United Kingdom
Data TfL show a sharp increase in pedestrian and bicycle traffic during the pandemic
Traffic Technology today 17.12.2021
Transport for London (TfL) has published a report describing the vital role of walking and cycling during the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic had a significant impact on people's transport preferences in 2020, as the government tried to minimize the use of public transport. The TfL Travel to London report uses data collected from surveys to calculate the number of trips on each mode of transport in London.
While the total number of trips made in 2020 decreased sharply, the number of bike rides increased, which is a noticeable change in the context of a significant reduction in pendulum migration. In 2020, the share of cycling accounted for 3.4% of all trips compared to 2.3% in 2019, that is, it almost doubled.
Also in 2020, the number of foot traffic in London increased significantly: the proportion of Londoners walking increased by 43%.
The TfL data also suggests that cycling in free time has become particularly popular since the start of the pandemic, with the number of weekend cycling trips regularly double the same figures for weekends in previous years. Cycling's popularity growth in 2020 was particularly strong in outer London, increasing by 24.4%. TfL is working closely with municipalities across London and beyond to ensure infrastructure is available to support this growth.
For the period covered by the report, bus and metro data through November 2021 show that public transport use continued to increase as restrictions related to Covid–19 were relaxed. The degree of subway use is 60% on weekdays and 80% on weekends, compared to the pre-pandemic level, while the number of passengers on buses is 75% of the pre-pandemic level. TfL's overall data up to November 2021 shows that London's public transport network usage was around 70% of pre-pandemic levels and that millions of Londoners were returning to the transport network, demonstrating their confidence that it was safe and reliable.
Charging for entry to London
Traffic Technology today 16.12.2021
After a 10-week consultation, during which about 10,000 responses were received, TfL on December 16, 2021 confirmed changes to its London entry fee scheme, which will help prevent an increase in car use, while balancing the needs of the local economy.
In order to combat the growing use of personal cars, in June 2020, entry fees were introduced on weekends in central London, and on weekdays they are charged from 07:00 to 22:00.
According to the changes adopted on December 16, from February 21, 2022, no fee will be charged in the evenings after 18:00, and the charging hours on weekends and holidays will be reduced to the period from 12:00 to 18:00.
Charging will also be suspended between Christmas and the first working day New Year's Eve to support families and guests of the city during the festive period, which is traditionally a time of intensive engineering work on the transport network and a quieter period on the roads.
"These new changes provide a balance between reducing traffic and congestion and supporting the economy and residents of London, as well as helping to ensure environmental and sustainable recovery," says London Mayor Sadiq Khan. "The cancellation of charging after 22.00 will support the culture of the capital, hospitality and night business, which is already hard, and will also encourage people to switch to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, public transport. "
The mayor has set a goal to increase the share of public transport, walking and cycling to 80% in the capital by 2041, and in central London to 95%.
Successful test of induction charging of cars in the UK
Traffic Technology today 15.12.2021
A company specializing in electric vehicle charging technologies and services char.gy , confirmed the world's first tests of inductive charging of electric vehicles in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, UK. Contactless technology allows you to charge electric vehicles automatically without using cables or driver interaction with the charging point.
The test is being conducted in collaboration with Buckinghamshire Council. It uses a low-power induction charging unit provided by technology partner IPT Technology, and electric vehicles with the device installed on board, which are available for public rental through the application and website hiyacar.co.uk . Members of the public were invited to rent adapted electric vehicles for up to three days and share their opinions on optimizing the charging of electric vehicles.
"The induction charging trial at Marlow really gave an idea of what the near future will look like," Buckinghamshire Councillor for Climate Change and Environment Peter Strachan said. "As a typical local authority seeking to stimulate the introduction of electric vehicles and meet a wide range of needs of road users, the Council considers induction charging as a means of solving many problems of creating a clean energy infrastructure for the benefit of all our residents."
The char task.gy - to make public charging stations publicly available to ensure the transition of citizens to electric vehicles.
Due to the integration of the charging infrastructure into the road surface and an induction charger installed in an electric vehicle (can be installed on existing ones), the driver simply needs to park the car above the charging plate. The absence of cables eliminates one of the problems that are otherwise inherent in street charging, eliminating the danger to pedestrians and allowing less mobile, elderly or disabled drivers to avoid driving on curbs between the road and the sidewalk to connect charging cables.
In the next stages of the project, the scheme will be tested in various urban and geographical conditions as a preparation for testing the second-generation inductive fast charger, which was developed by partner char.gy, Warwick Manufacturing Group.
The test of the company char.The gy in Marlow is part of a wider series of tests being conducted in various regions of the UK with financial support from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and Innovate UK, with the aim of implementing the UK government's plan to switch to zero emission vehicles by 2035.
Parkopedia launches an application capable of combining heterogeneous charging infrastructure.
Traffic Technology today 14.12.2021
Parkopedia combines parking and charging technologies to simplify the introduction of electric vehicles around the world, starting in Europe and North America.
The company wants to provide the possibility of combined parking and charging for owners of electric vehicles with the launch of the "Park and Charge" function, which will provide the most complete and affordable charging service. Electric car owners will be able to easily find, book, pay for and manage charging sessions from the comfort of their vehicles.
Thanks to the existing database containing 70 million parking spaces worldwide, Parkopedia data will provide unique and comprehensive parking and charging services. The new Park and Charge service offers automakers and car owners a solution that eliminates the current problems associated with charging, for example:
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find the location of electric vehicle chargers using the best accurate data on the market, including indoor chargers;
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activation of the charger for electric vehicles regardless of the service provider;
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the ability to pay for charging electric vehicles regardless of the service provider, as well as comprehensive reporting and billing systems.
Park and Charge can combine the current highly fragmented value chain of parking and charging through the use of interconnected products:
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static data provides comprehensive information about parking and electric vehicle charger, including location, prices and restrictions;
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Dynamic data provides current and predicted parking and charger availability information in real time;
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payment via a secure PCI-compatible platform that allows you to make payments using a single electronic window;
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High-resolution 3D maps for indoor parking allow cars to navigate to internal electric car chargers if GPS is unavailable.
By leveraging existing assets, as well as bringing together industry players such as charging point operators and e-mobility service providers, Parkopedia's integrated automotive application bridges the gap between the parking and charging infrastructure industries.
EU
ETSC calls for an agency to investigate accidents involving automated driving systems
Traffic Technology today 17.12.2021
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) repeats its call to create a specialized agency for the investigation of road accidents in the EU, which will conduct a forensic analysis of accidents involving automated driving systems on EU roads.
The first offer followed Mercedes-Benz's announcement of the launch of Drive Pilot, a system that allows autonomous driving in traffic conditions at speeds up to 60 km/h on German motorways. This is the first approved Level 3 automated driving system for use in Europe. Such systems can drive a car without the help of a driver in certain conditions.
International technical and safety standards for such systems were approved by the UNECE last year. Changes in the German national traffic regulations allowing the use of such systems were adopted back in 2017. But the system has not yet been approved for use in the EU, and several EU member states have not yet made the necessary changes to the rules of the road that will allow driving without the help of a driver.
"Since the market for vehicles equipped with Tier 3 systems will grow rapidly in the coming years, we urgently need a guarantee that accidents in which an automated driving system was responsible for driving the car will be investigated and the results published," says Frank Muetze, automation specialist at ETSC. "We are also seeing significant pressure on the UNECE to increase the permissible speed of such systems and to enable automatic lane change - properties that dramatically increase potential risks. It would be irresponsible for the EU to allow such systems to operate without reliable oversight and investigation mechanisms. The fact is that today we have no data on the number of accidents that occurred due to the fault of autonomous driving systems. This situation cannot continue now, when the systems responsible for driving a car enter the market."
ETSC calls for:
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create a specialized EU accident investigation agency involving automated driving systems and publishing all the results of investigations to help prevent future accidents;
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oblige manufacturers of cars and equipment to report to the EU agency about all accidents involving automated driving systems on public roads in the EU;
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provide direct access to on-board vehicle data for the relevant authorities, which allows for an in-depth, independent forensic investigation of an accident.
In the United States, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated several accidents involving Level 2 automated driving systems and provided useful recommendations to equipment manufacturers. Currently, the UK is consulting on the creation of a body to investigate similar accidents.
In the EU, most authorities usually do not get access to on-board vehicle data when investigating collisions due to technical and legal difficulties. The Netherlands has taken a leading role in the investigation of accidents involving automated driving systems and recently created a mechanism to provide access to on-board vehicle data without the participation of the manufacturer. The ETSC states that the EU must put in place a proper regulatory oversight system before further deployment of automated driving systems in the EU is allowed.