Vision Zero

starts with

safe roads

Vision-Zero-starts-with-safe-roads-

Vision Zero​

starts with

safe roads

A safe road infrastructure is at the basis of meeting Vision Zero goals: no fatalities by 2050 and a 50% reduction by 2030.

ROADSCOR (Road Optimization Analysis for Design Safety by COnflict Review) supports the safety of vulnerable road users in a safe system approach by optimizing road design without relying on traffic crash and/or near-miss data.

Roadscor complements current safety assessment methods by providing insight in all high-risk traffic conflicts in a well-structured and reproducible way.

It allows for quantification of the safety by combining traffic modeling with a patented methodology capable of detecting even unknown-unsafe scenarios in line with the international safety standard ISO21448 (SOTIF).

Roadscor empowers traffic engineers with objective information to optimize road designs and evaluate the impact of potential safety measures, stimulating safe active mobility.

RoadScor Final

The Roadscor methodology

Safe road design is one of the fundamental elements contributing to reducing road crashes. Designing safe roads depends on the availability of the right data.

Roadscor is an innovative, data-driven safety evaluation tool to assess the likelihood and severity of crashes in critical parts of the road, such as intersections.
It supports traffic engineers in assessing the effects of (behavioral) measures and (infrastructure) modifications.

Roadscor is unique in being able to identify all scenarios, including the ones that haven’t happened yet. This functionality is enabled by Roadscor bringing automotive technology developed for identifying unknown-unsafe scenarios to traffic engineering. The proprietary and patented methodology systematically and automatically generates all possible conflicts for a specific road section based on its layout, also revealing unknown (both safe and unsafe) scenarios.

Any tool is as good as the data on which it is based, with Roadscor being the only tool also considering the unknown scenarios. This makes it more complete, accurate and less time consuming.

A Roadscor project

A Roadscor project begins with the traffic model of the intersection, including typical routes and road user behavior. Next, all possible conflicts considering road users’ speeds and turning radii, are simulated. The software considers all physically possible routes – even the ones that are not likely or allowed.

Where a Roadscor analysis can be conducted for any road section, it will most typically be conducted for intersections in an urban area initially.

The workflow is completed by weighing conflicts against movements to determine the Roadscor score. Based on this a traffic engineer can propose measures and adjustments, the effects of which on safety can be determined before implementation through a new iteration of calculating the Roadscor.

increase cyclist deaths globally from 2010 to 2021
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is the leading cause of death for people 5-29 years
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of the fatalities is urban areas is a vulnerable road user
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people around the world are killed on roadways daily!
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The impact of road crashes

The economic impact of road crashes ranges from 3% of the GDP in high income countries to nearly 5% in upper middle-income countries. The socio-economic cost of fatal, serious and minor injuries in Europe is estimated at 180 billion annually (!) – approximately double the EU’s budget. But more importantly, when somebody dies in a traffic crash, on average 11 family members, 4 close friends, 56 friends and acquaintances, and 42 rescue workers are permanently affected by this heavy fate.
In assessments, Roadscor has shown that a modified layout of an intersection would result in 13 less conflicts in the quadrant with the highest probability and severity. In socio-economic costs the modified layout saves $5 to $10 million for just this single intersection.

By providing easily accessible, objective, and affordable safety information, Roadscor enables traffic engineers to design safer roads.

RoadScor Final

EIT Urban Mobility Project

The ROADSCOR project has received  a significant grant from EIT Urban Mobility through their Targeted Call. The project, valued at € 589,762 and financed 65% by EIT Urban Mobility, will help bring the methodology closer to wide-scale implementation. In collaboration with esteemed partners Siemens Digital Industries Software, Aimsun, and Royal HaskoningDHV, Roadscor will progress the tool from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 to TRL 9 by conducting comprehensive assessments for reference cases in two major European cities. Insights gained from these real-world applications will guide the refinement of the data-driven tool, ensuring it meets the practical needs of engineers and road authorities for assessing and improving intersection safety.

The key objectives of the EIT Urban Mobility project are:
  • Data-Driven Risk Assessments: Perform risk assessments for urban intersections, demonstrating the impact of suggested safety measures and modifications.
  • Technological Readiness: Take the tool from TRL 7 to TRL 9, empowering traffic engineers with a cutting-edge solution to evaluate intersection designs for VRU safety.
  • Score definition: Develop a standardised score using insights from the reference cases, ensuring it meets the needs of traffic engineers, decision-makers, and road authorities for practical, actionable safety improvements.  

The innovative approach supports the safety of VRUs by providing objective conflict analysis of all possible movements at urban intersections. Roadscor empowers traffic engineers with actionable insights, enabling the design of safer intersections that prevent serious injuries and saves lives. This aligns with Vision Zero goals, aiming to eliminate fatalities by 2050 and a 50% reduction by 2030.

This project is supported by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. EIT Urban Mobility acts to accelerate positive change on mobility to make urban spaces more liveable. Learn more: eiturbanmobility.eu 

About Roadscor and partners

Roadscor is started by Robbert Lohmann, who recognized the potential to apply the automotive technology and methodology developed by Siemens to assess the safety of road infrastructure for any type of road user, including vulnerable road users. Roadscor holds an exclusive license from Siemens to improve urban safety by supporting traffic engineers to create safe roads. The added value relies on the combination of Roadscor as innovative safety evaluation tool and the knowledge, expertise and experience of traffic engineers.

Roadscor cooperates with product partners for technology and development and market partners for deployment and delivery. The partners in the ROADSCOR project are Siemens and Aimsun for technology, EIT Urban Mobility for deployment and Royal HaskoningDHV for delivery. 

Siemens Digital Industries Software (technology): Siemens, a leading provider of simulation software, offers Simcenter Prescan for developing and virtually verifying Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles. Their proprietary Critical Scenario Creation methodology generates unsafe-unknown scenarios based on road design and recorded data. As the original developer of this methodology, Siemens contributes its expertise to the project and supports traffic engineers in conducting conflict analysis.

Aimsun (technology): a global leader in digital mobility solutions for transportation authorities, highway agencies, public transit operators, and consultancies. Aimsun’s simulation and predictive data analytics help customers understand and predict transportation network performance, aiding decision-making. Their pedestrian and bicycle models are crucial for conflict analysis. As an expert partner, Aimsun contributes its extensive experience in traffic modelling, particularly for vulnerable road users.

EIT Urban Mobility (deployment): EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, aims to accelerate solutions and the transition towards a user-centric, integrated and truly multimodal transport system. As the leading European innovation community for urban mobility, EIT Urban Mobility works to avoid fragmentation by facilitating collaboration between cities, industry, academia, research and innovation to solve the most pressing mobility challenges of cities. Using cities as living labs, its industry, research and university partners will demonstrate how new technologies can work to solve real problems in real cities by transporting people, goods and waste in smarter ways.  

Royal HaskoningDHV (delivery): Royal HaskoningDHV is an independent consultancy which integrates 140 years of engineering expertise with digital technologies and software solutions. Their engineers were the first to recognise the potential of conflict analysis to enhance road safety. With their integrated approach, Royal HaskoningDHV conducts the assessments for the reference cases and advises road authorities on design modifications and measures to promote safe road user behaviour.

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