mer om att ta sig från en punkt till en annan. Det är viktigt att säkra att framtidens mobilitetslösningar har användaren i fokus och utvecklas på ett sätt som gör dem möjliga att nyttja av alla medborgare ung som gammal, med eller utan funktionsnedsättning och att de har en stabil drift.

Ride the future är en mobilitetslösning med tre elektrifierade autonoma bussar som trafikerar en 4,2 km lång slinga vid Linköpings Universitet och Vallastaden. Initiativet Ride the future bygger på en samverkan mellan åtta olika partners som påbörjades under 2018. Partners är Akademiska hus, Linköpings kommun, Linköpings universitet, RISE, Linköping Science Park, Transdev Sverige AB, Statens Väg- och Transportforskningsinstitut och Östgötatrafiken. Ett av målen för Ride the future är att visa hur en autonom elektrifierad buss kan vara en del av mobiliteten i den moderna förtätade staden. För att nå upp till det målet finns ett behov av att summera resultat från forskningsprojekt som har studerat användningen av de autonoma bussarna, vilket är syftet med den här presentationen. Vidare kommer aspekter kring fordon och drift, infrastruktur och användarnas uppfattning kring attraktivitet, tillgänglighet, bekvämlighet och inkludering att presenteras.

Ride the future is a mobility solution with three electrified autonomous buses that operate a 4.2 km long loop at Linköping University and Vallastaden. There is a need to summarize the results obtained, to achieve Ride the future’s goal of showing how an autonomous electrified bus can be part of the mobility in the modern dense city. The purpose of this report is to summarize and discuss these with a starting point in what this means for the users and where aspects around vehicles and operation, infrastructure, the users’ perception of attractiveness, accessibility, convenience and inclusion are included.

A compilation of completed user studies shows that the majority of travellers who have tested the buses are positive about the journey, but that efforts are required to attract motorists. Furthermore, an increased focus is needed on the development of how the vehicles should be able to communicate with passengers on the bus, but also with those who interact with the bus outside (pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicle drivers). The driver is important from the point of view of the situation we have today with somewhat immature technology. The drivers support both the bus and the passengers, especially children, the elderly and people with disabilities. However, for the mobility service to be available to all passengers development and improvement of both physical infrastructure and digital solutions is needed.

Ride the future intends to continue with the joint ambition of the project's parties to test and contribute to the development of the solutions required for a future sustainable mobility system within both the dense city and the countryside. Within this ambition, both technical, inter-personal and business issues are identified as necessary to work on.

The interest in operating autonomous vehicles is growing and several demonstration sites using automated shuttles have been established all over the world. Major work is involved in setting up an automated shuttle operation that involves more than identifying the relevant site, including adhering to current regulations and obtaining approval, as well as a considerable amount of preparation and commissioning required at the site. The shuttle must pass relevant national vehicle regulations, and the operation site has to undergo a site assessment. This paper is based on lessons learned achieved from setting up automated shuttle operations in three different areas in Europe: Brussel (Belgium), Linköping (Sweden) and Turin (Italy). The focus is on the practical aspects of operation. Through the experience we have gained of setting up demonstration sites at three locations in Europe, we have identified the need to summarise the lessons learned from preparing AV shuttle operation sites in order to facilitate the implementation of other operation sites. Hence, this paper aims to consolidate lessons learned during preparation and implementation of automated shuttle operations in near urban environments and to identify the path toward future implementation. The three sites operate different brands and number of shuttles, different types of infrastructure and varying local conditions. The focus here was on generic lessons learned and not to understand differences between brands and operators. It is clear that further development of the AV shuttles is vital to ensure that they operate smoothly in complex traffic situations considering lane and road width, shared spaces, snow, dust, rain, leaves, birds, etc. Adapting the road infrastructure to enable the shuttles to run in the autonomous mode should be avoided, instead the shuttle development should prioritise fitting into the existing traffic environment and eco system. Mitigation areas have been identified covering: road infrastructure, weather dependant operation, season dependent operation, improvement of localisation, digital infrastructure, design and working conditions, and citizens’ user experience.

This chapter describes challenges faced in fatigue research and in fatigue evaluation for various purposes including crash statistics and enforcement and for selection of appropriate countermeasures. The challenges are related to both the causes and the consequences of fatigue. Differences between sleep-related and task-related fatigue are discussed in relation to countermeasures for fatigue. The chapter also describes how individual characteristics including age, chronotype, and personality influence the development of fatigue and add to the complexity of choosing appropriate fatigue countermeasures. Difficulties in measuring and providing proof that an individual is fatigued are discussed in relation to law enforcement.

Rumble strips in the center of two-lane rural roads and on the shoulder of motorways are a countermeasure aimed to help drivers who unintentionally are about to leave the lane, for example, due to fatigue or inattention. Rumble strips are widely used. They are installed in the raised profile or as in-ground (milled or pressed). The design varies in width, depth, length, and design. The most effective are the in-ground ones. Evaluations show an effect of 10% reduction of all injury crashes and 37% reduction on target crashes (head-on, single crashes to the left, etc.). Rumble strips contribute to speed reduction of 2–5 km/h and an increased distance to them with 10–15 cm, something that is good for vehicle-to-vehicle interactions, but less good for pedestrians and cyclist using the shoulder. To summarize, rumble strips save lives to a rather small cost in relation to other infrastructure-based countermeasures.

Experimental activities and studies with small autonomous buses (shuttles) in urban areas are becoming more common. As of yet, a safety driver who can take over control when the vehicle does not fulfil its task is usually required. In practice, this means that the safety driver is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the journey is safe, both for passengers and for surrounding road users. The aim of the present study was to study the safety driver's work environment, with special focus on fatigue and inattention. The study was conducted in Linköping in collaboration with the mobility arena "Ride the future". In total 8 drivers participated in the study. The study was exploratory, and the data collection was conducted in normal operation during normal work shifts. Data were collected during the first and last hour of an afternoon session. The results from these two sessions have then been compared. Drivers' alertness has been measured with self-reported drowsiness (KSS) and via blink measures (blink duration and long blinks) as well as heart rate-based measures (heart rate variability). Furthermore, drivers' eye movements have been identified to describe how drivers search the surroundings while driving.

The aim of the present study was to increase the knowledge of work environment, health and road safety for craftsmen and caregivers (home care and home health care) in connection with work-related travel, to and from assignments.

In the study, their daily activities were described with objective measurements of driving distances, time of day, driving times, speeds, load securing, and etcetera (study A). Additional data was collected on subjective experiences (surveys and in-depth interviews; studies B and C, respectively).

The results show that craftsmen and caregivers had different situations regarding safe travel in connection with work assignments. Craftsmen traveled longer but had fewer trips per day and more occasions of speeding compared to caregivers. The caregivers had higher subjective sleepiness and stress upon awakening than the craftsmen. However, there was no difference in the number of people who reported high values of sleepiness and stress during the working day. For craftsmen, 30 percent reported that they suffered from moderate or severe pain and muscle tension, and 30 percent had lower back pain. For caregivers, 49 percent suffered from pain and muscle tension and 46 percent suffered from pain in the lower back. Furthermore, 37 percent of the craftsmen reported that they got insufficient sleep, the corresponding figure for the caregivers was 58 percent. Set-ups for safe anchoring existed in 64 percent of the craftsmen's cars. The bicycles that were used by caregivers had shortcomings regarding reflexes, brakes, etcetera. Only 30 percent of those who cycled agreed that they often or very often used a helmet. 

Based on the results from the three sub-studies, we have formulated a number of recommendations. These include areas: Strengthened competence, Bicycles/electric bicycles; purchase and maintenance, Motor vehicles; purchase and equipment, Loading/anchoring and Clarified work environment responsibility. In addition, areas for further research were identified. 

Background: Exercise training is suggested to have a stress-buffering effect on physiological reactions to acute stress. The so-called cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis is one of many theories behind the plausible effects, proposing that the attenuated physiological reaction seen in trained individuals in response to acute exercise is also seen when the individual is exposed to acute psychosocial stress. However, few randomized controlled trials (RCT) are available in this field. Therefore, the aim of the present trial was to study the effects of a 6-month aerobic exercise intervention on the physiological response to acute laboratory stress.

Methods: A two-armed RCT including untrained but healthy individuals aged 20–50 years was conducted. Assessments included a peak oxygen uptake test and a psychosocial stress test (the Trier Social Stress Test). A total of 88 participants went through both baseline and follow-up measures (48 in the intervention group and 40 in the control group) with a similar proportion of women and men (20 women and 28 men in the intervention group and 18 women and 22 men in the control group). Outcome measures were adrenocorticotrophic hormone, cortisol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate responses to acute psychosocial stress.

Results: Oxygen uptake and time-to-exhaustion increased significantly following the intervention, while a decrease was seen in the control group. The analyses showed attenuated responses to acute psychosocial stress for all variables in both groups at follow-up, with no differences between the groups. No correlation was seen between amount of exercise training and reactivity to the stress test. Despite the increased oxygen uptake in the intervention group, no differences were seen between the groups for any of the outcome variables at follow-up.

Conclusions: In this study, the cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis could not be confirmed. Both groups showed decreased reactions indicating a habituation to the stress test.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02051127. Registered on 31 January 2014—retrospectively registered.

Driver fatigue is a contributing factor in about 20% of all fatal road crashes worldwide. Countermeasures are urgently needed and one of the most promising and currently available approaches for that are in-vehicle systems for driver fatigue detection. The main objective of this paper is to present a video-based driver sleepiness detection system set up as a two-stage model with (1) a generic deep feature extraction module combined with (2) a personalised sleepiness detection module. The approach was designed and evaluated using data from 13 drivers, collected during naturalistic driving conditions on a motorway in Sweden. Each driver performed one 90-minute driving session during daytime (low sleepiness condition) and one session during night-time (high sleepiness condition). The sleepiness detection model outputs a continuous output representing the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) scale from 1-9 or a binary decision as alert (defined as KSS 1-6) or sleepy (defined as KSS 7-9). Continuous output modelling resulted in a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.54 KSS units. Binary classification of alert or sleepy showed an accuracy of 92% (sensitivity = 91.7%, specificity = 92.3%, F1 score = 90.4%). Without personalisation, the corresponding accuracy was 72%, while a standard fatigue detection PERCLOS-based baseline method reached an accuracy of 68% on the same dataset. The developed real-time sleepiness detection model can be used in the management of sleepiness/fatigue by detecting precursors of severe fatigue, and ultimately reduce sleepiness-related road crashes by alerting drivers before high levels of fatigue are reached.

The overall purpose of the study was to explore differences in experiences and perceived barriers of public transport between people with neuropsychiatric disabilities (NPD) and people who do not have NPD. Another purpose was to study the extent to which NPD and experiences of public transport have been studied previously and what research has shown. A literature study and a questionnaire study have been conducted. The literature study included 15 studies, most concerned autism only. Difficulties that people with NPD experience with public transport are revealed; as well as the importance of being able to travel independently; parents’ concerns about their children’s travels; how travelers can train mobility and adapt to the transport system and how the system can be adapted for users through the design of transport systems and urban environments. 

The questionnaire was answered by 433 people with one or more NP diagnoses such as language disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, autism and/or ADHD/ADD and 457 people without any diagnosis, all over 15 years of age. The survey shows that people with NPD experience more difficulties with public transport compared with people without a diagnosis. They are more dependent on public transport for daily travel and more often feel tired from travelling. They avoid traveling by public transport to a greater extent and stay home from work and school because of how they experience it. Crowds, sounds and smells are the most common barriers. Respondents with NPD state that they often or very often worry about different situations such as not getting a seat on board, that the service does not arrive on time and problems with payment. The study shows that NPD limits accessibility by public transport as travel is avoided due to consequences such as fatigue, anxiety, stress and sensory overstimulation. Public transport service and organization is not adapted for people with social difficulties, sensory hypersensitivity and difficulties with planning and organization. The study provides suggestions for measures and further research that can facilitate the transport situation for people with NPD.

Public transport is an important part of sustainable travel and should be accessible to all. For people with disabilities, it can be difficult to use public transport to the extent that is desirable, both for the individual and for society as a whole. The project therefore aimed to develop a solution for digital guidance in complex public transport environments. Such a solution has the potential to enable people with disabilities to live more independent and autonomous lives. It also improves the conditions for reduced use of the paratransit services and can therefore be more cost effective and reduce the environmental impact. 

The project has taken several steps towards this goal. This has been done through a better understanding of the needs of disabled people in a complex environment such as a travel centre. This includes the importance of clear navigation points, such as guidance paths and landmarks, for the visually impaired. People with cognitive disabilities need clear and predictable information to feel safe when travelling alone. Digital support systems and applications should be easy to use, personalised and effectively integrate information about different modes of transport. In addition, the project has shown that it is possible to adapt and develop an accessible routing engine and API, with future potential for advanced audio technology to assist the visually impaired. The project also investigated and identified barriers, such as the fact that GNSS/GPS-based guidance is not stable enough, especially in bad weather conditions, to effectively guide visually impaired people along routes at the Travel Centre. In addition, the physical paths in the Travel Centre are difficult to follow in bad weather, such as snowfall, making the guidance less effective. Finally, variations in location data, even with an improved GNSS signal, as well as limitations in the compass capabilities of mobile phones, present challenges in correctly guiding body movements.

Introduction: A recognised potential benefit of autonomous vehicles is increased mobility for older adults. However, this group is more apprehensive about adoption, which may hinder uptake. Shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) represent a use case that may be especially relevant for older people due to emerging applications in retirement villages and similar precincts. However, little research has examined the SAV-related concerns of older adults and strategies to address them. This study used an exploratory approach involving SAV exposure to identify strategies that may increase older people's receptiveness to SAVs. Method: Older adults living in retirement villages (n = 63) were interviewed while interacting with an SAV to examine their needs, expectations, and concerns regarding SAVs. The interview data were coded and thematically analysed. Results: Participants recommended the following approaches to ensuring SAVs are useful and acceptable to older adults: providing physical accessibility for those with mobility impairments, comfortable and practical internal layouts, and operating SAVs on convenient routes at useful speeds. Strategies such as exposing older adults to SAVs in operation to encourage uptake and initially ensuring a human assistant is present were suggested methods of increasing receptivity. Discussion: The findings suggest older passengers are likely to share many of the same reactions to SAVs as the broader population, but with a stronger focus on issues relating to accessibility and the physical layout of the vehicles. The solutions to these issues suggested by the study participants may be useful for those designing SAVs for use in older people's settings and beyond.

COPE DrivER has through three different sub-projects investigated and developed the possibilities of estimating driver states sleepiness and mental load / stress level as well as sudden disease by measuring physiological signals from cardiac activity with non-invasive sensors in the form of consumer-grade chest straps and advanced radar technology. In general, the experiments have shown that there is potential for the evaluated technologies to help detect and quantify these driver states, but they also show that it is challenging to succeed in detecting the driver states with high accuracy based on measurements of cardiac activity alone, and additional data from other sensors is probably needed. Conditions for measuring drivers are challenging due to vehicle vibrations, the driver's movements and thick clothing. Efficient signal processing plays a key role and here the project has contributed to the development of new algorithms.

The Nordic certification system NordicCert aims at testing and certifying road marking materials with respect to the durability of the products. Product certification is based on monitored and documented performance measurements of material samples applied on test fields on public roads. The materials are certified in relation to the number of wheel passages they will stand, with maintained performance. 

The certification system includes road marking materials for longitudinal and transverse road markings in categories with respect to colour (white or yellow), type (type I, type II, type II inlaid, antiskid, hand application, non-reflective with enhanced durability, and temporary) and thickness (0.4, 0.6, 1.5, 3 and 5 mm). 

The present report documents the follow-up performance measurements that were carried out at the test fields in 2024, i.e., one-year follow-up measurements for materials applied in 2023 and two-years follow-up measurements for materials applied in 2022. The report also includes results of the performance measurement of materials intended for temporary road markings that were applied in 2024. The performance parameters include the coefficient of retroreflected luminance (RL) under dry and wet conditions, the luminance coefficient under diffuse illumination (Qd), the skid resistance, the chromaticity in daylight, and the chromaticity of retroreflected light (yellow materials, only). 

Out of the 36 materials applied at the Finnish-Icelandic-Norwegian-Swedish test site in 2023, 24 fulfilled the performance requirements in at least one roll-over class P0–P4 after one year. Out of the 42 materials applied in 2022, 3 fulfilled the performance requirements in roll-over class P5 after two years. One material intended for temporary road markings was applied in 2024 and fulfilled the performance requirements in at least one roll-over class T0–T2. 

Out of the 23 materials applied at the Danish test site in 2023, 16 fulfilled the performance requirements in at least one roll-over class P0–P5 after one year. Out of the 10 materials applied in 2022, none fulfilled the performance requirements in roll-over classes P5.5–P6 after two years.

BACKGROUND: Many workers routinely transition between day and night shifts—including pilots, where night flights are commonly considered more stressful. The physiological toll from this transition is not fully understood, though fatigue is a factor in many aviation accidents. This research investigated the changes in physiological markers of stress and cognitive performance as F-22 pilots transitioned from day flying to night flying. methods: There were 17 fully-qualified F-22 pilots who took part in a 2-wk data collection using salivary swabs, wrist-worn activity monitors, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) inventory, and a go/no-go (GNG) test. results: No differences were found in comparing day and night flying on the GNG reaction time/accuracy, NASA-TLX scores, or sleep quantity. Cortisol levels were significantly higher than civilian levels in all experimental conditions and control days. Participants had higher than predicted cortisol levels postflight in the day-flying condition and lower than predicted cortisol levels postflight in the night-flying condition, relative to levels from control day patterns. We also found smaller changes in cortisol (pre- to postflight) in the day-flying condition for those with more F-22 experience. Finally, we found a negative correlation between Perceived Stress Scale scores and age of pilots (r 5 -20.72). discussion: We hypothesized that the night-flying environment would be more stressful, but our results disputed this claim. Our results suggest day flying elicits more of a stress response; however, a larger sample size is required to verify results. Preliminary findings of potential stress adaptation may suggest stress adaptation in the F-22 community needs further investigation.

Automated vehicles are entering the roads and automation is applied to cars, trucks, buses, and even motorcycles today. High automation foresees transitions during driving in both directions. The driver and rider state become a critical parameter since reliable automation allows safe intervention and transit control to the automation when manual driving is not performed safely anymore. When the control transits from automation to manual an appropriate driver state needs to be identified before releasing the automated control. The detection of driver states during manual and automated driving and an appropriate design of the human-machine interaction (HMI) are crucial steps to support these transitions. State-of-the-art systems do not take the driver state, personal preferences, and predictions of road conditions into account. The ADAS&ME project, funded by the H2020 Programme of the European Commission, proposes an innovative and fully adaptive HMI framework, able to support driver/rider state monitoring-based transitions in automated driving. The HMI framework is applied in the target vehicles: passenger car, truck, bus, and motorcycle, and in seven different use cases.

During the fall of 2021, the Swedish Transport Agency was commissioned by the Swedish Government to analyze and, if necessary, submit proposals for how changed traffic rules could lead to an increase in the proportion of road users who travel by bicycle. Against this background, the Swedish Transport Agency has engaged VTI, the Swedish Road and Transport Research Institute, to assist in the work by describing the state of knowledge based on current research in the relevant areas.

The aim of this study has been to investigate the spatial requirements of cyclists in different traffic situations and develop a basis for recommendations for designing cycling infrastructure regarding widths. Today, there are no rules or common construction practices for the physical design of cycle paths or cycle lanes in Sweden. Instead, it is up to each road authority to produce their own cross sections or recommendations and follow up on compliance.

The results in this report are based on literature studies regarding design standards and research on spatial requirements of cyclists. Recommendations are presented on minimum widths of cycle paths and cycle lanes depending on the possibility of meetings and overtaking, including consideration of cargo bikes, as well as safe distances to obstacles beside the road. An approach to model structure for assessing spatial requirements at higher flows of cyclists has also been developed.

The width of cycle paths can be varied depending on the desired dimensioning traffic situation. The dimensioning traffic situation is defined as the possibility of safe meetings or overtaking of a certain number of cyclists and pedestrians simultaneously on a cycle path or mixed-use path. From a maintenance perspective, however, it is advantageous to build bicycle infrastructure with a width of at least 2.5 meters, regardless of the traffic situation. Less width than that can result in lower efficiency for operation and maintenance with increased life cycle costs as a result.

Under hösten 2021 fick Transportstyrelsen i uppdrag av regeringen att analysera och vid behov lämna förslag till ändrade trafikregler för att andelen trafikanter som reser med cykel ska öka. Mot bakgrund av detta anlitade Transportstyrelsen VTI, Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut för att bistå i arbetet genom att beskriva kunskapsläget utifrån gällande forskning. 

Historiskt har dimensionering för gång och cykel baserats på ingenjörsmässiga uppskattningar med lite eller inget empiriskt underlag. Syftet med uppdraget har främst varit att undersöka cyklisters utrymmesbehov i olika trafiksituationer och att ta fram underlag till rekommendationer för utformning av cykelinfrastrukturens bredder. Idag saknas regler eller gemensam byggpraxis för den fysiska utformningen av cykelfält och cykelbanor. Det är istället upp till respektive väghållare att ta fram sina egna typsektioner eller rekommendationer och kontrollera efterlevnaden. Inom ramen för detta arbete har det bland annat tagits fram grundläggande designriktlinjer som beaktar cyklister och lastcyklisters utrymmesbehov och interaktion med andra trafikanter.  

Resultaten i denna rapport baseras på litteraturstudier gällande utformningsstandarder och forskning kring cyklisters utrymmesbehov. 

Arbetets primära resultat består i framtagandet av minstabredder för cykelbanor och cykelfält beroende på möjlighet till möten och omkörningar, inkluderat dimensionering för lastcyklar, samt trygga avstånd till sidohinder. En enkelrikta cykelbana för vanliga cyklister bör inte understiga 0,95 m bredd, plus 0,35 meter fritt avstånd till sidohinder utanför cykelbanan på varje sida. En dubbelriktad cykelbana bör inte vara smalare än 2,15 m, plus 0,35 meter avstånd till sidohinder per sida. Vid fullt beaktande av lastcyklar blir cykelbanebredden 3,5 meter på dubbelriktade cykelbanor. En ansats till modellstruktur för bedömning av utrymmesbehov vid högre flöden har även tagits fram. 

Utöver de faktiska breddrekommendationerna så har även arbetet resulterat i framtagandet av en lista med utformningsparametrar för cyklisters utrymmesbehov. Dessa parametrar beskrivs med måttangivelse och nivå av empirisk uppbackning. Vissa av parametrarna saknar fortfarande empirisk uppbackning vilket synliggör behovet av fortsatta studier.  

In order to manage driver fatigue in transportation it is important to understand the underlying reasons behind fatigue and to recognise that most often fatigue is caused by multiple factors. When designing countermeasures, it is vital that the proposed approach is targeted at the specific problem (cause of fatigue). The most effective approach to fatigue management will include a mix of countermeasures to be deployed in the short, medium, and long term. For any approach to fatigue management to be effective there is a need for shared responsibility. A wide range of involved parties will be influential, including drivers and their families, managers, companies, regulators, unions, and enforcement agencies. This chapter includes a four-step method to evaluate a company’s fatigue situation, understand problem areas, and propose countermeasures that are targeted to be most likely to succeed. This is achieved through the following: (1) understanding the current situation through data collection, (2) synthesising findings into key insights, (3) mapping potential solutions onto identified problems, and (4) implementing countermeasures and review. An open organisational culture is essential for successful fatigue management. A step-by-step approach is likely to be most beneficial, with smaller, easier-to-accept changes being introduced and accepted first before moving up to more sophisticated solutions over time.

A mathematical model, Visibility, for computation of the visibility distances of longitudinal road markings, was developed within the European research project COST 331 in the 1990s. The distance is computed from measurable parameters such as the coefficient of retroreflected luminance, RL, and from assumptions regarding the vehicle headlamps, the driver, and the road. The Visibility model has recently been updated regarding the model of luminous intensity of the vehicle headlamps, to better reflect modern headlamps. Furthermore, the model has been made more flexible, by making the parameter Visibility Level (VL), which is a threshold for what is regarded as visible, adjustable. The present study aimed at validating the updated version of Visibility with data from a field experiment.

Sixteen drivers, 55–65 years old, participated in the experiment. Their task was to assess the visibility distance of nine edge lines with RL in the range of approximately 30 to 300 mcd/m2/lx, while sitting in the driver’s seat in a passenger car. Retroreflective road studs were placed along the edge lines, as reference points for the assessment. All assessments were made at night in low-beam illumination and in dry road conditions. The nine edge lines, all of which were broken lines, were located on straight and flat roads.

A Nordic certification system for road marking materials was introduced in 2015. The system is based on documented performance measurements of material samples applied on test fields on public roads. The certification system includes both flat (type I) and structured/profiled (type II) markings, antiskid materials (materials with enhanced friction), temporary markings, inlaid markings (Norway only), materials for hand application and materials with enhanced durability for illuminated high-traffic urban areas. 

Material tests are carried out at two test sites: one in Norway and one in Denmark. The test fields are situated on public roads and the tested materials are thus exposed to real traffic conditions and to weather conditions representative for the Nordic countries. The materials are followed up by performance measurements for one or two years. The certification includes requirements on coefficient of retroreflected luminance RL under dry and wet conditions, luminance coefficient under diffuse illumination Qd, friction and chromaticity coordinates. The number of wheel passages is measured at the test sites annually. The certification system includes material identification, which allows for future material sampling and analysis. 

The certification system is based on the European standards EN 1824 Road marking materials – Road trials, EN 1436 Road marking materials – Road marking performance for road users, EN 12802 Road marking materials – Laboratory methods for identification, and EN 1423 Road marking materials – Drop on materials – Glass beads, antiskid aggregates and mixtures of the two. 

This document constitutes the guidelines for the Nordic certification system. The document describes the certification procedure, what type of products that are included in the system and the requirements for certification. Furthermore, the procedures and methods used for application of materials, performance measurement and identification analysis are described. The document also gives specifications and practical information regarding the test sites and regarding registration and application of products for certification.

A Nordic certification system for road marking materials was introduced in 2015. The system is based on documented performance measurements of material samples applied on test fields on public roads. The certification system includes both flat (type I) and structured/profiled (type II) markings, antiskid materials (materials with enhanced friction), temporary markings, inlaid markings (Norway only), materials for hand application and materials with enhanced durability for illuminated high-traffic urban areas. 

Material tests are carried out at two test sites: one in Norway and one in Denmark. The test fields are situated on public roads and the tested materials are thus exposed to real traffic conditions and to weather conditions representative for the Nordic countries. The materials are followed up by performance measurements for one or two years. The certification includes requirements on coefficient of retroreflected luminance RL under dry and wet conditions, luminance coefficient under diffuse illumination Qd, friction and chromaticity coordinates. The number of wheel passages is measured at the test sites annually. The certification system includes material identification, to verify that the manufacturer’s declaration of constituents agrees with the material applied on the test field. 

The certification system is based on the European standards EN 1824 Road marking materials – Road trials, EN 1436 Road marking materials – Road marking performance for road users, EN 12802 Road marking materials – Laboratory methods for identification, and EN 1423 Road marking materials – Drop on materials – Glass beads, antiskid aggregates and mixtures of the two. 

This document constitutes the guidelines for the Nordic certification system. The document describes the certification procedure, what type of products that are included in the system and the requirements for certification. Furthermore, the procedures and methods used for application of materials, performance measurement and identification analysis are described. The document also gives specifications and practical information regarding the test sites and regarding registration and application of products for certification. 

A Nordic certification system for road marking materials was introduced in 2015. The system is based on documented performance measurements of material samples applied on test fields on public roads. The certification system includes both flat (type I) and structured/profiled (type II) markings, antiskid materials (materials with enhanced friction), temporary markings, inlaid markings (Norway only), materials for hand application and materials with enhanced durability for illuminated high-traffic urban areas. 

Material tests are carried out at two test sites: one in Norway and one in Denmark. The test fields are situated on public roads and the tested materials are thus exposed to real traffic conditions and to weather conditions representative for the Nordic countries. The materials are followed up by performance measurements for one or two years. The certification includes requirements on coefficient of retroreflected luminance RL under dry and wet conditions, luminance coefficient under diffuse illumination Qd, friction and chromaticity coordinates. The number of wheel passages is measured at the test sites annually. The certification system includes material identification, which allows for future material sampling and analysis. 

The certification system is based on the European standards EN 1824 Road marking materials – Road trials, EN 1436 Road marking materials – Road marking performance for road users, EN 12802 Road marking materials – Laboratory methods for identification, and EN 1423 Road marking materials – Drop on materials – Glass beads, antiskid aggregates and mixtures of the two. 

This document constitutes the guidelines for the Nordic certification system. The document describes the certification procedure, what type of products that are included in the system and the requirements for certification. Furthermore, the procedures and methods used for application of materials, performance measurement and identification analysis are described. The document also gives specifications and practical information regarding the test sites and regarding registration and application of products for certification.

Many people with intellectual disability experience their needs and desires not being fully considered. Responding to this problem, the purpose of this study is to investigate how children with mild intellectual disability experience self-driving buses. On each bus, a person called "safety driver" monitors the ride and takes control if a problematic situation arises. The purpose is also to investigate what roles support persons and safety drivers play. In addition, the research aims to propose improvements in how the design of these self-driving buses can better motivate children with intellectual disability to use them in support of their agency. To address this, we arranged and studied seven rides on self-driving buses, for 16 children diagnosed to have mild intellectual disability, and their support persons. Interviews with the children were held after the rides, and both the rides and interviews were video recorded.

The analysis was in part inductive but also employed a theory based on motivation: self-determination theory. For several children, the bus worked as a vehicle for a social sightseeing tour of the local environment, and the current design did not hinder such an experience. Overall, many of the children had a positive experience, but there is room for improvement regarding the design of the buses. Some children expressed curiosity and a few frustrations with how the bus behaved in traffic. For instance, it was difficult for the children to understand why the bus braked for things that were hard for them to perceive. From observation, it appears that the accompanying support person and safety driver played an important role in making children safe and shaping the social environment on the bus. The support persons were also essential for some children to ride the bus at all. The safety driver provided the children with information about how the bus worked. Both the safety driver and the support person had a positive impact on the children's experience.

Objective The objective of this study was to understand the relationship between some of the most common diseases that are known to contribute to excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and traffic injury crashes. Specific focus was on the relationship between disease and crash type (single-vehicle or multiple-vehicle crash) and between disease and injury severity. Methods This registry-based study considered all passenger car drivers involved in a crash in Sweden between 2011 and 2016 who were 40 years or older at the time of the crash (n = 54,090). For each crash-involved driver, selected medical diagnoses registered from 1997 until the day before the crash were extracted from the National Patient Register. The drivers were assigned to 1 of 4 groups, depending on prior diseases: sleep apnea (SA; group 1, n = 2,165), sleep disorders (group 2, n = 724), Parkinson's or epilepsy (group 3, n = 645) and a reference group (group 4, n = 50,556). Logistic regression analysis compared single-vehicle crashes with multiple-vehicle crashes and moderately/severely injured drivers with slightly/uninjured drivers. Results Drivers with EDS-related diseases (groups 1-3) had higher probability of a single-vehicle crash than a multiple-vehicle crash compared to the reference group. The most sizeable effect was found for Parkinson's/epilepsy with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.5 (confidence interval [CI], 2.1-3.0). For multiple-vehicle crashes, the probability of a moderate/severe injury was higher for drivers with other sleep disorders (OR = 1.5; CI, 1.0-2.2) and Parkinson's/epilepsy (OR = 1.6; CI, 1.1-2.3) compared to the reference group. Conclusions This study has made first steps toward understanding the relationship between some of the most common diseases that are known to contribute to EDS and crashes. Having Parkinson's/epilepsy, in particular, elevated the probability of a single-vehicle crash compared to a multiple-vehicle crash. A single-vehicle crash was seen as indicative of causing a crash; thus, having Parkinson's/epilepsy could be interpreted as a risk factor for crash involvement. Having Parkinson's/epilepsy, as well as other sleep disorders, was also related to more severe outcomes in multiple-vehicle crashes, given that a crash occurred. This was not identified in single-vehicle crashes.

The H2020-funded SHOW project (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) supports the deployment of connected, cooperative and automated mobility (CCAM) through real-life pilot demonstrations taking place in 20 cities across Europe. While CCAM has the potential to bring great benefits to citizens and society, user acceptance is a crucial challenge to address. In this paper, we explore the importance of citizen and stakeholder engagement in the development of new mobility services, and how such aspects have been integrated and applied in SHOW. User acceptance surveys are being conducted at different stages in the project. In addition, dedicated citizen and stakeholder engagement activities are organized, including Ideathons and Hackathons. By engaging both citizens as potential end-users and stakeholders in the development process, we aim to ensure that SHOW services meet their needs and requirements and to increase the positive impacts on society.

Vägmärken används i stor utsträckning vid vägarbeten som en förberedande upplysning för att öka uppmärksamheten och förhindra uppkomsten av olyckor. Lysande Variabla Meddelande Skyltar (VMS) som visar olika vägmärken blir allt vanligare vid vägarbeten. Vid användning av lysande VMS är det viktigt att man uppnår en likvärdig läsbarhet som med reflexfolie för att säkerställa att läsbarheten, beteendet som resultat av skyltningen och därmed potentiellt trafiksäkerheten, inte minskar vid vägarbeten. Storleken på VMS:en begränsar vilka mått ett vägmärke kan ha och vilken textstorlek det kan vara på dess tilläggstavla. De krav som ställs idag på reflexfolie är att storleken stor (1,5 x 1,2 meter) används vid arbete på väg. Dessa krav gäller även för lysande VMS, men det skulle kunna vara så att måtten kan minskas och fortfarande uppfylla kraven på läsbarhet. Det saknas idag kunskap och underlag för att kunna avgöra huruvida så är fallet. Ett vanligt förekommande vägmärke vid arbete på väg är F25 - Körfält upphör. I det här projektet undersöker vi vilka mått ett lysande vägmärke som visar F25 (Körfält upphör) behöver ha för att ha minst samma läsbarhet som ett vägmärke utfört med reflexfolie i storlek stor. 

För att utvärdera vilka faktorer som påverkar läsbarheten av lysande VMS har en mindre litteraturstudie genomförts. Därefter genomfördes en kontrollerad läsbarhetsstudie med 12 försökspersoner. Försökspersonerna närmade sig en lysande VMS skylt i fordon där utförandet varierades. Den kontrollerade läsbarhetsstudien utfördes med svart symbol på orange bakgrund då det är den utformning som är vanligast idag i Sverige vid vägarbeten. Även reflexfolie av storleken stor visades för att kunna fastställa vid vilket avstånd läsbarheten av VMS:er med olika storlekar är likvärdiga med reflexfolie. En verifieringsstudie genomfördes sedan på en motortrafikled med ett befintligt vägarbete för att studera om den lysande VMS med jämförbart utförande som reflexfolie påverkade beteendet hos förarna/fordonen vid skyltningen.

Preliminära resultat från den kontrollerade studien visar att storleken på lysande VMS kan minskas med samma läsbarhet som reflexfolie i mörker. Analys av verifieringsstudien pågår och förväntar ytterligare kunna bidra till ökad kunskap om ifall andra storlekar kan användas för lysande VMS och fortfarande ge likvärdigt beteende i vägarbetsmiljö för vägmärket körfält upphör.

The road sign F25 (Lane ends) is often used at road works, either as retroreflective sheeting or as an electronic variable message sign (VMS). Road authority documents often state that on larger roadsF25 must be of size large. When using a VMS there are however limitations concerning the size of the road sign, especially when there is an additional text board. Hence, it is important to know which dimensions and what text sizes are needed for the legibility of a VMS to not deteriorate compared to retroreflective sheeting.

The overall aim of this project was to investigate which dimensions F25 needs to have when shown on an electronic VMS to have at least the same legibility as a retroreflective road sign of size large. The legibility of different text sizes on a text board of a VMS was also examined in relation to retroreflective sheeting. The project was divided into a literature review, a controlled legibility study and a verification study at actual road work conditions. The results showed that F25 of size large in a retroreflective sign can be replaced by a VMS of size 0,92×1,15 m or larger without deteriorated performance concerning legibility and driving behaviour. A VMS with black background and white symbol had at least as good legibility at night as a corresponding VMS with orange background and black symbol.

In the verification study with road works on an urban expressway where the left lane ended, the speed profiles in the right lane were equal for the three different sign implementations. However, when F25 was implemented as a retroreflective sign, a larger share of lane changes was made closer to the road narrowing compared to VMS. The results from the project can be used as a basis for estimating requirements of dimensions of electronic VMS.

New mobility solutions have so far primarily been designed to meet the mobility needs of affluent user groups and have had limited impacts on objectives related to justice. This paper sheds light on a bike-sharing system implemented by a local authority in Sweden and discusses the findings in relation to the literature on transport justice. The study is based on a single case study and demonstrates that the system mainly attracts users who already have high accessibility. That docking stations were placed in low-income residential areas, combined with the fact that the price model was affordable, suggests that the system has potential to promote transport justice. The study indicates that this equality profile was primarily treated as an add-on in the design and setting up of the system. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd