Over the last decade it has become increasingly popular to ride a motorcycle in Sweden. A mandatory risk education for competence A and A1 was introduced from the 1st of November 2009. Since the education is new, few evaluations have been conducted so far.

This study evaluates the risk education for motorcyclists based on the perspective of driving instructors. The goal was to compile the instructors' comments and experiences with respect to the new risk training. An additional objective was to examine the driving instructors' perceived effects of the education on their students' driving behavior. Six semi-structured interviews with driving instructors and an observational study of the education at various driving schools were conducted. In addition, a participant observation study was performed during a further education of 15 driving instructors. The results show that the instructors experience a great need for the new risk training and that the implementation of the training itself has been good. Students have been referring to the risk training, which according to the instructors indicate that the students have embraced the essence of the training. As a result, the students drive more carefully now and think twice in certain situations according to the instructors. This was considered a desirable result.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the VTI train simulator with regard to simulator-based training and education in the ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) system for train drivers, compared to the ERSA simulator. The purpose was also to study two different ways of combining theoretical education with practical training in a simulator. In the future, the major railway routes in Sweden will be equipped with ERTMS. This will require considerable training for Sweden’s approximately 3,500 train drivers in future need of ERTMS education. It is unrealistic to think that these should be trained on real tracks. Therefore, there is a need for a more realistic ERTMS simulator compared to the European Rail Software Applications (ERSA) simulator that Trafikverket provides. The study was conducted as a between group design with two measurements. Three different groups were compared under different conditions. Theoretical education in ERTMS combined with training in the ERSA simulator (group 0), theoretical education in ERTMS ending with training in the VTI-simulator (group 1) and theoretical education in ERTMS partly alternated with training in the VTI-simulator (group 2).

This report, which provides an overview of the compulsory basic training for train drivers in Sweden, highlights the occurrence of simulator-based training in education, along with the training efforts being made with regards to the future introduction of ERTMS/ETCS. The report also shows the possibilities and limitations of increased use of simulators in driver training and describes the most important governing documents for train drivers and train driver training. Furthermore, the Swedish Transport Agency curriculum for train driver licenses is presented along with the institutions engaged in basic education, training and examination of train driver’s. Also, the Swedish Transport Administration’s E-learning tool for ERTMS, the ERSA-simulator and company specific ERTMS education at SJ and Green Cargo are described. Moreover, Swedish train companies’ and educators’ current use and future needs of simulators for train driver training were examined. Examples from other domains where simulators are used in a training context are also presented.

Recent performance indicators in the European road freight transport sector show there is an excess capacity. To shed light on this, this paper studies two aspects of capacity utilisation in trucking: the extent of empty running and the load factor. Using a joint econometric modelling framework, the paper shows that they can be explained as a function of haul, carrier, and truck characteristics. For estimation, a unique dataset from the Danish heavy vehicle trip diary was used. The results indicate distance and being a for-hire carrier have a positive effect on capacity utilisation, whereas the effect of truck size is non-linear.

 The 2000s were dominated by rising fuel prices and economic recession. Both had an impact on the structure of the trucking industry and how freight was moved. This paper examines how fuel prices shaped trucking industry’s network characteristics such as the average length of haul, average load, and capacity utilization. In particular, we show the effect of fuel price on average length of haul using 29 quarterly independent surveys from the Danish heavy goods vehicle (HGV) trip diary from 2004 to 2011. The results show that the average length of haul is sensitive to changes in fuel price: a DKK 1 (0.18$) increase in diesel price/liter leads to a 4 percent decrease in the average length of haul in the 2004-2007 period. This implies that firms improve transport efficiency by reducing the number of kilometers needed to transport a tonne of cargo as a short run response to fuel price increases. This result, however, is not confirmed for the years following the 2008 financial crisis. It also depends on where in the distribution of the average length of haul one looks.

Although the aviation industry is increasingly becoming important for Africa's economic development and integration, the ability of airlines to access foreign markets remains hindered by restrictive regulatory policies. Attempts have been made to fully liberalize the intra-African air transport market. Except for general assertions about the merits/demerits of liberalization, our empirical understanding of the welfare effects of such polices in Africa remains rudimentary. This study empirically measures the economic effects of air transport liberalization, mainly on two supply side variables: fare and service quality, measured as departure frequency. The empirical models evaluate how air fares and departure frequency respond to measures of openness in air services agreements, while controlling for other determinants. The results show up to 40% increase in departure frequency in routes that experienced some type of liberalization compared to those governed by restrictive bilateral air service agreements. Furthermore, there is a relatively larger increase in departure frequency in routes which experienced partial liberalization compared to fully liberalized ones. This can be explained by the diminishing marginal effect of progressive liberalization on departure frequency. While the effect of liberalization is substantial in improving service quality, there is no evidence of its fare reducing effect.

Although the aviation industry is increasingly becoming important for Africa's economic development and integration, the ability of airlines to access foreign markets remains hindered by restrictive regulatory policies. Attempts have been made to fully liberalize the intra-African air transport market. Except for general assertions about the merits/demerits of liberalization, our empirical understanding of the welfare effects of such polices in Africa remains rudimentary. This study empirically measures the economic effects of air transport liberalization, mainly on two supply side variables: fare and service quality, measured as departure frequency. The results show up to 40 % increase in departure frequency in routes that experienced some type of liberalization compared to those governed by restrictive bilateral air service agreements. While the effect of liberalization is substantial in improving service quality, there is no evidence of its fare reducing effect.

There has been a growing interest in understanding how firms allocate their trucks across hauls, and how this allocation changes under various economic environments. This study investigates how variations in route/haul, carrier and vehicle characteristics affect the optimal vehicle size choice and the associated choice of shipment size. We show that the two choices are derived from the same optimization problem. There can be a continuum of shipment sizes, but decision-makers in freight transport have to choose from a limited number of vehicle alternatives. Therefore, we use a discrete-continuous econometric model where shipment size is modeled as a continuous variable, and vehicle size/type choice as a discrete variable. The results indicate that when faced with higher demand, and during longer trips firms are more likely to use heavier vehicles and ship in larger quantities which suggest that firms are realizing economies of scale and economies of distance. The study also discusses the effect of vehicle operating cost on the vehicle selection process and its policy implications.

In freight transportation, decisions regarding the choice of transport mode (or chains of modes) and shipment size are closely linked. Building on this basic insight, in this paper we estimate and review various joint econometric models using the Swedish National Commodity Flow surveys. Robust parameter estimates from this exercise will be used to update the current deterministic Swedish national freight model system (the SAMGODS model) to a stochastic one.

This paper presents estimation results for models of transport chain and shipment size choice, as well as an implementation of the estimated disaggregate models (for two commodity groups), in the context of the national freight transport model for Sweden. The new model is a disaggregate and stochastic (logit) model, whereas the existing Swedish national model is deterministic. One advantage of the new approach is that it bases the underlying behavior of shippers on a stronger empirical foundation (that is micro-data from the Swedish Commodity Flow Survey, CFS). Another advantage is that it overcomes a well-known disadvantage of deterministic models that lead to implausibly large responses to changes in scenario or policy variables. Although estimation and implementation of aggregate stochastic models were done before, in the context of a national freight transport forecasting model, we think this is the first implementation of disaggregate freight transport chain and shipment size models estimated on choice data for individual shipments, certainly in Europe. We carried out a number of model runs with both versions of the implemented model to compare elasticities and found that transport cost and time elasticities for tonne-km are smaller (in absolute values) in the disaggregate stochastic model than in their deterministic counterparts.

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of asphalt pavements are associated with significant uncertainty resulting from variability in the quantity and impact of individual components, the quality of data for each component, and variability of asphalt durability. This study presents a framework to quantify and incorporate the uncertainty of LCA and asphalt durability data into LCA of asphalt surfacings. The suggested framework includes: estimating the uncertainty of asphalt production processes by the pedigree matrix method, conducting a deterministic LCA, applying Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to estimate the probability density functions (PDFs) of the considered impacts using the uncertainty data, deterministic solution, and asphalt durability. This framework was applied to six asphalt mixtures; the results show that there is significant uncertainty in the processes that contribute to the environmental impacts. They also showed that considering asphalt durability and its uncertainty is critical and can significantly change the results and interpretation of LCA.

We examine the effect of weather, accessibility and built-environment characteristics on overall travel experience as well as the experience with the latest trips. These are factors that are often disregarded in the travel satisfaction literature even though they are believed to largely influence the first mile of the door-to-door trip. This study fills a research gap in investigating all these factors by using, amongst other, a relatively large travel satisfaction survey from years 2009 to 2015 and by focusing on urban and peri-urban geographical contexts, the city and county of Stockholm (Sweden), respectively. The ordered logit model results show that county dwellers living close to a metro station and in well linked-to-all areas report higher overall travel satisfaction evaluations. In addition, precipitation and ground covered with snow have a negative influence on travel satisfaction. Our findings indicate that built-environment characteristics exert a rather weak influence on the travel experience, especially in the peri-urban context. However, some aspects such as living in areas with medium densities, low income and with high safety perceptions around public transport stations are associated with higher satisfaction levels. In turn, areas with single land uses are found to have lower travel satisfactions. These results are important for public transport planners and designers in devising measures to prevent and mitigate the negative outcome of some weather conditions and to conceive better designed transit oriented developments.

Vehicle crashes lead to huge economic and social consequences, and one non-negligible cause of accident is driver sleepiness. Driver sleepiness analysis based on the monitoring of vehicle acceleration, steering and deviation from the road or physiological and behavioral monitoring of the driver, e.g., monitoring of yawning, head pose, eye blinks and eye closures, electroencephalogram, electrooculogram, electromyogram and electrocardiogram (ECG), have been used as a part of sleepiness alert systems.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a potential method for monitoring of driver sleepiness. Despite previous positive reports from the use of HRV for sleepiness detection, results are often inconsistent between studies. In this work, we have re-evaluated the feasibility of using HRV for detecting drivers’ sleepiness during real road driving. A database consists of ECG measurements from 10 drivers, driving during morning, afternoon and night sessions on real road were used. Drivers have reported their average sleepiness level by using the Karolinska sleepiness scale once every five minutes. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the potential of HRV indexes to distinguish between alert, first signs of sleepiness and severe sleepiness states. The results suggest that individual subjects show different reactions to sleepiness, which produces an individual change in HRV indicators. The results motivate future work for more personalized approaches in sleepiness detection.

The increasing use of mobile phones while cycling has raised safety concerns. In this paper two studies of mobile phone use by cyclists are presented.

The first study was designed to characterize mobile phone use by cyclists in Sweden, while the second studied how mobile phone use affected cyclist behaviour and compensation strategies. Mobile phone use was observed in about 20 percent of all urban bicycle trips. The usage varied with cyclist age with the highest usage among young cyclists. Of those using phones, 90% of the cyclists observed used head-phones.

In parallel, standardized, interviews 15% of cyclists under 15 years old stated that they always used mobile phones while cycling. Listening to music in headphones was the most fre-quent self-reported activity. To converse using hand-held phones was also rather common, and was the only mobile phone usage reported by women above 50 years old.

In the second study twenty-two young cyclists (age 16-25 years) completed a route in real traffic five times while listening to music, receiving and making calls, receiving and sending text messages, searching for information on the internet and while cycling normally without using the phone. The route and the types of tasks were controlled, but the cyclists could choose rather freely when, where and how to carry out the tasks. When the cyclist returned to the starting point, a short interview was conducted. During the interviews cyclists reported their experiences and the compensation strategies they used while cycling.

This chapter describes how acceptance has been measured and identifies various measurement categories. The relationship between these measurement methods and the different definitions of acceptance appearing in the literature is described and the lack of correspondence between definition and measurement is highlighted. The chapter illustrates the different outcomes of acceptance measurements depending on choice of assessment method and gives some guidance that could be used depending on the purpose of the assessment.

This chapter provides a brief overview of acceptance models used within the area of information technology.  One particular model, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), is then discussed, and a study is reported in which the model was used to assess driver acceptance of a particular driver assistance system. The key findings of that study are reported, and suggestions are made for refining UTAUT to make it more suitable for assessing acceptance of driver assistance systems.

Despite the recognised importance of the concept of acceptance, how and why new technologies are actually accepted by drivers is not well understood. While many studies claim to have measured acceptance, few have explicitly defined what it is. This chapter points out the importance of defining acceptance and categorises definitions that have been used according to their “essence”. Distinctions between different types of acceptance as well as between acceptance and acceptability are also described. A proposal for a common definition of acceptance is then presented and discussed.

The main aim of the DiREC project is developing a common framework to support National Road Authorities (NRAs) to provide better engagement with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and service providers, identify clearer responsibilities and liabilities, and include tools to calculate the costs and benefits of providing different levels of support to Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs). Greater engagement and dialogue are key. By understanding the infrastructure and communications requirements of automated vehicles, and the challenges faced by CAVs in an operational environment, NRAs will be able to strategically plan their networks to support Connected and Automated Driving (CAD) and place themselves in a much stronger position to influence how traffic operates on the network.

A proactive approach to liaising with vehicle manufacturers and service providers will also promote NRA involvement in the services that are developing around digital mapping, localisation, navigation and traffic management. By aligning the digital strategies and plans of the NRAs with the requirements of OEMs and CAVs, and by giving direction to service providers, a common framework for CAD will help achieve major cost efficiencies and facilitate economic transformation. It will help optimise the delivery of infrastructure and communications systems on national road networks in support of CAD implementation whilst helping NRAs maintain their influence over CAD activity. In order to facilitate productive interactions with various stakeholders involved with CAVs, WP1 within the DiREC project is dedicated to stakeholder engagement activities. This will ensure that input from different stakeholder categories will be collected and utilized for CAV-ready framework development.

The DiREC CAV-Readiness Framework (CRF) is a framework that aims to help an NRA assess their capability with respect to the deployment of Connected and Automated Driving (CAD) solutions, their ability to influence the use of CAD on their network via investment in digital and physical infrastructure, and the impacts and outcomes of any investment decision.

DiREC structured the CRF around C-ITS Services and Use Cases as defined under the C-ROADS project. C-ROADS is a joint initiative of European Member States and road operators for testing and implementing C-ITS services, with a desire for cross-border harmonisation and interoperability.The CRF is thus a framework which can be used by NRAs to help assess their aspirations and readiness to support CAD, and to implement individual C-ITS services and use cases. It does this by:

• Defining the C-ITS services to be provided
• Breaking those services down into use cases and enablers
• Scoring the NRAs readiness, aspirations and high-level assessment of costs and impacts of each enabler to help plan and prioritise the NRA support for CAD.

The 2020 CEDR Research Call on the Impact of CAD on Safe Smart Roads had as its aim to “prepare the national road authorities on future challenges of connectivity, digitalization and automation to get to an autonomously well-managed traffic flow.” CEDR cautioned that “ If NRAs do not act proactively, the vehicle manufacturers will determine the automation of traffic flow alone, the NRAs will fall behind and huge investment will be needed to safeguard NRAs’ objectives. NRAs’ goals and roles in the Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility of the future must be clear…NRAs need to determine and act before other parties decide in our place where we need to invest.”.

The Digital Road for Evolving Connected and Automated Driving (DiREC) project set out to develop a toolkit for NRAs to use in their assessment and development of their capabilities as digital road operators. This toolkit, referred to as the CAV Readiness Framework (CRF), focuses on five key areasof provision that are central to the development of connected and automated driving capabilities. Those areas being:

• Physical infrastructure
• Digital infrastructure
• Communications infrastructure
• Standards and regulation
• Operational support

DiREC focused on technologies, services and regulatory infrastructure for which NRAs might either have direct responsibility or at least significant influence. Development led by vehicle manufacturers or the regulations governing them were considered to be outside the scope of influence of the NRAs, for the moment at least. Instead, attention was given to those technologies and services that are likely to be generically useful to most or all future CAD solutions. We identified that there is still a considerable diversity of approaches amongst the developers of automated vehicles, with no single technical strategy yet close to being dominant.

The Level of Service (LoS) is a widely employed metric that quantifies the performance and quality of a provided service, utilizing a predetermined scale. In the transportation domain, road capacity (i.e., maximum throughput in a given road section) is the most widely used performance indicator, where the LoS is applied. In road capacity studies, the LoS definition is dependent upon the specific context and facility under examination, such as urban areas or motorways. In urban settings, the criteria typically employed for determining LoS include average travel speed, average travel time, frequency of stops, and delays. Conversely, on motorways, LoS is determined by factors such as vehicle density, traffic speed, and frequency of lane changes (HCM, 2016). Upon specifying the context, the chosen criteria are applied, and threshold requirements are established to categorize the performance and quality under the appropriate LoS. The LoS scale can range from binary levels (e.g., acceptable or unacceptable) to more nuanced scales. For instance, the HCM (2016) employs a six-point scale (A = very good; B = good; C = acceptable; D = bad; E = very bad; F = system breakdown).

For C-ITS services (i.e., information provision), however, the aim is to provide information that are, among other things, accurate and timely to the road users, connected and autonomous vehicles, so they can react accordingly to events on the road network. The CAV-ready framework (CRF) developed in WP3 aims to illustrate the progress of National Road Authorities (NRAs) towards becoming a digital authority, meaning that the NRAs should provide traffic related information (data provision) to its users (connected and autonomous vehicles) that are precise, accurate, and timely. As such, we have defined three distinct LoS categories:

1. Basic: Minimum acceptable performance/quality
2. Enhanced: Not optimal but sufficient performance/quality
3. Advanced: Ideal or best performance/quality

Connected and Automated Driving (CAD) is an important area of digital technology that will bring disruption to individuals, economies, and societies. Most forms of CAD require some level of infrastructure support for their safe operation. Additional infrastructure and services to support CAD have the potential to improve safety even further, and to bring other benefits such as increased efficiency or reduced congestion. However, the infrastructure requirements from Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEMs) are not always clear, and it is difficult for National Road Authorities (NRAs) to predict and plan for the future levels of support needed for CAD given rapidly evolving technology and uncertain projections of future CAD demand. In addition, there is also a need for better dialogue among NRAs, OEMs and service providers to articulate those requirements and to define a roadmap and responsibilities for achieving safe and smart roads through CAD.

The aim of DiREC is to establish a CAV Readiness Framework and a set of toolkits dedicated to CAVs (Connected and Autonomous Vehicles) that incorporates a wide range of components that affect CAD and the ability of highway infrastructure to support it. These components include machine readability of physical infrastructure, digital services, connectivity, in addition to aspects such as governance of the infrastructure and services, and legal and regulatory requirements. Together these components influence the ability of the NRA to become a digital road operator. The DiREC project will thus provide a framework for NRAs, service providers and OEMs to support CAD. It will consolidate and combine standards, research, and recommendations from other projects and extend research into new areas such as creating a common vision for digital twins among NRAs, understanding connectivity and connectivity requirements to support digital services and analysing how these can be met, reviewing the quality management processes around digital data, and documenting existing legal and regulatory frameworks in all areas relating to CAD.

Connected and automated vehicles potentially offer solutions to some key challenges for National Road Administrations (NRAs), such as reduction of accidents, increasing network capacity etc. As a result of this potential, both industry and certain national governments are undertaking trials that are mainly focused on technological challenges such as the ability of vehicles to drive safely in “random” situations etc. Far less attention has been paid to questions around the implications for NRAs. The overall aim of the STAPLE project is to provide a comprehensive review of technological and non-technological aspects of the most relevant connected and automated driving test sites in order to understand the impact of these sites on the NRAs’ core business and functions.

The goal of the project FIMCAR (Frontal Impact and Compatibility Assessment Research) was to define an integrated set of test procedures and associated metrics to assess a vehicle's frontal impact protection, which includes self-And partner-protection. For the development of the set, two different full-width tests (full-width deformable barrier [FWDB] test, full-width rigid barrier test) and three different offset tests (offset deformable barrier [ODB] test, progressive deformable barrier [PDB] test, moveable deformable barrier with the PDB barrier face [MPDB] test) have been investigated. Different compatibility assessment procedures were analysed and metrics for assessing structural interaction (structural alignment, vertical and horizontal load spreading) as well as several promising metrics for the PDB/MPDB barrier were developed.The final assessment approach consists of a combination of the most suitable full-width and offset tests. For the full-width test (FWDB), a metric was developed to address structural alignment based on load cell wall information in the first 40 ms of the test. For the offset test (ODB), the existing ECE R94 was chosen. Within the paper, an overview of the final assessment approach for the frontal impact test procedures and their development is given.

In the European Project FIMCAR, a proposal for a frontal impact test configuration was developed which included an additional full width deformable barrier (FWDB) test. Motivation for the deformable element was partly to measure structural forces as well as to produce a severe crash pulse different from that in the offset test. The objective of this study was to analyse the safety performance of vehicles:

• in the full width rigid barrier test (FWRB) and
• in the full width deformable barrier test (FWDB)

In total, 12 vehicles were crashed in both configurations. Comparison of these tests to real world accident data was used to identify the crash barrier most representative of real world crashes. For all vehicles, the airbag visible times were later in the FWDB configuration. This was attributed to the attenuation of the initial acceleration peak, observed in FWRB tests, by the addition of the deformable element. These findings were in alignment with airbag triggering times seen in real world crash data. Also, the dummy loadings were slightly worse in FWDB compared to FWRB tests, which is possibly linked to the airbag firing and a more realistic loading of the vehicle crash structures in the FWDB configuration. Evaluations of the lower extremities have shown a general increasing of the tibia index with the crash pulse severity.

Management of street networks is different from state roads due to its multifunctional role in society. This requires timely maintenance of the street network to improve socioeconomic development. Municipalities in Sweden are responsible for the management of about 42000 km of street network in their jurisdiction. Maintenance budget and resources vary from municipality to municipality depending on their network size, geographical location, and population density. 

A questionnaire was sent to all 290 municipalities across the country to investigate the street network and pavement management practices at the municipal level. An in-depth interview of 14 municipalities took place afterwards. A total of 51% of responses were officially received to highlight the frequently and infrequently occurring pavement distresses and their causes. Furthermore, the study highlights the maintenance approaches and allocation of budget to manage the street network. Lastly, the study highlights the factors which need to be addressed to improve street network management.   

Visual assessment of pavements is common and the use of pavement management system (PMS) is not only limited but also lacks pavement performance prediction models. Common pavement distresses are excessive formation of potholes, surface unevenness and alligator distress among the municipalities. Frequent causes of distress include the ageing of the street network, heavy vehicles, patching and high traffic flow. Furthermore, cold climate and population density are important factors in the degradation process. Allocation of maintenance and reconstruction budget is relatively high in municipalities located in the north. Densely populated municipalities have higher taxpayers’ contributions to maintenance and reconstruction. Other major issues are limited resources and maintenance of budget, which adversely affect the maintenance backlog and the choice of maintenance alternatives, ultimately the decision-making. This restricts the use of preventive maintenance among the municipalities. 

Municipalities are required to improve the frequency and quality of pavement data collection, enhance the sophistication of PMS by using pavement deterioration models, and increase the maintenance budget and resources. An insight into the capabilities of municipalities would help in long-term strategic planning and effective utilisation of the maintenance budget to improve the street network across the country.  

The municipal street network acts as a multifunctional asset by providing people, vehicles and public services with a well-functioning infrastructure. To keep it in good condition, optimal maintenance measures are required which would result in an efficient use of taxpayers' money. This paper investigates the street network deterioration processes and the management practices that the municipal administrations have applied in Sweden. The study is based on a survey with Swedish municipalities using questionnaires and complementary interviews. The answers provide insight into a wide range of common pavement distresses and deterioration factors, along with pavement management practices. The study identifies that potholes, surface unevenness and alligator cracking are the most cited challenges, while pavement ageing, heavy traffic and patches are the most noted causes. Similarly, the cold climate and population density are influential factors in pavement deterioration. Allocation of the maintenance and rehabilitation and reconstruction budget is higher in the northern part of the country as well as in densely populated municipalities. Condition data collection and use of commercial Pavement Management Systems (PMS) are limited. Addressing the challenges effectively may be possible through the enhancement of the budget, feasible/clear guidelines from municipal councils/politicians, and reducing the gap between street network administrations and utility service providers.

Street pavements are subject to various types of distress which necessitate a cost-effective management approach. This paper presents the outcomes of a survey focusing on street pavement maintenance and the utilization of machine learning (ML) pavement performance models on a 320 km municipal street network in Skellefteå municipality, Sweden. The findings reveal that the most common types of distress on Swedish streets include potholes, surface unevenness and alligator cracking, while prevalent causes of these distress are pavement ageing, heavy traffic and pavement patches. The windshield method of assessment of street pavement is prevalent, but the use of pavement management systems (PMS) is limited and pavement performance models are rarely employed. The case study reveals that Random Forest (RF) models developed for non-residential streets perform better than residential street models. RF models based on the variables age (A) and traffic (T) emerged as the best models, with 84% prediction accuracy. However, the R-squared value for the RF model applied to residential streets was 0.53, slightly surpassing the values for all models applied to non-residential streets (0.31, 0.50, 0.49). Further evaluation of models is suggested by using additional data.  

This paper proposes a discrete bidding model for both quantities and pricing. It has a two-unit demand environment where subjects bid for contracts with an unknown redemption value, common to all bidders. Prior to bidding, the bidders receive private signals of information on the (common) value. The value and the signals are drawn from a known discrete affiliated joint distribution. The relevant task for the paper is to compare the equilibrium strategies and the seller’s revenue of three auction formats. We find that, of the three auctionformats below with two players, the discriminatory auction always gives the largest revenue to the seller; both the uniform and the Vickrey auction have zero revenue equilibrium strategies that put them further down in the revenue ranking. In equilibrium, bidders bid the same amount on both items in the discriminatory auction; a phenomenon not noted in either of the other auction formats.

The third sub-project of ELVIS demonstration project for longer and heavier freight trains aims to analyze and measure energy usage of heavier trains. With heavier refers to a higher overall weight by more wagons, both loaded and unloaded, than would normally run on the route. The assumption is that heavier trains are able to do (freight) transport more energy efficient. The goal is to primarily test the hypothesis: · That energy consumption per ton can be reduced by using heavier trains. The report also illustrates the difficulties of using existing data for the evaluation of energy consumption on trains. The data in these has not been quality assured for the purposes of this study, which has caused a lot of errors and the credibility of some results are lower than otherwise would be needed. Thus, a conclusion from the project is that it would take a review of the databases of the Swedish Transport Administration on energy use should be studied further, at least if equipment such as their energy meter should be used. Alternatively, mount external equipment on locomotives to thereby generate more useful data; the latter, however, was not possible due to the owner of the locomotive. Given all sources of error associated with the data, the report analyze how the energy of a freight train is due to the gross weight of the train, the number of stops the train makes and drivers' driving style. Findings were that driving style plays a major role, between drivers the different in net energy used is up to 20 percent. Furthermore, there is differences in energy consumption connected to gross weights on the train, but then it's a bit unclear how the results should be interpreted in conjunction with the lack of quality of the data, it takes more measurements to be able to say anything definite. The same applies to the number of stops affecting the use of energy. On the first leg the number of stops had no impact on energy consumption, which it had on the investigation route.

Intermodal and combined transport is often used synonymously today. The concept of combined transport has been around much longer and referred to as transportation where railway and a truck are being combined. Nowadays a combined transport often means that the goods either go by rail, inland waterways or sea and by road, or between two transport modes where trucks are not included. Intermodal and combined transport is often used synonymously today. The concept of combined transport has been around much longer and referred to as transportation where railway and a truck are being combined.

Nowadays a combined transport often means that the goods either go by rail, inland waterways or sea and by road, or between two transport modes where trucks are not included. The EU’s so-called combi directive defines both in the same way and one of the EU Commission’s proposal to amend this directive is that EU should be considered to replace the concept of combined transport with intermodal transport. An intermodal transport precedes by a transportation decision, and this decision is often linked to a specific train path (tågläge in Swedish). If there is shortage of capacity on the track, the goods may have difficulties to be transported by train. This could potentially mean that some (rail) business / transports will not take place and the goods go by road instead.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the methodology that can be used in calculations of the cost to society when disruptions in the infrastructure occurs, specifically for traffic on road and rail. The principles and values that are recommended to be used in social cost-benefit analyses (CBA) in the Swedish transport sector are proposed by the ASEK-group (a working-group addressing issues on the application of CBA in the transport sector), and decided by the Swedish Transport Administration. They will be taken as given on the cost side of the CBA in this study, there will not be a benefit side since the interest for this study lies expressively on the cost side. This study is thus not a normative analysis, the aim is instead to study and apply methodologies for valuing (in monetary terms) the consequences of already occurred disturbances. The various ASEK-values require information about several aspect of the trips when calculating the value of travel time and transport time, as well as when calculating the delays and the value of travel time savings in congestion. Even though the ASEK-values are recommended by the Swedish Transport Administration, they are also questioned, especially for freight transport. This is also addressed in the report.

This report is a literature review on the marginal social costs of aviation, and is a sub-project to VTI’s project about updating the knowledge of the external costs of traffic (SAMKOST). The report discusses which impacts of aviation are external, and which are already internalized. It is not entirely clear which impacts that should be considered as the relevant marginal costs for aviation. For example, both congestion and accidents are seen as internalized since they are already taken care of through the air traffic control service, a service that all aircraft must use in Swedish airspace by law. Similar arguments applies to the infrastructure. The large external effect is aviation’s environmental impact. It is separated into three different categories; the impact of noise, air quality and the impact on the climate.

This study addresses a discrete common value environment with independent (one-dimensional) private signals, where the seller offers two identical units and the buyers have (flat) demand for both. Each session is conducted with2, 3 or 4 buyers. Three auction formats are used: the discriminatory, uniformand Vickrey auctions which are all subjected to a variation in the number of bidders and to repeating bid rounds on each subject. The main findings are that there are no significant differences between the uniform and the discriminatory auction in collecting revenue, while the Vickrey auction comes out as inferior. More bidders in the auction result in a greater revenue and level out the performance across the mechanisms. Demand reduction is visible in the experiment, but it is not as prominent as anticipated. Moreover, subjects come closer to equilibrium play over time. Finally, the winner’s curse is less severe than what is reported for inexperienced bidders in other studies.

It is still an open question whether the dynamic or the static format should be used in multi-unit settings, in a uniform price auction. The present study conducts an economic experiment in a common value environment, where it is found that it is more a question of whether the auctioneer wants to facilitate price discovery, and thereby lessen the otherwise pervasive overbidding, or if only the revenue is important. The experiment in the present paper provides evidence that the static format gives a significantly greater revenue than the dynamic auction, in both small and large group sizes. But a higher revenue comes at a cost; half of the auctions in the static format yield negative profits to the bidders, the winner’s curse is more severely widespread in the static auction, and only a minority of the bidders use the equilibrium bidding strategy.

Research on auctions that involve more than one identical item for sale was,almost non-existing in the 90’s, but has since then been getting increasing attention. External incentives for this research have come from the US spectrum, sales, the European 3G mobile-phone auctions,  and Internet auctions. The policy relevance and the huge amount of money involved in many of them have helped the theory and experimental research advance. But in auctions where values are equal across bidders, common value auctions, that is, when the value depends on some outside parameter, equal to all bidders, the research is still embryonic.

This thesis contributes to the topic with three studies. The first uses a Bayesian game to model a simple multi-unit common value auction, the task being to compare equilibrium strategies and the seller’s revenue from three auction formats; the discriminatory, the uniform and the Vickrey auction. The second study conducts an economic laboratory experiment on basis of the first study. The third study comprises an experiment on the multi-unit common value uniform auction and compares the dynamic and the static environments of this format.

The most salient result in both experiments is that subjects overbid. They are victims of the winner’s curse and bid above the expected value, thus earning a negative profit. There is some learning, but most bidders continue to earn a negative profit also in later rounds. The competitive effect when participating in an auction seems to be stronger than the rationality concerns. In the first experiment, subjects in the Vickrey auction do somewhat better in small groups than subjects in the other auction types and, in the second experiment, subjects in the dynamic auction format perform much better than subjects in the static auction format; but still, they overbid.

Due to this overbidding, the theoretical (but not the behavioral) prediction that the dynamic auction should render more revenue than the static fails inthe second experiment. Nonetheless, the higher revenue of the static auction comes at a cost; half of the auctions yield negative profits to the bidders, and the winner’s curse is more severely widespread in this format. Besides, only a minority of the bidders use the equilibrium bidding strategy.The bottom line is that the choice between the open and sealed-bid formats may be more important than the choice of price mechanism, especially in common value settings.

The paper surveys the literature on optimal taxation with emphasis on intermediate goods, or, more specific, freight (road) transport. There are two models frequently used, first, the one emanated from Diamond & Mirrlees' (1971) paper, where the production efficiency lemma made it clear that intermediate goods was not to be taxed. And, second, the Ramsey-Boiteux model where a cost-of-service regulation imposes a budget constraint for the regulated firm. In the latter model, in contrast to the first, freight transports (intermediate goods) are to be taxed in the Ramsey tradition, and thus trades the production efficiency lemma against a budget restriction. The paper also discusses welfare effects due to environmental tax reforms, with emphasis to what has become to known as the double dividend hypothesis. Finally, administrative costs in the context of optimal taxation is touched upon, a subject that is to a large degree repressed in optimal tax theory.

The paper surveys the literature on optimal taxation with emphasis on intermediate goods, or, more specific, freight (road) transport. There are two models frequently used, first, the one emanated from Diamond & Mirrlees' (1971) paper, where the production efficiency lemma made it clear that intermediate goods was not to be taxed. And, second, the Ramsey-Boiteux model where a cost-of-service regulation imposes a budget constraint for the regulated firm. In the latter model, in contrast to the first, freight transports (intermediate goods) are to be taxed in the Ramsey tradition, and thus trades the production efficiency lemma against a budget restriction. The paper also discusses welfare effects due to environmental tax reforms, with emphasis to what has become to known as the double dividend hypothesis. Finally, administrative costs in the context of optimal taxation is touched upon, a subject that is to a large degree repressed in optimal tax theory.

We propose in this paper a discrete bidding model, both on quantities and in pricing. It has a two-unit demand environment where subjects bid for contracts with an unknown redemption value, common to all bidders. Prior to bidding, the bidders receive private signals of information on the (common) value. Both the value and the signals are drawn from a known discrete affiliated joint distribution. The relevant task for the paper is to compare equilibrium strategies and the seller's revenue between the three auction formats. We find that, among the three auction formats below with two players, the Vickrey auction always gives the most revenue to the seller, where the discriminatory auction becomes second and the uniform auction last. We also find that, in equilibrium, bidders bid the same amount on both items in the discriminatory auction; a phenomenon we do not notice in either of the other two auction formats. There, different amount of demand reduction is encountered.

The main purpose of this study is to estimate the marginal costs of aviation infrastructure. But since it not exist a uniform definition of what is the cost base of the aviation infrastructure, there is also a discussion of what costs should be included. An additional purpose of the study is to relate the estimated marginal costs to today's pricing and to investigate whether aviation pays its socio-economic costs.

Estimates of the marginal cost of utilizing (relevant) airport infrastructure and for operating airline infrastructure is being analyzed using cost data from Stockholm Arlanda Airport and the Civil Aviation Authority. The empirical approach used to analyze cost items is a regression analysis, with adjustments for month-specific variations in travel patterns, when the airport section is investigated, and taking into account regional differences for airports when investigating air traffic control in the towers.

There are some uncertainties in the study, but in the light of this, the results indicate that the average marginal cost of the infrastructure is around SEK 13 per passenger and SEK1,168 per aircraft started. Corresponding estimation for air traffic management is also uncertain, with results indicating a marginal cost of SEK 373 per flight. Furthermore, it appears that the revenue from marginal cost-based charges could not alone finance the state aviation infrastructure.

As of October 2010 the railway market is liberalised. As a result, other operators than SJ could apply for track capacity also for long-distance passenger services, and the timetable for 2012 was the first timetable that was affected by the liberalisation. The Swedish railway network has, by definition, capacity restrains. The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) allocates capacity among those railway traffic operators that has applied for track capacity in the annual capacity allocation process. In the capacity allocation process for the 2014 timetable, four operators applied for capacity for long-distance high-speed train traffic between Gothenburg and Stockholm. In several cases the operators applied for the same train paths, which put Trafikverket’s applying of the process, the use of coordination and prioritization criteria, to the test for the first time since the liberalisation. VTI has interviewed the three largest of the above operators to receive information about how they experienced the capacity allocation process leading to the timetable for 2014 and to get their views on the possible obstacles that may exist for establishing a new operator on the railway market. The study was commissioned by the Swedish Transport Agency as a basis for their market surveillance in the area. The operators that are challenging SJ perceive that the capacity allocation process does not meet the requirement for competitive neutrality and non-discrimination. Both operators see the need for a more transparent process, with priority criteria that provide a more predictable outcome and which is carried out by the help of computerized tools so that the process can be implemented more efficiently and provide a more effective outcome. They argue that the construction of a timetable is so complex that it is difficult to, as now being done, manually make the most effective adjustments in the timetable necessary due to competing applications. The challenging operators therefore call for a review of the process to assess in which areas it can be improved.

After the Swedish Transport Administration’s adoption of next year's timetable in mid-fall each year, starts the so-called ad hoc process, i.e. requests for train paths that can use spare capacity in the network. VTI received in September 2015 Transport Agency's mission to deepen the understanding of the ad hoc-process, This “notat” reports that assignment. In light of the description that was made, the intention was to also find the measure of the importance of this process in relation to the process leading to adopting a final schedule. It has been found that the Transport Administration’s various information management systems are not designed to enable such a description.

Thanks to a recent statistical tool, it is possible to observe that nearly 97 percent of the passenger trains booked into the annual timetable process, also actually run. This refers to two thirds of the timetable year 2015. The aim of the Transport Agency/Traffic analysis is to, in the near future, also report similar information about freight train. Behind this figure conceals both an outflow and an inflow of traffic that will be conducted in accordance with the timetable set out in the autumn of each year. However, there is no knowledge of when these changes are implemented, which is of great importance for assessing the degree of flexibility in the ad hoc process. This situation may change as a result of the Transport Agency as of the timetable relating to 2016 for the charges to cancel the allocated capacity. The fee will be higher the closer to the scheduled departure of the train the application is withdrawn. This can help improve the flexibility in the use of the track capacity not reserved in the annual timetabling process. Another consequence may be that the information on the process will improve.

Many crashes with heavy vehicle can be attributed to driver sleepiness or driving impairment due to sleepiness, and it is important to find methods to predict those situations and counteract this problem. The Optalert fatigue management system claims to be able to detect sleepiness. The aims of this study are to (a) evaluate if Optalert can detect sleepiness equally well as other sleepiness indicators and (b) if the data patterns obtained by Optalert correlates with these other sleepiness indicators. Twelve sleep deprived truck drivers drove for about 90 minutes in an advanced moving base truck simulator. The experimental setup, including the sleep deprivation, was designed so that the drivers should become increasingly sleepier during the trial and the intention was that they should fall asleep during the experiment.

Four different indicators of sleepiness or driving impairment due to sleepiness were used to monitor the state of the drivers; the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), the variability in lateral position (SDLP), the blink duration and the Optalert system. The results show that all four sleepiness indicators increased with time on task. An analysis of variance revealed that the changes were significant for KSS, blink duration and the Optalert system, and a correlation analysis showed that Optalert correlated significantly with blink duration and SDLP. However, even though these correlations were significant, they were all rather low with a maximum correlation coefficient of 0.24.

In conclusion, the Optalert system is promising and the sleepiness rating provided by the system works at least equally well as the other three sleepiness indicators. There are some practical limitations to the system; there is no reliable threshold which can be used to determine when a driver is getting too sleepy to drive (this is also the case for other available sleepiness indicators), the driver needs to be attached to the vehicle via the spectacle frames and a wire, and the quality of the eye movement recordings often deteriorated when the driver started driving the truck. Moreover, during the experiment the technical reliability was sometimes low.