nordic road and transport research 1-2006

NORDICROAD AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH | NO.1 | 2006

About Man in theTransport SystemP8

New Research inPublic TransportP16

2 | NORDIC NO. 1 2006 www.vti.se/nordic

News from

Danish Road Directorate (DRD)Danish Road Institute (DRI)

The Road Directorate, which is a part of TheMinistry of Transport & Energy, Denmark, isresponsible for development and management ofthe national highways and for servicing and facilita-ting traffic on the network. As part of this responsi-bility, the Directorate conducts R&D, the aim ofwhich is to contribute to efficient road manage-ment and to the safe use of the network. The mate-rials research component is carried out by theDanish Road Institute.

Technical ResearchCentre of Finland (VTT), VTT Technical Research Centre

of Finland is a contract research organisation with astaff of 2,800. In this joint publication, the VTTexpertise areas cover research and development oftransportation, logistics and road structures. Thework is carried out in five research groups employ-ing a staff of 60.

Icelandic Road Administration(ICERA)The ICERA's mission is to provide the

Icelandic society with a road system in accordancewith its needs and to provide a service with the aimof smooth and safe traffic. The number of employe-es is about 340. Applied research and developmentand to some extent also basic research concerningroad construction, maintenance, traffic and safety isperformed or directed by the ICERA. Developmentdivision is responsible for road research in Iceland.

Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA)

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is oneof the administrative agencies under the Ministry ofTransport and Communications in Norway. TheNPRA is responsible for the development andmanagement of public roads and road traffic, aswell as the Vehicle Department. This responsibilityincludes research and development of all areas rela-ted to road transport and the implementation ofR&D results.

Institute of TransportEconomics (TØI), Norway

The Institute of Transport Economics is the natio-nal institution for transport research and develop-ment in Norway. The main objectives of theInstitute are to carry out applied research and pro-mote the application and use of results throughconsultative assistance to public authorities, thetransport industry and others. The Institute is anindependent research foundation employing aboutone hundred persons.

VTI, SwedenVTI is an independent, internationally estab-lished research institute which is engaged

in the transport sector. Our core competence is inthe fields of safety, economy, environment, trafficand transport analysis, behaviour and the man-vehic-le-transport system interaction, and in road design,operation and maintenance. VTI is a world leader inseveral areas, for instance in simulator technology.

Editorial notesNordic Road & Transport Research is a joint publi-cation of six public road and transport researchorganisations in the Nordic countries, Denmark,Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The mainobjective of the publication is to disseminate re-search results and news from the institutions, espe-cially to researchers and decision makers. Each insti-tution is responsible for the selection and presenta-tion of the material from its own scope of activities.

Nordic Road & Transport Research is publishedthree times a year. It is regularly sent out, free ofcharge, to recipients selected by the six jointpublishers. Free sample copies are also sent out onspecial request.

Reproduction and quotation of the texts are allow-ed if reference is made to the author and source.However, legislation regulates and restricts the rightto reproduce the illustrations. Please contact therespective publishing institution for information.

Advertising is not accepted.Correspondence about the contents of the publi-

cation:

Please write to the author or to the respectivepublishing organisation.

Requests for back issues, and notification of add-ress changes:

Readers outside the Nordic countries: please writeto the Editor-in-chief at the VTI in Sweden.

Readers in the Nordic countries: please contactthe publishing institution of your country.

Addresses: see back cover.

The Editorial Board consists of the following representatives of the publishing institutions

Editor-in-Chief, SwedenMagdalena Green, [email protected]

DenmarkHelen Hasz-Singh, [email protected]

FinlandKari Mäkelä, [email protected]

IcelandHreinn Haraldsson, [email protected]

NorwayNils Fearnley, TØI [email protected]ørn Chr. Risan, [email protected]

Graphic DesignJohnny Dahlgren Grafisk produktion AB,

Linköping, Sweden

Issue 3,500

ISSN 1101-5179

Cover Photos.com

NORDIC NO. 1 2006 | 3

Contents

In Brief | p4

What’s Up | p8

Women and Men in Traffic | p9

VMS and Driver Behaviour | p10

Fatigue on the Bridge | p12

New Rider Training System in Norway | p13

Road Safety Lillehammer – Towards Vision Zero | p14

Public Transport Packages of Measures: Lessons learned from combined public transport experiments in Norway | p16

VTI Is Making a Concentrated Effort in Public Transport | p18

Competitive Tendering in Norwegian Public Transport | p20

Multimodal Traffic Information Architecture | p22

Do Japanese Cars Come with a Japanese Pavement? | p24

Female Crash Test Dummy May Improve Protection in Traffic | p26

Praise for the Norwegian Roads Recycling R&D Program | p27

Soil Stabilisation with Lime for Road Construction | p28

Tunnel Investigation and Groundwater Control | p30

Annotated Reports | p31


Six New Road CentresAs previously mentioned in Nordic Road &Transport Research, the Danish RoadDirectorate is expanding in 2007, due tothe fact that the Danish government deci-ded in 2002 to merge the existing 13 coun-ties and 172 municipalities into some 100bigger municipalities. 8,000 km of regionalroads will become municipal roads, and2,000 km will be transferred to the DanishRoad Directorate. Accordingly, some 400employees will be transferred from the pre-sent county administrations to the RoadDirectorate which will establish six Road

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Centres to cover the future national roadnetwork.

The map shows where the six centreswill be situated. In Skanderborg in Jutlandand in Fløng in Zealand, new buildings willbe constructed as an addition to existingbuildings where the Danish RoadDirectorate already has offices.

The other four centres will be located inleased suitable buildings.

Also shown on the map, is the length ofroads which will be administered by each ofthe six Road Centres.

Officially on 1 January 2007, but in rea-lity just before Christmas 2006, theDanish Road Directorate will wel-come app. 300 new employees innewly established Road Centres,where six newly employed Centreleaders will establish routinesregarding construction and main-tenance of the main road networkunder the control of the DanishRoad Directorate. The remainingnumber of new colleagues will con-tinue to work in the road depotsand will only indirectly become aff-liliated with the road centres.

In order to make the integra-tion of the new employees easier, aRoad Directorate Meeting will takeplace in early February where oldand new employees from all officeswill meet each other for a two-dayseminar.

DRUID – An EU projectThe number of accidents that can be coup-led to psychoactive substances – alcohol,drugs and certain medicines – remains at ahigh level. It is accidents involving drugsand medicines which have increased mostin recent years.

The EU project DRUID (Driving underthe Influence of Drugs, Alcohol andMedicine) unites 21 European countries tocombat driving under the influence ofdrugs, alcohol and medicine. Sweden,Norway, Denmark and Finland will beinvolved in the project. The project willcommence mid 2006, given that it is ethi-cally approved.

VTI’s cooperation in the project com-

prises both experimental studies using thedriving simulator, and field studies inwhich the incidence of drugs and medici-nes on the roads will be kept under obser-vation. VTI is also engaged in a subprojectwhich is to study why people drive whileunder the influence.

TØI, in cooperation with the NorwegianPublic Health Institute, will participate inthe work with epidemiology, i.e. prevalenceof drugs and alcohol among the generaldriver population and the accident involve-ment of drivers under the influence of psy-choactive substances. TØI will also partici-pate in the work with enforcement, i.e. thedevelopment of new tools to make detec-tion easier and the cost-benefit analyses ofenforcement methods.

The intention is that DRUID will descri-be the extent and nature of the problem.The actual situation is not known at pre-sent since police checks are often madewhen a high incidence of drugs and alco-hol is suspected. In DRUID the actual inci-dence will also be compared with the acci-dent situation so that a measure of the riskmay be obtained.

The project will also study how policesurveillance can be designed for maximumeffectiveness, and also how driver training,information campaigns and rehabilitationcan be formulated so that the problem maybe prevented right from the beginning.

The project engages 38 partners from21 European countries, with representati-ves from e.g. R&D institutes, universitiesand the police. VTI is taking part as theonly Swedish partner. In view of the com-plexity of the project, experts from manyareas will be needed, and VTI will coopera-te with both the National Board of ForensicMedicine in Linköping and the NationalPolice Board.

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Mobile traffic messagesThe Danish Road Directorate has now star-ted a new service on its website www.trafik-ken.dk, which makes it possible for users ofmobile telephones and PDA’s to receiveup-to-date traffic information via the mobi-le internet. The service can be accessed via

the internet address mobil.trafikken.dk,and gives the road user the possibility toreceive information, which is adjusted tothe small screens of mobile phones andPDA’s, if the road user does not have accessto regular PC’s.

The information available covers themain road network in Denmark and therelevant area can be chosen either bymeans of a map of Denmark or by high-lighting areas from a list of areas.

The information can be accessed through-out the day, every day of the year and ismaintained by the TrafficInformation-Centre at the Danish Road Directorate.

ICERA’s Research Funding2006The Icelandic Road Administration’s bud-get is defined by law as specific part of fueltax income. It is stated in the Road Act, that1per cent of this income goes directly intoresearch and development. Each year, theResearch Department of ICERA asks forapplication for funding of research pro-jects. In 2006 there were 148 applicationsasking for 2,6 million Euros. There were 1,3million Euros granted to 95 projects. Theprojects are divided into four main groups:1. Infrastructure; 2. Traffic; 3. Environ-ment; 4. Society. Most of the projects fallinto the first two groups. Some 15 per centof the projects concern basic research, 70 percent applied research and 15% development.Some of the research projects are worked

TRB prize to TØI researcher Rune ElvikThe committee on statistical methodologyand statistical software awarded TØIresearcher Rune Elvik the prize for bestpaper at the recent TRB conference. In hispaper, "Can we trust the results of meta-analyses?A systematic approach to sensitivity analysis inmeta-analyses", Elvik argues that every meta-analysis involves a number of choices madeby the analyst. The choices made can affectthe results of the analysis. He proposes that

every meta-analysisshould include asensitivity analysis,and develops anindex which sum-marises the resultsof a sensitivity ana-lysis; the robust-ness score.

Transportforum® 2006Transportforum® was held in Linköping,Sweden, in January. It is the largest annualconference for the transport sector inSweden. The entire transport sector meetsto exchange information and to make con-tacts during two intensive days. The well fil-led programme this year attracted about1,600 delegates, 400 of whom hadpresentations.

The opening ceremony this year fo-cused on the role of the railway in societyand called attention to the 150th anniversaryof the railway in Sweden.

Transportforum® has been arrangedsince the beginning of the 1980s, and hasgathered strength both in regard to thenumber of delegates and the number ofpapers since the first conference.

– We make small improvements all the timeto raise the quality, says Rose-Marie Leveau,administrative project leader at VTI. We arealready at work on next year’s meeting.

out by ICERA itself, but most of them areperformed by others, like the universities,other laboratories and consultants.

that we are wrong by hooting or showingtwo fingers, drivers who break the rulesand those who do not consider or respectother motorists.

– There is no point in getting angry intraffic, it is simply impossible to changehow other motorists drive. The only thingyou yourself can influence is your ownreaction to the behaviour of others, saysSonja Forward. Giving vent to one’s angerin traffic can result in causing an accident.

– We need to create greater awareness ofthe fact that traffic is also a matter of socialinteraction. We haven’t always had such anunpleasant traffic environment, and I amtherefore convinced that we can changeagain. Starting to smile at one another is avery good start.


Our behaviour in traffic is governed by anaggressive and hot temperament. This isshown by the studies made by SonjaForward, VTI psychologist and trafficresearcher. An angry motorist often driveswithout care. Sonja’s studies demonstratethat if we are easily provoked in the car, weare also easily provoked outside the car.

There are mainly four types of roadusers that we motorists are irritated by.These are the slow drivers, those who tell us

Roads Elicit SensoryResponses

A road is not only an engineering structurefor traffic. The road is also a provider ofknowledge and experience, a first contactwith the surroundings. It is thereforeimportant that the special features of thelandscape should be borne in mind when aroad is planned.

A country is divided into a number ofgeographical areas of different characters.It may be buildings, farmland or vegetationthat give the area its typical character.During the process of planning the exten-sion of the transport network, it is impor-tant to pay attention to the landscape andits distinctive character. This applies in par-ticular to Sweden which is expected soonto ratify the Landscape Convention of theEuropean Council.

The problem of the fragmentation anddestruction of nature is to be found in thewhole of Europe. An international demandhas arisen for research in this area. The

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The main congress theme at the 12th

International Winter Road Congress ofPIARC in Torino, Italy, in March 2006 was”Keeping road users on the move in winter”.The technical sessions at the congress weredivided in six themes that, in their turn, in-cluded 120 presentations. There was also aposter session with about 20 presentations.

VTI was well represented at the congress.First of all there was Gudrun Öberg,Research Director in the area of infrastruc-ture maintenance at VTI, who gave an add-ress at the opening ceremony on behalf ofthe PIARC Technical Committee 3.4 onWinter Maintenance. She pressed, amongothers things, the importance of sharingknowledge at this kind of internationaloccasions.

There were also seven VTI researcherswho presented their latest research achieve-ments, among them papers presenting acomprehensive model to improve wintermaintenance and road performance calledVintermodellen.

VTI at PIARC International Winter Road Congress

Strong Feelings in Traffic – a Danger

– Very impressive, was a Japanese re-searcher’s commentary of this model.

Different sub-models of this overall win-ter model about road condition, accidentrisk and environment were presented, too.

Read more at www.vti.se/winter.VTI research was also presented concer-

ning the areas of automated monitoring ofground water contamination of deicing salt,archeological artefacts exposed to deicingsalt and road dust generated by road wear.

VTI had also a part in a Nordic boothunder the common slogan ”Nordic snow-how”.

aim of the new interdisciplinary researchprogramme INCLUDE (Integration ofEcological and Cultural Dimensions inTransport Infrastructure Management) isto provide a basis for better adaptation ofcommunication routes to the natural andcultural values of the landscape. The researchprogramme is a cooperation amongSwedish universities, institutes and authori-ties, among whom VTI is included.

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IN BRIEF

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finlandis the biggest contract research organisationin Northern Europe and has competence toprovide its clients competitiveness and newopportunities. This is based on VTT’s abilityto combine different fields of high-levelexpertise to technology solutions and inno-vation services. Through its internationalscientific and technological network VTTcan produce information, upgrade techno-logy knowledge, create business intelligenceand value added to its stakeholders.

VTT’s technology choices are based onmeeting the future needs of markets andsociety. VTT is purposefully focusing itsresources on technologies and core com-petencies that are essential for their futurecompetitiveness. In these areas they intendto maintain their present position of inter-national leadership.

VTT reorganisedIn order to serve its customers better, VTThas reorganised its activities. Prior, VTTconsisted of six research institutes thathave now been replaced with functions andprocesses. VTT’s new organisation and

operating model ensure that the opportu-nities afforded by new technologies spaw-ned from strategic research can be exploitedin collaboration with customers and partners.

VTT is able to support its customers inexploitation of industrial rights and also tooffer testing, product approval, certificationand other expert services in support of pro-duct development and commercialisation.By increasing the parallel working of VTT’sfunctions, the commercialisation of innova-tions can be speeded up and the transitionfrom research to business can be accom-plished seamlessly.

The Research and Development functionis responsible for the production, develop-ment, international competitiveness and effi-ciency of VTT’s R&D services. The functionenables VTT’s expertise to be assembled intoa more efficient and synergistic whole.

The Business Solutions function isresponsible for the marketing and sales ofVTT services and for the development ofbusiness expertise and the customer-fo-cused innovation process. The function isaccountable for the profitability of VTT’scontract research work.

VTT Creates Competitiveness and New Opportunities to its Stakeholders

The Strategic Research function isresponsible for the use of basic fundingbased on VTT’s technology strategy. It steersand co-ordinates VTT’s strategic researchand technological development, andensures the scientific prerequisites forVTT’s activities as well as the maintenanceand development of basic scientific know-ledge. The function is accountable for theresults of VTT’s self-financed and jointlyfunded research work.

The Expert Services function producesthe consulting, testing and certification ser-vices offered by VTT and is responsible fortheir quality and profitability.

The Ventures function handles the com-mercialisation of research results, the deve-lopment of new ventures and spin-offs, andthe exploitation of IPR assets such as thepatent portfolio.Additional information about VTTOlli ErnvallCommunications Director+358 20 722 [email protected]

CorrectionIn the previous issue of Nordic wethat Liisa Hakamies-Blomqvist,former scientific director at VTI,has started at Nordforsk. We wantto make it clear that she is notSwedish, but a Finn who has wor-ked in Sweden.


SWEDENTRA June 12th - 15th Göteborg, SwedenTRA, Transport Research Arena, is anevent for the alignment of the road trans-port research and development stakehol-ders, contributing to a European ResearchArea on road transport. This will contribu-te to a more competitive, sustainable, saferand efficient road transport system. Allaspects of road transport will be covered.

The mission is to support the alignmentof European, national, regional and priva-te research and development actions onroad transport by enhancing the net-working and clustering of Europe's researchand development capacity based on a sharedStrategic Research Agenda.

The conference has a clear EU look asboth the European Commission and theEuropean countries are involved in theconference on many different levels. Forfurther information see:www.traconference.com

WHAT’S UP IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES?

NORWAYRoad and Traffic 2006September 12th - 13th Trondheim, NorwayThe Norwegian Public Roads Administration,The Norwegian University of Science andTechnology and The Norwegian Road andTraffic Association will keep up the tradi-tion and also this year arrange a new confe-rence for road and traffic.

Road and Traffic 2006 appeals to every-body who deals with road and traffic issuesin all sectors of the society. Students areoffered the opportunity to attend the con-ference free of charge. The intension withthe conference is to bring people from dif-ferent areas of specialisation together sothat they can build and extend their profes-sional network. The conference is also anopportunity to bring students and profes-sionals together.

The conference will take place on 12-13September at The Norwegian University ofScience and Technology in Trondheim,the most important educational estab-lishment within the road and traffic pro-

fession in Norway.More details of the

arrangement will bepublished in May-June2006 on the homepa-ge of the conference,h t t p : / / w w w .ntnu.no/videre/kon-feranse/vot/. Theconference languagewill be Norwegian.

Reinforcement of Pavements May 22th - 23th Trondheim, NorwayOn May 22-23, 2006, a seminar on the useof reinforcement in road pavements will beheld in Trondheim, Norway, by jointefforts of Norwegian Public Roads Admini-stration (NPRA), the Norwegian Geotech-nical Society (NGF) and SINTEF.

The seminar focuses on the use of rein-forcement in bituminous layers (wearingcourse or binder course), and in granularlayers (base layer, subbase layer and pave-ment layers in preliminary roads/haulageroads on relatively soft subsoil). Reinforce-ment has been used in several projectsthrough the years, and it is now time formaking a summary of the experience. Thedesign of the pavement and choosing theright reinforcement methods are crucialfor a good result. The basic experience tobe incorporated in future guidelines onreinforcement design, will be presentedand discussed at the seminar.

The seminar is addressed to pavementdesigners, pavement management engineers(roadholders), civil engineering consulting

companies, contractors and reinforcementproduct manufacturers and suppliers.

Registration fee is NOK 3,000 and closingdate for application is May 15, 2006.

The seminar will be held in Norwegian.No translation service is provided, but certainkey information will be available in English.

You will find further information aboutthe seminar on: http://www.sintef.no/vegarmeringsseminar. PH

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There are many attempts to find explana-tions why women drive much less than

men. Many refer to the double role ofwomen, working and being the personprincipally responsible for the householdand the family. For practical reasons,women look for places of work near thehome. At the same time, places of workthat will attract female staff are locatednear housing areas. But the matter is morecomplex than this.

Men find it easier to see the car assomething self evident, and they alsoaccept arguments in favour of car owner-ship more easily. Both men and women areaware of the negative effect the car has onthe environment and equate that effectwith that due to eutrophication by agricul-ture, oil discharges, industrial emissions,etc. Women do not regard the car in thesame self evident way as men, and can seeother options more easily and can also usethese when necessary. They can also under-stand more easily arguments that are crit-ical of car ownership. Several studies referto the greater understanding that women

Women and Men in TrafficMen generally drive more than women. Men and women aretherefore not equal as regards driving, in spite of all progresstowards equality. There are gender differences that areassociated with the complex roles we are collectively allocatedin society and which we more or less accept.

have for environmental and traffic safetyaspects.

On average, men and women travelabout equally often and spend about thesame time travelling, but men travel in, andprimarily drive, the car much more thanwomen. In principle, this holds for alltransport scenarios, but applies most tojourneys to work and journeys on officialbusiness. Women make many more jour-neys connected with giving lifts, such astaking children to and from school.

There are still far fewer elderly womenthan elderly men and young women whohave driving licences. Elderly men havegreater access to a car and keep on drivingto a higher age than women.

On the whole, responsibility for a childhas a great effect on travel behaviour, espe-cially that of women, but it is only to a cer-tain extent that the overriding differencecan be explained in socioeconomic terms.It must be acknowledged that, quite simply,men and women do not have the same typeof relationship with the car.

It is almost impossible to try and explain

why men and women have such differentattitudes to the car. Most explanations areindirect ones, for instance that womenhave greater responsibility for children andthe household, and they do not really ans-wer the question. The car must thereforecontinue to be regarded as primarily a classicmasculine arena, even though changes canbe discerned.

This project has been a study of the lite-rature with the aim of increasing and inten-sifying knowledge of the different underly-ing factors which influence men’s andwomen’s attitudes to the car, car ownershipand driving. The project is seen as the firstpart of a major project in which this studywill form the basis in designing the rest ofthe project.

Magdalena Green, VTI, Sweden

MAN IN THE TRANSPORT SYSTEM

PHOTOS.COM

Title: Men and woman in traffic – A literaturereview

Contact:Hans-Åke Cedersund, [email protected]


Traffic information comprises many dif-ferent sources of information from the

road environment, which are implementedin order to influence road user behaviour.We have investigated the effects of VariableMessage Signs (VMS) on indicators of dri-ver attention in a field study. More specif-ically, the following two questions wereaddressed:• To what extent do car drivers perceive

roadside traffic information and complywith the advice that is given?

• Does traffic information have adverseeffects on drivers in terms of distractingthem from the driving task, and to whatextent can such adverse effects beavoided?

VMS and Driver BehaviourA field study of the effects of Variable Message Signs (VMS) ondriver attention and behaviour has shown high compliance withmessages on VMS, but also that processing of the messagesleads to distraction which might lead to dangerous traffic situ-ations, and thus accidents.

Theory and study designIn order to influence driver behaviour, traf-fic information must attract the drivers’attention and provide information thatcorresponds to their information needs. Atthe same time it should not distract driversfrom their primary task of car driving.Irrelevant information should be avoided.Good knowledge about driver informationneeds, information processing capacity,and limitations is therefore necessary foroptimal design and presentation of trafficinformation.

Driver information needs are related todifferent driving tasks. The sources ofinformation are the vehicle and the trafficenvironment, including traffic informa-

tion. Attention is a precondition for infor-mation processing. Attention may be allo-cated to different sources of information,but conflicts may occur between thedemands from different tasks, eitherbecause the demands are incompatible orbecause they overtax the total attentioncapacity. When task demands exceed atten-tion capacity, the probability of drivingerrors increases, resulting in elevated riskof conflicts or crashes.

Two VMS on motorways were used inthe study. On three evenings, the VMS pre-sented either no message or a messagerecommending an alternative route becau-se of a closed road section.

Compliance with the messages was


Figure 1. VMS influences route choice, but imposes conflicting attention demands on the drivers.PHOTO: FRIDULV SAGBERG

NORDIC NO. 1 2006 | 11

measured by registering the proportion ofvehicles choosing the recommended route.Data on driver behaviour included speedmeasurements and observation of brakingbehaviour based on video recordings. Oneof the VMS is shown in Figure 1, as seenfrom the video camera.

FindingsThe results show that a large proportion ofdrivers comply with the messages. It wasestimated that about every 5th vehicle

Title: Traffic information and driver attention: Astudy of variable message signs and their effectson driving behaviourAuthors: Alena Erke, Rolf Hagman, Fridulv SagbergTØI report no: 799/2005Language: Norwegian with English summaryAvailable on www.toi.no

changed route choice according to therecommendation. Almost none drove asfar as the closed road segment. This indica-tes that a large proportion of drivers com-plied with the message and avoided theclosed road segment, but by choosing analternative route to the one recommendedon the VMS. In this way, VMS can be con-sidered to fulfil its purpose of traffic manage-ment satisfactorily.

However, speed recordings indicatelarge speed reductions when the VMS show

messages. A much higher proportion ofvehicles braked when a message was shownon the VMS than when no message wasshown. Many vehicles additionally changeddriving lane or made others change lane.As abrupt speed reductions, braking, andlane changes lead to increased proportionsof small headways between vehicles follo-wing each other, an increase in conflictsmust be expected, which may lead to colli-sions.

The results lead to the conclusion thatVMS attract attention and can be effectivein influencing route choice, but that VMSand driving impose conflicting attentiondemands on the drivers. Explanations canbe located at different levels of the drivingtask. On the operational level, driving canbe impaired by increased visual load, e.g.due to short reading distance. The tacticallevel of the driving task can be affected bythe attempt of the driver to gain time byreducing speed, which additionally canmake lane change necessary. The strategiclevel of the driving task, which includesnavigation, is the target level of the trafficinformation used in this study. Dependingon formal and content aspects of the mes-sages, the information can additionallyaffect driving on the operational and tac-tical level, by reducing available informationprocessing capacity.

Consequently, traffic informationshould make it possible for drivers to estab-lish an immediate link between the mess-age and the driving task on the target level,without detracting from driving on otherlevels. This can be achieved by increasingreading distance by an appropriate designof display elements, and by use of symbolscorresponding to drivers’ mental represen-tations of the driving task, possibly in com-bination with speed limits.

Alena Erke and Fridulv Sagberg, TØI, Norway



Fatigue on the Bridge

VTI is now entering into cooperationwith the Karolinska Institute and the

Maritime Safety Inspectorate concerning acomprehensive study that will chart thescope of the problem. This will be done bytravelling on the ship and studying andinterviewing the crew.

– The Swedish Maritime Admini-stration estimates that fatigue may be onecause in between 15 to 20 per cent ofgroundings in Sweden, says MargaretaLützhöft, maritime researcher at VTI.

Ships’ officers under a magnifying glassThe study focuses on around 30 ships’ of-ficers. They are asked to keep diaries and tocomplete questionnaires in combinationwith physiological measurements whichwill register fatigue and quality of sleep.What researchers are hoping is that they

will find methods that will reduce fatigue,by combining various measures such aschanged work routines and schedules,improved technology, improved design ofships and dissemination of other know-ledge concerning e.g. the correct food.

Is the problem more serious than before?– I think it is, since crew sizes have beenreduced over the past decades.

Hard watches affect sleep Over the past decades ship’s officers havebeen given increased duties, and often theyare probably alone on watch. The result islong and difficult watches without a suffi-ciently long continuous period of sleep.According to the National MaritimeAdministration, the risk is greatest whentwo officers share the watches over the day,divided into six-hour watches round the

It is not only in road traffic that fatigue is a serious problem.Tired ships’ officers and long periods of duty may be the reasonwhy many ships run aground.

www.vti.se/fatigueatseaContact:Margareta Lützhöft, [email protected]

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clock. It is not unusual for such an arrange-ment to continue for several months. TheAdministration’s statistics show that therehave been 22 groundings in Swedish watersbetween 1997 and 2002 where fatigue hasbeen considered one of the causes. Manyof these were “two-watch” ships.

Regulations are complicatedTo complicate matters further, regulationswhich mean a lot of extra work have beenintroduced. The end result may be thatship’s officers get too little rest, and in theworst case this may lead to lack of attentionon watch. The regulations have beendrawn up to enhance safety on board ships,but in the worst case they may have reducedsafety. According to Margareta, it is dif-ficult to introduce more stringent require-ments such as requirements for more crewmembers. International competition ishard, and the risk is that ships will takeflags of convenience.

– We have so much maritime know-howin our project that we realise we cannotpropose something that would cost somuch that flags of convenience are a risk.We will submit a number of proposals theycan choose from as their economic andorganisational conditions allow, so thatthey can pick the ones that suits them, saysMargareta.

Michael Höglund, VTI, Sweden

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Bjørn A. Lund, [email protected]

Norwegian Public Roads Administration

Our new category A curriculum is alsobased on this matrix as far as training

content is concerned. This is specificallyexpressed by having the training organizedinto our general four-step curriculummodel with emphasizes on the followingseven subjects:

1. Legislation and road traffic as a system2. Maneuvering a vehicle 3. Road traffic skills 4. Economical and environmentally fri-

endly riding 5. Planning and preparation for riding 6. Behavioral and judgmental tendencies 7. Knowledge of one’s own competence

and of one’s personal behavioral andjudgmental tendencies.

The new motorcycle training program ischaracterized by its focusing on basic tech-nical riding skills that have specificallybeen placed in the first part of the training.However, continuous emphasis has alsobeen put on precise technical riding skillsthroughout the entire training process.

Any particular type of training thatmight lead to excessive confidence in one’sown skills has deliberately been avoided. Afour-lesson mandatory safety course in pre-cise riding techniques has therefore beenincluded. For this course we have de-veloped four technical riding exercises thatemphasize the rider’s ability to understand

New Rider Training System in NorwayNorway has implemented new driver and rider training system forall driving license categories from January 1, 2005.

The new training model is largely based on research relatedtheories on driver and rider training development. The GADGETmatrix, (Hatakka, Keskinen, Gregersen & Glad, 1999; Hatakka,Keskinen, Gregersen, Glad & Hernetkoski, 2002) served as thebasis for the development work. The model describes what thedriver or rider must learn at four different hierarchic levels.

that skills in braking and steering themotorcycle in a correct and precise man-ner are the basis of safety on the roads. Thetraining methods have been developed togive the student experience rather than aconformist training in mastering all situa-tions.

The student’s technical riding skillsthen form the basis of the concluding traf-fic training in step four of our general cur-riculum model. Here behavioral andjudgmental tendencies, self-knowledge aswell as planning and preparation for riding

form the central ele-ments. A mandatoryeight-hour category Acourse in safe roadriding, where theory andpractice are integrated, isincluded in this last stepof the training.

It is essential thatriding instructors incharge of teaching accord-ing to the new curric-ulum possess the necessa-ry competence for at-taining the intendedreduction in motorcycleaccidents. A mandatorysupplementary trainingcourse for motorcyclerelated teaching has con-sequently been establis-

hed. The content of this one-week course isprimarily aimed at understanding the cur-riculum’s intentions, precise riding techni-ques, the required training methods andother related topics. This course is offeredby Nord-Trøndelag University College,Faculty of Driving Instructor Education.

PHOTO: BJØRN ANDREAS LUND



The national demonstration projectIn generalThe national demonstration project forVision Zero was established in the districtof Lillehammer in 2003. It will last through2006. The project is based on experiencesfrom a Swedish Vision Zero Project imple-mented in the Trollhaettan region during2000-2001. Initiators behind the Norwegianproject are the Norwegian Public RoadsAdministration in co-operation with thepolice, The Norwegian Council for RoadSafety, Oppland County and the municipa-lities Lillehammer, Øyer and Gausdal. Theproject is embedded in the NationalTransport Plan, the Strategic Plan for RoadSafety and the National Plan of Action forRoad Traffic Safety 2002–2011. The projecthas a total budget of 12,5 million.

The demonstration roadA demonstration road is included in theproject. The demonstration road encom-passes a total of 32 km of a varied selectionroads in the Lillehammer and Øyer muni-cipalities. Euroroute 6 accounts for approx-imately 20 km; County Road No. 312 and319 approximately 10 km; municipal roads,less than 2 km of the total.

Tasks and challengesSome main tasks of the project are to:• Solve an existing problem of frequent

accidents on the demonstration road.• Implement measures against the most

Road Safety Lillehammer – TowardsVision Zero

In Norway approximately 250–300 persons are killed and 1,200are seriously injured in road traffic accidents annually. The levelof effort should be high when it comes to saving lives and pre-venting mutilation. Therefore, in our endeavours towards roadsafety, we focus on Vision Zero. Vision Zero is our image of afuture situation where nobody is killed or seriously injured in roadaccidents – a difficult, if not impossible goal to reach. But theVision should stimulate development of measures for accidentprevention in order to turn this Vision into reality.

serious accidents, based on the philo-sophy that Vision Zero means that lossof life and damage to health will be pre-vented through the reduction of inju-ries caused by unpreventable accidents.

• Use measures in the project that addressesthe entire traffic system, including theroad, the vehicle and the road user.

• Include the thoroughfare, local roads,village roads and town roads. Thedemonstration road includes streetswith heavy traffic and a large number ofpedestrians and cyclists, typical villages(also with substantial tourist traffic), atwo-lane, high-standard road, as well ascounty roads in the form of local roadsrunning parallel to the E6 and usedextensively by cyclists and pedestrians.

• Include a mixture of well-known andnew measures for accident prevention.This also means a combination of well-known measures used in new settings/dimensions.

• Establish a communication centre fo-cusing on road safety and promotingthe project both locally and nationwideat the Norwegian Road Museum atHunderfossen 20 km north of Lille-hammer.

The main challenges of the project are to:• Render visible different courses of

action that can be taken in accident pre-vention.

• Demonstrate what can be achievedwithin a reasonable economic framework.

• Provide space for new perspectives andencourage research institutions to beengaged in the project. Several researchand development institutions are in-volved.

• Enhance awareness of road safety issuesand provide useful information aboutthe project to visitors and to the popula-tion, both locally and nationwide.

Target groupsThe demonstration project targets everyroad user – children, young people, adults,senior citizens, decisionmakers and otherswho in a professional capacity can contri-bute to improving road safety. Reachingthe age group 15-24 is of particular interestas this group is especially prone to accidents.

Project details A number of the measures included in theproject are in themselves so comprehensivethat they can be regarded as separateresearch projects.

Roads• Measures targeting the entire road net-

workThe entire 32 km demonstration roadhas been reviewed with the aim of iden-tifying and improving inappropriatesolutions pertaining to road and road-side design.

More details on: www.nullvisjonen.no

Project manager: Anders Godal Holt e-mail: [email protected]

• Measures targeting Euroroute 6The main focus is directed at motoristssince pedestrians and cyclists only usethis road to a limited extent.- Central barriers/narrow four lane road(width 16 m)- Improved winter operation- Automatic traffic surveillance, in-cluding measurement of average speed- Central line/visual central reserve

• Measures targeting other parts of theroad networkAlong this part of the road network the

main focus is directed at simple measuresthat can provide a better correspondencebetween the speed limit stated on roadsigns and the motorists’ choice of drivingspeed. Particular emphasis is given tomeasures that can improve conditions forpedestrians and cyclists, such as: Theconstruction of a 2,5 km footpath/bicyclelane along County Road No. 312, loweringthe speed limit to 30 kph in streets withmany pedestrians, reducing driving speedsthrough the use of speed bumps, narro-wing the driving lanes and achieving moreorderly street parking in the town ofLillehammer and narrowing the drivinglanes and increasing the width of the roadshoulders on parts of the road network.

During the project period, testing ofsuggestions for new, simple measures thatappear during the process will be facilita-ted.

Vehicles• Demonstration vehicles: In the project,

safety measures in vehicles are demon-strated by offering test rides in vehiclesequipped with ISA (Intelligent SpeedAdaption), alcolock (the “breath alco-hol ignition interlock device” - BAIID)and computerised logs that register dri-ving patterns. The vehicles used have allbeen awarded five stars by EURONCAP.

• CALM technology: The developmentand implementation of wireless commu-

nication between vehicles and a base sta-tion. In the demonstration project,CALM technology is used in con-junction with testing ISA in the demon-stration vehicles.

• Alcolocks in public transport: Tests ofalcolocks have from the autumn of 2004been undertaken in one of the publictransport companies in the town ofLillehammer. Gathering experience ofthe use of the equipment and the opi-nions of users are key issues.

Road users and control The project comprises three componentprojects/packages of measures implemen-ted under the auspices of the three mainagents for traffic safety in Norway: Thepolice, The Norwegian Council for RoadSafety (Trygg Trafikk) and the NorwegianPublic Roads Administration. The activitiesare based on recommendations in the“National Plan of Action for Road TrafficSafety 2002-2011”. The police bears themain responsibility for control/monito-ring, Trygg Trafikk for training measurestargeting children and young people, andthe Norwegian Public Roads Administrationfor training motorists. Cooperation bet-ween these agencies is to be facilitated inorder to improve coordination. Establish-ment of the communication centre “Take alook in the mirror” is incorporated as partof the measures targeting road users, andactivities pertaining to road users are coor-dinated by the centre.

Installation at "Take a look in the mirror" illustrating number offatalities (in 2004).

Euroroute 6, central line/visual central reserve.

Activities among childrens in kindergarden.

Euroroute 6 at Hunderfossen north of Lillehammer.

Demonstration vehicles.

Alcolocs in public transport.

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During the period 1996-2000, the Norwegian Ministry ofTransport and Communications granted 11 million to 18 combinedpublic transport experiments. With the addition of local fundingthe total investment in public transport was 35 million. Here,we present some main findings and lessons learned from thejoint evaluations of the experiments.

The public transport experiments repre-sent a learning process in which

exchange of experience and the informa-tion flow are important elements. A stan-dardised and common evaluation procedu-re was developed in order to facilitate com-parison of the effects of the different typesof projects, and to draw general conclu-sions from the different areas.

The main objective of the majority ofthe experiments in urban areas was toachieve more efficient public transport ser-vices for passengers and companies as wellas to increase the number of passengers.The evaluation scheme focused on met-hods which can provide insight into theseissues.

The standardised evaluation scheme,i.e. the minimum requirement of the localevaluations, has been developed primarilyfor experiments in urban areas. It is a rela-tively comprehensive evaluation and con-sists of the following sources of data, whichhas been pooled in the common evaluationof the schemes:• Travel survey with panel selection• User survey, before and after• Zone data• Patronage data.

Nine per cent patronage increaseOn average the number of passengers hasincreased by 6 per cent. Corrected for fare

increases, the passenger developmentwould be positive in all the urban areaswith an average increase of 9 per cent. Inone area, which despite a major fareincrease had a positive passenger develop-ment, the passenger growth would pro-bably have been 24 per cent if the fare risehad not coincided with the service impro-vements.

22 per cent of public transport users tra-vel more often, and younger people do soto a greater extent than others. At the sametime, people who initially travelled fre-quently, i.e. more than two days a week,state that they have increased their use ofthe bus. In other words, the measures havetargeted the frequent users, and allowedthem to become even more frequent pas-sengers.

Increased competition from carsHalf of public transport users with a dri-ving licence and car in their household sta-ted that they could have used the car on thejourney in question. A competitive publictransport service and restrictions on par-king and driving in the cities appear there-fore to be major factors contributing toincreased use of public transport amongpassengers with car availability.

Around 30 per cent of passengers com-pete for the household’s car(s), and one oftheir main reasons for travelling by public

transport is that ’the car was being used bysomeone else’. Thus there is reason to assu-me that a relatively high proportion ofthem would have used the car if it wereavailable.

At the same time, competition for thefamily car has been reduced during theexperiment period. Passengers have, to agreater extent, a car available when theywant to, and thus public transport becomesmore exposed to competition.

It is easier to lose passengers than toattract new onesThere is a clear asymmetry between theeffects of improved and reduced publictransport service levels. The negativeeffects of reduced service levels are greaterfor almost all quality aspects. The effect ofdeteriorated service levels are aroundthree times higher than improved servicelevels. In other words, it is far easier to losepassengers than to attract new ones.

A “balanced” restructuring of the ser-vice, i.e. where similar numbers of passen-gers experience improved and reduced ser-vice levels, will in fact result in a significantloss of passengers. It is therefore primarilythrough redistribution and targeting of themeasures towards major passenger groupsthat these experiments have been success-ful. "There and back are not the same dis-tance", at least if we measure the effect on

Public Transport Packages of Measures: Lessons Learned from Combined Public Transport Experiments in Norway

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passenger numbers. One should thereforebe extremely cautious not to introduce ser-vices which will probably be removed whenthe test period is over.

A deeper analysis of this asymmetryreveals that it is not the passengers’ evalua-tions of improvements and deteriorationthat are different. On the contrary, it istheir opportunities to change their trip fre-quency which differ, i.e. there are strongerbarriers to increase than to reduce bus use.

Synergy effectsThe urban areas which implemented themost comprehensive and targeted measu-res have had the strongest passengerincrease.

Knowledge of and attitudes towardspublic transport influence the effect of theexperiments. An increased emphasis on animproved service, which can provide better

knowledge of the service and more satis-fied passengers, will provide a better basisfor further improvements. However, whatwill dampen this effect is the fact that morepassengers will reach a "ceiling" in theirbus use. Those who travel by public trans-port on a daily basis to and from work willhave a limited potential for increase intheir bus use. This is even so for significantservice improvements.

The policy package in Kristiansand led to the introduction of a bus metro, where bus routes are timed so that themain route has a high frequency and regular departures to many of the city’s work places, services and schools.

SourcesKatrine Næss Kjørstad and Bård Norheim (2005)Lessons learned from combined public transportexperiments in Norway. TØI report 810/2005 withEnglish summary. Bård Norheim and Katrine Næss Kjørstad (2004)Public transport packages of measures 1996-2000. Passengers’ evaluation of service improve-ments and effect on trip frequency. TØI report736/2004. With English summary. Nils Fearnley and Åse Nossum (2004) Publictransport packages of measures 1996-2000.Economic evaluations. TØI report 738/2004. WithEnglish summary. Alberte Ruud (2005) Packages of public transportmeasures 1996-2000. The effect of informationmeasures. TØI report 774/2005. With Englishsummary. Katrine Næss Kjørstad and Bård Norheim (2005)Combined public transport experiments 1996-2000. The citizens’ evaluations of the measuresand effects on mode choice. TØI report794/2005. With English summary. All TØI reports are available on www.toi.no

PHOTO: HARALD AAS


PUBLIC TRANSPORT

VTI Is Making a Concentrated Effortin Public Transport

VTI is engaged on broad based work in the field of public trans-port with a number of interesting research and consultancy pro-jects. We have also started new research and development pro-jects which have the potential to strengthen the competitivenessof public transport.

Public transport is a fundamental com-munity service. Good public transport

makes for greater welfare, a stronger macro-economy, increased accessibility, betterenvironment and enhanced traffic safety.Public transport is also a strategic mode thatis of great importance for regional develop-ment. We at VTI have now concentrated ourexpertise to give our clients the best possiblesupport in developing public transport.

Successful development of public trans-port must be based on knowledge. Thework of VTI comprises both research andconsultancy inputs, and we have all theknowledge that is required. Our areas ofexpertise largely complement one anotherthrough natural relationships that offer thepossibilities of development. This meansthat we make use of knowledge and experi-ences from the other areas of expertise atVTI for the development of public trans-port. In the following, you can read aboutsome of the ongoing VTI projects associa-ted with public transport.

TramTrain – Innovative public transportProjects concerning the TramTrain havethe aim of describing and analysingwhether, and how, a regional transport systembased on TramTrain can be instrumentalin creating a better functioning transportsystem in Swedish towns and regions. Themeaning of the name TramTrain is that thetrams are operated not only in towns butcan also run on the ordinary railway net-

work. This is possible because the propul-sion and safety equipment of the vehiclefunctions in both environments. The greatadvantage for travellers is that there arefewer interchanges. Today, people whocommute by train often have to change toa bus or tram when they arrive at the cen-tral stations of the different towns. With aTramTrain they would be able to continuewithout changing, with faster and morecomfortable journeys as a result.

The intention is that the transport sys-tem should join towns and villages andshould create the basis for an expandedlabour market, regional enlargement andeconomic growth. The project is conduc-ted as a case study of broad focus in Öster-götland, Sweden. In this project, VTI is col-laborating with several other consultantsand researchers in the field of transport. In

addition, a network of local and regionalpartners is also participating. The project isto result in a concrete design proposal inpreparation for a future introduction of aTramTrain system. Some of the expectedeffects are greater integration in the labourmarket, a sales market in retail trade thatencompasses the entire region, trainingand the production of other services. Trialruns will be made in May 2006.

School transportMany schoolchildren are using schooltransport to and from school on a dailybasis. Every year, several children are killedin conjunction with journeys on schooltransport. There are important gaps inknowledge that must be plugged to makeschool transport safer and more secure. Inrecent years, VTI has carried out researchwith the focus on both the safety and secu-rity of children who travel by school trans-port and the concessionary travel service.

School transport is a matter not only ofsafety but also security for the children andtheir parents. One essential condition forimproving the safety and security of child-ren who travel by school transport and con-cessionary travel service is that the scope ofaccidents related to school transportshould be monitored. This is essential for anumber of reasons, not least for followingup measures that have been taken, but alsoto find out which measures may be expectedto be most successful.

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Some of the concrete measures that canbe taken with regard to roads and vehiclesis to lay down criteria for what are safeboarding and alighting points, and also tostipulate that they must be sited in such away that the safety and security of childrencan be guaranteed. Stops must also beclearly signposted so that traffic passing by ismade aware that children may be on theirway to and from the stop, and the visibilityof the bus itself must also improved.

Security in the transport systemSecurity is an important societal issue bothnationally and internationally. As regardsthe traffic environment, it is evident that itis not only traffic as such that creates inse-curity but that the environment itself andother people are also significant factors increating insecurity.

It is only the feeling of insecurity in thetraffic system that can alter people’s habitsand cause them to stop moving about inpublic environments and to stop usingpublic transport. Insecurity can also havethe effect that people do not travel or thatthey travel in a way that is different fromwhat would be their first choice. The resultof this may be that the social pattern in theneighbourhood is changed, contacts areweakened, the customer base of shopsalters, the catchment areas of schools arechanged, or the location of service is affec-ted. In the long term, these effects may beserious.

Contact Information:Public transportBengt Stålner, [email protected]

TramTrainRagnar Hedström, [email protected]

Security in the transport systems of large citiesCarl-Magnus Berglund, [email protected]

School transportAnna Anund, [email protected]

www.vti.se/publictransport

Carl Magnus Berglund, VTI, has beenengaged in the study “Security in the trans-port systems of large cities – opportunitiesto identify cost effective measures”. Thestudy analyses how a monetary value can beput on measures to enhance security, sothat as large improvements in security aspossible can be achieved at the lowest pos-sible cost. Carl Magnus considers, inter alia,that greater knowledge of what it is thatcreates feelings of insecurity – how strongand how widespread these feelings are – isan essential prerequisite for assessing thecost effectiveness of different measures.

Magdalena Green, VTI, Sweden

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Competitive tendering is a well establis-hed practice for procurement of

public transport services in several coun-tries. Since 1994 the county councils inNorway have been allowed to use competi-tive tenders for the procurement of localbus services. Tendering as a form of pur-chase has been adopted to varying degreesby the different counties.

This article looks in particular at thecost and subsidy savings of competitive ten-dering. It is based on a recent evaluation ofcompetitive tendering in Norwegian localbus transport, where analyses of quantitati-ve data over a 15 year period are combinedwith qualitative assessments of differentcontractual arrangements both for tende-red services and for services not tenderedas a control group.

Evidence from other Scandinaviancountries supports the general view thatcompetitive tendering is associated withcost savings for the procuring body, at leastin the short run. In the longer run, howe-ver, the efficiency gains seem to have hal-ted in Sweden and Denmark, and recentdata indicate little further reduction inunit costs in later rounds of tendering.Costs are nevertheless still below their pre-tendering levels, even though they encom-pass higher service standards.

Norwegian settingAs opposed to their Scandinavian partners,previously dominated by public operators

Competitive Tendering in Norwegian Public Transport

Competitive tendering of local public transport services has beenallowed in Norway since 1994, and its use is increasing. Arecent report analyses the effect of competitive tendering. Thisarticle focuses on the findings with respect to operating cost andsubsidies paid.

running on negotiated gross cost contracts,Norway has a tradition for procurementthrough net cost contracts, often combi-ned with private or semi-private (publiclyowned) operators. Consequently, there isno prominent privatisation process run-ning parallel to the introduction of compe-titive tendering in Norway, since the opera-tors to a large degree already were privatebefore tendering was introduced. Any effi-ciency gains accruing from privatisation asa side-effect of competitive tendering willnot, therefore, materialise in Norway.

The 1994 directive, together with redu-ced state funds for transport and commu-nication purposes, brought about a risinguse of competitive tendering during thelate 1990s. In 2005, 26 per cent of all routeproduction in Norway was procured on thebasis of tendered contracts, covering

around 40 per cent of all passengers.Nevertheless, negotiated contracts stillconstitute the majority of all local bus con-tracts in Norway.

A reduction in the number of bids pertender would indicate monopolisation, orthat the players are dividing up the countrybetween them. The development in num-ber of bidders per bid is therefore a keyindicator for how well the competitionworks. In Norway, the average number ofbidders per tender during the entireperiod from 1994 is around five. There hasbeen a development from the earlierrounds with large variations to a morestable situation today. The number of bidsfor the various tenders has remained bet-ween three and five in recent years in themajority of cases. So far, therefore, thecompetition seems to work well.

Proportion of route production subject to competitivetendering in Norway.

The number of bidders per tender has been relatively stable.

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Tenders have reduced costs andsubsidiesCost and subsidy levels fell in the 1990suntil about 1997/8. Then costs and in par-ticular subsidy levels increased dramaticallytill around 2000 when the curves flattenoff. It is evident that the developments insubsidy payments follow the developmentsin costs. However, the fluctuations in subsi-dy payments are significantly larger thanthe variations in costs. This is partly due tothe fact that subsidies typically are about 30per cent of costs, making changes in sub-sidies related to changes in costs by a factorof three.

Developments in public transport subsidies and cost.1991=1,00.

Econometric models have been estima-ted in order to establish the isolated effectsof competitive tendering on costs and sub-sidy levels. It is found that competitive ten-dering contributes to a reduction in bothcosts and subsidies. The calculations showthat competitive tendering reduces opera-

ting costs by approximately a tenth. A movefrom no competitive tendering to full com-petitive tendering will provide cost savingsof approximately 10 per cent.

Regarding the effects on subsidy levels,the model indicates that a one percentagepoint increase in tendering reduces theneed for subsidies by 0.7 per cent. Giventhe fact that subsidies only cover a fractionof the costs (typically a third) and that thecounty councils have good opportunities toreap the majority of the cost saving in con-nection with tenders, tenders have a grea-ter effect on the level of subsidises than oncosts.

This means that tenders have resulted inmore cost-effective production, and thatthe savings have to a large extent been

Source:J-T Bekken, F Longva, N Fearnley, E Frøysadal andO Osland (2006) Procurement and contracts forlocal bus services. TØI report 819/2006 inNorwegian with English summary. Available onwww.toi.no

taken out in the form reduced subsidiesrather than improved service levels.

Compared with international experience,the cost saving effect from competitivetendering in Norway is on the lower scale.The result is primarily due to the fact thatthe industry had improved the effective-ness substantially already before competiti-ve tendering was introduced.

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Multimodal Traffic InformationArchitecture

Multimodal traffic information architecture is described within theR&D programme (AINO) of the Ministry of Transport andCommunications Finland. The architecture describes the serviceprocesses for transport and public transport networks and fortravellers.

Process areasTransport network and public transportprocesses produce and use real-time data,whereas the traveller process mostly consumesdata. In order to ensure proper informa-tion flows between processes, informationservices are needed to collect data, refine itand deliver information between proces-ses. The traveller process requires informa-tion from all public transport modes andrelevant transport networks in order tomake intelligent decisions.

Transport networks process areaIn the transport networks process area, real-time vehicle monitoring data is used fortransport network maintenance, develop-ment, monitoring, control, and incidentmanagement. Rail transport requires moreaccurate transport monitoring and controlthan road and waterborne transport. Thisis because in rail transport, automated pro-cesses and advanced safety systems setstricter requirements for monitoring andcontrol. For the time being, transport net-work incident management for differenttransport modes in Finland is carried outwith only minor multimodal aspects.

Public transport process areaIn the public transport process area, real-time vehicle monitoring data can be used

The Finnish National ITS Architecture,TelemArk, has been continually develo-

ped since 1998. The multimodal trafficinformation architecture was defined tomake it consistent with European KARENarchitecture. The results of similar archi-tectures and projects such as TRIDENT,EU-SPIRIT, ARKTRANS and U.S. ITSArchitecture were also taken into conside-ration. The architecture was carried out byapplying the Finnish architecture method.

Figure 1 – Multimodal Traffic Information Architecture augments the national telematics architecture with a viewof real-time and multimodal information.

Figure 2 - Real-time multimodal information flows betweenprocess areas.

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for transport and traveller planning purpo-ses. The same process descriptions can beused when planning real-time services forschedule-based and demand-responsivepublic transport in congested and uncong-ested conditions. The real-time monitoringdata will enable public transport operatorsto plan the collaboration of different trans-port modes more accurately, because theyare aware of the locations of the vehicles.This is very useful e.g. in management oftransfers between transport modes and inincident situations. Demand-responsivetransport and taxi centres and terminaloperators will also be able to plan theiroperations better, since they are aware offleet locations in real time.

The process description enables linkingof departures of different transport modesas multimodal traffic chains. The trafficchain can start e.g. as a demand-responsivetransport, continue as a bus or train trip,and end as a local transport trip. It can alsostart as a private car trip and continue withpublic transport such as bus, train, under-ground and tram. When the traffic chain isbetween two cities, it can consist of ship,flight, train, and bus trips. The journey bet-ween two cities requires the whole trafficchain to be planned in advance and veri-fied or planned again during the trip ifnecessary. The accuracy of trip planningcan be improved with traffic predictionsbased on real-time data.

The most significant task is to collectreal-time data from congested areas such ascity centres and long distance transportlinks between cities. In uncongested areasthere is a need to develop more economi-cal systems for collecting real-time monito-ring data.

Fluent transport chains from origins todestinations may improve the competitive-ness of public transport and increase thenumber of passengers who use it. However,assessment of the objective benefits of real-time data requires that real life impacts are

evaluated with the help of scientific evalua-tion frameworks.

Traveller process areaThe architecture describes the journey as amultimodal travel chain. The traveller isfaced with multiple decision points bothbefore and during the journey, and diverseinformation is needed to support his orher decision-making. Before the journey,the traveller has to recognise the need fortravelling and to plan the journey inclu-ding choice of access, main and egressmode and their variations. Thus real-timemultimodal transport planning and infor-mation systems are needed. During thejourney the traveller needs information onthe planned or compensatory transportchains. Hence real-time travel planningand information services to support themultimodal transport chain are needed.

Prediction of transport and trafficsituation in metropolitan areaPrediction of a traffic situation in the met-ropolitan area requires the collection ofreal-time traffic information from trans-port networks. Collection of real-time dataof traffic conditions is decentralised. Thereal-time data is transmitted to the centralservice of the urban area that is modellingthe traffic situation. Traditional systemsshould be augmented by Floating Car Data(FCD) from both public and private vehic-les. Data from mobile location services andfrom traffic signals should also be utilised.Furthermore, video feed and still camerapictures collected by different players

should be transmitted using separate ser-vices.

Real-time road transport route planningReal-time road transport route planningenables the collection, modelling and pre-sentation of real-time traffic, traffic condi-tions and maintenance data. Decentralisedbasic data from the systems of differentplayers should be used, as well as new tech-nologies such as FCD. Traffic situation datais collected as part of a centralised nationalsolution that further transmits data to thetransport situation modelling service. Real-time route planning enables modelled traf-fic and traffic conditions data, as well asincident data, to be taken into account aspart of the route planning.

Real-time public transport travel planningData pools are the most important ele-ments when offering real-time travel plan-ning services for public transport.Implementation of data pools requiresdefinition of multimodal data models,libraries and standard messages in order toensure collaboration of systems by diffe-rent players. Further, the data pools anddata specification implementation of ser-vices requires real-time data on locations ofvehicles.

Figure 3 – Traveller process. The processes producing or using real-time information are emphasised.Architecture solutions.

Mikko Lehtonen and Risto Öörni, VTT, Finland

Report in Finnish http://www.aino.info/julkaisut/5_palvelup/aino20_2005.pdf


On 14-18 November 2005, staff from theDanish Road Institute (DRI) and the

Road and Hydraulic Engineering Institute(DWW) in the Netherlands carried out ascanning tour to Japan in order to obtainthe latest experiences with the use andmaintenance of porous pavements in Japanas well as new concepts and ideas in thefield of noise abatement. The main object-ives of the scanning tour were to collectinformation on clogging and ravelling ofporous pavements and modified bitumenused for porous pavements. The informa-tion obtained is an important input to theresearch and development work inDenmark and the Netherlands for impro-ving the acoustical and structural durabili-ty of noise reducing pavements.

Japan is a densely populated countrywith an intensively built-up road infrastruc-ture. Due to a general lack of vacant land,highways and main roads are often con-structed very close to urban and residentialareas. This creates problems with noisefrom road traffic and therefore noise aba-tement and research and development innew and improved technologies that mayreduce noise effectively have a high priori-ty in Japan.

Porous pavements are used on bothhighways and urban roads in Japan. Thereis a number of reasons for using porouspavements in Japan:

Do Japanese Cars Come with aJapanese Pavement?

The Japanese car industry has learned from the European carindustry and is now one of the world’s leading producers of hightechnology cars. In the fight against noise, Europe has turned toJapan to see if similar developments in pavement technology willhelp decrease the traffic noise from European pavements.

1. To improve traffic safety by improvingskid resistance.

2. To improve traffic safety and comfortfor drivers and pedestrians in rainyperiods by leading the water from thepavement surface thereby reducingsplash and spray.

3. To reduce the risk of flooding in periodswith heavy rainfall by leading water fromthe pavement surface to the gullies andto the subbase.

4. To improve the microclimate in citiesduring night time by retaining raingiving a slower evaporation of waterfrom the road surface and thereby redu-cing the temperature.

5. To reduce traffic noise.

Porous pavements are widely used inJapan, both on highways and in urbanareas. Today, the total area of porous pave-ments is 50 million m2 and it is still increa-sing. On toll roads, more than 50 per centof the pavement is porous. The structuraldurability of porous pavements in Japan isgenerally the same as the durability ofdense graded asphalt mixes. In the warmregions, the structural durability of porouspavements is 10 years or more, and in thecold regions 7–10 years. Structural damageof porous asphalt is a serious problem incold regions. Snow removal operations bysnowploughs cause severe damage in theporous asphalt and rutting and ravelling

occur after a few years. This has led to useof highly viscous SBS modified binders inthe cold regions and to the development ofa ‘hybrid’ pavement with a dense structureand an open surface texture.

Most pavements are single layer pave-ments with 13 mm maximum aggregatesize, 20 per cent built-in air voids and highviscosity 8 per cent SBS modified bitumen.In cold regions, pavements with 17 percent built-in air voids are constructed.Porous pavements are used in urban areaseven at intersections and bus stops, and onhighways in the countryside. At some inter-sections, a special epoxy based surface tre-atment is applied in order to improve dura-bility. Tests with two layer porous pave-ments started in 1998 and they are mainlyused on urban roads. The driving speed isin general low (below 50–60 km/h inurban areas and 100 km/h on highways).

The application of two layer porouspavements in one application as a warm inwarm process is widely used in Japan. Acompact machine is produced by theWIRTGEN Company in Japan and a similarbut larger machine is manufactured by theBAM Company in Europe. The integrationof the top and the bottom layer in one lay-ing process improves the durability of thepavement and construction time, costs anddisruption to road users are reduced signi-ficantly.

In Japan, performance based specifica-

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tion contracts include tire/pavement noiseas a performance indicator. The tire/roadnoise is measured after paving and oneyear later using a special Japanese CPX-method (close proximity method). Shortlyafter the laying, the noise level measuredmust not exceed 89 dB and after one year90 dB. The average level for new singlelayer porous pavements was 88.6 dB, andfor new two layers porous pavements 88.1dB. As a reference, a 13 mm maximumaggregate size dense asphalt concrete isusually used. For single and two layerporous pavements, the noise reduction was2-5 dB for trucks and 4-7 dB for passengercars. Results from long-term measurementshave shown that traffic noise from theporous pavements increases by around 4dB over a five-years period.

New cleaning strategies have been deve-loped with cleaning at higher speed (10-20km/h) and more frequent cleaning (up toonce a week). The vacuum cleaning machi-nes use high pressure water and air pressu-re curtains or only high pressure air. Thefirst generation machines are referred to asfunction recovery machines as they aim atrecovering the function of a cloggedporous pavement. The new cleaningmachines are referred to as function main-tenance machines as they aim at maintai-ning the function of the pavement at alltimes.

Porous elastic pavements are under

development and full scale testing inJapan. The aggregate used is pure rubbermaterial. These pavements are very effecti-ve noise reducing pavements, but the priceis high and an acceptable lifetime has stillto be proven. The noise reduction for pas-senger cars was 7–11 dB and 5–8 dB fortrucks compared to a dense asphalt concre-te. It is believed that further developmentscould lead to a lifetime of 5–10 years. Thedetailed recipes are confidential and arenot published.

In Japan, new futuristic approaches areunder development such as:• Noise barriers with active noise control• New Air Void Assessment Technology• Vehicles with built-in active noise con-

trol towards tire/road noise.The scanning tour has demonstrated

new technologies which improve the effectand durability of porous pavements. Theuse of high viscous SBS modified bindersand other special binders improving struc-tural durability of porous pavements andreducing ravelling and the new Japanesecleaning strategies with better cleaningmachines, cleaning at higher speed (10–20km/h), and more frequent cleaning areconsidered beneficial and ought to beimplemented in Europe.

After all, we cannot expect Japanese carsto come with a Japanese pavement. We haveto implement the technologies ourselves.Carsten B. Nielsen, VD, Denmark.

Contact:Dr. Carsten B. Nielsen [email protected]

The scanning tour was part of the researchwork carried out in the “DRI-DWWnoise abatement program” [1] which isa joint research program carried out bythe Dutch (DWW) and the Danish(DRI) road research institutes in theperiod from 2004 to 2007. The pro-gram is a part of the Dutch InnovationProgram on Noise [2], also called theIPG research program. The scanningtour has been organised by DRI and thePublic Works Research Institute inJapan (PWRI). An intensive programincluding meetings with Japaneseexperts as well as visits to test sites andlaboratories was planned by PWRI. Areport from the scanning tour is avai-lable on www.roadinstitute.dk

The members of the joint delegationwere:1. Leader of the delegation,

Dr. Rob Hofman (DWW)[email protected]

2. Deputy Director Hans ErtmanLarsen (DRI), [email protected]

3. Senior researcher Hans Bendtsen(DRI), [email protected]

4. Senior researcher Bent Andersen(DRI), [email protected]

5. Senior researcher Carsten BredahlNielsen (DRI), [email protected]

[1] The DRI-DWW Noise AbatementProgram - Project description. Note 24,2005. Danish Road Institute, RoadDirectorate.[2] Noise Innovation Program. RoadTraffic. (The IPG programme). DWWreport 2002-073.


Female Crash Test Dummy May Improve Protection in Traffic

VTI has started work on determining the dynamic characteristicsof an average woman. These will be used in developing the firstcrash test dummy in the world that is based on an averagewoman. Existing dummies have been developed with reference toan average male.

The fact that there is no model of an ave-rage woman at present may impose

limitations on how well existing crash testdummies can evaluate the protection pro-vided by different traffic safety solutionsdeveloped for women.

– A crash test dummy that represents anaverage woman can for the first timeenable the automotive industry to designtraffic safety solutions for both averagemen and women. With a dummy thatrepresents the part of the population thatsustains the most injury, we will have a mea-suring tool that makes it possible to evalua-te the effect of different protective systemsand to develop vehicle safety systems forrear end collisions that are designed forboth men and women, says Astrid Linder,research leader at VTI.

If men had had the greatest risk of

being injured, there might have been rea-son to have only a male model. In rear endcollisions, the risk of a woman sustainingneck injuries, i.e. whiplash injuries, is twicethat of a man.

The results of the project will make a sig-nificant contribution to basic biomechani-cal research. For the first time, the geome-tric design and dynamic characteristics willbe determined for a crash test dummybased on an average woman.

For further information, contactAstrid Linder, [email protected]

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The project is financed by SwedishAgency for Innovation Systems, VINNOVA,and developed together with ChalmersUniversity of Technology.

Michael Höglund, VTI, Sweden

Astrid Linder, research leder at VTI.

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Synnøve A. Myren andproject manager GordanaPetkovic from TheNorwegian RoadsRecycling R&D Program inrecycled T-shirts “desig-ned” for the final seminarof the project.

Project manager, Gordana Petkovic, with recycledconcrete.

The Technology Department of theNorwegian Road Directory was com-

mended for taking a national responsibilityand for taking the initiative. The recyclingprogram produced technical and regulato-ry documents, technical documentationfrom full scale testing of recycled materialsin demonstration projects, and was notice-able both nationally and internationally.The project also contributed to bringingthe companies that work with recyclinginto focus.

The Norwegian Roads R&D Programwas also commended for its contribution toinitiation of cultural change and reductionof scepticism to the use of recycled materi-als. Representatives of the constructionindustry said the project exceeded all theirexpectations.

Testing and providing technical docu-mentation may prove to be the easy part.The Norwegian construction market hasnot readily accepted recycled buildingmaterials. In many cases high costs of trans-portation are the reason for good recycledmaterials being used for low-quality purpo-ses in near by locations. The knowledgeattained in the Recycling R&D Programneeds to find its place in contract docu-ments for new road construction projects,preferably in the form of more explicitrequirements concerning the use of recyc-led instead of natural resources.

Praise for the Norwegian RoadsRecycling R&D Program

The staff members of The Norwegian Roads Recycling R&DProgram (2002–2005) were praised by many participants of theresearch program’s final seminar. – Many shared the view thatthe project had created value for the construction sector and thatthe Public Roads Administration had changed from being anobstacle to being an engine for recycling.

Read more on:http://www.gjenbruksprosjektet.net/

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Road construction on weak soils withpoor bearing capacity is in Denmark

normally solved by excavation and replace-ment with better quality materials. Thisresults in subbase layers with rather largethicknesses and total pavement thicknessabove the subgrade of up to 110–120 cm.

When stabilising wet clayey soils withpulverized quicklime it is possible to obtaina considerable increase in the bearingcapacity. Thus, the total pavement thick-ness can be reduced considerably. Thesaving of raw materials is obtained by areduction of the thickness of the frost pro-tection layer, so that smaller amounts ofsand and gravel are used.

The total environmental load is redu-ced, as the requirement for excavation andtransportation of materials is lowered.Thus, there is a reduction in CO2 emissionsand wear on the roads due to heavy trucktraffic.

Also Economic savings are obtained alsoby the reduced requirement of excavation,transportation and consumption of prima-ry raw materials. These savings will in mostcases be considerably greater than the costof lime stabilisation.

Further it is estimated that the increasedbearing capacity of the subgrade will resultin better durability of the road and as such

Soil Stabilisation with Lime for Road Construction

In Denmark, lime-stabilisation of subgrade soils has not beenused for many years on the overall road network. The DanishRoad Directorate is now involved in efforts to re-introduce thismethod in Danish road construction. If the method proves suc-cessful – as it seems to be at present – there are large potenti-als for gains such as savings of natural resources, more durableroads and reduced environmental load.

also reduce the longterm maintenance costs.The Danish Road Directorate is therefo-

re interested in methods which can strength-en “soft” clayey soils, and has decided tocarry out two trials with limestabilization inorder to examine the method in moredetail. The two trials are made in connec-tion with new motorway sections in diffe-rent parts of the country. The common fac-tor in the two sections is that both have a

clayey or silty subgrade with low bearingcapacity. This would normally imply thatlarge subbase layers would be necessary.

The trial programmeThe following assumptions were agreed onfor the trial sections:• The total pavement thickness should be

reduced from 110 cm to 80 cm.• The E-modulus of the limestabilized

Figure 2: Average surface moduli measured with LWD before and after lime stabilisation.

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subgrade should be increased from star-ting values of 10–20 MPa to a minimumof 45 MPa.

• The lime-stabilized layer should have aminimum thickness of 40 cm.

• Results from laboratory testing on soiltypes from the sections form the basisfor the amount of quicklime to beadded and the number of test areas.

• The weather should be dry while thelime-stabilization takes place.

• The lime should not be spread if it isvery windy.Short sections were chosen on the two

different motorway stretchres. Based onthe laboratory testing, lime percentages of2 per cent and 4 per cent were chosen forthe two sections. The stabilisation processwas performed in the summer and autumnof 2005. The lime was spread on the surfa-ce and mixed, with a large Wirtgen reclai-mer (Figure 1). After mixing, the stabilisedmaterial was compact with a steel drum roller,levelled with a grader, and finally rollercompacted again.

For further information, Finn Thøgersen ([email protected])and Tony K. Andersen ([email protected])

Fig. 1: Lime stabilisation of subgrade

The effect of the stabilisation processwas monitored by measuring the surfacemodulus with a Light Weight Deflecto-meter before and at different intervalsafter stabilisation.

Results of the testThe average surface moduli for a numberof measuring points on both sections are il-lustrated in Figure 2. These results clearlyshow that the bearing capacity of both sub-grades have been substantially increasedafter lime-stabilisation. Due to the differentsoil characteristics, the 2per cent limeadded at section 2 resulted in higher surfa-ce moduli than what was achieved with 4per cent lime at section 1. In both cases,the results showed, that poor subgrade soilswith initial surface moduli of 10–20 MPa bylime-stabilisation can be improved to surfa-ce moduli well above the required 45 MPa.

ConclusionThese first results indicate that a conside-rable increase in the bearing capacity of

the subgrade can be achieved by lime-stabi-lization of clayey and silty soils.

Even very soft soils with high water con-tents and very low bearing capacity couldbe lime-stabilized in the test, so that a bear-ing capacity was obtained after 4–5 weekswhich was considerably greater than therequired 45 MPa.

Not all problems have been solved inthis test, especially problems with equip-ment which sinks into the soft soils;however, it can be concluded that lime sta-bilisation of clayey and silty soils in motor-way construction seems to be a methodwith a good future potential also inDenmark.


Tunnel Investigation and Groundwater Control

This report presents, in a condensed form, the results from aresearch programme on tunnel investigations and ground watercontrol. Although the starting point was related to Norwegianconditions, the problems are the same elsewhere and the fin-dings generally applicable.

The results from this programme haveprovided new information about met-

hods to improve tunnel planning and con-struction, and is especially important toareas where lowering of the groundwatertable may cause severe damage to the surfa-ce and man-made structures.The programme was divided into threeprojects:

Investigation methods New geological and geophysical methodswere tested for their potential to locate thedirection of joints and weakness zones atdepth, and the leakage potential, as well asefficient mapping of regional structures.The methods were found to be valuablesupplements to traditional procedures.Completed tunnels were studied in orderto find any relations between investigationefforts and problems during excavation,with the aim to establish the type and app-ropriate amount of ground investigationon a given tunnel project.

Environmental concerns The vulnerability of the environment, espe-cially related to changes in the ground-water table caused by the tunnel construc-tion, is evaluated with the aim to developmethods to quantify accepted levels of lea-kage into a tunnel. Procedures and guide-lines for various conditions are presented.

Pregrouting techniques A specific grouting technique and strategyutilizing thick cement grout is developed.This technique and strategy is a result ofevaluation of grouting performances inseveral recently built tunnels, and has pro-ven to be efficient and give better control onthe amount of water draining into a tunnel.

Norwegian Public Roads Administration.Publication nr 107 (ISSN 1504-5064)Authors: Mona Lindstrøm, e-mail: [email protected] and Alf Kveen, e-mail:[email protected]

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Condition and Development ofthe National Highways

Title: "Statsvejnettet. Oversigt over tilstand ogudvikling." Report 301, December 2005. Author: Flemming ClausenSeries: Report No. 301 (http://www.vejdirektora-tet.dk/publikationer/VDrap301/index.htm)Language: Danish

The Road Directorate has published areport in Danish describing the conditionand development of the National Highwaysin Denmark for the year 2004. The reportdeals with themes regarding traffic volu-mes, transport quality, road and bridgemaintenance conditions, service facilities,road safety, intelligent transport systems,environmental conditions and road accounts.

The report consists of maps, graphs,tables and text, which aim to give the readera general overview of the present conditionand development of the national highwaynetwork. The report is also available inelectronic form (HTML and PDF) from theDanish Road Directorate´s web site.

Noise Reducing Pavements

Title: Traffic Management and Noise ReducingPavements. Recommendations on AdditionalNoise Reducing MeasuresAuthors: Hans Bendtsen, Jürgen Haberl, JohanLitzka, Ernest Pucher, Ulf Sandberg, Greg WattsSeries: Report 137(http://www.vejdirektoratet.dk/publikationer/VIrap137/index.htm)Language: English

This report is produced as Deliverable 12 -“Recommendations on additional NoiseReducing Measures” - of the EU researchproject SILVIA. The goal is to investigatetraffic management measures in order tohighlight their capacity for noise controland to evaluate the possibilities and effectsof combining traffic management measu-res with the use of noise reducing pave-ments especially in urban areas. Trafficmanagement measures such as environ-mentally adapted “through” roads, 30

km/h zones, road humps, roundabouts,restrictions on traffic in special periods,speed control etc. are used on many urbanroads in Europe. The first part is focusedon analysing the relations between speedand noise. The effects of uneven drivingpattern with accelerations and braking areincluded. This is analysed on the back-ground of prediction models like theNordic Method and the Harmonoise meth-od. The second part is a comprehensiveEuropean literature survey to find andcompile existing relevant knowledge. Onthis background the final results andrecommendations for road administratorsare developed.

Durability of Porous Asphalt

Title: Durability of Porous AsphaltAuthors: Carsten Bredahl Nielsen, Jørn Raaberg,Erik NielsenSeries: Report 139(http://www.vejdirektoratet.dk/publikationer/VIrap139/index.htm)Language: Danish with English abstract

Three Danish asphalt contractors appliedin March 2000 for financial support fromthe Danish Environmental ProtectionAgency programme for cleaner technologyto develop more durable drainage asphaltmixes. The reference of the project asregards durability is the drainage asphaltpavement, which has been carried out onØster Søgade in Copenhagen. It is thus the

aim of the project to design a pavement,which has a better durability than the refe-rence pavement evaluated by tests of labo-ratory produced materials. The greatestpossible noise reduction should at thesame time be maintained for the longestpossible period.

The present report integrates severalmore detailed reports. In the reportasphalt testing (in Danish) the durability ofdifferent mixes is assessed from laboratorytesting, whereas the report mortar testing(in Danish) is a more detailed assessmentand optimisation of the durability of themixes and explains the results of theasphalt testing. A Dutch guide on design,laying and maintenance of drainageasphalt is translated into Danish and inte-grated in relevant sections of the presentreport after a rewriting and adaptation toDanish conditions.

Rolling Resistance, FuelConsumption and Emission

Title: Rolling Resistance, Fuel Consumption andEmission - a Literature ReviewAuthors: Hans BendtsenSeries: Technical note 23 (http://www.vejdirekto-ratet.dk/publikationer/VInot23/index.htm)Language: English

This note on rolling resistance is producedas a part of the Danish contribution to theSILVIA project. The SILVIA project is basi-cally about issues related to noise reducingroad surfaces. The theme for work package3 is cost/benefit analysis. Topics like trafficsafety, mobility and sustainability are inclu-ded in this work package. Task 3.2 coversthe topic of sustainability aspects of lownoise road surfaces. This has been subdivi-ded in to the themes of rolling resistance,fuel consumption and emissions, water pol-lution and the use of materials and recyc-ling. This note is about the theme on rol-ling resistance, fuel consumption and emis-sions. The goal of this report is to investiga-te if the use of noise reducing pavements

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(in this case porous pavements) will chan-ge the fuel consumption and the emissionsof the vehicles driving on the pavement. Asystematic international literature surveyhas been conducted and the results arereported in this note.

When the rolling resistance coefficientis increased, the fuel consumption is alsoincreased. It seems that the unevenness ofpavements as well as the megatexture is themost important factor for determining therolling resistance and by this the fuel con-sumption of different pavements. The macro-texture seems to be less important. No spe-cific data for porous pavements and othernoise reducing pavements have been ret-rieved. When noise reducing pavementsare designed it is basically the macrostruc-ture and the porosity that are optimizedand these do not have a great influence onthe rolling resistance. A first conservativeconclusion is that porous pavements donot influence the rolling resistance and thefuel consumption if the porous pavementis evaluated against a dense pavement withthe same maximum aggregate size.

Mechanistic Design of Semi-RigidPavements

Title: Mechanistic Design of Semi-RigidPavements - An Incremental ApproachAuthors: Finn Thøgersen, Christian Busch, AndersHenrichsenSeries: Report 138(http://www.vejdirektoratet.dk/publikationer/VIrap138/index.htmLanguage: Danish with English abstract

A number of semi-rigid pavements con-structed in the 1970s in Denmark haveshown superior performance, with limitedreflective cracking and long life of the wea-ring courses. With this experience as back-ground, an incremental-recursive deterio-ration model has been set up for cementbound base materials. The model wascalibrated with data from full-scale test sec-tions loaded with a Heavy Vehicle Simulator

and further validated with data fromDanish motorway sections. Laboratory testswere performed in order to investigate theeffect of various mix design parameters forcement bound mixtures.

Responsibility for Traffic Safetyon the Road Transport Chain –Management of Traffic Safety

Title: Responsibility for Traffic Safety on the RoadTransport Chain – Management of Traffic SafetyAuthors: Juha Tapio, Jarkko Lehtinen, Ari Sirkiä,Harri Peltola, Raine HautalaSeries: Ministry of Transport andCommunications, LINTU Reports 2/2005 http://www.lintu.info/lintu_TAKU.pdfLanguage: Finnish with English abstract

Order procedures and quality assurancesystems used in Finnish road transportwere examined in this study. Whole trans-port chains as well as single companies ope-rating on transport chains were conside-red. The objective was to observe possiblelatent risks from the viewpoint of trafficsafety. Proposals are given for improvingorder procedures, and suggestions aremade for quality assurance systems thatmight contribute to traffic safety and dividethe responsibilities for safety more equallyamong all parties involved in the transportchain.

Eighteen persons with practical experi-ence on a strategic or operational level in

companies that operate in different rolesin the transport chain in Finland, and twopersons in Sweden were interviewed. Aworkshop was then held where initialresults were presented to the interviewees.Based on these measures the researchersmake the following suggestions:

The role of traffic safety in order proce-dures and quality assurance systems is notas important as it should be. At present, theclient of the transport company determi-nes the quality attributes for a given trans-port, and all other parties in the transportchain conform to the requirements. Theclient should also have a similar grip of thetransport chain as regards traffic safetyissues. The client should consider trafficsafety as part of the strategic planning in acompany, in the same way that transport-related environmental issues are alreadyconsidered in several companies.

Participants in the transport sectorshould establish a quality assurance systemto help traffic safety management in thetransport chain and in single companiesoperating in the chain. Impartial organisa-tions should be nominated to maintain anddevelop the system and to audit transportoperations in practice. Traffic safety shouldbe included in corporate responsibility aswell. Public interest in the traffic safetylevel of road transport could motivateclients of transport companies to activelyinsist on a better traffic safety level of trans-port operations in practice.

In an invitation for tenders, the preciserequirements for the traffic safety level oftransport companies should be described.Detailed invitation for tenders creates com-mensurable offers. Acceptance of an offershould be based on total economic calcula-tions, which means that also other attribu-tes than cost should be taken into account.

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Pre-Study on Road User ChargingSystems

Title: Pre-study on Road User Charging SystemsAuthors: Kristian Appel, Heli Mattila, Traficon Oy,Juha Tervonen, JT-Con, Jukka Räsänen, VTTSeries: Publications of the Ministry of Transportand Communications 17/2006Language: Finnish with English abstract

Road user charges have been collected inEurope and around the world for manyyears. User or congestion charges areapplied not only for financing of transportinfrastructure and its maintenance but alsoas a traffic management tool to reducecongestion and emissions, for access con-trol to cities and as an environmental char-ge for heavy goods vehicles. In many coun-tries user charges are an integral part oftransport taxation policy and transportinfrastructure financing. Road user char-ges are also an important element ofEuropean transport policy to ensure sustai-nability. The Commission aims at a situa-tion where the costs of the infrastructureare mainly covered by the users. A roaduser charging system enables differentia-tion of the charges according to vehicletype, time and location of use.

The European Parliament and theCouncil have in 2004 given a Directive oninteroperability of Road User Charging sys-tems in Europe that also defines the tech-nologies to be used for the on-board equip-ment: satellite positioning (GNSS), cellularnetworks (GSM + GPRS) or short rangecommunication (DSRC 5,8 GHz).According to international legislation on-board equipment can not be mandatoryfor foreign vehicles and therefore alternati-ve ways of payment has to be offered. Forreasons of equality the charge has to be thesame regardless of the way of payment. Forheavy goods vehicles also the so calledEurovignette Directive applies. ThisDirective is currently being amended.

The objectives of this pre-study were todescribe the international legal framework

and different possibilities of applying char-ges (including network and vehicles to becharged, type of charge, charging techno-logies and enforcement issues). Systems,studies and experiences in many countries(Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium,Hungary, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, theNetherlands, United Kingdom and CzechRepublic) are examined. Furthermore,various possibilities to respond to the chan-ging conditions for transport taxation andcharging systems are described from aFinnish point of view.

Effects of Speed Limit Changeson Speed and Accidents

Title: Speed limit changes. Effects on speed andaccidentsAuthor: Arild RagnøyTØI report no: 784/2005Language: EnglishAvailable on www.toi.no

In the autumn of 2001, speed limits werelowered from 90 km/h to 80 m/h andfrom 80 km/h to 70 km/h on hazardousroad sections in Norway. These road sec-tions had been identified as having a highnumber of fatal or serious injury accidentsper kilometre of road. This report presentsan evaluation of the effects of these chan-ges in speed limits on speed and accidents.The reduction from 80 km/h to 70 km/hhad statistically significant impacts. Drivingspeed was reduced by between 2.1 and 4.1km/h and the number of accidents wasreduced by 14 per cent.

Barriers to the Use of EfficiencyAssessment Tools in Road SafetyPolicy

Title: Barriers to the use of efficiency assessmenttools in road safety policyAuthors: Rune Elvik and Knut VeistenTØI report no: 785/2005Language: EnglishAvailable on www.toi.no

Efficiency assessment tools, like cost-bene-fit analysis, have not been extensively usedfor the assessment of road safety measures.Increased use of efficiency analysis in roadsafety policy will improve the selection ofeconomically sensible measures. If theseroad safety measures are implemented thenumbers of fatalities and injuries onEuropean roads will most probably decrea-se. In this report the barriers to the use ofefficiency assessment tools are identified.More knowledge about the effect of roadsafety measures, more knowledge aboutwhat economic valuation implies and bet-ter dissemination of results from analysescan all help to reduce the barriers.

Targeted Competitive Tenderingof Passenger Transport

Title: Targeted Competitive Tendering ofPassenger TransportAuthors: Frode Longva, Oddgeir Osland, Jon IngeLian, Claus Hedegaard Sørensen, Didier van deVeldeTØI report no: 787/2005Language: Norwegian with English summaryAvailable on www.toi.no

This report provides international experi-ences of the effects of different forms ofcompetitive tendering in three subareas oftransport policy: Local public transport,rail and domestic aviation. A generalconclusion is that competitive tendering isassociated with increased cost efficiency.The effects on market efficiency vary,depending on whether public authoritiesuse the gains of reduced costs to improvePH

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the level of services in public transport, aswell as on how the "surplus" is used, e.g.whether incentives for improved marketefficiency are imposed on operators. Whenit comes to general economic efficiency,there is a lack of systematic research anddocumentation. In general, no form ofcompetitive tendering is superior to anot-her in all cases or in relation to all types ofeffects. Moreover, sector and country speci-fic characteristics of the environment crea-te challenges when it comes to the applica-tion of experiences in a Norwegian con-text. Despite these challenges, the reportconcludes with "rules of thumb" for the useof competitive tendering i local publictransport.

Foreign Visitor Survey 2005

Title: Foreign visitor survey 2005Authors: Arne Rideng, Jan Vidar HaukelandTØI report no: 813/2005Language: Norwegian with English summaryAvailable on www.toi.no

This report presents the results of theNorwegian foreign visitor survey 2005, inc-luding data for the summer season(May–September). In the year 2005 a totalof nearly 3.86 million foreign guests stayedovernight in Norway, while 1.25 millionwere on a day trip from abroad. Foreign tou-rists spent a total of 26 million guest-nightsin Norway in 2005, of which holiday guestsconstituted 20 million guest-nights. Businesstravel from abroad showed a considerableincrease in 2005. Likewise, there has been aconsiderable increase in the number of holi-day guests, especially those travelling by air.The most important source market for over-night stays is Germany, followed by Sweden,Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands and theUSA. Altogether, 28 per cent of the foreignguest nights are spent on hotels etc. Theholiday travellers during the summer periodmainly use four types of accommodation,namely hotels etc., friends and relatives,camping sites and rented cabins.

Road Pricing, Public Transportand Equity

Title: Road pricing, public transport and equityAuthor: Harald Minken TØI report no: 815/2005Language: Norwegian with English summaryAvailable on www.toi.no

How will road pricing affect the demand forpublic transport and the supply of publictransport services? What are the equityimplications of road pricing and toll finan-cing? Two minor literature reviews havebeen carried out to help to answer thesequestions. Road pricing has a potential toinduce a "virtuous circle" of increases inboth public transport demand and supply.The main determinants of the equity impactsare the composition of the group of motoristsdriving in the charged area prior to thecharge, and the use of the revenue. Thereport contains a list of relevant websites aswell as an ordinary reference list.

Effective Traffic Surveillance

Title: What is effective traffic surveillance – A literature reviewAuthor: Susanne Gustafsson and Jörgen LarssonSeries: VTI publication, N42-2005Contact: Susanne Gustafsson, susanne@[email protected]örgen Larsson, [email protected]

VTI has gathered information concerningthe traffic surveillance methods whichimprove observance of the law by motoristsand thus traffic safety in an effective way.This is primarily a matter of reducing themean speed of vehicles, reducing drink dri-ving and increasing seat belt use.

Very large increase in traffic surveillan-ce is needed to improve traffic safety.Surveillance should however take differentforms with regard to speed, seat belt useand drink driving. Generally, however, alltypes of surveillance should be based onaccident analysis, be planned and have aclear objective. Surveillance should be pro-

blem oriented, but there should also be arandom element in surveillance.

As regards speed surveillance, sites andtimes should be based on accident dataand speed measurements. Random distri-bution of the visible surveillance resourcesin time and space is preferable. A stationa-ry surveillance method produces cleareffects, in contrast to mobile methodswhich are directed towards individuallawbreakers from a moving police car.

Automatic speed surveillance has a cleareffect which results in speed reduction,and reduction of fatal accidents and acci-dents with injuries.

In Sweden, seat belt use is at a high levelin an international comparison. However,surveillance increases seat belt use when itis intensive, easily visible and combinedwith information campaigns and advertising.

Countries which have long experienceof drink driving surveillance, inclusive oflow blood alcohol limits, relatively high riskof detection and support by the massmedia for surveillance, also have the lowestproportion of drink drivers. The objectiveof random breathanalyser tests must be todeter persons from drivning affected byalcohol and not primarily to catch andpunish drink drivers. There is a strongrelationship between the number of breath-analyser tests and the drop of fatalities intraffic.

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NORDIC NO. 1 2006 | 35

ANNOTATED REPORTS

Financing of the Road Sector

Title: Financing of the road sector – an international general viewAuthor: Gunnar Lindberg och Jan-Eric NilssonSeries: VTI publication, N49-2005Contact: Gunnar Lindberg, [email protected] Nilsson, [email protected]

The financing of the road sector is fairlyuniform all over the world. Most of the acti-vity is based on revenue from national bud-gets, and the coupling to the significanttaxes that are levied is weak or completelyabsent. Everybody is grappling with thesame problem that is associated with thefundamental economic characteristics ofthe road sector – roads are not really suitedto market economic solutions.

This does not mean that there are nooptions, but there are no easy options.Nothing new has really happened in thisrespect. What is new is that many countriesare changing to procurement of the con-struction and maintenance of roads.Another constant picture is that everybodyis trying to find new forms to financeroads. One clear trend is to introducemore toll roads, a trend which is probablyfacilitated by the steadily increasing trafficvolumes. Another trend is that construc-tion and maintenance are increasinglyundertaken on a procurement basis whichis sometimes referred to as commercialisa-tion. A number of partnership projects bet-ween public and private players have alsobeen initiated.

siderable proportion of the public tax reve-nues as a whole in most countries that havebeen studied. At the same time it can beseen that only a fraction of the revenuefrom road taxes is used for road manage-ment. Taken together, this means that manypublic activities are in need of, and interes-ted in, road taxes in order that the generalbudget should add up. With some impor-tant exceptions, primarily in the US, reve-nue from the taxes on road traffic is not ear-marked for use within the sector. On theother hand, research about especially cong-estion charges shows that a critical factor ingaining acceptance appears to be that therevenue is earmarked for a special purpose.

The aim of this work is to present anoutline picture of how the road sector isfinanced in different parts of the world.Owing to considerable gaps in the statisti-cal material, it is difficult to create a cohe-rent picture of what roads cost and howthey are financed in different countries.The main features of how the road sector isfinanced are however clear.

Air Pollution by Traffic – a HealthProblem

Air pollution by trafficTitle: The external costs of traffic air pollutionAuthor: Lena Nerhagen, Bertil Forsberg, ChristerJohansson och Boel LövenheimSeries: VTI publication, R517Contact: Lena Nerhagen, [email protected]

Air pollution by traffic affects both peopleand the environment, something that weall know. In Stockholm, Sweden, every per-son loses, on average, two months ofhis/her life because of air pollution. Inorder for these negative effects to be inclu-ded in the planning of new roads andother measures in the road transport sys-tem, a price must be put on the effects thatair pollution has on the environment.

The main objective of a recently comp-leted project has been to draw conclusionsfrom previous calculations and based on

these propose a method that can be usedin cost-benefit analyses and marginal costcalculations for the local impacts of trafficair pollution. The project included a com-parison of the costs from a study made in2002, where the Impact Pathway approachdeveloped in the ExternE-projects wasused, with the costs used by the WorkingGroup for Cost-Benefit Analyses (ASEK).This comparison revealed large differen-ces, primarily with regard to particulatematter, and it was necessary to find the rea-son for this and to propose an improvedmethod for calculating costs.

It was found that the explanation for thedifference found between the study from2002 and the values used by ASEK was thatthe latter also includes a value put on wearparticles. Wear particles are a pollutantwhich is not included in the ExternE calcu-lations, but which are significant for airquality in Swedish urban areas. They aregenerated, inter alia, through the contactbetween the vehicle and the road surface.This is a mainly a problem in countrieswhere studded tyres are used in winter.Research has shown that wear particlesmake a considerable contribution to thetotal concentration of particulates in urbanareas. Even though the pollutants that havethe greatest significance for health costsare fine particles, i.e. exhaust particles, theconclusion drawn is that wear particles alsogive rise to health impacts. In the calcula-tion method proposed by the project, thishas therefore been included as a compo-nent.

In the project it was also discussed whatvalue to place on a year of life lost. Few stu-dies have so far been carried out concer-ning the value placed by the population onpreventing a premature death. It was there-fore concluded that the best option at thepresent time is to calculate the value of ayear of life lost from the value of a statisticallife that is applied in analyses of traffic safe-ty. The price of a lost year of life in Swedentoday was estimated to be about MSEK 0.5.

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The picture that emerges is that petroltax is the dominant source of revenue fromthe taxation of road traffic, and that inmany countries petrol tax accounts formore than half the revenue generated byroad traffic. Road taxes also make up a con-

Danish Road Institute Helen Hasz-SinghGuldalderen 12Postboks 2352640 HedehusenePhone +45 46 30 70 00Fax +45 46 30 71 05Email [email protected] www.vd.dk

NORDICDENMARK

VTT Technical Research Centreof FinlandKari MäkeläP.O.Box 1000FI-02044 VTTPhone +358 20 722 4586Fax +358 20 722 7056Email [email protected] www.vtt.fi

FINLANDPublic Roads AdministrationHreinn HaraldssonBorgartún 7IS-105 ReykjavikPhone +354 563 1400Fax +354 562 2332Email [email protected] www.vegagerdin.is

ICELAND

Institute of Transport EconomicsNils FearnleyPb. 6110 EtterstadNO-0602 Oslo, NorwayVisiting address: Grensesvingen 7,Oslo.Phone +47 22 57 38 00Fax +47 22 57 02 90Email [email protected] www.toi.no

NORWAYNorwegian Public RoadsAdministrationThorbjørn Chr. RisanP.O. Box 8142 DepN-0033 OsloPhone +47 22 07 35 00Fax +47 22 07 37 68Email [email protected] www.vegvesen.no

NORWAYVTIMagdalena GreenSE-581 95 LinköpingPhone +46 13 20 42 26Fax +46 13 14 14 36Orderphone +46 13 20 42 69Email [email protected] www.vti.se/nordic

SWEDEN

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