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.

UTC

Related Content

  • October 26, 2017
    USDoT looks at the costs and potential benefits of connected vehicles
    David Crawford looks at latest lessons learned from the trials of connected vehicles in the US. The progress of connected vehicle (CV) technologies takes centre stage among the hot topics highlighted in the September 2017 edition – the first since 2014 – of the ‘ITS Benefits, Costs and Lessons Learned’ survey from the US ITS Joint Program Office (JPO). The organisation is an arm of the US Department of Transportation (USDoT).
    Read More
  • November 18, 2014
    ITS needs data highways
    Transport and traffic data is on the increase but there must be an integrated data highway to derive the maximum ITS benefits, argues Deutsche Telekom. From public transport operators recording increasingly precise and comprehensive data on their vehicle’s position and driving behaviour to local authorities using RFID and video systems to control traffic on their streets and highways, the amount of traffic data is growing rapidly.
    Read More
  • October 13, 2021
    Vitronic tackles traffic congestion
    Vitronic is presenting visitors with versatile, flexible, and user-friendly traffic technology solutions. The company is addressing two of the most important questions of future mobility: the climate crisis and increased traffic volume in cities
    Read More
  • June 2, 2016
    TISPOL conference sheds new light on VRUs
    Geoff Hadwick reports on TISPOL’s efforts to protect vulnerable road users. At its annual conference in Manchester, TISPOL, the pan-European roads police organisation, called for the better protection of vulnerable road users. The statistics show a worrying trend as, since the turn of the century began, it is only the passenger car sector that is reducing its share of the overall EU fatality stats. Cyclists, motorcyclists and the elderly are all continuing to see their share of the figures worsen.
    Read More

Highlighted Content