Road
Road Safety in European Cities
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
10 April 2019
- Develop mobility plans and observatories in cities.
- Use appropriate indicators to measure the safety of vulnerable road users.
- Collect traffic casualty data from hospitals and from the population, not only from police records.
- Improve the comparability of road safety statistics. Adopt ambitious targets for casualty number reduction.
- Focus on protecting vulnerable road users.
- Conduct further research on crash risks.
- Local government should demonstrate leadership.
- Gather evidence that can serve as fundament of road safety policy.
- Create strong Metropolitan Transport Authorities.
Smart Use of Roads
Research Report, Policy Insights,
19 March 2019
- Make use of smart technologies part of the response to congestion.
- Invest in improving junctions where these create bottlenecks.
- Use hard-shoulder running and ramp metering to get the most out of trunk road capacity.
- Use congestion pricing for active traffic management as part of integrated urban policies.
- Adopt barrier-free electronic tolling to remove bottlenecks.
The Shared-Use City: Managing the Curb
Corporate Partnership Board Report, Policy Insights,
23 May 2018
- Establish a system of street designations according to their primary purpose.
- Anticipate and plan for the revenue impacts of shifting curb use from car parking to passenger pick up and drop off.
- Make room for ride services at the curb where this fits strategic priorities.
- Build on or create adjudication bodies to manage diverse demand for curb space in flexible ways and ultimately in real time.
- Help develop common standards for encoding information about curb use.
- Rethink streets and their curbs as flexible, self-adjusting spaces and plan accordingly.
- Manage curb space dynamically so it adapts to different uses and users.
- Establish effective tracking and monitoring of overall transport activity, including ride services.
Cooperative Mobility Systems and Automated Driving
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
2 May 2018
- Shared mobility is still a relatively new field but is progressing rapidly. With business models and preferred technologies still in flux, policy makers need to prepare considered responses to these developments without delay.
- Service concepts and technology currently and on the brink of being explored need to consider a range of design domain restrictions, dependencies on infrastructure, operating principles and user interfaces.
- Specific service concepts should be matched to specific operational environments, on a detailed local level as well as across continents and cultures.
- Government action will affect how automated vehicles will impact society. Existing approaches will not be appropriate for long. Their understanding and input will help to balance the debate on whether AVs can indeed alleviate a series of stubborn problems.
Lightening Up: How Less Heavy Vehicles Can Help Cut CO2 Emissions
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
3 November 2017
- Consider the potential of vehicle mass reduction when designing climate policies.
- Do not rely on vehicle mass reductions alone to achieve the European Union’s target of a 60% transport CO2 reduction.
- Nudge consumers into buying lighter vehicles by emphasising their benefit.
Managing the Transition to Driverless Road Freight Transport
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
30 May 2017
- Continue driverless truck pilot projects to test vehicles, network technology and communications protocols.
- Set international standards, road rules and vehicle regulations for self-driving trucks.
- Establish a temporary transition advisory board for the trucking industry.
- Consider a temporary permit system to manage the speed of adoption and to support a just transition for displaced drivers, while ensuring fair access to markets.
Regulation of For-Hire Passenger Transport: Portugal in International Comparison
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
9 June 2016
- Steer policy development towards mobility services that allow efficient achievement of public policy objectives regarding the needs of consumers and society.
- Encourage innovative and more flexible regulation of for-hire transport services.
- Embrace data-led regulation to improve societal outcomes.
- Keep the regulatory framework of for-hire passenger transport services as simple and uniform as possible.
App-Based Ride and Taxi Services: Principles for Regulation
Corporate Partnership Board Report, Policy Insights,
9 May 2016
- Focus policy regarding for-hire passenger transport on the needs of consumers and society.
- Keep the regulation framework of for-hire passenger transport services as simple and uniform as possible.
- Encourage innovative and more flexible regulation of for-hire transport services.
- Embrace data-led regulation to improve societal outcomes.
Shared Mobility: Innovation for Liveable Cities
Corporate Partnership Board Report, Policy Insights,
9 May 2016
- Shared mobility benefits depend on creating the right market conditions and operational frameworks.
- Shared mobility has significant environmental benefits, even with current engine technology.
- Shared mobility will radically change public transport and most traditional bus services will disappear.
- Public authorities must guide the deployment of shared mobility systems and anticipate their impacts.
Cycling, Health and Safety
Research Report, Policy Insights,
19 December 2013
- Insufficient evidence supports causality for the “safety in numbers” phenomenon – policies increasing the number of cyclists should be accompanied by risk-reduction actions.
- Efforts must be made to harmonise definitions of bicycle accident terminology so as to be able to make reliable international comparisons on cyclist safety.
- National authorities should set standards for, collect or otherwise facilitate the collection of data on non-fatal cycling crashes based on police reports and, in either a systematic or periodic way, on hospital records.
- Authorities seeking to improve cyclists’ safety should adopt the Safe System approach - policy should focus on improving the inherent safety of the traffic system, not simply on securing marginal improvements for cyclists in an inherently unsafe system.
- Authorities should establish top-level plans for cycling and cycling safety and should ensure high-level coordination among relevant government agencies to ensure that cycling grows without aggravating safety performance.
- Speed management acts as “hidden infrastructure” protecting cyclists and should be included as an integral part of cycle safety strategies.
- Cyclists should not be the only target of cycling safety policies – motorists are at least as important to target.
- Where appropriate, traffic speeds should be limited to less than 30km/hr where bicycles and motorised traffic mix but care should be taken so that speed control devices do not create hazards for cyclists.