Urban Planning: How can vehicle data for urban safety be best exploited? The city perspective.
This opinion piece by Laura Val Ibort, EIT Urban Mobility, originally appeared in the European Transport Regulation Observer, “Making use in the public interest of data generated by connected vehicles” (December 2024).
The European Commission’s Vision Zero initiative sets ambitious targets: zero road fatalities by 2050 and a 50% reduction by 2030. While road fatalities in the EU have decreased by 12% over the past five years, progress has slowed, with 20,400 deaths recorded last year – only a 1% decrease from the previous year.
Urban areas present unique challenges for Vision Zero. Although speeds are lower, the complexity of traffic and the coexistence of multiple transport modes contribute to 40% of road fatalities and 56% of serious injuries. Other factors, including outdated traffic laws, unsafe behaviour and old road design, also play a role.
Leveraging Mobility Data for Urban Safety and Efficiency
Mobility data offers cities the ability to make data-driven decisions that enhance safety and efficiency. For example, the European Commission reports that real-time data navigation saves over 27 million hours of public transport users’ time and reduces labour costs by up to €20 billion annually for car drivers.
Effective mobility data management empowers urban planners to make well-informed decisions and assess the impact of measures employed. Moreover, fostering innovation related to data on travel patterns, congestion and infrastructure usage can enhance transport systems and services.
In addition, data management technologies that gather real-time information from vehicles, sensors and smartphones can unlock opportunities for innovation in areas like smart cities (including digital twins), autonomous vehicles and sustainable transport solutions such as public transport, shared mobility and active mobility options.
The challenges in urban road safety
Mobility in European cities is undergoing a rapid change, with a shift towards active mobility options like walking, e-bikes, scooters and other micromobility vehicles, alongside the rise of autonomous vehicles. This evolving landscape poses significant safety challenges, especially for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists, who made up nearly 70% of urban road fatalities in 2022.
To ensure the safety of all users, urban roads must be adapted for new transport modes and technologies, with a special focus on protecting the most vulnerable users.
Intelligent transport systems: opportunities for safer urban mobility
The challenges of new mobility patterns also bring opportunities to deploy intelligent transport systems (ITSs). ITSs can gather mobility data from various sources, including bicycles, scooters and pedestrians, thus enhancing protection for vulnerable users. ITS solutions enable cities to promote active, healthy and sustainable mobility while reducing road accidents.
To maximise the impact of ITSs, road infrastructure must integrate safety features across its life cycle – from design to maintenance and operations. ITSs support safer road design by optimising traffic management and collision prevention, and in maintenance they enable prompt issue detection and efficient repair scheduling. Safety auditing tools in ITS frameworks have reduced traffic accidents by 10-25% in a road’s lifecycle and by up to 20% on existing roads. In daily operations, ITS technologies enable effective traffic monitoring, incident prevention and real-time information dissemination to road users, ensuring smoother traffic flow and improved safety.
Conclusion
Achieving Europe’s Vision Zero targets for road safety will require joint efforts to address the unique challenges of urban mobility. While progress has been made, urban areas are struggling to reduce the rates of road fatalities and serious injuries due to complex traffic conditions and diverse transport systems. In some countries, like Austria, the rate of cyclist fatalities is even increasing.
Investing in gathering mobility data with intelligent transport systems can help cities make informed safety-focused decisions and protect vulnerable road users. By prioritising these areas, cities can create a safer more efficient environment that supports active sustainable mobility for all.
