TRL: ‘To ensure future road safety - don’t repeat the past’

The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) says that future road safety will require innovation rather than repeating past measures. Speaking at the UK Department for Transport (DfT)’s International Road Safety Conference, TRL’s academy director Richard Cuerden discussed why a paradigm shift is needed in the transport sector’s approach to road safety interventions to ensure road casualties are reduced significantly by 2030. The number of deaths on the world’s roads remains unacceptably high, with an e
September 6, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (491 TRL) says that future road safety will require innovation rather than repeating past measures.

Speaking at the UK 1837 Department for Transport (DfT)’s International Road Safety Conference, TRL’s academy director Richard Cuerden discussed why a paradigm shift is needed in the transport sector’s approach to road safety interventions to ensure road casualties are reduced significantly by 2030. The number of deaths on the world’s roads remains unacceptably high, with an estimated 1.35 million people dying each year.

Cuerden discussed the digital revolution in transport and how the challenges and opportunities of new innovations must be tackled to ensure road safety.

He said that the design of smart liveable cities with zero emissions and zero casualties demands more walking, cycling and the use of public transport, rather than the use of private vehicles.

Urbanisation presents challenges and opportunities, Cuerden added. Good design, removing the need for motor vehicles wherever practicable, could be the most suitable solution. TRL envisages a world in which C/AVs, public transport and bike hire schemes will give users multiple transport options between residential, industrial and commercial districts.

TRL is building the UK’s flagship testbed for C/AVs – London’s Smart Mobility Living Lab - and working in partnership with TfL to accelerate the real world delivery of new mobility products and services.

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • UK Government announces funding for Smart Mobility Lab in London
    October 23, 2017
    A consortium led by TRL has been awarded £13.4 million ($10.1 million) of the UK government's £51 million ($38 million) Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) testbed funding to create a Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) in Greenwich and nearby Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London. The funding is part of the £100 million ($75 million) UK CAV test bed competitive fund and is the first investment by government and industry through Meridian to develop a national CAV testing infrastructure.
    Read More
  • UK smart mobility living lab launched in London
    February 19, 2016
    UK transport consultancy, the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), has launched the UK Smart Mobility Living Lab @ Greenwich; a real-life environment where connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), services and processes can be safely developed, evaluated and integrated within the local community. Based in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London and supported by UK government, the UK Smart Mobility Living Lab @ Greenwich helps organisations bring solutions to market faster by enabling them to be trialled a
    Read More
  • Autumn budget: EV charging infrastructure fund and higher tax rates for diesel vehicles
    November 23, 2017
    Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has announced a £400m ($532m) charging infrastructure fund for electric vehicles (EVs), an extra £100m ($133m) investment in Plug-In-Car Grant, and a £40m ($53m) in charging R&D in the UK’s Autumn Budget 2017. He added that laws need to be clarified so that motorists who charge their EVs at work will not face a benefit-in-kind charge from next year.
    Read More
  • London needs just one road user charge, says report
    July 8, 2019
    London’s patchwork of road charging schemes should be replaced by a single, distance-based user charge, according to new research. Apart from anything else, it would be much fairer… The UK capital’s multiple road charging schemes require a radical overhaul, according to a new report by the Centre for London thinktank. The suggested solution is to replace existing levies on drivers with a single, distance-based user charge which would more fairly reflect how much, and at what time, people are using London
    Read More

Highlighted Content