Sustainability

Current adaptive urban traffic control systems generally seek to minimise delays in the
network. Some adaptive urban traffic control systems can take into account the number of
stops by vehicles. The latter can be used to limit fuel inefficient accelerations. The impact of a
stop of a fully laden truck is much higher than that of a light weight private car. By using the
emerging cooperative systems technology it will become possible to minimise fuel
consumption based on actual vehicle characteristics. The cooperative interaction is twofold.
Firstly, the urban traffic control system gets real-time insight in the vehicle characteristics
through which control can be optimised. Secondly, the urban traffic control system can give
feedback on optimal acceleration patterns to individual drivers or vehicles.

Peek Traffic BV

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

Leicester’s Intelligent Transport System provides a rich source of monitored, real-time
and archived traffic data. Data from the Air Quality Monitoring Stations, weather
stations and meteorological services have been integrated using Air Quality Monitoring
and Modelling Systems. “Nowcasts” and “Forecasts” of air and noise pollution are
being developed to influence public choice on time/mode of travel and assist in the
management of the road network. “WebServices”, “Open Systems Architecture” with
Geographical Information System, together with the MESSAGE Project’s ‘Grid
enabled’ “e-Science” infrastructure, will improve the assessment of the impact of traffic
on air and noise quality, the environment and health, as well as informing the City’s
Climate Change Strategy and the Carbon Footprint via the 4M project.

Leicester City Council

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

In recent years, many drivers have been increasingly concerned with rising fuel
costs and vehicle emissions (both greenhouse gases and pollutants). There are several
measures a driver can take to reduce their travel costs and emissions. This paper describes one
such measure generally referred to as Environmental-Friendly Navigation (EFNav), whose
key innovation is the integration of current navigation technology with sophisticated vehicle
energy and emission models. EFNav provides the ability for a driver to not only have a choice
of selecting a shortest-distance or shortest-duration route, but also a route that minimizes the
fuel consumed and/or pollutant emissions for a particular trip. So far, EFNav has been
successfully developed and tested on a freeway-only network. As part of a new research
initiative, EFNav is being enhanced by expanding to include surface streets and migrating to
an on-board prototype system. This system is currently being tested in the San Francisco Bay
area, shown below.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. Electronics Research Laboratory

University of California Riverside

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

In several cities in the Netherlands, ITS strategies are developed with the objective to
improve the quality of the air (NOx en PM10). This paper presents the ‘state-of-art’, based
on several studies that have been carried out recently by DHV in this field. At first, it will
describe a project on the ‘Maasboulevard’ in the City of Rotterdam. In this project we
have established a ‘green’ coordination between traffic signals on one of the main
arterials of the city. This ‘green’ coordination proved to have a significant effect on the
reduction of emission levels of air pollutants. Secondly, the paper will describe a research
project in the City of Apeldoorn. Here we have studied for an environmental friendly way
of optimization of traffic signals, and in the same time we have developed a procedure to
calculate the effects of changes in traffic dynamics, obtained by this optimization, on the
emission of air pollutants in a micro simulation model (AIMSUN). Thirdly, we will
describe a pilot for the implementation of an ITS strategy that’s reduces noise and air
quality in the City of Arnhem. In this project DHV has written an action plan for the
implementation of this environmental friendly ITS strategy. The paper will end with
some concluding remarks concerning the general effects that ITS strategies can possibly
have on the air quality in urban areas, based on the three case studies presented.

DHV BV

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

In freight transportation vehicles are very heavy, especially in the Nordic countries of Europe.
Therefore the impacts on the fuel consumption as well as pollutant emissions are sensitive for
slight changes in the vehicle motion. The fleet itself is small compared to the one of passenger
cars, but due to the large size of the vehicles the energy need and emissions occupy an
essential share of the totality. In order to reduce the energy consumption and avoid climate
changes attention must be paid to way, how these vehicles are used. Truck drivers are in a key position, and they can affect the climate change by the driving technique. 
 
In case of a heavy duty vehicle the driving technique comprises two items, the (target) speed
selection and the gear shift strategy. The target speed is the speed, which the driver tries to
maintain any time when possible, but on upward slopes the speed naturally falls from the
target speed like 80 km/h, which is a typical legal speed in most countries of Europe. When
this slope ends, the vehicle will be naturally accelerated back up to the target speed. 
 
In the concept of the target speed there is also another factor, which does not appear in case of passenger cars or in general light vehicles. This is called a “schwung”, which means the
excess of the speed that can be utilized on downward slopes achieved by the gravitation. The
grade resistance is negative on downward slopes and causes high acceleration for a heavy
vehicle, and no fuel is consumed. The kinetic energy is increased and can be utilized on the
next upgrade. However, the “schwung” appears only, if the vehicle is heavy and the road must be hilly. Utilizing the “schwung” is one of the most efficient ways to save energy, although it is not legal, if the base target speed is equal to the speed limit.  

FinnRA 

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York