Transport sector in the digital era relies more and more on high end transport research. The Europeans are expecting more and more integrated and cost affordable services in all transport modes and the European transport industry strives to evolve to more novel and competitive technological products and services. But which are the contemporary key challenges
Road accident analysis is focussing too much on accident characteristics and too little on accident causes. Very often, we look where the data are and not where the problems are. Consequently, there is imperative need for data not only on casualties but also on: - exposure to risk (traffic kilometres of vehicles and pedestrians) to
Driver distraction is lately becoming a key critical road accident risk factor, equivalent or even more important than the well-known "four big road killers": speed, drink-and-drive, non-use of seat belt and helmet. Some argue that mobile phone use (talking, texting and browsing) is a key reason why road fatalities do not decrease anymore in developed
Recent technological advances are bringing closer the introduction of flying vehicles (Vertically Taking off and Landing Vehicles -VTOLs) into the transport systems of the near future. Technology pioneers announce massive introduction of flying vehicles within the coming five years. Managing this new air traffic is a certainly great challenge and respective research and technological development
The connected and automated vehicles will have to cope with other automated or not vehicles and connected or not road users (drivers, riders, pedestrians) and a priority negotiation will always be necessary, especially at junctions. The behaviour of both the drivers and of the autonomous vehicles is inevitably dependent to all the other road users.
At the digitalisation era more and more life activities are supported by digital systems and services, in which data and information are collected, processed, organised and re-directed through dedicated services to the end user but also to all parties involved in the planning, execution and management of these activities. All traffic and transport activities are
Autonomous vehicles are bringing a very different new reality in road traffic. However, human factors will remain present both in the near future and in the long term, because of the: - mixed traffic of autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles during the long transition phases (different at the different places of the world), - the interaction
The Internet of Things and of Everything is steadily making easily available massive driving and travelling data, which present a very high potential for monitoring driving and travelling behaviour and subsequently provide customized feedback both to the driver/traveller and to the systems managers (public or private), which was never available before. It is the first
Today the driver makes choices, tomorrow the choices will be made by the autonomous vehicles, by the autonomous traffic and by the people managing them. So there is need to "train" the vehicles, the traffic and the people managing them on how to handle a number of fundamental choices. Firstly, a number of real time
The main difference between roads and the other transport modes, is that most road vehicle drivers are not professionals, not having received heavy training and not following the very high and strict behaviour standards of the professional drivers and pilots of all the other transport modes. Furthermore, the road environment, especially in urban areas, is
