ITS Monday: Edition 30, 2025

151 new electric buses are another step to zero emission fleet

Via the NSW Government media release. “The 151 new battery electric buses will surpass the Government’s 50% target for local manufacturing content and be delivered by Australian bus manufacturers, including Custom Denning based in St Marys in Western Sydney.”

And what sounds will these buses eventually make? That’s a project we’ve been working on with Transport for NSW and the University of Technology Sydney. Read all about it at: Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System sound design.

Speed Zoning Policy

A direct download of the Transport Victoria policy document. “This policy provides the principles, direction and decision making that applies to speed zoning in Victoria. The policy enables practitioners responsible for the setting of speed limits to make informed recommendations on safe and appropriate speed limits.

This policy also references Movement and Place in Victoria and relevant Austroads guides and Australian Standards.”

Related iMOVE article:

• Road Safety: Info, Projects & Resources
• Vulnerable Road Users: Info, Projects & Resources

Related iMOVE projects:

• New technologies to engage the community/improve road safety
• Vulnerable road user safety and efficiency at intersections
• Movement & Place and the design of safe & successful places

How do the drivers react to different C-V2X-based communication conditions in dilemma zones? A driving simulator study

A new academic paper, co-authored by Shi Ye, Tiantian Chen, Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios, Yasir Ali, Taeho Oh, and Inhi Kim. The abstract:

Drivers should react quickly in dilemma zones at signalized intersections, where ill-timed decisions may result in rear-end or angular collisions with other vehicles. Recent advancements in connected vehicle (CV) technologies, particularly cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), are expected to enhance driver decision-making by providing real-time traffic information.

Despite this, most previous studies have not considered the latest C-V2X specifications, leaving critical questions unanswered about how drivers interact with and benefit from this technology in dilemma-zone scenarios. To address this gap, this study builds a co-simulation platform that integrates Unity and VISSIM to simulate four communication conditions: (1) no communication (baseline), (2) perfect communication (green-light countdown), (3) interrupted communication (green-light countdown with loading delays), and (4) communication loss due to the absence of smart infrastructure (out of service information).

Sixty-two licensed drivers participated in four randomized trials, each with multiple unpredictable green-to-yellow transitions designed to capture dilemma-zone responses. Driving performance was assessed in terms of stop-or-go decisions and red-light running outcomes. Results of the random parameters binary logit model for stop-or-go decisions indicate that, compared to no communication, drivers are more inclined to proceed through the intersection when communication is lost.

In contrast, perfect communication and communication interruption generally reduce this tendency. Furthermore, significant interaction effects revealed the observed heterogeneity, indicating that drivers with specific driving histories respond differently under communication interruption and loss conditions. For the red-light running outcomes, the descriptive analysis shows that under the perfect communication condition, the proportion of red-light running decreases by 3.44% among drivers.

Interestingly, even interrupted communication leads to a 2.19% decrease in the proportion of red-light running outcomes. These findings demonstrate the complex ways in which C-V2X-based information can influence driver decisions, emphasizing the need for robust implementation strategies that are context-aware. This study sheds light on how drivers interact with emerging C-V2X systems and provides insights for road authorities and policymakers seeking to enhance safety and reduce crash risks at signalized intersections.

Making railway crossings safer

From the news section of the La Trobe University website. “New research has found that glow-in-the-dark road markings and signs could improve nighttime safety at rural railway level crossings.”

Related iMOVE projects:

• Using real-time train data to improve level crossing safety
• Train horns: Pedestrian safety and residential wellness

How a driving score turned road safety into a national game in Korea

“In a country obsessed with rankings, the latest national competition isn’t about grades. It’s about who can drive the safest.

It is not the product of a government audit or a peer-reviewed study. In a country that records around 200,000 road accidents annually, it is a striking claim.”

Tracking the rise of cycling in Sydney

“Trips grow 7% in a year as more people discover the best way to get around town. Bicycle NSW was very excited to join the celebrations for the opening of the Oxford Street West Cycleway in August 2025.”

Inside the futuristic traffic technology Shrewsbury is using to prevent accidents today

“On the Mobile Data Terminal (MDT), a fancy word for laptop, in the Shrewsbury Police Department’s cruisers, officers can see a map of the town’s roads and streets, glowing with different colors representing the town’s traffic patterns. Certain colors indicate that there’s no problems, but some symbols indicate an accident is likely to happen soon.”