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.

In recent years, the use of remote operation has been proposed as a bridge towards driverless mobility by providing human assistance remotely when an automated driving system finds a situation that is ambiguous and requires input from a remote operator. The remote operation of road vehicles has also been proposed as a way to enable drivers to operate vehicles from safer and more comfortable locations. While commercial solutions for remote operation exist, remaining challenges are being tackled by the research community, who is continuously testing and validating the feasibility of deploying remote operation of road vehicles on public roads. These tests range from the technological scope to social aspects such as acceptability and usability that affect human performance. This survey presents a compilation of works that approach the remote operation of road vehicles. We start by describing the basic architecture of remote operation systems and classify their modes of operation depending on the level of human intervention. We use this classification to organize and present recent and relevant work on the field from industry and academia. Finally, we identify the challenges in the deployment of remote operation systems in the technological, regulatory, and commercial scopes.

Sammanfattningsvis definierar vi i denna guide ’smarta gator’ kort sagt som mångfunktionella, levande, långsamma, ekologiska och flexibla gator. Det övergripande målet med denna guide är följaktligen ”Smarta gator för en hållbar stadsutveckling”.

Automated and connected traffic systems with cooperative functionality need effective testing. One way to enable such testing is to represent the current traffic environment by co-simulating different simulators using a communication layer between the simulators for cooperative functionality. With this approach, this paper presents a platform with its included simulators (vehicle, pedestrian, and traffic simulators), the used run-time infrastructure (RTI) for co-simulation, and the connection to the Unreal Engine based visual system for the simulators. The architecture was tested with two vehicle simulators (one autonomous bus and a truck), one pedestrian simulator, and one traffic simulator connected using a cloud-based service for the RTI.

In this work we propose a new cooperation strategy between connected autonomous vehicles in on-ramps merging scenarios and we implement the cut-in risk indicator (CRI) to investigate the safety effect of the proposed strategy. The new cooperation strategy considers a pair of vehicles approaching an on-ramp. The strategy then makes decisions on the target speeds/accelerations of both vehicles, possible lane changing, and a dynamic decision-making approach in order to reduce the risk during the cut-in manoeuvre. In this work, the CRI was first used to assess the risk during the merging manoeuvre. For this purpose, scenarios with penetration rates of autonomous vehicles from 20% to 100%, with step of 10%, both connected and non-connected autonomous vehicles were evaluated. As a result, on average a 35% reduction of the cut-in risk manoeuvres in connected autonomous vehicles compared to non-connected autonomous vehicles is obtained. It is shown through the analysis of probability density functions characterising the CRI distribution that the reduction is not homogeneous across all indicator values, but depends on the penetration rate and the severity of the manoeuvre.

This report presents experimental setups and findings from the REDO project, which had been conducted between December 2019 and February 2023. Five main topics are covered in this report: 1) Effects of latency and field-of-view on driving performance; 2) Remote driving feedback and control; 3) Connectivity and mobile network support for remote driving; 4) Video transmission for remote driving; and 5) Laws and regulations concerning remote driving. Contents of this report dives into technical details and findings within each topic. Nevertheless, this report does not intend to repeat all detail and results published in scientific publications, and thus this report should be seen as complementary material to the published results.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore whether drivers would adapt their behavior when they drive among automated vehicles (AVs) compared to driving among manually driven vehicles (MVs).Understanding behavioral adaptation of drivers when they encounter AVs is crucial for assessing impacts of AVs in mixed-traffic situations. Here, mixed-traffic situations refer to situations where AVs share the roads with existing nonautomated vehicles such as conventional MVs.

Design/methodology/approach: A driving simulator study is designed to explore whether such behavioral adaptations exist. Two different driving scenarios were explored on a three-lane highway: driving on the main highway and merging from an on-ramp. For this study, 18 research participants were recruited.

Findings: Behavioral adaptation can be observed in terms of car-following speed, car-following time gap, number of lane change and overall driving speed. The adaptations are dependent on the driving scenario and whether the surrounding traffic was AVs or MVs. Although significant differences in behavior were found in more than 90% of the research participants, they adapted their behavior differently, and thus, magnitude of the behavioral adaptation remains unclear.

Originality/value: The observed behavioral adaptations in this paper were dependent on the driving scenario rather than the time gap between surrounding vehicles. This finding differs from previous studies, which have shown that drivers tend to adapt their behaviors with respect to the surrounding vehicles. Furthermore, the surrounding vehicles in this study are more “free flow'” compared to previous studies with a fixed formation such as platoons. Nevertheless, long-term observations are required to further support this claim.

It is currently unknown how automated vehicle platoons will be perceived by other road users in their vicinity. This study explores how drivers of manually operated passenger cars interact with automated passenger car platoons while merging onto a highway, and how different inter-vehicular gaps between the platooning vehicles affect their experience and safety. The study was conducted in a driving simulator and involved 16 drivers of manually operated cars. Our results show that the drivers found the interactions mentally demanding, unsafe, and uncomfortable. They commonly expected that the platoon would adapt its behavior to accommodate a smooth merge. They also expressed a need for additional information about the platoon to easier anticipate its behavior and avoid cutting-in. This was, however, affected by the gap size; larger gaps (30 and 42.5 m) yielded better experience, more frequent cut-ins, and less crashes than the shorter gaps (15 and 22.5 m). A conclusion is that a short gap as well as external human–machine interfaces (eHMI) might be used to communicate the platoon's intent to “stay together”, which in turn might prevent drivers from cutting-in. On the contrary, if the goal is to facilitate frequent, safe, and pleasant cut-ins, gaps larger than 22.5 m may be suitable. To thoroughly inform such design trade-offs, we urge for more research on this topic. © 2021 The Author(s)

Cut-in situations occurs when a vehicle intentionally changes lane and ends up in front of another vehicle or in-between two vehicles. In such situations, having a method to indicate the collision risk prior to making the cut-in maneuver could potentially reduce the number of sideswipe and rear end collisions caused by the cut-in maneuvers. This paper propose a new risk indicator, namely cut-in risk indicator (CRI), as a way to indicate and potentially foresee collision risks in cut-in situations. As an example use case, we applied CRI on data from a driving simulation experiment involving a manually driven vehicle and an automated platoon in a highway merging situation. We then compared the results with time-to-collision (TTC), and suggest that CRI could correctly indicate collision risks in a more effective way. CRI can be computed on all vehicles involved in the cut-in situations, not only for the vehicle that is cutting in. Making it possible for other vehicles to estimate the collision risk, for example if a cut-in from another vehicle occurs, the surrounding vehicles could be warned and have the possibility to react in order to potentially avoid or mitigate accidents.

Platooning refers to a group of vehicles that--enabled by wireless vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication and vehicle automation--drives with short inter-vehicular distances. Before its deployment on public roads, several challenging traffic situations need to be handled. Among the challenges are cut-in situations, where a conventional vehicle--a vehicle that has no automation or V2V communication--changes lane and ends up between vehicles in a platoon. This paper presents results from a simulation study of a scenario, where a conventional vehicle, approaching from an on-ramp, merges into a platoon of five cars on a highway. We created the scenario with four platooning gaps: 15, 22.5, 30, and 42.5 meters. During the study, the conventional vehicle was driven by 37 test persons, who experienced all the platooning gaps using a driving simulator. The participants' opinions towards safety, comfort, and ease of driving between the platoon in each gap setting were also collected through a questionnaire. The results suggest that a 15-meter gap prevents most participants from cutting in, while causing potentially dangerous maneuvers and collisions when cut-in occurs. A platooning gap of at least 30 meters yield positive opinions from the participants, and facilitating more smooth cut-in maneuvers while less collisions were observed.

Remote operation of highly automated vehicles (HAVs) may include occasional assistance from a human remote operator that is located outside the HAVs. Remote assistance typically delegates only high-level guidance tasks to the remote operators such as authorizing a driving maneuver or specifying a new driving path. As remote assistance is fairly unexplored, there are still several research challenges. These challenges were discussed by experts from academia and industry in a multidisciplinary workshop at the 2023 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium. As a result of the workshop, this paper presents a list of most pressing research questions in the following areas: human-machine interaction and human factors, design of the remote station, design of the HAVs. It also outlines a roadmap for future research on remote assistance of HAV, thereby informing interdisciplinary studies and facilitating the benefits of HAVs before full autonomy can be reached.

The deployment of long combination vehicles (LCVs) is currently in progress in Sweden. LCV refers to heavy vehicles that are longer than 25.25 m, which is the conventional length limit in Swedish regulations. LCVs reduce operational costs, improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emission per ton-km. Despite their numerous advantages, a question that still revolves around these vehicles is how they perform on the road. Although this question has been answered using simulations, an analysis using real traffic data is still missing. 

This thesis assesses the performance of LCVs using naturalistic driving data (NDD). The performance assessment is done using Performance-based standards (PBS) measures. PBS is a regulatory scheme for heavy vehicles, such as LCVs, that includes performance measures with a quantified required level of performance. The main PBS measures used in this thesis are rearward amplification, low-speed swept path, high-speed transient offtracking, and high-speed steady-state offtracking. Rearward amplification represents the amplification of motions in the rear end of a vehicle combination, which relates to its stability, and the remaining three are indicative of the space that the vehicles occupy in different scenarios. The steering reversal rate is also employed to compute the cognitive workload of the drivers in low-speed scenarios. 

Two LCV combinations are considered for analysis, namely an A-double composed of a tractor-semitrailer-dolly-semitrailer/tractor-semitrailer-full trailer and a DuoCAT composed of a truck hauling two centre-axle trailers. Four scenarios are of interest to this thesis: lane changes, manoeuvring through roundabouts, turning in intersections and negotiating tight curves. The thesis presents three contributions outlining the analysis methodologies, followed by a discussion of the results obtained from the analysis. 

The deployment of High Capacity Transport (HCT) vehicles is in process in different countries. Although their performance has been assessed through simulations and test-track experiments, a question that remains unanswered is: how do these vehicles perform in real traffic? In this paper, the question is addressed for one of the transient manoeuvres, i.e., a lane change using Naturalistic Driving Data (NDD). First, an algorithm is proposed to extract lane changes from the NDD of HCT vehicles using GPS, road data and IMU signals. Following this, the performance of two A-double combinations is assessed in the extracted lane changes using measures commonly used in performance-based standards (PBS) schemes like offtracking and rearward amplification. The dependency of these measures on the factors such as the vehicle’s speed, load and lateral displacement is investigated. The assessment concludes that the vehicles satisfy the PBS requirements proposed for them and are driven safely in the extracted lane changes.

This paper evaluates the performance of two different types of long combination vehicles (A-double and DuoCAT) using naturalistic driving data across four scenarios: lane changes, manoeuvring through roundabouts, turning in intersections, and negotiating tight curves. Four different performance-based standards measures are used to assess the stability and tracking performance of the vehicles: rearward amplification, high-speed transient offtracking, low-speed swept path, and high-speed steady-state offtracking. Also, the steering reversal rate metric is employed to estimate the cognitive workload of the drivers in low-speed scenarios. In the majority of the identified cases of the four scenarios, both combination types have a good performance. The A-double shows slightly better stability in high-speed lane changes, while the DuoCAT has slightly better manoeuvrability at low-speed scenarios like roundabouts and intersections. 

The focus of this paper is to use Naturalistic Driving Data to understand how the drivers manoeuvre an A-double combination in the roundabouts and evaluate performance in the roundabouts using measures like Low-Speed Swept Path (LSSP) and Tail Swing (TS). The analyses of the steering patterns and speed variations depict that the standard deviations of the responses of the drivers for a given travel direction in a roundabout are within 35o (17 % of the baseline) for the steering wheel angle and 8 km/h (40 % of the baseline) for the speed. It is also found that the cognitive workload of the drivers due to the steering pattern is higher in right turns compared to straight crossings through the roundabout. The performance analyses show a dependency of LSSP on the instantaneous radius obtained from the vehicle's path, and the vehicle's travel direction in the roundabout. LSSP ranges from 7.7 m for a left turn in a roundabout with an inner radius of 12 m to 3.1 m for a straight crossing in a roundabout with a 30 m inner radius. TS is observed in only one roundabout and its magnitude goes up to 0.4 m in a roundabout of 30 m inner radius.

This thesis aims to explore, analyze, and develop knowledge that leads to an understanding of identifying the key actors and their symbiotic relationships and dependencies in transforming the energy and transportation system from fossil-based to renewable and fossil fuel-powered vehicles to electric. 

The research was explorative and categorized into two studies. The Study – I focuses on the technological development that leads toward transforming from the old fossil-based analog electricity generation and distribution system to the new digitalized renewable system. This study further explores the impact of these disruptive technologies on the market and society, and the challenges hindering the implementation and adoption of the new energy system. Study – II focuses on developing new knowledge and understanding by integrating technological, political, societal, and economic aspects into one model and named it a 'multidimensional readiness index model.' This model can serve as an analytical tool and provide a broader perspective for exploring, analyzing, evaluating, and determining the countries' positions in transforming the transformation system. The model has been applied to eight countries, two from Asia (China and India) and Australia and five from Europe (Germany, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia, and the UK). The kappa synthesizes the exploration of the papers. Additionally, the system approach is applied to explore and understand the symbiotic relationship in the new ecosystem among the key actors and stakeholders and their significant role in transforming the transportation system from fossil-based to electric. 

The main conclusion is that the countries with a higher symbiotic relationship among the key actors achieved a higher level of readiness in transforming the transportation system. In contrast, other countries with a low symbiotic relationship among the key actors are slowly catching up or even far behind in transforming the transportation system towards electrification.

To investigate the reasons for shifting from the old to the new energy system, the impact of this disruptive technology on energy providing firms, the demand for the new business model and the approach of the new business model in terms of creating and capturing values published peer-reviewed articles, and international energy agency reports have been reviewed. This paper encourages energy providing firms to redesign business models for commercializing new energy distribution system and to offer new services to the energy consumers for their future survival in the new trends of the energy market. These services include integrating with renewable energy sources, electric vehicle services, and demand response services to create more value for the consumers and in return gains more profit for each actor.

The services provided through integration of renewable energy with smart grid and the electric vehicle will empower consumers involvement in the electricity system which will give them more control over electricity. CO₂ production will be reduced, helping to create a clean environment and will enable operators to improve grid security and network stability. Finally, demand response services will provide multiple electricity package options to the consumers in which they can select an appropriate package according to their need which will give them more control over their electricity bill. System operators can optimize their grid operations to provide better power quality, and service providers can increase their income by offering additional services.

The peer-reviewed articles and published government reports have been reviewed, based on the analysis of technical characteristics of power generation systems, eco-friendly sources of power generations, cost reduction, functionality and design of traditional grid versus smart grid. Furthermore, the innovative technologies that enable the grid to integrate with decentralized power generation system efficiently have been considered. This paper claims that in this modern era, it is arduous for traditional grid to fulfill the rising demand of electricity, along with sustainable, eco-friendly and stable power supply, as it cannot be efficiently integrated with decentralized and localized power generation systems and renewable energy sources. The result of this paper shows that decentralized and localized power generation systems are located close to end-users which decrease the transmission and supply cost of electricity. Innovative technologies allow the decentralized and localized power generation systems to be integrated with renewable energy sources which help to reduce the cost of utility services and provide clean energy.

The main objective of this paper is to develop a readiness index model that can serve as an analytical tool for exploring the achievements of the electrification of transportation systems. We have applied this readiness index model to evaluate the readiness positioning of China, Norway, and Sweden towards transportation electrification. We have chosen these three countries as they represent diversity among countries adopting electric transportation system solutions. Our developed readiness index model has four key dimensions: technological readiness, political readiness, societal readiness, and economic readiness. The embeddedness of all four dimensions in one model provides a multi-perspective way of analyzing and evaluating the readiness levels of countries moving towards transforming their transportation system. Therefore, we named the model a “multidimensional readiness index”. Our main conclusions are that political processes and decisiveness are the most important factors, followed by societal needs and economic ability, with the current technology as the fourth. Without the participation of dedicated and determined political decision makers, the other three factors are challenging to obtain. Political decision makers need to facilitate economic means to support the transformation in society and affected industries to balance the economic disadvantages of the electrically powered vehicle systems until they pass the cost disadvantage turning point. The development of relevant technology is no longer the significant barrier it was at the beginning of this transformation about 20 years ago. The technology for electrically powered transportation systems and devices is widely available now, although it is continuously evolving and being improved. Associated industries cannot be expected to initiate, finance, take risks, and take the lead in this global societal transformation without clear and strong political support.

Globally, the transportation system is transforming from a fossil-based to an electrification system. Some countries are leading in the transformation process. Some countries are rapidly catching up to become market leaders in developing and introducing new techniques and equipment that support the transformation process in their countries. In contrast, others are still relying on their old fossil-based system or could not have enough understanding of how to deal with this complex transformation of the transportation system.

The electrification of the transportation system is not an isolated system that can be handled as a single technological element. It is a group of multiple technologies, political, societal, and economic sub-systems each of these sub-systems is embedded in each other, forming the whole system. Therefore, it is important to see and manage the system from a holistic perspective to transform the transportation electrification system efficiently. We have selected eight countries from three different continents – Asia (China, India), Australia, which is a country and continent, and Europe (Germany, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, and the UK) to explore the transformational process of transportation electrification based on each countries’ conditions. We have chosen these continents as they are diversified in adopting transportation electrification system solutions.

Our main conclusions are that the political processes and political decisiveness are the most important, followed by the societal and economic, with technology as the fourth. The other three are difficult to obtain without dedicated and determined political decision-makers. Political decision-makers need to use economic means to support the transformation in society and industry to balance the economic disadvantage of electric systems until they pass the cost disadvantage turning point. Technology is no longer a significant barrier as it was about 20 years ago. Now, technology is available, although it can be improved. The important part is to understand how to utilize the existing technology efficiently to transform the old fossil-based transportation system into new electrification of the transportation system. Without clear and strong political support, the industry cannot be expected to initiate, finance, take risks, and take the lead in this global societal transformation.

The main objective of this paper is to develop a readiness index model that can serve as an analytical tool for exploring the achievements of electrification of transportation systems. We have applied this readiness index model to evaluate the readiness positioning of China, Norway, and Sweden towards transport electrification. We have chosen these three countries as they represent diversity among countries that are in the process of adopting electrified transport system solutions. Our developed readiness index model has four key dimensions, technological readiness, political readiness, societal readiness, and economic readiness. The embeddedness of all four dimensions in one model provides a multi-perspective way of analyzing and evaluating the readiness levels of countries moving towards transforming the transportation system. Therefore, we named the model a “multidimensional readiness index.”

The electric road system is an emerging concept in this modern era. The advancement of technology has made it possible to give this concept a real shape (electric road system). However, the energy provided to the electric roads is still produced by non-renewable energy sources, which are completely unhealthy and harmful for society. Furthermore, the traditional grid is not suited to integrate with decentralized/localized energy generation and distribution systems. It is an ineffectual and environmentally extravagant system. Therefore, the preliminary contribution of this research is to introduce a decentralized/localized energy generation system based on renewable energy sources and energy distribution to electric roads through the emerging technology of microgrid and smart grid systems, which have the capability to integrate with renewable energy sources easily. Thus, producing electricity with renewable energy sources is environmentally friendly, less expensive, and available without charges. However, each source of energy has some environmental impacts and cost differences. A brief description of the environmental and cost impact of renewable energy sources (wind, solar) is also presented.

Driving simulators are established tools used during automotive development and research. Most simulators use either monitors or projectors as their primary display system. However, the emergence of a new generation of head-mounted displays has triggered interest in using these as the primary display type. The general benefits and drawbacks of head-mounted displays are well researched, but their effect on driving behavior in a simulator has not been sufficiently quantified.

This article presents a study of driving behavior differences between projector-based graphics and head-mounted display in a large dynamic driving simulator. This study has selected five specific driving maneuvers suspected of affecting driving behavior differently depending on the choice of display technology. Some of these maneuvers were chosen to reveal changes in lateral and longitudinal driving behavior. Others were picked for their ability to highlight the benefits and drawbacks of head-mounted displays in a driving context.

The results show minor changes in lateral and longitudinal driver behavior changes when comparing projectors and a head-mounted display. The most noticeable difference in favor of projectors was seen when the display resolution is critical to the driving task. The choice of display type did not affect simulator sickness nor the realism rated by the subjects.

Performance based standards (PBS) is an effective regulator policy which can address variation complexity in vehicle combinations. This paper investigates aspects of using computer simulation and mathematical models to assess the performance of vehicle combinations in low speed manoeuvring, and in particular roundabouts. A set of 22 vehicle combinations, including existing conventional heavy vehicles as well as prospective high capacity vehicles, is used to study the effects of turn angle and road surface conditions on the friction demand and swept path measures. Simulation results suggest that the friction demand measure is dependent on the available grip. This makes it hard to interpret and may not be suitable in the PBS framework. The swept path measure is relatively unaffected by friction levels, and can hence be calculated with simple and robust expressions not considering the road interaction. However, turn angle affects the swept path measure considerably, and should be addressed when designing the PBS scheme implementation into the legislations.

Several different heavy vehicle combinations are allowed on the Swedish road network. A commonly seen combination is the tractor and semi-trailer combination with a maximum total length of 16.5 meters. The legal limitation on the total length of the combination has led to the use of a short tractor to make space for more goods on the trailer. There is a concern that the shortness of the tractors will have a negative consequence on traffic safety and the ability to negotiate uphills. The short wheelbase of the tractor and the weight imbalance between the tractor and the semitrailer could be an issue when braking and negotiating turns. 

This study was ordered by the Swedish Transport Agency to investigate the traffic safety aspects and hill-climbing problems of certain heavy vehicle combinations. The concerns raised should be investigated from a vehicle dynamical point of view for the vehicle combinations in question and compare them with other common vehicle combinations through a simulation study. 

A set of tractor and semitrailer combinations have been simulated in severe conditions and maneuvers to investigate the vehicle response and its dependencies with respect to the wheelbase of the tractor, coupling length, fifth wheel lubrication, and road surface conditions. Whenever meaningful, a comparison was made with a Nordic combination (truck and full trailer) as well as a B-double combination (tractor, link trailer, and trailer). 

The overall result of the simulation study is that the tractor and semitrailer combination is a stable combination, which outperforms the longer and heavier Nordic and B-double combinations in all the measured situations and maneuvers where comparison is meaningful. Furthermore, the wheelbase of the tractor seems to have a very minor effect on the performance of the vehicle combinations.

In-vehicle technologies are essential for vehicle safety. This project, Quantitative Driver Behavior Modeling for Active Safety Assessment Expansion (QUADRAE), addresses two crucial components of the technology development process: driver models and simulation methodology. Together, they have provided the industrial partners with state-of-the-art tools for system development and testing, facilitating the development of innovative technologies to improve traffic safety. The main objectives of the project were to:

• develop and validate models of driver behavior needed in current and future simulation tools for virtual testing of active safety and automation
• carry out prioritized virtual tests to estimate the safety benefit of a system, tune system parameters, and explore potential outcomes in scenarios when the system is active
• learn more about the best methods for performing virtual testing using driver models

As a result of the project, the partners now have an established virtual simulation framework using Predictive Processing (PP) as a general paradigm for modeling driver behavior. The modeling, based on the latest knowledge and ideas about human behavior in driving, draws on extensive research using volunteer drivers as study participants. Data from both controlled experiments and naturalistic driving were used to develop and validate the models. These models are already being used by the industry partners as part of their virtual safety assessment toolchain, to develop advanced driver support systems. The data will continue to be used by the project partners in industry and academia to develop future driver models (which will, in turn, foster improved driver support systems).

The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) has been commissioned by the Swedish Government to “contribute to the creation of knowledge regarding a rapid, smart and socioeconomically efficient electrification of the transport sector”. This report presents the part of the commission that describes a general analysis of the interaction between the energy system and the transport system, what obstacles there are and what solutions can contribute to increased electrification of transport. This part of the assignment includes good examples from other countries. 

Transport and energy have always been closely linked sectors. What is changing now, is not only the connection between the sectors, but also their nature; while the transport sector has historically mainly consumed oil products, global climate measures will drive the transport sector towards a stronger link to electricity. Therefore, the transition from oil-based transport to electricity-based transport is as much about sector changing within the energy sector as between energy and transport sectors. To handle this transition requires a conversion of both systems. The report describes the implications of the transport sector’s change on the energy system and the roles of various actors in the change. In addition, good examples from four other countries – China, the USA, Norway and the Netherlands – are highlighted. When transitioning, there are some policy aspects that are important to take into account, such as technology and behavior change, changes in the sectors and overlapping political goals.

This report explores the concept of the airport as an energy hub in the decarbonizing transportation and energy systems. The airport, transitioning from petroleum-based fuels to carbon-free alternatives like electricity, hydrogen, or biofuels, could help reduce the aviation sector’s carbon footprint. Beyond providing electricity for flight itself or producing fossil-free aviation fuels, electrifying airport ground operations would further integrate the airport into the electricity grid, reduce local emissions, and contribute to global greenhouse gas mitigation. With its existing transportation and logistics links, the airport could also play a coordinating role in future transportation energy demands, contribute to local energy markets, and support grid stability. Incorporating renewable energy and storage systems and potentially producing fossil-free fuels positions the airport as a two-way hub in both the transportation and energy systems, helping to balance multiple objectives in achieving economy-wide sustainability targets.

The rolling resistance of car tires is one of the most important parameters characterizing tires today. This resistance has a very significant contribution to the energy consumption of wheeled vehicles. The climate crisis has forced tire and car manufacturers to place great emphasis on the environmental impact of their products. Paradoxically, the development of electric vehicles has led to an even greater importance of rolling resistance, because in electric vehicles, a large part of the influence of grade resistance and inertial resistance has been eliminated due to re-generative braking, which resulted in rolling resistance and air resistance remain as the most important factors. What is more, electric and hybrid vehicles are usually heavier, so the rolling resistance is increased accordingly. To optimize tires for rolling resistance, representative test methods must exist. Unfortunately, the current standards for measuring rolling resistance assume that tests are carried out in conditions that are far from real road conditions. This article compares the results of rolling resistance tests conducted in road conditions with the results of laboratory tests conducted on roadwheel facilities. The overview of results shows that the results of tests conducted in accordance with ISO and SAE standards on steel drums are very poorly correlated with more objective results of road tests. Significant differences occur both in the Coefficients of Rolling Resistance (CRR) and in the tire ranking. Only covering the drums with replicas of road surfaces leads to a significant improvement in the results obtained. For investigations of rolling resistance in non-steady-state conditions, the flat track testing machine (TTF), equipped with asphalt cassettes, is shown to provide measurement data in agreement with the road test data.   

The electrification of vehicles has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts on transportation. However, locating charging infrastructure for electric vehicles has become increasingly complex. This research examines the distribution system of a logistics firm located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the problem of allocating shared or semi-public charging stations for their fleet of vehicles. A real-time database was set up to record trip data for the company's fleet of freight vehicles, and data from over 110,000 trips were collected from November 2021 to May 2022. The study proposes parking locations during daytime as potential sites for shared charging stations, and the problem of allocating shared charging stations is formulated as a Location Set Covering Problem (LSCP). The goal is to provide decision-making support for logistics companies transitioning to electric vehicles. The model proposed in this study can be easily adapted to other freight transport systems, facilitating a swift transition to eco-friendly freight transportation.

The electrification of vehicles has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts on transportation. However, locating charging infrastructure for electric vehicles has become increasingly complex. This research examines the distribution system of a logistics firm located in the greater Gothenburg area, Sweden, and the problem of allocating shared or semi-public charging stations for their fleet of vehicles. A real-time database was set up to record trip data for the company's fleet of freight vehicles, and data from over 110,000 trips were collected from November 2021 to May 2022. The study proposes parking locations during daytime as potential sites for shared charging stations, and the problem of allocating shared charging stations is formulated as a Location Set Covering Problem (LSCP). The goal is to provide decision.making support for logistics companies transitioning to electric vehicles.  

This study suggests using daytime parking locations as potential sites for these stations, and adopts a coverage.based approach to determine where and how many shared/semi-public charging stations should be placed for the freight network. The problem of allocating shared charging stations presented in this study is formulated as a Location Set Covering Problem (LSCP), which is a combinatorial optimization problem that arises in facility location analysis. The problem involves selecting a minimum number of facility locations from a set of candidate locations to ensure that a certain level of demand is covered. In this study, the demand is defined as a maximum service distance, i.e., any location of charging stations is within the defined service distance.  

The framework of the charging facility allocation problem is composed of the following three steps:

• Parking location extractionA k-means clustering method is first developed to group the data points into distinct clusters to simplify and summarize the data for subsequent analysis as well as to mitigate the effect of noise in the GPS position data.
• Route planningThis step computes the optimal route (shortest route) for the studied freight transport demand.
• LSCP optimizationThe LSCP is NP-hard and the spopt open-source Python library is used in this study to solve the proposed optimization problem.

Simulatorer för utryckningskörning har ingått i flera VTI-projekt. Erfarenheterna och den tekniska utvecklingen har resulterat i en simulator för utryckningskörning. Syftet med denna rapport är att beskriva simulatorns användningsområden och funktionalitet samt ge en teknisk beskrivning.

Vehicle electrification has shown the potential to reduce environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. As electric vehicles (EVs) become increasingly prominent, the efficient placement of charging infrastructure poses a complex challenge that demands careful consideration. This paper delves into the investigation of how travel and parking patterns, derived from empirical data on freight vehicles, influence the optimal distribution of charging infrastructure across the freight network. This paper presents a node-based approach to optimize the allocation of charging infrastructure tailored explicitly for freight transport. The study identifies optimal locations for operator-owned charging infrastructure by leveraging GPS-based data collected from a fleet of freight vehicles operating in the greater Gothenburg metropolitan area. This research aims to enhance our understanding of the charging infrastructure requirements inherent in the freight transport system and provide decision support to logistics companies contemplating the shift from conventional fossil fuel vehicles to electric freight vehicles. The proposed model holds the potential for seamless adaptation to diverse freight transport systems, offering valuable insights to expedite the transition toward fossil-free freight transport on a broader scale. 

Aktörssamverkan är central för omställning mot en grönare transportsystem, exempelvis vid omställning till eldrift. En organisation i isolering har inte allt det som krävs för en omställning till eldrift, och resurser måste istället delas mellan centrala aktörer såsom fordonstillverkare, infrastrukturhållare och logistikföretag. En aktör har tekniken medan en annan kanske har kunskapen. Beroendet kan vara av olika karaktär och dess omfattning påverkas av exempelvis hur kritisk eller vanlig resursen är. Men på vilket sätt är dessa beroenden centralt vid valet av lösning? Laddning av batterier med sladd är det koncept som vi satsar främst på inom Europa, medan byte av batterier (battery swapping) är den teknik med störst genomslag i exempelvis Kina. Vi har jämfört vilken roll resursdelning har för dessa tekniker.   

Studien har jämfört resultat från två forskningsprojekt finansierade av Vinnova och Energimyndigheten. Båda projekten har haft arbetspaket som berör samverkan, samtidigt som de fokuserar olika former av tekniska lösningar. Empirin kommer från en strukturerad intervjustudie med 19 svenska logistikaktörer som testat sladdladdning, djupare intervjuer och workshops med olika aktörer från akademi och näringsliv. Empiriska data har analyserats utifrån Resource dependency theory.  

Den mest centrala resursen är fordonet. Här finns flertalet utmaningar då elbilarna är dyrare i inköp och det råder en osäkerhet kring t.ex. andrahandsvärde och servicebehov. Därför kan ägandeskapets utformning bli en nyckelfråga. Olika typer av leasingavtal kan exempelvis möjliggöra nya sätt att dela på risker för fordonen. I battery swapping är det relevant med leasing av fordonet och batteriet, som kan ägas av olika aktörer. I fallet med sladdladdning säljs detta vanligtvis i ett paket. Även tillgång till laddning utgör en central resurs, där tillgången är bristande på grund av underutvecklad laddningsinfrastruktur. Denna resurs framhålls däremot som betydligt mer sårbar i system baserade på sladdladdning jämfört med battery swapping, till följd av att swapping bättre kan utjämna efterfrågetoppar på el. Ett intressant resultat är att flertalet logistikoperatörer visar på ett intresse att äga laddningsinfrastruktur (dvs ny typ av roll). 

Tyre wear is one of the largest sources of microplastic emissions both in Sweden and globally. Being able to estimate the size of this emission and how it changes in relation to changes in regulations, the vehicle fleet and tyre development is important for assessing the impact on ecosystems and health. The purpose of developing an indicator for tyre wear is to be able to update and monitor changes in national emissions and how different vehicle categories affect these in a manageable framework. The methodology for the indicator was originally developed within a government commission, where emission factors for tyre wear in passenger cars and light trucks were measured by weighing discarded tyres. For heavy traffic, there are no national measurements of emission factors, which is why current detailed data from the Netherlands has been rescaled for Swedish vehicles through weight and tyre number differences. Weight differences have also been used to scale emission factors between passenger cars, light lorries and motorcycles. The emission factors have then been combined with detailed data on annual mileage and finally summarised. To make the indicator manageable, a calculation tool has been developed with instructions on what can be updated and at what intervals.  

Establishing interoperability is an essential aspect of the often-pursued shift towards Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) in, for example, aircraft development. If models are to be the primary information carriers during development, the applied methods to enable interaction between engineering domains need to be modular, reusable, and scalable. Given the long life cycles and often large and heterogeneous development organizations in the aircraft industry, a piece to the overall solution could be to rely on open standards and tools. In this paper, the standards Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) and System Structure and Parameterization (SSP) are exploited to exchange data between the disciplines of systems simulation and geometry modeling. A method to export data from the 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) Software (SW) CATIA in the SSP format is developed and presented. Analogously, FMI support of the Modeling & Simulation (M&S) tools OMSimulator, OpenModelica, and Dymola is utilized along with the SSP support of OMSimulator. The developed technology is put into context by means of integration with the M&S methodology for aircraft vehicle system development deployed at Saab Aeronautics. Finally, the established interoperability is demonstrated on two different industrially relevant application examples addressing varying aspects of complexity. A primary goal of the research is to prototype and demonstrate functionality, enabled by the SSP and FMI standards, that could improve on MBSE methodology implemented in industry and academia.

This report describes the work of work packages 6 and 8 in the Vinnova-funded Smarta gator project. Based on architectural descriptions, three different VR environments have been created – so-called “digital twins” of a currently existing street environment in Stockholm, as well as two different possible future versions of the street environment. The simulated environment can be experienced by pedestrians in VTI’s pedestrian simulator, and alternatively also by motorists through co-simulation with another driving simulator. The two possible visions for the future were evaluated from a pedestrian perspective through a workshop with 30 subjects in VTI’s pedestrian simulator in Linköping. The participants’ answers clearly show that the experience of security, priority and well-being increased in the smart environments compared with the original environment. 

However, the readability of the street space was experienced in the smart environments somewhat degraded compared to the original environment. One explanation may be that many people recognize the original environment because it is a relatively common type of street – wide lanes for cars, curbside parking and sidewalks, while the smart environments are structured in a different way, which may need additional experience to understand this “new type” of street. 

Overall, the study demonstrates how street spaces can be created that are experienced as more pleasant and safer by prioritising pedestrian and bicycle traffic through a larger area dedicated to walking, cycling and accommodation than for motor traffic. The creation of living spaces and social functions along the street also had a positive effect on the experience of the street space. Placing trees and greenery along the street is in addition to the ecological benefits also important for the well-being and experience of the street space. 

It is concluded that VR simulation can be a useful tool for assessing various design solutions at an early stage. VTI’s pedestrian simulator is equipped with a state-of-the-art image system, but the restricted area of 3x6 meters is too small to allow for a person to easily walk around the urban environment. Autonomous pedestrians, controlled by the game engine Unreal Engine, were perceived by most subjects as very realistic, and they contributed to the illusion of being in place in the environment.

VTI, together with the Swedish Transport Agency, has been commissioned by the government to analyse the current regulations for winter tyres for heavy vehicles and to investigate the need for changed requirements for winter tyres or tyre equipment in order to reduce accessibility and safety problems in road traffic when winter road conditions prevail. If necessary, the Swedish Transport Agency will propose changes to the regulations. The assignment also included following up on compliance with the stricter requirements for winter tyres for heavy vehicles that were decided in 2018, and became active on 1 June 2019, and assessing the effect these regulatory changes have had on accessibility and road safety. In this investigation, we have conducted focus groups and interviews, collected statistics and carried out accident risk analyses, as well as carried out a couple of field studies of the condition of the tyres for trucks and buses in traffic. The existing regulations have been reviewed in detail and compared with the regulations in Norway and Finland, where winter conditions are similar to those in Sweden. Based on these analyses, we see no reason for changes to the existing regulations for winter tyres for heavy vehicles. The statistical analysis did not show any improvement in slippery conditions related to accessibility or road safety effects after the stricter winter tyre regulations in 2019.

Data-driven development of friction estimators for passenger vehicles is becoming popular. They rely mainly on training data to obtain an accurate estimate of the current road conditions. However, reference or training data for natural conditions containing available friction is sparse. This limits the development of data-driven approaches for friction estimation. The current paper presents progress in a project devoted to developing a method to use standard equipment for road monitoring to acquire reference data for friction estimation, relevant to specific tyres and operating conditions. Results show how a mapping between existing test equipment readings and the real experienced coefficient of friction of a car tyre can be made. 

All-season tires have previously not been allowed to use in Sweden during winter. However, after a recent change of regulations they are now valid as winter tires if they are marked with the 3PMSF symbol, indicating that the tire has passed a standardized snow grip test. Whether the compromise between summer and winter grip makes them unsuitable for Swedish road conditions is an open question. The purpose of this study was to test the road grip of all-season tires during winter and summer conditions and compare them to regular winter and summer tires. A total of 14 all-season tires were carefully selected, together with a few studless winter tires and summer tires. Braking tests were performed on ice and snow tracks, as well as on dry and wet asphalt. It is clear from the results that the performance spread is very large among the tested all-season tires, where some manufacturers aim for grip on asphalt and others on snow. In general, the snow grip is worse than traditional winter tires of both Nordic and central European type, and especially so for the three all-season tires that were not 3PMSF marked. The ice grip of all-season tires was without exception much worse than what has been seen before in similar winter tires tests performed by VTI, and one of the all-season tires performed equally badly as one of the summer tires. Correlations between rolling resistance and grip on the different surface conditions were investigated as well.

All-season tyres have previously not been approved for use as winter tyres in Sweden but are now allowed after a change of regulations in 2019. To compare the grip of this type of tyre with regular winter and summer tires, brake tests were conducted for 14 different all-season tyres on packed snow and ice, as well as on dry and wet asphalt. The tyres were selected to be representative of the available all-season tyres on the Swedish market. The results show large differences in braking grip between different all-season tires. Some tyres perform more like European non-studded winter tyres, and others more like summer tyres, which seems to be a conscious choice by the various manufacturers. On average, the braking distance of all-season tyres on snow is clearly longer than that of both Nordic and European non-studded winter tyres, and although there are all-season tyres that are similar to European winter tyres on snow, others perform significantly worse. On ice, the braking grip of all-season tyres is much worse compared to the Nordic non-studded reference tyre.

Our assessment is that the ice grip is generally too poor to constitute a safe alternative on Swedish winter roads, and that one of the winter-approved all-season tyres performed just as bad as one of the summer tyres on ice is remarkable. There is a correlation between low rolling resistance and poor ice grip, which indicates that measures to reduce rolling resistance can have a negative impact on the ice grip of this type of tyre. Braking performance on dry and wet asphalt for all-season tyres are widespread, with the best all-season tyres performing equally with summer tyres, and the worst being about the same level as the best of the Nordic winter tyres. We can therefore not recommend all-season tyres as an alternative to winter and summer tyres.

Tyre friction properties of 21 different heavy vehicle tyres have been measured on smooth ice and dry asphalt using a dedicated flat-bed machine. The purpose of the measurements was to study characteristics of typical heavy vehicle tyres, and to provide representative models for heavy vehicle dynamic simulations for both high and low friction conditions, with focus on lateral friction forces. The results reveal large differences of the cornering stiffness between new and worn tyres, where lower tread depth results in substantially higher stiffness. Cornering stiffness values on smooth ice and asphalt are very similar, suggesting that rubber and carcass stiffness rather than the friction level determines this property. Also, peak friction level on asphalt and relaxation length exhibits higher values for worn tyres compared to new. The measured data is currently being analysed in more detail with the purpose of creating standardized tyre models that can be used for PBS simulations.

Simulation has become a useful tool for vehicle manufacturers in the design and assessment of new vehicles. Using an advanced driving simulator in early design phases may reveal defects in the construction, which otherwise would not be noticed until full scale prototyping, and thereby reduce development time and costs. In most driving simulator studies the road design does not have to conform to an existing road. But for some purposes it may be crucial that the virtual road describes the real road as close as technically possible. Examples are vehicle vibration studies, fuel consumption evaluation with respect to driver behaviour, and comparisons between driving on the virtual and real road. The required level of detail of different road features varies between applications (projects). Parameters like road curvature, inclination, elevation and crossfall, the surrounding terrain as well as road imperfections and unevenness may be of more or less importance and therefore have to be modelled with high or lower accuracy. In the Known Roads project, a real road, the “Gothenburg triangle” (Gothenburg-Borås-Alingsås- Gothenburg), was modelled as realistically as possible. Road curvature, inclination and crossfall as well as the surrounding terrain were considered important. This White Paper is complementary to other deliverables from the Known Roads project. It presents in more detail the method of recreating existing roads in a simulation environment, developed by VTI in the project. The White Paper concerns specifically the difficulties of merging different data sources into a road representation, and describes the problems that were encountered and the solutions that were developed for implementing an existing road in the driving simulator.

Two different metrics quantifying model and simulator predictive capability are formulated and evaluated; both metrics exploit results from conducted validation experiments where simulation results are compared to the corresponding measured quantities. The first metric is inspired by the modified nearest neighbor coverage metric and the second by the Kullback-Liebler divergence. The two different metrics are implemented in Python and in a here-developed general metamodel designed to be applicable for most physics-based simulation models. These two implementations together facilitate both offline and online metric evaluation. Additionally, a connection between the two, here separated, concepts of predictive capability and credibility is established and realized in the metamodel. The two implementations are, finally, evaluated in an aeronautical domain context.

Long Combination Vehicles (LCV) are transport efficient. However, allowing any combination of, individually legal, loaded vehicle units which when connected become LCV, can lead to traffic risks. Therefore, ways to assess LCVs are developed. The paper proposes an open tool which can assess a certain LCV for a certain load distribution. The tool could be a base for a digital service for such assessment. The assessment is done with Performance-Based Standards (PBS). PBS measures, computed through dynamic models and simulations, can be compared to numerical requirements. The vehicle parameters are selected to be as easy as possible to find values on, e.g., from available data in a vehicle unit registry. Also, the loading is defined by giving the static vertical force for each axle and the load height for each vehicle unit. A PBS based assessment method, as opposed to simply prescribing certain vehicle design parameters, would encourage novel combination vehicle designs. That would continuously drive the development towards even better transport efficiency, including energy efficiency.