UK’s Loughborough University attempts to smooth Europe’s path to C/AVs

Loughborough University in the UK is leading a three-year initiative which aims to assess the impact of introducing connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) in Europe. The £5.7m project, called Levitate, is funded by the European Union and will help European cities to plan for the effect C/AVs will have on infrastructure and society. Levitate began this month and will consider how AVs might improve safety, congestion and the environment, while looking at key policy decisions which would maximise thei
December 10, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

Loughborough University in the UK is leading a three-year initiative which aims to assess the impact of introducing connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) in Europe.

The £5.7m project, called Levitate, is funded by the European Union and will help European cities to plan for the effect C/AVs will have on infrastructure and society.

Levitate began this month and will consider how AVs might improve safety, congestion and the environment, while looking at key policy decisions which would maximise their benefits.

The project’s principal investigator, Professor Pete Thomas of Loughborough Design School, says: “These vehicles bring new challenges and have the potential to disrupt mobility in both good and bad ways. Our job in Levitate is to provide a new scientific basis that will enable cities and regions to make policy decisions that are the best for each circumstance.”

Researchers will work with nine academic and research institutions from across Europe, Australia, China and the US, as well as Transport for Greater Manchester and the city of Vienna. Other cities which are involved include London, Barcelona, Paris, Stuttgart, Berlin, Amsterdam and Gothenburg.

Some estimates suggest that 25% of vehicles could be completely autonomous by 2030 – with the rest classed as highly autonomous.

Given that human error is a factory in 90% of crashes, C/AVs have the potential to improve safety – but there are a number of issues which need to be solved, including consumer fears over inadequate control systems and worries about how control is switched between human driver and vehicle.

Thomas said: “Additionally, it is expected that, while vehicle automation may bring an improvement in mobility for people with disabilities, it could have the effect of increasing traffic and road use by up to 14% with a related additional environmental impact.”

Levitate will create a web-based toolkit to help city planners forecast the impact of autonomous mobility and design infrastructure to suit. It will also examine the mobility technologies that will give the greatest economic return.

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • Michigan fosters real-world testing of workzone ITS
    September 19, 2017
    Turning a ‘problem’ into ‘an opportunity’ is the mantra of just about every business book and Michigan Department of Transportation (MDoT) looks set to achieve that aim in Oakland County, where 29km (18 miles) of the I-75 needs to be reconstructed. Running north-northwest from Detroit, the I-75 carries around 170,000 vehicles per day but, being built in the 1970s, it now requires an additional lane in each direction and upgrading to the latest design and safety standards. Upgrading will be carried out in
    Read More
  • Europe’s EasyWay project accommodates political requirements
    May 29, 2013
    The EasyWay project has evolved to take account of political developments at the European level. By Jason Barnes The European Union’s (EU’s) EasyWay ITS deployment project has its roots in the ambitions of former European Commission President Jacques Delors with regard to truly international networks for energy, information and for transport. Definition of what became known as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) began back in 1994 with seven working groups. They produced an R&D and policy framework
    Read More
  • Terrestrial solution to stellar shortcomings
    December 5, 2013
    Inherent weaknesses in satellite communications are leading several countries to re-evaluate terrestrial-based backup systems. There is a tale frequently told in satellite navigation circles, of how landing systems at Newark Airport were disrupted by a truck driver using GPS jamming equipment as he drove along the New Jersey Turnpike. While there was no threat to flight safety as the interference to GPS reference stations being tested, the story highlights how apparently benign threats have the potential t
    Read More
  • IAM RoadSmart: high profile policing and consistent sentencing need to back up life time sentences for drivers who kill
    October 17, 2017
    IAM RoadSmart (IRS) has welcomed the new UK government legislation that could issue life sentences to drivers who cause death by speeding, street racing or while a mobile phone, or under the influence of drink or drugs. However, the road safety charity warned that high profile policing and consistent jail sentences are also needed to tackle reckless driving that kills.
    Read More

Highlighted Content