Easy and novel ways to engage communities around road safety

New technologies to engage the community/improve road safety a project undertaken by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and La Trobe University, has been completed.

The work done here provides an overview of new and emerging technology solutions to aid community engagement around road safety.

Objectives

In an effort to support TACs commitment to a vision for no deaths or serious injuries on roads by 2050, researchers collated and evaluated the novel technologies available to community engagement practitioners.

The researchers sought to remove barriers for the use of these new solutions and help demystify the new and emerging digital innovations in this field by developing an information toolkit.

The toolkit summarises the technology available and provides insight into the benefits and limitations of new technologies and provides examples the technologies in practice.

How can new technologies help?

Technology makes up one piece of this puzzle, and researchers here note that community engagement is “part art, part science” with effectiveness dependent on both hard and soft factors. Technology in this arena is most effective when underpinned by strategy and resources that support implementation.

New technologies can help in a number of ways:

Collection and sharing of data

Improving safety outcomes should begin early in an effort to prevent accidents with both practitioners and communities being afforded an understanding of risks associated with travel. New and increasingly more affordable technologies are able to collect a variety of different data with the capacity to also make this data publicly available.

Help facilitate co-creation of solutions

Historically, co-creating safety design solutions was labour intensive and a coordination challenge, and was often deemed only practical to employ on large projects.  New technologies provide optimised and scalable solutions to engage with communities for any sized project.

Mixed technologies help create engaging immersive experiences

Employing a mix of new technologies gives users access to information and experiences they might not usually encounter aiding in both engagement and clearer understanding of information. Innovations in technology like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D solutions (amongst others) have become more affordable and accessible and can often be used in tandem with each other.

Evaluation of technologies

New initiatives require ongoing feedback and evaluation by stakeholders for best results. Involving technology in this process promotes an inclusive, robust and continuing dialogue, which can be achieved, maintained and easily measured.

The toolkit

The toolkit provides an overview of novel ways new technologies can benefit community engagement practitioners.

New and emerging technologies are presented by their core technology with examples given to demonstrate the potential these digital innovations can provide.

The toolkit is a valuable resource for policy development and can be used to evaluate suitability, impact, and effectiveness of new technologies.

Technologies assessed

Virtual Reality

VR technology creates a fully simulated environment where users immerse themselves in a VR environment and interact by using a headset.

VR allows for immersive, interactive design visualisation and virtual collaboration, functionality which makes VR a useful tool for training and education purposes (example) VR used to simulate diverse realistic road events like road accidents.

There are considerations for use of VR, amongst them are cost factors as VR generally requires expensive equipment for use. There are also concerns that fully immersive VR can cause motion sickness (known as VR sickness), eye fatigue, disorientation, and make some users feel removed from the real world which could be hazardous.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) employs technology to overlay interactive digital information onto the real world, typically by using a device, usually a smartphone or AR glasses.

Blending AR elements with the physical world is a useful way to visualize new things in their intended real environment, with users able to interact naturally within this technology.

AR benefits from being generally more cost effective to develop and implement than VR helping to make this technology potentially both more accessible and easier to use.

Challenges do exist however around making accurate AR projections that blend into existing surrounds, sometimes necessitating additional 3D scans of the environment for realistic integration.

Mixed Reality

Mixed reality (MR) technologies combine elements of both AR and VR to create a fully immersive experience where physical and digital objects coexist and where in real time, users can interact with these objects.

This functionality permits MR technologies to be used across an array of solutions and is beneficial for projects like training simulations, design visualisation and studying road user behaviour amongst others.

MR is more costly AR and VR solutions because it often requires specialised hardware and may also require specialist 3D modelling and programming. With innovation driving complexity down, MR is becoming easier to use with increasing affordability another beneficial by-product.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allows the collection, storage, visualisation, and interpretation of spatial and geographic data. GIS systems integrate various data like satellite imagery and other geographic information that enables an evaluation of patterns, relationships, and trends in data. Amongst uses, this solution can assist with spatio-temporal analysis into traffic hotspots (and hotspot visualisation), temporal trends and future planning.

Accurate data is essential for quality GIS analysis, and since GIS data can include private information, data privacy and security considerations must be key considerations when employing this solution.

GIS systems also need to be compatible with other systems and might require different data formats and standards, given these extra complexities consideration should also be given to audience and usability.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI leverages computers and machine learning (ML) to perform tasks that require human-like intelligence, like processing of languages, decision making and pattern recognition.

AI is already a familiar tool used for traffic management in traffic light and traffic form optimisation. There are several other applications in practitioner use today including customised chat bots that engage with community members, deep learning models to identify road conditions, unusual road behaviour and to assess crash risks through predictive analysis amongst others.

Accurate AI training needs a large amount of real-world data and is subject to misclassifications or replicating bias if the data fed contains errors or bias. Employing customized interactions, can improve on these outcomes.

Generative AI (GAI) a sub-variety which generates new content learned from patterns of input data and is leading the charge for multi-modal conversational systems. GAI however, can be challenging to understand and trust in safety critical scenarios as there is no transparency for the reasoning behind decision-making.

The authors advocate for eXplainable AI (XAI) methods as the best way to improve accuracy and promote trust for road safety applications.

Conversational AI is a set of machine learning (ML) functions that includes Natural Language Programming to provide a human like listening function. This functionality allows engagement between stakeholders and offers a capable way of data capture from solutions like chatbots to provide community feedback.

Web platforms

Known solutions like web platforms, online forums, chat boards and polling tools allow for dynamic interaction between community members and provide for efficient and standardised data collection.

Interactive digital signage

Interactive technology solutions like digital signage include the use of screens, projectors, and digital displays with an array of functionality to deliver information and allow for touch or gesture-based input from users. Examples of this solution can be seen in airports, museums and other public spaces via interactive kiosks and public displays.

Digital twins

Digital twins are virtual representations of a real-world state, behaviour or environment. This technology enables simulations of varied scenarios for data analysis and monitoring along and provides the information needed for data driven decision making.

Like other data dependant technologies, cost effective cloud service functionality permits scalability and flexibility. However, as with all cloud storage services for sensitive data security, privacy and ethical concerns are considerations.

Wearables and smartphones

Typically worn as accessories, clothing or even permanently tattooed or implanted into users’ skin; these technologies act as micro-processors that send and receive data via the internet. It should be noted, these solutions generate raw data, so data analysis is essential.

Amongst uses for application, examples include traffic planning benefits from the collection of data from GPS enabled helmets and the ability to include push notifications out to wearers.

Wearables can be expensive, potentially effecting uptake and accessibility and these solutions are only effective when users ‘use’ them.

Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT refers to the enormous network of devices connected to the internet and embedded with technology that allows collecting and sharing of data.

The authors detail several ways IoT works in real road and traffic applications. Amongst them the concept of IoT sensors on roads to monitor and communicate real time traffic conditions, and in the future, Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication which will allow vehicles to communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure.

Amongst considerations, the need for proper testing, certification, and compliance for safety standards along with the critical importance of reliable connectivity and data flow between devices.

Convergent technologies

Convergent technologies encompass the integrated use of various technologies covered here (and beyond) to establish innovative new solutions which offer enhanced functionality and the promise of improved user experience.

The authors reference several applications in their examples including VR, AR, AI, and LEGO systems employed to assist with urban modelling, simulation and decision making for urban planners; and the combination of Deep Learning and LEGO solutions for application towards spatial and urban planning challenges.

Conclusions

It is noted that these new technologies mentioned and their use in addressing road safety issues are but a start, and that they need to be “… underpinned by a sound strategy and the resources to support its implementation. In addition, the impact of the human touch, such as having a compelling vision, being authentic, sincere, and creative outweigh the technology that’s being used to engage communities.”

That said, new technologies do offer enticing opportunities, including:

• Data collection and it being made publicly available;
• Co-creation of solutions with communities;
• Engaging participants and creation of immersive experiences; and
• Evaluation of effectiveness and impact of newly implemented initiatives

In conclusion, having stakeholder engagement professionals involved upstream in road safety policy and initiative development ensures that policies and measures are not only effective but also responsive to the rapidly changing transportation technology environment. This fosters transparency, trust, and the integration of critical digital expertise, ultimately leading to safer and more inclusive road systems in an era defined by technological advancements.

Final report

A final report has been produced, but is for internal use only.