Smart urban traffic zones - Step 1

- "Smart urban traffic zones have the potential to contribute to more attractive, smart and sustainable cities. Connection and digitalisation of vehicles and infrastructure enable entirely new types of services and systems that create conditions for safer and more sustainable transport. This requires cooperation with other solutions in order to bring a benefit, e.g. development of the physical infrastructure. This project will the identify conditions and requirements of specific areas where technology and physical form combine to create the best conditions for safe, attractive and sustainable urban environments, says" Josephine Darlington, project manager for Smart Urban Traffic Zones at CLOSER. 

The project is aimed at the following:

• Enable healthy urban environments with reduced emissions and noise
• Create safer and more secure traffic environments for unprotected road users
• Meet demands of freight carriers and goods owners to ensure the quality of their transport
• Identify automated decision-making processes for establishment of smart zones
• Enable zones that are controlled or self-regulated according to the current traffic and environmental situations
• Create concepts for smart zones in which self-regulation is applied and identify new innovative solutions for effective traffic control
• Assess rules and regulations for quality-assured digital infrastructure
• Create and study incentives and business models
• Identify requirements and challenges by defining, developing and implementing decision-making processes and roles of responsibility

The project is currently a Stage 1 project within the challenge-driven innovation programme at Vinnova and is based on the community challenges that increased traffic volumes pose in increasingly heavily developed cities. The primary focus during Stage 1 is to develop the concept relating to urban traffic zones and to build up a consortium leading to Stage 2, when the project will test various functions in developed pilots and demonstrations based on identified zones.

The project has been identified and initiated based on the work with the plan of action for geofencing that was developed during 2018 and will be combines with the ongoing work within the newly established research and innovation programme for geofencing.

The project's stage 1 participants include CLOSER, the City of Gothenburg, the University of Gothenburg, the City of Stockholm, the Swedish Transport Administration and VTI and is financed by Vinnova within the area of 'Challenge-based innovation', as well as participating project partners, with a total budget of SEK 640,000. 

Applications for Stage 2 will be submitted in January 2020, where the focus will be on three areas. The first is a smart zone around Hornsgatan in Stockholm with a focus on addressing the environmental aspects described above. The second focuses on heavy transport coupled to temporary construction sites in Stockholm's central districts and the third focuses on safety in Lindholmen in Gothenburg. 

Objective

The objective is to develop smart traffic zones where vehicles move according to the terms of unprotected road users for increased traffic safety and improved urban environments with reduced emissions and noise.

Financing and project constellation

The project's Stage 1 participants include CLOSER, the City of Gothenburg, University of Gothenburg, the City of Stockholm, the Swedish Transport Administration and VTI. Financing is provided by Vinnova within the ‘Challenge-driven Motivation’ programme and the project partners. The total budget is SEK 640,000. Stage 1 will proceed from April 2019 to December 2019. 

Do you want to know more about Smart urban traffic zones?