ITS Monday: Edition 14, 2024
ITS Monday is a small, weekly collection of curated content from the worlds of intelligent transport systems, smart mobility, and associated areas.
Included this week, driver distraction and road rules, (safer) cycling success, e-scooter safety, the rise in vehicle ownership, and more.
The article headlines below are:
- Is official information about distracted driving enough? A critical investigation of Government-provided information and road rules in Australia
- French Revolution: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in Paris
- Safer infrastructure can drive a surge in cycling
- Australia’s biggest city has a car problem. What should Melbourne do to fix it?
- Learning from the evidence: Insights for regulating e-scooters
- South Korea: Self-driving night buses on streets of Seoul
And just in case you hadn’t caught it yet, we have a recent series of interviews with transport professionals – Effects of COVID on the transport sector – what they see now, what they would like to happen post-pandemic, and what they think will happen. If you’d like to be join this conversation, drop us a line!
This week’s articles
Now, scroll down, and see what’s in this week’s edition. Oh, and before you do, be sure check out the quickest way to receive our new content via the subscription box just below …
A new academic paper, co-authored by Sina Rejali, Natalie Watson-Brown, Sherrie-Anne Kaye, Teresa Senserrick, and Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios.
“Empirical data demonstrates that distracted driving is a leading cause of crashes even in countries with sophisticated road safety systems. As such, a paradigm shift is needed to prevent driver distraction. This study aims to contribute to this paradigm shift by critically investigating the official distraction-related information and road rules for drivers in Australia, while gaining an understanding of how distraction is specifically addressed in these materials.”
Related iMOVE content:
READ THE ARTICLEFrench Revolution: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in Paris
“Official measurements have found that Paris is rapidly becoming a city of transportation cyclists. The survey of how people now move in Paris was conducted with GPS trackers by academics from L’Institut Paris Région, the largest urban planning and environmental agency in Europe.” The report from the study, “Regional survey on the mobility of Ile-de-France residents” is linked to in the article.
Related iMOVE articles:
Related iMOVE projects
READ THE ARTICLESafer infrastructure can drive a surge in cycling
A USA-based article, providing statistics from a number of US cities. “Acknowledging that highway investments drive up car use and traffic, transportation professionals and advocates have grown more interested in accounting for induced demand in transportation investments. But the laws of induced demand are not limited to highways. As several cities have shown, investing in bicycle infrastructure can increase bike use by 100% or more.”
READ THE ARTICLEAustralia’s biggest city has a car problem. What should Melbourne do to fix it?
“ABC analysis has shown Victoria’s rate of vehicle ownership has outpaced population growth since the pandemic. Experts say this is due to Melbourne’s booming population, and more people choosing to drive than use public transport.”
This is a data-driven dive into what’s happening.
Related iMOVE content:
READ THE ARTICLELearning from the evidence: Insights for regulating e-scooters
A new academic paper, co-authored by Yuting Zhang, John D. Nelson, and Corinne Muller, all of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. The abstract:
As a trending mobility choice, e-scooters have become popular in many cities. A number of authorities have initiated shared e-scooter trial schemes to assess the feasibility of the vehicles prior to enacting official legalisation.
This paper aims to provide an evidence review of shared e-scooters and investigate how existing evidence may inform long-term policies. This carries significant relevance for jurisdictions that are in a conflicting position with e-scooters, such as New South Wales (NSW), Australia whose context motivates this study. The evidence review focuses on three themes derived from experience with shared e-scooters within the broader micromobility landscape, namely: safety; where shared e-scooters fit into the modal landscape; and the environmental impacts.
Findings confirm that ensuring the safety of shared e-scooters requires complex solutions, which may include a clear regulatory framework for e-scooters, safety education and skill training, innovative data collection and analysis methods, and an approach to safety management that is user-based, location-based, and time-based. In terms of modal fit policymakers should encourage first and last-mile combinations with public transport, with consideration of user characteristics; while climate impact is strongly correlated to the mode replaced by e-scooter trips. The paper provides insights for policymakers on the regulation and positioning of shared e-scooters.
READ THE ARTICLESouth Korea: Self-driving night buses on streets of Seoul
Last up this week, a BBC News video story from South Korea, where for some months now autonomous buses have been in operation on Seoul streets. Nighttime only at this stage.
READ THE ARTICLE