EvoRoads’ consortium consists of 20 partners from all over Europe with different backgrounds and areas of expertise. To understand what’s behind EvoRoads and how it is relevant for citizens and other stakeholders we are launching a series of interviews with the project’s team. Today, Ellen Grumert (Research Director Traffic safety and traffic systems) introduces the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI).
Can you tell us a little about your organisation?
The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) is an independent and internationally prominent research institute in the transport sector. Our principal task is to conduct research and development related to infrastructure, traffic and transport.
Our operations cover all modes of transport, and the subjects of pavement technology, infrastructure maintenance, vehicle technology, traffic safety, traffic analysis, transport system users, environment, planning and decision-making processes, transport economics and transport systems.
We are an assignment-based authority with about 240 employees.
What prompted your organisation to join the EvoRoads consortium? What is the role of your organisation in the project?
We are dedicated to research and knowledge on ways to improve traffic safety. We have extensive experience of analysing traffic safety impacts and injury countermeasures aligning with Vision Zero. Using novel data collection methods and new types of data with finer time-space resolution makes it possible to analyse traffic safety issues in new ways. We provide KPI methods for dynamically updating the road safety status. Understanding user behaviour and implementing nudges that improve traffic safety is important.
Which outcome is your organisation looking forward to the most?
We have a strong interest in the use of data for analysing the transport system and developing improvements that contribute to traffic safety. Further, we think it is important with sound and solid methods that consider uncertainties and risks with using large data sets. We believe that these aspects will become evident and highlighted within this project focused on many different data sources.
Which aspects of EvoRoads do you think are going to be the most impactful for citizens and why?
Initiatives within the project that can be proven to increase safety are of course of large relevance for the citizens. By providing data and thereby insights we might be able to show ways on how to analyse and evaluate countermeasures and thereby prove the usefulness of the countermeasures with respect to traffic safety.
