SafeRoad objectives
SafeRoad is a solution at the proof of concept (PoC) stage with the primary objective of identifying critical traffic intersections to finally improve road safety in all types of urban environments.
SafeRoad identifies critical junctures in traffic flows linking driving events to road sections to identify critical areas, intersections and segments where extreme driving events such as sudden breaking, tight bends, lane changes or accelerations are most common. SafeRoad also helps evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the mobility mix in any given area by analysing combined data deriving from different vehicles (cars, motorbikes, scooters, e-scooters, e-bikes, shared mobility etc.) with urban elements and driving behaviour, especially in relation to extreme driving events.
Flexible, modular solution
SafeRoad enables local government and city authorities to identify trends that are connected to a specific time of day via real-time monitoring thanks to transparent and easy to understand modular reporting based on IoT technologies and Machine Learning for data analysis to build an urban environment that is sustainable, inclusive and welcoming for everyone.
This highly-scalable solution is well suited to smaller cities and large municipalities as well as regional infrastructure planning bodies. The platform is in fact designed to interact with multiple data feeds to ensure that real insight is brough to the objective of improving safety for everyone.
Results to date
To date the PoC is based on the input of more than 10,000 daily connected devices applied to a range of vehicles in the municipality of Turin, Italy, over selected intervals since early 2021 and is ongoing. These devices have transmitted over 240,000 driving events over the course of almost two years. These are mapped out over 39,000 area segments derived from OpenStreetMap.
Air-Connected Mobility combined further, external data sets to the core internal data outlined above with Police Interventions from the Municipality of Turin, non-motorised mobility (scooters and cycles), road works and cycle lane data. Specifically, Police intervention data from 7,718 accidents and data from 3,942 cycles was included in the PoC.
Some sample outcomes
Some of the most interesting analysis that we have already applied to the Turin municipality thanks to the SafeRoad PoC has idnetified:
- The highest sudden breaking segment
- The highest sudden breaking segment at specific times of the day
- The top 10 segments with most reported incidents
- The segments and adjacent areas with most risk events due to road maintenance
- The area with the highest scooter density and itineraries that it is accessed from
Output transparency
Part of the SafeRoad mission is to provide data in an easy to interpret format for anyone, even those with little or no technical background. To achieve this SafeRoad presents data in dashboards that graphically highlight relevant area trends, as well as a range of graphs and heatmaps.
The BIKE dashboard is one such example. This dashboard specifically enables the analysis and visualization of data from devices that are fitted onto cars that cross segments of cycle lanes and applies specific geographic or time-related filters to identify environmental connections.
Similarly, the non-motorized mobility dashboard analyses mobility on electric scooters, enabling the visualization of areas where the latter are predominant and graphically representing the most likely transit areas as well as a range of additional statistics relating to use against various parameters. The dashboard integrates data from Turin Polytechnic filtering by starting and arrival points and filters by time of day, length of use and day of the week.
The reporting system is based on different KPIs that can be customized to provide users with total transparency for internal reporting and fact-based planning. In each module, the main analysis hierarchy, the geographic one, has the single road as its highest level of detail. Roads are then aggregated based on the other elements for analysis.
A solution for every requirement
Specifically, SafeRoad is part of a wider framework that offers full scalability and flexibility. Each module is designed to respond to a particular need but the modules can be used in combination and layers, or individually, to deal with: Environmental, Safety and Traffic issues.
The first module is called Environmental Issues. The objective of this module is to carry out the daily monitoring of emissions from various harmful pollutants and to enable authorities to develop effective response strategies, monitor the effect of planned corrective actions and evaluate future measures through simple, clear impact forecasts.
Thanks to its data platform and the pollution module, Air-Connected Mobility became an accredited TSP for the Move-In project in Lombardy and Piedmont. The Move-In project systemically manages the levels of emissions caused by the most polluting vehicles. An annual mileage threshold to be used in areas with traffic restrictions is provided based on vehicle type and on environmental class.
The second reporting module is called Safety Issues and is strictly focused on safety concentrating on the analysis of the driving behaviour of motorists and on the road conditions where their behaviour is recorded. The anonymised analysis of driving behaviour, such as exceeding speed limits, is then put into relation with data on road accidents, for example, in order to identify critical traffic intersections. Analysis can include various levels of detail and multiple near real-time data to make it easier to understand when and how to intervene on different roads to increase road safety. It has recently been applied to identify areas where speed limits are regularly exceeded.
The third module created is Traffic issues, and is focused on tracing overall distances, driving times and user transit trends within an urban area, to study the variations in vehicles. This module also analyses road surface conditions and helps to identify critical bottlenecks for urban traffic and areas where various forms of vehicles meet.
Future objectives
Future developments will see the further development of all the modules and the inclusion of data correlated to road surface conditions and mobility planning, enabling real-time monitoring of road conditions, revealing clear connections between driving events and issues with road surface thus helping plan and monitor roadworks and maintenance more efficiently and effectively. One recent use case of this is a joint-project currently being developed which enables the monitoring of road surface conditions in near real time.
A clearer overview of typical pathways depending on vehicle type will also enable more accurate matching between public transport demand and provision. Finally, a clearer understanding of non-motorized transit itineraries can help improve speed limit planning while a database of public infrastructure roadworks will also be integrated into the dataset for a more responsive and timely approach to transit changes in relation to public works and other conditions.
SafeRoad is dedicated to using data to make a real impact to the way people move within cities of all sizes to help local bodies make better decisions based on transparent near real-time information to finally improve urban safety, air quality and experience through better transport infrastructure and road maintenance.
