Major European project for safer cycling

A major EU project is studying ways of facilitating the interaction between cyclists and motorists with the help of technical aids in order to reduce the risk of accidents. Project Xcycle, which involves researchers from six European countries, aims to find ways of achieving greater equality for cyclists in traffic, encouraging more cycling, and making travel by bicycle safer. The Swedish Road and National Transport Research Institute (VTI) is a major player in the project and are responsible for evaluating
November 8, 2016 Read time: 3 mins

A major EU project is studying ways of facilitating the interaction between cyclists and motorists with the help of technical aids in order to reduce the risk of accidents.

Project Xcycle, which involves researchers from six European countries, aims to find ways of achieving greater equality for cyclists in traffic, encouraging more cycling, and making travel by bicycle safer. The Swedish Road and National Transport Research Institute (5230 VTI) is a major player in the project and are responsible for evaluating the entire concept.

To achieve the project objectives, it has been divided into six work packages (WP), spanning 42 months. Three of these will examine and test systems and assess and integrate the results for further evaluation. The systems under evaluation include:

Infrastructure-based systems using bicycle-friendly infrastructures incorporating green wave technology; Xcycle will investigate the potential of signals that can adapt to the cyclists’ behaviour, thereby catering to low-flow situations where the risk is greater.

Cooperative systems, where intersections are equipped with sensor such as radar, cameras, or RFID readers that would locate the position of cyclists and wirelessly transmit this information to other vehicles.

Vehicle-based systems, using image processing or radar technologies to locate cyclists and warn other drivers.

Xcycle focuses on bicycles as users who have distinctive needs and behaviours from those of other vulnerable road users such as pedestrians or motorcyclists. Passive or active detection, to increase the visibility of cyclists, can be a practical and viable solution. The use of on-bike technology to protect cyclists is still in its infancy.

“We are to develop technical solutions to warn both drivers and cyclists of potential incidents, for example, at intersections. These could be methods for displaying information both in vehicles and out in traffic, systems that work together to reduce the risk of collisions,” says VTI researcher Katja Kircher.

One work group will develop and test systems incorporating advanced sensor technology that can detect and issue warnings when cyclists are near larger vehicles. Another group will create a traffic signal system that reduces the risk of accidents. These new systems will be tested by German company Braunschweig at a new testing ground designed for infrastructure and traffic research.

Researchers will also develop a demonstration cycle for testing technology that will be able to cooperate with other vehicles.

Xcycle is an EU project within the EU framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon 2020. The project began in May 2015 and its final report is due in October 2018. Nine organisations from Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Sweden and Germany are participating.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

VTI

Related Content

  • HeERO - harmonising e-Call across Europe
    March 1, 2013
    The second stage of the EC’s HeERO project, which aims to address some of the issues surrounding the eCall system, has just got underway. Jason Barnes reports. As the European Commission (EC)’s Har­monised eCall European Pilot (HeERO) project progresses into its second stage, ‘HeERO 2’, significant progress has already been made in addressing the technological and institutional issues relating to the pan-European deployment of an eCall system based around the new ‘112’ universal emergency telephone number.
    Read More
  • Airborne traffic monitoring - the future?
    March 1, 2013
    A new frontier in the quest to monitor road traffic is opening up… but using airborne drones to reduce the jams comes with some thorny issues. Chris Tindall reports. Imagine if you could rely on a system that provided all the data you needed to regulate traffic flow, route vehicles and respond swiftly to emergencies for a fraction of the cost of piloting a helicopter. That system exists, but as engineers and traffic managers start to explore the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – more commonly k
    Read More
  • Flir Systems showcases range of thermal imaging cameras
    September 8, 2014
    Here at this year’s ITS World Congress, Flir Systems is showcasing its range of thermal imaging cameras for traffic monitoring and surveillance on highways. Needing no light at all to produce an image, the company’s FC-Series, PT-Series and D-Series can be used for a wide variety of traffic applications.
    Read More
  • Safer roads need safe systems approach, better infrastructure
    January 19, 2012
    Some developed countries are far from leading the way when it comes to making road infrastructure safe. In fact, says the Road Safety Foundation's Joanne Hill, they learn a lot from what is happening in emergent nations. A new report from the Road Safety Foundation, 'Saving Lives, Saving Money - the costs and benefits of achieving safe roads', makes some startling assertions about attitudes to road safety. Although concerned predominantly with the UK, there are some universal lessons to be learned, accordin
    Read More

Highlighted Content