Author: Ioannis Papadogiorgakis
The Horizon Europe research project metaCCAZE has recently released a new Blog Post authored by Evi Koliou on AI and Smart Cities. As stated, AI-driven solutions can transform urban environments, since smart traffic control systems are no longer a futuristic concept but a present reality. These AI-driven systems optimise traffic flow, reduce congestion, and cut down emissions. By leveraging connected vehicle data and digital twins—technology that simulates real-world scenarios—we can develop road safety strategies that save lives. A crucial aspect of urban mobility transformation is the widespread adoption of 30 km/h speed limits in cities in Europe and worldwide. Research has shown that reducing speed limits in urban areas can save lives as no other road safety measure before (an average of 37% less fatalities on cities adopted the 30km/h), and creates a more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly environment. By making AI-driven mobility solutions inclusive, particularly for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, and people with disabilities. Also, implementing lower speed limits in urban areas plays a key role in this, fostering a safer, more welcoming environment for all. 
EU Road Safety Cluster organized with great success the First EU Road Safety Cluster Joint Webinar which took take place online, on 25 February 2025. The aim of this webinar was to enhance road safety for users of active and shared mobility, drivers and vulnerable road users using AI, transport modeling, and big data, through the newly-formed EU Road Safety Cluster, a group of EU-funded projects, AI4CCAM, EVENTS, FRODDO, HEIDI, Phoebe, and SOTERIA. The participants had the opportunity to audience an initial glimpse into the innovative solutions addressed by the cluster’s projects through short spotlight presentations, followed by a brief discussion on current urban road safety challenges.
FACTUAL together with iRAP & POLIS network organized with great success the PHOEBE – JULIA webinar which took place online, on 18 February 2025. The aim of this webinar was to highlight different assessment methods to enhance bicycle safety through the perspective of the two EU-funded projects of PHOEBE and JULIA. Aspects of both projects and their pilot implementations and tests in the two Spanish cities of Valencia and Barcelona were discussed. These presentations were put into a wider context related to the current road safety challenges in Europe.
Comune di Bologna has recently published a Report on the first year of implementing the 30 km/h speed limit in the city, which has the main objective of the improvement of road safety and the increase of sustainable mobility. This Report showed that for the first time since 1991, no pedestrians were killed and road deaths were reduced by 50%. Also, crashes were reduced by 13% and urban traffic pollution by 30%. Finally, the report indicated that there has been a significant increase in bicycle flows by 10%, as well as the use of car and bike sharing services. 
A fruitful discussion through a public panel with NTUA Professor George Yannis, Deputy Mayor for Ecological Transition, Ana Lisa Boni and Deputy Mayor for Sports, Luca Bellinato was also made, demonstrating that “steady pace wins the race” (avoiding the unnecessary speeding) is applicable for resilience and sustainability in both City Mobility and Marathon Running.
A paper titled Understanding the effects of underreporting on injury severity estimation of single-vehicle motorcycle crashes: A hybrid approach incorporating majority class oversampling and random parameters with heterogeneity-in-means authored by Nawaf Alnawmasi, Apostolos Ziakopoulos, Athanasios Theofilatos and Yasir Ali has been published in Analytic Methods in Accident Research. This study aims to provide an empirical assessment of the impact of underreporting issue using a hybrid approach in estimating injury severity for single-vehicle motorcycle crashes. Key results suggest that crashes occurring during slowing down or stopping are associated with lower injury severity, whereas negotiating a right turn increases the probability of severe injuries. Interestingly, crashes that occur on dry pavements are associated with higher injury severity when compared to wet pavements, likely due to rider behavior adjustments in adverse weather conditions to compensate for the risk. 
The European Union has recently adopted the new Directive to strengthen cross-border enforcement of road traffic rules. The newly adopted rules tackle several road safety issues by enhancing collaboration among Member States, streamlining offender identification and facilitating fine enforcement. Cooperation between national Authorities will not only focus on the most common and serious offenses like speeding, drunk and drugged driving, but also on several other hazardous behaviours.
POLIS, the European Cities Network, is organizing the 2025 Annual Polis Conference which will take place in Utrecht, Netherlands, on 26-27 November 2025. The POLIS Annual Conference is Europe’s leading sustainable urban mobility event, providing an opportunity for cities and regions to showcase their transport achievements, including recent safety developments, to a large audience of mobility experts, practitioners, and decision-makers from both the public and private sector. Urban Road Safety is a key conference priority. Researchers can submit their proposals until 25 April 2025.
The Université Gustave Eiffel (UGE) in cooperation with the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 are organizing the SaNuiT International Symposium which will take place in Montreal, Canada on 8-9 May 2025, in the context of the 92th Congres Acfas. This conference will focus on good practices and best strategies to reduce the impact of socio-territorial inequalities on road accident injuries. Researchers can submit their proposals until 14 February 2025, by email to the following email address: mouloud.haddak@univ-eiffel.fr.
The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published the Road Safety Annual Report 2024, on the development of road safety in 2023. It is based on data from 40 IRTAD member countries, with some preliminary data also for the year 2024. The main findings revealed that in 2023, there were 2.338 less fatalities than in 2022, also road deaths decreased by 2% in the first half of 2024 compared to 2023. However, the considerable journey ahead should be acknowledged, in order to achieve the global target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.
FPZ in cooperation with AMAC-FSC, Croatian Chamber of Transport Engineers and HoMe – Hochschule are organizing the International Conference – The Science and Development of Transport (TRANSCODE 2025) which will take place in Zagreb, Croatia on 11-12 December 2025, under the theme “The New Era of Transport & Logistics: Balancing Technology, Sustainability and Accessibility “. This Conference is one of the region’s leading conferences in transport and logistics with international recognition and provides the added value of networking, promoting new solutions and ideas, and strengthening one’s position in a professional environment. Researchers can submit their papers until 15 May 2025.
The Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) organized with great success the Transportation Engineers Workshop 2025 which took place on 27 January 2025, in Athens. The aim of the Workshop was to discuss the main issues concerning transportation in Greece and urban mobility in Attica, presenting the current situation, analysing future trends and exploring the new challenges for the development of the transportation system. New ideas emerged and innovative discussions took place towards more modern, reliable and safe mobility everywhere for all. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in cooperation with the Municipality of Agia Paraskevi and the Association of Police Officers of Northeast Attica organized with great success the “City 30 and the New Road Traffic Code” 1st Road Safety Workshop on 16 January 2025, in Athens. The main focuses of this event included information on the new regulations, as well as good practices to enhance road safety. The workshop was targeted at the general public, with the aim of raising awareness of road safety, reducing road accidents and creating more sustainable and safer urban areas. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The Association for European Transport is organizing the 53rd European Transport Conference which will take place in Antwerp, Belgium on 17-19 September 2025. This Conference provides an excellent opportunity for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and solutions among the academic community, professionals, and policymakers. The conference will address local, national, and international issues, focusing on defining, planning, and delivering solutions across all levels and modes of transport. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 7 February 2025. 
The European Platform of Transport Sciences (EPTS) is organizing the 23rd European Transport Congress which will be held in Paris, France on 26-27 June 2025, under the theme “Future of European transport : infrastructure, service and technologies”. Every year, this Congress brings together transport researchers from all disciplines and from all over Europe. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 31 January 2025.
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV, VIAS Institute and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Personal Mobility Devices Thematic Report which mainly refers to the safety of electric scooters. This Thematic Report highlights that a high proportion of crashes with a PMD are caused by falls, that can lead to common head injuries and by increasing helmet use would prevent these injuries. Moreover, a series of specific countermeasures are suggested, such as an e-scooters ban from pavements, a lower 30 km/h limit in urban areas and training motor vehicle users to be prepared to interact with PMDs is equally important for micro-mobility safety.
A paper titled Driving Automation Systems Penetration and Traffic Safety: Implications for Infrastructure Design and Policy authored by Antonia Antonakaki, Maria Oikonomou, Thodoris Garefalakis and George Yannis has been published in Infrastructures. The study aims to evaluate the impact of Autonomous Vehicle (AV) penetration rates on traffic safety, through the use of microscopic simulation scenarios, utilizing multiple linear and multinomial logistic regression models. The findings highlight that higher AV penetration rates generally improve traffic safety, although the coexistence of conventional vehicles and vehicles equipped with driving automation systems introduces traffic heterogeneity, potentially influencing safety outcomes. These results suggest that while AVs have a positive effect on road safety, further analysis is needed to address the complexities introduced by mixed-traffic conditions.
DRI investment management in cooperation with the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG) and the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering (FGG) are organizing the 12th International Conference on Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways, and Airfields (12 BCRRA 2026) which will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 22-24 June 2026. The main objective of this conference is to promote efficient design, construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure by addressing issues related to bearing capacity problems of roads, railways and airfields. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 24 March 2025.
The MobiLab Transport Research Group of the University of Luxembourg together with the EEE ITSS Benelux Chapter are organizing the 9th International Conference on Models and Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems (MT-ITS 2025) which will be held in Luxembourg on 8-10 September 2025. This conference is a unique event where academia and practice meet and exchange ideas and results. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 1 March 2025.
A paper titled Explainable macroscopic and microscopic influences of COVID-19 on naturalistic driver aggressiveness derived from telematics through SHAP values of SVM and XGBoost algorithms authored by Apostolos Ziakopoulos, Marios Sekadakis, Christos Katrakazas, Marianthi Kallidoni, Eva Michelaraki and George Yannis has been published in Journal of Safety Research. This study aims to quantify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on driver behavior as expressed by harsh accelerations (HA) measured from over 35,5000 naturalistic driving trips by smartphone telematics data using advanced machine learning algorithms, including SVM and XGBoost, combined with SHAP values. Key findings indicate that high speeding, total trip distance, and trip duration are associated with increased HA counts. Drivers perform more HAs on speeds between 30–50 km/h, while after 50 km/h, the contributions of speed lead to fewer HAs. Pandemic measurements were more influential on HA counts compared to policy measures taken by the state.
The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP) together with APCAP organized with great success the 17th ASECAP Road Safety Conference which was held in Cascais, Portugal on 11 March 2025. The conference addressed critical topics shaping the future of road safety. It explored innovative measures to prevent ghost driver accidents, including advanced signage and ITS alert systems. The event also highlighted efficient systems and procedures to enhance staff safety and prevent workplace accidents.
CRC Press has recently published a book written by Peter Sweatman titled “Approaches to Road Safety: Evolution, Challenges, and Emerging Technologies”. It examines the evolution of safety practices, explores the role of emerging technologies such as connected and automated vehicles in achieving safer roads and highlights ongoing challenges in reducing traffic injuries and fatalities, including the strategies of Vision Zero and the safe system. Offering valuable insights, this book will appeal to professionals in the fields of safety, human factors, the automotive industry, traffic control, vehicle standards and regulations, transportation systems and road safety policy.
A new book titled Using Artificial Intelligence to Solve Transportation Problems edited by Aleksander Sładkowski has been recently published. This book offers a comprehensive exploration of AI and digitalization solutions for diverse transportation challenges. The monograph examines various problems in the transport industry that find their solutions using AI, from fully autonomous vehicles to the use of AI as an assistant in solving logistics problems, using different approaches that exist in different countries, with different levels of economic development or well-being of the population. NTUA actively contributed with the following chapter, co-authored by Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis:
The Horizon Europe research project metaCCAZE has recently released the metaCCAZE 2nd Newsletter, which provides information on the latest outcomes of the EU-funded metaCCAZE project aiming to accelerate the deployment of smart systems that combine electric, automated and connected technologies and infrastructure, enabling zero-emission shared mobility services for both passengers and goods in European cities. Key innovative mobility solutions and the MetaInnovations toolkit implemented in the four Trailblazer Cities: Amsterdam, Munich, Limassol, and Tampere followed by the Trailblazer Cities: Athens, Krakow, Gonzo, Milan, Miskolc, and Paris region preparing to implement and demonstrate more successful innovative use cases. An Open Call for metaCCAZE Observer Citiesis released, inviting additional municipalities to join the initiative.
The Horizon 2020 research project PHOEBE has recently released the PHOEBE 4th Newsletter, which provides information on the latest outcomes of the EU-funded ‘Predictive Approaches for Safer Urban Environment’ (PHOEBE) project aiming to increase the road safety of vulnerable road users, especially those who use active mobility and e-scooters. Particular attention was given to the exploration of the pilot corridors by bike.
The Male and Female Road Users Thematic Report of the E-Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published, as prepared by the Université Gustave Eiffel, with the support of of NTUA. This report explores gender-based differences in self-declared risky behaviors, risk perception, and support for road safety policies across 39 countries. Results indicate that men engage more frequently in risky behaviors compared to women, while women exhibit higher support for road safety policies and greater risk perception. Notably, gender differences are less pronounced among cyclists and motorcyclists compared to car drivers.
The Cyclists Thematic Report of the E-Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published, as prepared by DTU, with the support of NTUA. The Report provides comprehensive insights into the frequency of cycling, infrastructure usage, and self-declared safety behaviors among cyclists in 39 countries. Key findings indicate that the Netherlands and Denmark lead in frequent bicycle use, while cycling without a helmet and listening to music are the most common risky behaviors. Recommendations include improving cycling infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, and encouraging helmet use among male cyclists.
The Support for policy measures and enforcement Thematic Report of the E-Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published, as prepared by SWOV, with the support of NTUA. This Report analyzes public support for key road safety measures (e.g., drink-driving policies, speed limits, helmet mandates) and the perceived and actual enforcement of road safety laws. Results revealed strong regional variations, with higher support for helmet use and alcohol interlocks in America, Asia and Oceania. It was indicated that gender and age disparities influence attitudes towards these policies significantly.
The Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol, drugs or medication Thematic Report of the E-Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published, as prepared by VIAS Institute, with the support of NTUA. The report provides a detailed analysis of self-declared behaviors, perceived acceptability, and attitudes towards impaired driving across 39 countries in Europe, America, and Asia-Oceania. Key findings show notable differences between regions, with higher self-declared DUI rates in Luxembourg, Thailand and Mexico, while countries like Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Japan report the lowest rates. The report also highlights the role of enforcement perception and the need for improved DUI countermeasures.
Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety has been awarded the prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2024 as recognition for its Accountability Toolkit, developed with the active contribution of NTUA. This Accountability Toolkit is an innovative product that equips NGOs to help their governments fulfill their accountability for reducing road deaths and injuries and the 2030 targets. The Toolkit is a practical resource for NGOs and other civil society advocates and is underpinned by five Priority Interventions that have been proven to be among the most effective in reducing road deaths and injuries.
The International Transport Forum (ITF) has recently published a new Report titled “Measuring New Mobility: Case Studies and Best Practices“. The Report features case studies from various countries, focusing on new mobility services such as ride-sharing, micro-mobility, and autonomous vehicles. Key findings emphasize the importance of robust data collection and analysis methods to assess the safety, efficiency, and environmental impacts of these services. The report provides recommendations for policymakers to design effective frameworks for integrating new mobility into existing transport systems.
