POLIS, the European Cities Network, organised with great success the 2021 Annual Polis Conference, which took place on 1-2 December 2021 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Conference provided an opportunity for cities and regions to showcase their transport achievements to a large audience of mobility experts, practitioners and decision makers. With a focus on innovation, sustainability and co-creation, Gothenburg hosted one of Europe’s most dynamic clusters within the field of mobility and safety.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  The Levitate Connected and Automated Transport Systems Policy Support Tool

The European Platform on Mobility Management (EPOMM), organised with great success the European Conference on Mobility Management (ECOMM2021), which was held in Cacais, Portugal, on 24-25 November 2021, under the theme Beginning of a New Era – Accelerating Shifting to Sustainable Mobility.  Considering the necessary deep changes in economy, society, policy, environment and technology, ECOMM 2021 encouraged the discussion and exchange on the Beginning of a New Era at a European level. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

• The LEVITATE Policy support tool to enhance the preparedness for a future with increasing levels of automated vehicles

The EU-funded Horizon 2020 project Levitate (Societal Level Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles) organised with great success a Webinar under the theme “Social Level Impact of Connected and Automated Vehicles“.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Automated Urban Transport Services Webinar

The University of Bologna, within the framework of the EU funded Horizon 2020 project PREDICT: Theory of prediction in the digital society, organised with great success a Workhop that was held in Bologna, on 18-19 November 2021. PREDICT aims to investigate a more extensive form of rationality in contemporary prediction, and the main Workshop theme was “The Future of Insurance: How does algorithmic prediction affect insurance practices?”.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  The transformation of the insurance industry & road safety by driver behaviour telematics

The  European Federation of Road Victims (FEVR) together with FIAFoundation and UNRSC members commemorated the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 2021 (#WDoR2021) on 21 November 2021.  The slogan of WDoR2021 was Remember-Support-Act and the main objectives were to provide a platform for road traffic victims and their families to remember all people killed and seriously injured on the roads, acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency services and to draw attention to the generally trivial legal response to culpable road deaths and injuries.  The World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) has organised a Conversation on Road Safety. 

The International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS) organised with great success the 7th GIFTS Symposium, which was held online, on 18 November. In this 7th forum, experts in transportation and safety as well as specialists from international organizations, kicked around the roles of transportation policy in response to regional and national characteristics. The aim was to exchange opinions and discuss various issues to be resolved for a sustainable transportation society and future prospects, while keeping the ideal post-corona society in mind.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change

The International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) organised with great success the 33rd Meeting which was held online on 16 November. In this Conference the latest international road safety developments were discussed. NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation:

•  The value of disaggregate data in road crash analysis

Lund University and The Swedish Cycling Research Centre at VTI co-organised with great success the ICSC2021 under the theme “Safe cycling as an integral part of the future mobility system: planning and designing for a safe interaction between road users“, which was held online, on 10-12 November 2021. The Conference took place on the virtual networking platform in which efficient social interactions were made possible and it had a special session under the theme “Cycling in pandemic time“.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

 Assessing the Impact of Bicycle Treatment Type on the Frequency of Right-Hook Conflicts Between Bicyclists and Motorized Vehicles at Signalized Intersections

The Road Traffic Safety Agency of Serbia (RTSA) together with several Serbian and international road safety Governmental, Academic and other organisations organised with great success the 17th International Conference Road Safety in Local Communities, which was held in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia on 13-16 April 2022. In this Conference participants had the opportunity to present and hear about the activities of local communities, through a number of workshops and round tables. 

The European Commission (DG Move) has organised with great success the CARE Expert Meeting, that was held online, on 28 October 2021.  The Meeting was a great opportunity for an open discussion on data gathered on road crashes and fatalities.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  The value of disaggregate data in road crash analysis

The SAFER Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre, the Université Gustave Eiffel (UGE)  and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) co-organised with great success the 8th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI2022) which was held in Gothenburg, on 19-20 October 2022. The Conference brought together participants – from academia, industry and government – up-to-date on the developments and trends in the field of inattention and distraction in driving.

The International Road Federation (IRF) organised with great success the IRF Annual Conference 2021, under the theme “Innovation: Charting Pathways to Sustainable Mobility” which was held on 20-21 October 2021. With fast-growing populations leading to significant urbanisation, the demand for new transport infrastructure is predicted to see massive growth in coming decades. The new challenges that the Conference focused on, were the increasing expectations of businesses, service users and the public and the need to reduce carbon emissions and waste. 

The 2022 International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury Europe Conference was held with great success in Porto, Portugal, on 14-16 September 2022. Through scientific conferences, training courses and other activities, the IRCOBI Council provides an academically rigorous forum for dissemination of the latest research into injury causation and protective systems. 

The French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks (IFSTTAR) organised with great success the 7th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI2021) under the theme “Disconnected drivers during manual, assisted, and automated driving”, which was held online, on 18-20 October. The Conference topics included theory, measurement, effects, crash risks, and prevention/mitigation related to driver distraction and inattention. Moreover, DDI2021 focused on the driver/occupant status.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   The traffic and safety effect of smartphone texting and web surfing during driving in cities: A driving simulator study

The EU-funded Horizon 2020 project Levitate (Societal Level Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles) organised with great success a Webinar under the theme Policy interventions, which was held online, on 18 October.  The Webinar provided insights on the potential impacts of introducing policy measures related to on-street parking repurposing, road-user pricing and dedicated CAV lanes. These policy interventions have been assessed using realistic traffic models  in terms of their impacts on traffic, the environment (CO2, NOx and PM) and road safety. 

The United Nations (UN) organised with great success the Second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference which took place in Beijing, on 14-16 October 2021. The Conference focused attention on the opportunities, challenges and solutions towards achieving sustainable transport worldwide. The programme of the Conference reflected the diversity and complexity of the transport sector and provided an opportunity for policy dialogue as well as forging partnerships and initiatives to advance sustainable transport. 

ERTICO organised with great success the ITS World Congress which took place on 11-15 October 2021, in Hamburg, Germany under the theme “Experience Future Mobility Now“. Every year, ERTICO organises an ITS regional or World Congress in Europe. The Congresses are the yearly celebration of smart and safe mobility: they underline the importance of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), particularly in cities and regions where they are hosted, and are important channels to raise awareness of smart and safe mobility solutions among policy makers, experts and the general public.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Forecasting impacts of Connected and Automated Transport Systems

The network of thematic experts Vip4Ride organised with great success the 2nd International Conference which was held in Alexandroupolis, on 14-15 October, under the theme: “Intermodal Transports: Innovations in Planning, Management, Business Development & Decision Making” and focusing on the main economic advantages of developing intermodal transport, energy and tourism sectors. Special attention was given to decision making for investments and project financing in large infrastructures to promote intermodal options.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  Impact of driver feedback on behavior and safety through a smartphone application
•  Investigating gaps in electromobility: The case of Region of Attica
•  Testing a mobile routing application focusing on usability and user experience

iRAP in cooperation with the Regional Road Safety Observatories in Africa (ARSO), Asia-Pacific (APRSO), Ibero-America (OISEVI), Europe (ERSO) and West Balkans (WBRSO), organised with great success the 2021 iRAP Innovation Workshop which was held online, on 7 and 14 October. The Workshop took place under the theme “Data Driven Innovation to Halve Global Road Deaths by 2030” and it brought together global innovation, policy, technical and road safety leaders, along with investment experts, with the capacity to implement change and eliminate high-risk roads. 

The Forum of European Road Safety Research Institutes (FERSI) organised with great success a Symposium titled: “Implementing evidence-based road safety measures, removing barriers and enhancing public support“, which was held online, on 14 October 2021. The Symposium had three presentations on vulnerable road users, speed and road safety management. Practitioners and decision makers who have been successful in implementing effective but sometimes controversial road safety measures shared their experiences.  The symposium was a prelude to a physical conference on the same topic that will held in the autumn of 2022. 

ERTICO,  ITS Asia-Pasific and ITS America co-organised the 27th ITS World Congress which was held in Hamburg, on 11-15 October 2021, under the theme: “Experience Future Mobility Now”. ITS World Congress is the forum to make meaningful connections, experience inventive conference program presented by industry experts, and see cutting-edge technology in the Exhibit Hall. ITS World Congress allows the smart mobility community to come together to explore the deployment of intelligent transportation technologies that saves lives, improves mobility, promotes sustainability, and increases efficiency and productivity.​ 

The European Platform of Transport Sciences (EPTS) organised with great success the 19th European Trasnport Conference which was held in Maribor, on 7-8 October 2021. The main themes of the Conference were smart urban traffic management for sustainable urban mobility and freight, digitalisation and automatization of urban mobility and freight, AI in mobility and logistics in urban areas and new organisational and business models for mobility and logistics. 

The Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft (AHG) together with the london School of Economics (LSE) organised with great success the Athens Urban Age Task Force-Sustainable Transport and Walkability Workshop, online, on October 1st 2021. The Workshop focused on key areas of urban intervention such as public spaces, access and walkability and urban greening.  NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation:

• Assessment of the Pilot Operation of the Athens Great Walk

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) organised with great success the 2nd Pan-European Workshop, titled “Which path for a meaningful, sustainable and feasible CCAM in Europe?”, which was held in Brussels and online, on 30 September 2021. In the workshop, speakers from European and national governmental bodies, industry, public authorities and academia shared concrete experiences from the SHOW project and other initiatives. 

The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce in Greece organised with great success the 19th Corporate Responsibility Conference under the theme Citizen Sustain: Building a better urban future, which was held in Athens, on 30 September.  The Conference aimed at setting the post-pandemic urban scene from a human-centric perspective and at driving policy-changing discussions in an inclusive collaboration among state, city authorities, business, and civil society, will feature four areas of discussion.    

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW organised with great success the Pre-Hackathon Workshop, which took place during the  ITS World Congress, in Hamburg, on 12 October. The aim of this Workshop was to develop innovative solutions to increase user acceptance and user benefit of automated mobility, focusing on human assistance stand-by in case of problems, adapting capacity to increase in demand in a flexible way and accessibility and assistance for persons with reduced mobility. 

The RADAR project within the framework of Interreg Danube Transnational Programme organised with great success the Final Conference under the theme: Striving for Safer Infrastructure for All Road Users in Danube Area, which was held in Slovenia and online, on 23 September.  Concluding the three and a half years of joint efforts in road safety methodologies, policy, and practice integration, the project comes to an end and this Conference was an opportunity to undeline the need to work towards the implementation of both the United Nations and European Commission goals on road safety.    NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation:

•  How to perform network-wide road safety assessments: creactive and proactive approaches

The Sao Paulo State Department of Traffic, together with Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) organised with great success the 1st Decade of Action for UN Road Safety Webinar, which was held online on 21 September. It was an interesting discussion on the advances and challenges of road safety and mobility in Greece, Colombia and Buenos Aires. NTUA Professor George Yannis contributed the following key note presentation: 

•  Road Safety in Greece – A decade of improvements

The IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society (ITSS) organised with great success the 24th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC) which was held in Indianapolis, on 19-22 September 2021. ITSC 2021 welcomed articles and presentations in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems, conveying new developments in theory, analytical and numerical simulation and modeling, experimentation, advanced deployment and case studies.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Towards Data Driven Traffic Modelling: Safe Driving Based on Reinforcement Learning

The Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics of Universita Degli Studi di Brescia, organised with great success the 25th Living and Walking in Cities Conference in Brescia, on 9-10 September 2021. The LWC International Conference traditionally deals with the topics of urban mobility and quality of life in urban areas, with a specific focus on vulnerable road users. The main areas and topics of the Conference were transport system and infrastructure, safe mobility for innovative cities and urban planning.  NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation:

•  Transport System & Infrastructure

The Association for European Transport organised with great success the 49th European Transport Conference which was held online, on 13-15 September. The ETC 2021 conference maintains its unique identity of a multidisciplinary, multi-seminar format but in an online environment and it will offer eight simultaneous seminars per day plus plenary sessions. Key conference themes explored this year included COVID-19 and the consequences, the Climate Emergency and Inclusion and Diversity.  

The 2020 International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury Europe Conference took place with great success online, on 8-10 September. The focus of IRCOBI was on the avoidance and reduction of the severity of traffic accidents, with special emphasis on advanced safety technologies and the biomechanics of injury. 

University of Aveiro organised with great success the 24th Working Group on Transportation Meeting (EWGT 2021) which was held online, on 8-10 September 2021. The main goal of the Meeting was to share information and experiences of research activities, to encourage joint research and the development of theoretical methods and applications, to promote the cooperation among different institutions and organisations, leaders at national level in the field of traffic, transportation and logistic systems.

The Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) and the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) co-organized with great success the “10th International Congress on Transportation Research” (ICTR 2021), which was held on 2-3 September, 2021, in Rhodes. The spotlight theme of the 2021 Congress was: “Future Mobility and Resilient Transport: Transition to innovation“.  NTUA contributed actively with the following 30 scientific papers and presentations:

•   Modelling the Safety Tolerance Zone: Recommendations from the i-DREAMS project (Young Researcher Best Road Safety Paper Award)
•   Impacts of autonomous transit services on urban networks: The case of Athens, Greece
•   Forecasting impacts of Connected and Automated Transport Systems within the Levitate project
•   Key Performance Indicators for safe fluid interactions within automated vehicles
•   Identifying KPIs for the safety assessment of autonomous vehicles through traffic microsimulation
•   Traffic impact assessment of the pilot implementation of Athens Great Walk
•   Traffic Impact Assessment of Innovative Traffic and Parking Measures in the Center of Athens
•   Analysis of traffic and parking characteristics in Athens
•   Lessons Learned from Bicycle Traffic Rules in OECD Countries
•   Investigating the acceptance of environmental parking charging and congestion charging in urban centers in Greece
•   Investigation of speeding and aggressive behavior of professional drivers on highways through an innovative smartphone application
•   Challenges, Opportunities and Constraints of Open Science in Transport Research
•   Clash of cultures in Greek traffic? What happens when a Southern European road safety culture is mixed with a Northern European road safety culture?
•   Fatigue among HGV drivers in Norway and Greece: examining the influence of national road safety culture
•   Development of the Road Safety Strategic Plan in Greece 2021-2030
•   Assessment of the evolution of road safety in Greece
•   A Common Methodology for the Collection of Key Performance Indicators for Road Safety in the EU
•   Action Plan for promoting electromobility in the Region of Attica
•   Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis for Electromobility in the Region of Attica
•   A four-country comparative overview of the impact of COVID-19 on traffic safety behavior
•   Best practice for safe roads around schools
•   Urban Planning Standards and transportation planning
•   Design Considerations of Compound Alignments Resulting from Visibility Restrictions by Median Jersey Barriers
•   Feasibility study of pedestrian bridge construction in urban arterials in Athens
•   Investigation of factors affecting serious crash injuries in Europe
•   Public opinion on Flying Autonomous Vehicles in Greece: a stated preference approach
•   Public opinion on e-scooters in Athens: a stated preference approach
•   The impact of weather conditions and driver characteristics on road safety
•   What is the area of influence of a vehicle on the road? Theoretical Aspects and Some empirical Findings
•   Comparative Investigation of Road Accident Cost in The European Union
•  Forecasting and backcasting of Connected-Automated Vehicle impacts using multiple methodological inputs

The Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals (CARSP) and La Prévention Routière Internationale (PRI) in partnership with the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) and Desjardins, organised with great success the 2020 Joint Conference which was held online on 22-25 August 2021. The theme of the conference was “Equitability: Road Safety for all through Vision Zero and Sustainable Safety” and it  integrated two events, the 30th CARSP Conference and the 14th PRI World Congress. Equitability was chosen to highlight the need for “road safety for all” across road users, while road safety deficiencies are experienced universally. This year’s conference offered the Students Paper Competition, the Vehicle Safety Enhancement Special Student Award and the Student Poster Competition whereby students presented their work on a road safety topic. 

The 33rd ICTCT Conference was held online, on 28-29 October under the theme: Paving the way to safer active urban mobility—challenges and opportunities. Among other topics, the Conference included two special sessions titled: Processing of traffic safety relevant data: data generation, data fusion, data enhancement and Surrogate measures of safety.   

The Faculty of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University organised with great success the 29 Annual Conference of the Research Institute of Human Factors Road Safety which was held online, on 8 July 2021. Experts from all over the world discussed the latest experiences and developments in road safety, with emphasis on the pandemic effect on road crashes.  NTUA contributed actively with the following presentations: 

•  Road Safety in Greece A success story?  (key-note presentation)
•  Key factors of COVID-19 impact on mobility and safety

The Association of Young Local Authorities (ENA) in collaboration with the Road Safety Institute “Panos Mylonas” (RSI), organised with great success a Conference titled “Road Safety in Greek islands“, which was held online, on 23 June 2021. The Conference was opened by the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Yannis Kefalogiannis, who referred to the National Action Plan on Road Safety and pointed out the important distinctions of Greece in this field. In addition, Mr. Panagiotis Papantoniou (President of the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers), Mrs. Amalia Polydoropoulou (Professor of the University of the Aegean), Mr. Vangelis Makris (Collaborator of the IOAS “Panos Mylonas”), Mr. Giannis Themelaros (Deputy Regional Minister of Transport and Communications of Dodecanese) and Mr. George Karamanolis (CTO / CIO Co-Founder of Crowdpolic), participated in the event. The Conference focused on the effort to reduce road accidents for the safety of inhabitants and tourists of the greek islands. 

The Loughborough University hosted with great success the 53rd Annual UTSG Conference, which was held online, on 5-6 July. It was an annual conference for staff, research students and other relative newcomers to transport research of member institutions and overseas universities, which was designed to discuss research needs, research in progress, and to give research students the opportunity to present papers on their work.  

The Technical Chamber of Greece organised with great success the Green Deal Greece 2021 Conference, which was held in Athens, on June 29, 2021. The theme of the Conference was “2020-2030: a decade of a green revolution” and it focused on the opportunities and the challenges that Greece has to face regarding the European Green Deal.     NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation: 

•  Electrobility, Sustainable mobility, Green transport

The Transportation Public Health Link (TPH Link) organised with great success the International Conference on Transport & Health (ICTH) which was held online, on 14-30 June. ICTH provided valuable insights into the health impacts of transport and urban planning, governance, strategic management, policy-making, performance metric tools and the potential return on investment of a dynamic system. 

The UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) organised with great success the PACTS Conference: Safe and healthy travel, which was held online, on 29 June 2021.  The Conference was supported by the Department for Transport and Highways England and focused on Vision Zero, active travel,  micro-mobility, speed and infrastructure.   NTUA Professor George Yannis contributed the following key note presentation: 

•  Road Safety in Greece on the way to Vision Zero

The International Transport Forum (ITF) together with the Swedish Transport Administration, VTI, the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), and the motorcycle manufacturers associations (IMMA and ACEM) organised with great success the “Motorcyclists Safety Workshop: Riding in a Safe System” which was held online on 9-23 June. It was a follow-up to the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety and focused on the nine recommendations of the Academic Expert Group and their application to motorcyclists’ safety.  

Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organised with great success the LEARN! Manual Webinar, which was held online, on 23 June. The LEARN! Manual is a handbook for developing and evaluating activities and programmes for traffic safety and mobility education. It sets out recommendations, criteria and guidance to develop and implement sound educational activities in an accessible way. This webinar presented the LEARN! Manual, and showed how its different steps can be applied in practice through examples from across Europe.

The Horizon 2020 projects BeOpen (European forum and Observatory for open science in transport) and OSCAR (Open ScienCe Aeronautic & Air Transport Research) co-organised with great success the “BE OPEN meets OSCAR: Open Science Collaboration” joint workshop, which was held online, on 16 June 2021. The event focused on providing general guidelines for Open Science promotion, regulatory schemes for Open Science operationalization and presenting interactive tools for enhancing Open Science collaboration amongst transport stakeholders.   NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation:  European Code of Conduct of Open Science in Transport

The 7th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) took place virtually with great success, on 19-22 June, 2021.  The theme of the congress was “Towards Precision Neurology”. Latest best practices in neurology was discussed, including cognitive impairment role in fitness to drive.  NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation:  Alzheimer’s Dementia and predictors of Driving Cessation: Results from a 4-year Longitudinal Study

The RADAR project within the framework of Interreg Danube Transnational Programme, organised on 15 June 2021 the 6th Road Safety Expert Group online Meeting with focus on road infrastructure safety management. Key experts contributed into a vivid discussion on the challenges and opportunities brought by the new EU Directive on road infrastructure safety management.    NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:   Network-wide Road Safety Assessment

Urbanism Next, New Urban Mobility alliance (NUMO),  POLIS, TNO, Gemeente Rotterdam, and Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management organised with great success the Urbanism Next Europe which took place online on 9-11 June 2021. The sessions at Urbanism Next Europe featured in-depth presentations exploring how technological, societal and economic mobility trends will change land use, urban design, transport, real estate, environment, equity,  health, economy and governance. The conference gathered 350 decision-makers and urban professionals from Europe and beyond. 

The RADAR project team organised with great success the 5th Road Safety Expert Group (RSEG) Meeting, which was held online, on 27 May 2021, under the theme: “Transport Safety and COVID-19“. There is a reasonable threat that investments in road infrastructure safety will be largely affected by the covid-19 and will shrink already small budgets dedicated to road infrastructure safety. Improving road infrastructure safety in the Danube area in this critical time requires action to demonstrate by facts the real impact of the pandemic outbreak on road safety.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:  COVID-19 impact on mobility and safety

SAFER Vehicle, the Université Gustave Eiffel and the University of New South Wales co-organised the 8th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI2022), which was held in Gothenburg, on 19-20 October 2022. DDI2022 is the primary international event on this topic, attracting delegates from more than 20 countries. It is designed to bring participants – from academia, industry and government – up-to-date on the developments and trends in the field of inattention and distraction in driving. 

The UN Road Safety Collaboration organised with great success the global campaign for the Sixth UN Global Road Safety Week, with was held on 17-23 May 2021. The 6th Global Road Safety Week will have as theme Managing Speeding, with focus on city streets safety and the introduction of 30km/h speed limit in cities. It was a great opportunity to mobilise the global population (Authorities, stakeholders, citizens) and launch the global plan for the proclaimed Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. During that week, several road safety events were organised worldwide, including the active participation of NTUA. 

NTUA participated actively in the Sixth UN Global Road Safety Week  by organising a key Scientific Workshop titled “Innovation in Road Safety Research” held online on 20 May 2021  , contributing at the Together for Safer Roads Vision Zero Fleet Forum  and several other workshops and endorsing the pledge of the UN Global Road Safety Week for speed limits of 30km/h in urban areas, together with the United Nations, World Health Organisation, International Road Federation, World Bank GRSF, ETSC/FEVR, RSI P.Mylonas, EFTHITA, Interamerican.

Together for Safer Roads organised with great success the Vision Zero Fleet Forum, which was held online on May 19th, 2021.  With focused contributions from key safety experts, this fleet-specific forum, focused on Vision Zero practices that maximize global learning and impact for fleet safety managers, city authorities, vision zero practitioners and city streets users.  NTUA actively contributed in the section Commercial Fleets, Vision Zero & Data Sharing.

NTUA within the framework of the Sixth UN Global Road Safety Week organised with great success a Scientific Workshop titled “Innovation in Road Safety Research” which was held online on May 20th, 2021. The objective of this Workshop was to highlight through an intensive flow of presentations the main findings and challenges of key road safety research projects carried out within the NTUA Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering and to open up the discussion in a round table with high-level experts on key innovations in road safety research in Greece, in Europe and worldwide. NTUA supports actively the UN Global Road Safety Week pledge for speed limits of 30km/h in urban areas. 

• Workshop Programme: 
• Team Photo: 
• Workshop Video: 

Workshop presentations concerned:

1.  The NTUA Road Safety Observatory
2.  Driver needs and behaviour in automated traffic – Drive2theFuture
3.  Societal impacts of connected and automated vehicles – Levitate
4.  Shared Automation Operating Models for Worldwide Adoption – Show
5.  Holistic Approach for Driver Role Integration into Automation – Hadrian
6.  Driver-vehicle-environment interactions and safety tolerance – i-Dreams
7.  Smart city mapping for safer and eco driver behaviour – SmartMaps
8.  Smartphone applications for driver safety behaviour support – BeSmart
9.  Development of the Road Safety Strategic Plan in Greece 2021-2030
10.  Collection of Road Safety KPIs in Greece – Baseline-G
11.  EU Methodology for Road Safety KPI Collection – Baseline-I
12.  Open science in road safety – BeOpen
13.  A Methodology for Network-wide Road Assessment – NetSafety
14.  Modelling crash modification factors globally – i-SafeModels
15.  Road Safety Audit of the Hellinikon Metropolitan Pole
16.  Monitoring road safety attitudes globally – Esra2
17.  Investigation of driver distraction effect using big data from smartphones
18.  Safety behaviour assessment of older drivers in real driving conditions
19.  Covid-19 impact on mobility and safety
20.  Model traffic and parking arrangements for the Athens Great Walk
21.  Electromobility as driver for sustainable mobility and safety – e-Mopoli
22.  Socio-economic impact of environmental transport charging – EcoCharge

Round table discussion:

1.   Safety Innovations in Automation and Connectivity, Prof. Andrew Morris
2.   How are Emerging Data Enabling Smarter Safety Applications?, Prof. Constantinos Antoniou
3.   Innovations for Safe Driver Behaviour, Prof. Tom Brijs
4.   Which Values for Future Safety Technologies, Ass.Prof. Eleonora Papadimitriou

The Province of Brescia, leader partner of the Interreg Europe project Electro MObility as driver to support POLicy Instruments for sustainable mobility (e-MOPOLI) organised with great success the e-MOPOLI Final Interregional Conference (phase 1) which was held online, on 19 May 2021. The meeting focused on presentation of project outputs, such as good practices, recommendations and on 9 partners regional action plan from Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Flanders, Finland, Norway, Romania and Latvia. It also presented key results and future scenarios of alternative fuel mobility.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  Current Situation and Perspectives of e-mobility in Greece
•  Recommendations and Regional Action Plans
•  Attica Region Action Plan

The International Transport Forum (ITF) organised with great success the 2021 ITF Summit which was held online, on 17-28 May. ITF’s research unit supported the Summit with topical analyses and a pre-summit Research Day was organised with leading institutions to provide cutting-edge academic input to the Summit debate. Side events hosted by ITF partner organisations took place in and around the Summit thereby allowing greater opportunities for presentations of recent work and dialogue on key issues complementing the Summit theme.   

The Research in Mobility Committee of the UITP organised with great success an online event on 27 April, in which Road Safety and many other interesting topics were discussed.

NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:  Mobility and Safety Research Challenges in Public Transport

The International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF) organised online the 32nd Meeting on 12-13 April in which the latest international road safety developments were discussed. NTUA contributed actively with the following presentations:

•  Review of Road Safety Strategic Plans Worldwide
• Artificial Intelligence in Road Traffic Crash Prevention

The EU-funded Horizon 2020 project Levitate (Societal Level Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles) organised with great success a Webinar on Road safety assessment of automated vehicles, which was held online, on 27 May. The Webinar offered a discussion on which road safety impacts can be expected from Connected and Automated Transport Systems and how best the different types of impacts can be quantified. Key findings from the Levitate project analyses were presented including estimation of impacts using microsimulation and those focusing on Vulnerable Road Users. 

The International Commission for Driver Testing (CIECA) organised with great success the 53rd CIECA Congress, which was held online, on 26-28 May 2021. With this congress, entitled “Different drivers & vehicles. Safety for all”, CIECA focused on exploring the challenges that new trends in mobility, and the inclusion of modern technologies in vehicles present for driver training and testing. 

The European Commission together with ARCADE project organised with great success the third European Conference on Connected and Automated Driving (EUCAD 2021), which was held online on 20-22 April 2021. Participants enjoyed a blend of policy-oriented plenary sessions, as well as thematic breakout sessions to discuss specific R&I challenges. A virtual exhibition of projects was accessible throughout the three-day event. 

The European Commission organised with great success the EU Road Safety Results Conference which was held online on 20 April. The Conference was an opportunity to engage with EU Member State authorities and all stakeholders on the progress being made with implementing the Safe System approach. In particular, it allowed participants to learn how work towards the Key Performance Indicators set out in the Next Steps Towards Vision Zero policy framework is moving forward. 

The Road Traffic Safety Agency of Serbia (RTSA) together with several Serbian and international road safety Governmental, Academic and other organisations organised with great success the 16th International conference Road Safety in Local Communities, which was held on April 14 – 17, 2021. 

The Pioneer Alliance together with the NTUA Department of Transportation Planning organised with great success the PIONEERing Solutions for the Smart City Challenge, which was held online on 15 April 2021. Through this Workshop, students had the opportunity to learn about civil engineering for carbon-neutral smart cities, safety, security and risk management, technology enhanced solutions, service design, circular economy and sustainable urban life and tourism.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  Pilot Assessment of Athens Great Walk
•  Conducting spatial predictions of driver behavior using multi-parametric data
•  Towards the development of an action plan for promoting electromobility

The Publications Office of the European Union  and the ISA² programme of the European Commission organised with great success the European Data Conference on Reference Data and Semantics (ENDORSE) which was held online on 16-19 March 2021. The Conference created an opportunity to link expertise to tackle current and future issues in the fields of interoperability and knowledge management including aspects of road safety.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation from the The Horizon 2020 project BeOpen (European forum and observatory for open science in transport):  FAIR Challenges in Transport Open Science

The Institute of Communication & Computer Systems (ICCS) together with the European Technology Platform ALICE organised with great success the 8th International Physical Internet Conference  (IPIC 2021) which was held online on 14-16 June 2021. The Conference aimed to provide an open forum for researchers, industry representatives, government officials and citizens to explore leading edge freight transport and logistics concepts, methodologies, projects, technological advancements and start-up initiatives for future interconnected logistics and the Physical Internet. Special sessions’ proposals deadline: 15 April.   

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organised with great success the Road Safety Performance Index Annual Conference and Award Ceremony 2021 (PIN conference) which was held online, on 16 June 2021. In June each year ETSC’s analysis of overall annual progress on tackling road deaths and serious injuries is published in the PIN Annual Report. The PIN conference is also the platform for the presentation of the PIN Award to the best performing country.  

The Region of Attica within the framework of the research project e-MOPOLI of the Interreg Europe program, organised with great success a Workshop on Εlectromobility which was held online on 23 March 2021. The workshop was hosted by the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of the NTUA and included presentations of key stakeholders of electromobility in Greece and a round table of experts.  Professor George Yannis opened the workshop with the key outputs of e-MOPOLI project as well as the status and next steps of electromobility in Region of Attica with the following presentation:  Interregional Learning Workshop of Region of Attica

The Horizon 2020 project BeOpen (European forum and observatory for open science in transport), organised with great success the TOPOS Observatory and Forum Webinar which took place on 26 March. The BeOpen partners presented the functionalities of the Transport fOrum/Observatory for Promoting Open Science (TOPOS), which aims to limit existing barriers in Open Science in Transport Research and align transport research with EOSC by following FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles.   A short feedback survey on improvement proposals on the current state of TOPOS is now available. 

The International Road Federation (IRF) organised with great success the 18th World Meeting & Exhibition, which took place in Dubai World Trade Center on 7-10 November 2021, under the theme Roads to Tomorrow: Innovative & Sustainable Solutions. This Meeting was a global summit & technology showcase that is both uniquely relevant to a wide cross-section of road mobility stakeholders, and focused on delivering solutions to the world’s pressing mobility questions.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Driver Perception-Reaction Times in Level 3 Automated Vehicles

The 9th International Expert Symposium on Accident Research (ESAR) took place online on 23-24 March 2021. ESAR was organised by the Medical School of Hannover and it was a platform for exchanges of information on accident research issues. The conference focused on accident research general, accident causation, pre-crash analysis, accident reconstruction, new data sources for accident research such as video observation and EDR, injuries, regulation and consumer information.  

The International Road Federation (IRF) organised with great success three Webinars which were held online on 4, 9 and 16 March 2021. The topics of the Webinars were: COVID-19 Response and Recovery: The Global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP), Sustainable Mobility: Policymaking for Data Sharing and Road Safety Management – Innovation and delivery in developing countries. Among others, the webinars offered insights on what is the reality of road safety on the ground, how to better engage at the country level and how to mobilise the resources needed to deliver.   

The International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) organised with great success on 10-12 February 2021 an online Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence in Road Traffic Crash Prevention, chaired by NTUA Professor George Yannis. This roundtable examined several promising use cases of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the prevention of road crashes and explored the potential of computer vision to acquire relevant information and AI models to identify high risk locations and situations. The Full Report will be available soon.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

  Using AI for spatial predictions of driver behavior

Rhodes’ Rescuers Association have organised with great success a three-day Webinar titled “Road accidents: Don’t just observe – Act” which was held online on 18-20 December 2020.  The Webinar results are expected to bring significant value to road safety efforts at local, regional and national level. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

• Critical issues and priority actions for road safety in Greece
  

The “Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems – ITS Hellas, has organised with great success the 6th Intelligent Transport Systems and Developments in Greece Conference which was held online on 14-15 December 2020 with the support of the European Commission Representation in Greece, focusing on issues related to European goals and national aspirations and efforts for the transition to a sustainable and “green” mobility.  The recordings of the presentations are now available:  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  SWOT analysis for electric mobility in Athens
•  New data for supporting Road Safety actions

The European Union Road Federation (ERF) has organised a Roadside Safety Event which was held with great success online on 15 December 2020. The conference was a unique opportunity for road safety experts around the globe to exchange information concerning the latest trends and developments in the area of roadside passive safety and road safety design.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Impact of Median Jersey Barriers in the Design of Compound Alignments

Africa’s Road Safety Data Challenge (ARSO), Asia Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO) and Ibero-American Road Safety Observatory (OISEVI) with the support of international development organizations, co-organised the Global Meeting of Regional Road Safety Observatories which was held online with great success, on 8-9 December 2020. This Global Conference helped in keeping the momentum created at the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, and contribute to strengthening collaboration and harmonization across these regional observatories. 

POLIS, the European Cities Network, has organised with great success the 2020 Annual Polis Conference which was held online from 30 November to 3 December. Cities and Regions showcased their transport achievements and get connected with up to 600 committed transport innovation professionals who work in local and Regional Governments and related public and private sector Organisations. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Development of a Policy Support Tool to assess Societal Level Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organising with great success an online PIN Talk titled “How to improve the safety of goods vehicles in the EU?“, which was held on 14 December. The event focused on the safety of goods vehicles in the EU, looking at goods vehicle safety but also the safety of goods vehicle drivers and all other road users.   

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) organised with great success the 1st Ideathon, which was held online on 15 January 2021. Amongst others, the participants had the chance to contribute to the development of automated urban mobility solutions that address end-users’ real needs and get access to advanced knowledge on automated mobility and gain insights in the needs of different user groups. 

The Horizon 2020 project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption)  organised the 1st Concertation Workshop, which was held online on 16 December 2020. The workshop focused on discussions about the planning of demonstrations for fleets of Automated Vehicles around Europe, concerning mainly road transport for both passengers and goods.  

World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has announced the first session in a series of webinars on Road Policing for Road Safety, titled: “Traffic Management vs Road Policing“. The session was held on 1 December 2020. As part of a wider series of topics on road policing and enforcement for road safety, Detective Chief Superintendent Andrew Cox, will present on the transition in operational thinking from traffic management to road policing.  

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) together with the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport under the auspices of the European Commission – DG Move, organised with great success the online EU Road Safety Exchange National Workshop for Greece on 24 November 2020. ‘EU Road Safety Exchange’ is a three-year twinning project (2019-2021) that supports improved institutional capacity and exchange of knowledge and best practice on road safety topics between EU Member States. Speeding and Powered Two Wheelers’ safety have been selected as priority road safety topics for Greece and best practices from France and Spain respectively on these topics were kindly presented by national experts, followed by thorough discussion.  

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Ioannis Kefalogiannis stated that: “Serious effort and international cooperation on key road safety problems can bring  important reduction of road casualties in Greece”. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Powered Two Wheelers Safety Greece – State of play

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) organised with great success the 100th Annual Meeting, which was held online throughout January 2021. The meeting program covered all transportation modes, addressing topics of interest to policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions. A number of sessions and workshops  focused on the spotlight theme for the 2021 meeting: Launching a New Century of Mobility and Quality of Life. This year’s meeting also featured dozens of sessions on how COVID-19 has impacted transportation and how transportation professionals and researchers are responding. 

The Laboratory of Health and Road Safety (LaHeRS) organised with great success an online Conference titled: “Road Safety Culture, Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow” on 20-21 November.  The Conference was addressed to teachers and all kinds of specialists who aim at promoting safe transportations.  New developments in the field of road safety culture were discussed followed by a fruitful discussion on innovative methods, modern tools and good practices in the education field.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Tourism and Road Accidents in Greece

The  European Federation of Road Victims (FEVR) together with the WHO Regional Office for Europe  and UNRSC members commemorated the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (#WDoR2020) on 15 November 2020, as an “appropriate acknowledgement for victims of road traffic crashes and their families”.  Some of the objectives of WDoR 2020 are to provide a platform for road traffic victims and their families to remember all people killed and seriously injured on the roads, to acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency services and to draw attention to the generally trivial legal response to culpable road deaths and injuries.   

In Greece, EFTHITA Rhodes is organising a special event on 15 November 2020, by presenting a poster on the west side of the building of the Greek Parliament, passing the message “Remember-Support-Act”  

The Pioneer Alliance organised successfully an open session for Viewpoints on Sustainable Cities, within the Internet of Things for Smart Cities School. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations: 

•  Automation and public transport
•  New Data for Urban Road Safety
  

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and DVR with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, organised an online PIN Talk, which was held on 19 November.  National experts from Germany shared their experience with international and private sector experts on how to involve stakeholders in road safety programmes. 

The 7th International HUMANIST Conference was hosted on 26-27 October 2021 in Rhodes, Greece. The theme of the conference was “Human Perspective in an Evolving Transport Era“. The 2021 conference brought together researchers, experts and stakeholders from several multidisciplinary communities that are active in the field of human factors in transport. Topics for this year’s symposium included, but were not limited to: C-ITS, driver monitoring, automation, electrification, new vehicle types, smart cities, towards effective MaaS and mobile transport apps, enhanching accessibility and inclusion ensuring the safety of VRUs, ergonomics (passive safety, new vehicles interior).  NTUA contributed actively with the following presentations:

• Monitoring and Improving Driving Behaviour of Motorcyclists Through an Innovative Smartphone Application
•  State-of-the-art Technologies for Post-Trip Safety Interventions
•  A Review of Real-Time Safety Intervention Technologies
•  Usability with a twist: A conceptual model for including emotions into User Interface evaluation

The European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC), the European Green Vehicles Initiative Association (EGVIA) and the European Commission organised the 4th European-wide Conference dedicated to the presentation of results from road transport research in H2020 funded projects (H2020RTR), which was held on 30 November & 1 December 2020. The Conference aimed at presenting what the projects have discovered, how they overcame the hurdles and challenges and resolved them, and what were the next research steps in the fields covered by their research.  

The International Road Federation (IRF), together with Qatar University, Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center, Khatib and Alami and World Conference on Transport Research Society, organised with great success an Online Technical Workshop on “Role of Road Safety Audits in Improving Traffic Safety”, which was held online on 8-10 November 2020.  The Workshop aimed at building the understanding of the importance and benefits of RSAs. Furthermore, it provided basic information on the scope and procedure of RSAs as well as the role and skills of the RSA team.  

IRF organised with great success an online conference titled “Roads to Recovery: a Sustainable Mobility for a Sustainable Future” which was held on 12 November 2020. The main objective of the conference was to discuss priorities for the road sector going forward. The conference was structured around three main sessions: High-Level Panel debate on Recovery for the Road Sector, Safer roads to save lives, Fostering innovation to accelerate road sector transformation. 

Within the 18th European Week of Regions and Cities organised by the European Committee of the Regions,  RADAR and SLAIN projects were featured in the session ”Modelling the future of Road Safety using Network-wide Risk Assessment”, which was held with great success on 14 October 2020.  Key questions concerned: How do you design a safe road infrastructure? How can you identify risk on roads? How do you propose an economically viable crash countermeasure?    

NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:  Network-wide Road Safety Assessment

POLIS in cooperation with the LEVITATE and CoEXist projects organised with great success a webinar titled “Mobilising Mobility: Impact assessment of automated vehicles” which was held on 15 October 2020. The Webinar provided insights into the methods developed for assessing the impacts of automated vehicles across a range of mobility domains and the findings from their application in real-life scenarios and using policy options such as parking regulation, road pricing and dedicated AV lanes.  

European Commission DG Move together with the Transport Area of the Florence School of Regulation organised an important Executive Seminar on “Speed and Speed Management in Road Safety Policy” held online on 8 October 2020, with the active contribution of NTUA.  Key Road Safety Experts contributed to a Synthesis Paper intended to guide policies in speeding globally  together with the respective Key Conclusions  highlighting the need for:

• high quality communication on the centrality of speed and speed management at all levels of government;
• more efficient speeding enforcement, including the use of dynamic speed limits;
• promoting Intelligent Speed Assistance Systems in vehicles (ISA)
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on speeding to support evidence-based road safety policies;
• partnerships between all levels of government and with stakeholders and industry in order to make speed a central road safety issue for all

The Forum of European Road Safety Research Organisations (FERSI) organised with great success the 2021 Road Safety Conference which took place on 28-29 October 2021 in Hague, Netherlands. The conference focused on the exchange of national and regional experiences with implementing evidence-based road safety measures with specific focus on the road to successful implementation, including overcoming barriers and promising ways to facilitate decision making.