Trial in Stockholm

Creating conditions for the introduction of ISA in Stockholm

The City of Stockholm, in collaboration with the Swedish Road Administration and the City of Solna, has conducted a field trial of vehicles fitted with Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA). The purpose of the project was to create conditions for a wider introduction of ISA and to establish whether ISA is usable for the quality assurance of transport services. The project ran from March 2003 to September 2005, and a practical trial involving twenty vehicles fitted with ISA took place in autumn 2004 and spring 2005. Two types of ISA equipment were tested, known as the active accelerator and vibrating accelerator systems.

Three evaluations were carried out in the course of the project:

a user survey, conducted by Transek AB
a speed and technology evaluation, conducted by SWECO VBB
a process evaluation conducted by Transek AB

The present report summarises the results of the evaluations and describes the intended and actual implementation of the project. It concludes with recommendations for activities towards a wider introduction of ISA in Stockholm.

Three out of four users want to continue using ISA after the end of the trial period

The ISA systems were tested by some 130 persons. The user survey shows that:

eight out of ten drivers found it interesting to participate in the trial and think it is a good thing that the organisations try out new technology;
one in two drivers report that ISA made them more aware — they are better at observing speed limits;
there are fewer speeding violations with ISA: they are less frequent and less severe;
two out of three drivers feel ISA impairs driving enjoyment. Many drivers reported that driving with ISA was effortful and frustrating. Among other problems, they felt they were holding up other vehicles
drivers do not believe ISA affects their choice of route, but it does result in longer travelling times;
three out of four drivers want to keep the ISA system in their official vehicle.
Item 3

Fewer speeding violations

The technical evaluation showed a drop in the number of speeding violations. Remaining speeding also decreased in size. This is particularly marked on roads with high speed limits, less so on 30 km/h roads. Impacts on traffic behaviour was approximately as observed in other ISA trials except on 30 km/h roads, where they were less pronounced. Stockholm’s new 30 km/h zones were excluded from the trial. Their inclusion might have made the results more similar to those of other trials.

Important lessons

Numerous problems were encountered in the project, which was delayed as a result. A specification for the in-car equipment was drafted at an early stage, and digitalisation of speed limits also began promptly. However, it turned out that no supplier could provide equipment conforming with our specifications. A number of modifications had to be made, and a lot of work had to be done for the selected equipment to match the cartographic database with the digital speed limits.

Development of the cartographic database also took a long time and numerous positioning measurements were necessary. Major discrepancies were found between the mapped and actual locations of road signs. The original plan had been for the cartographic database connected to the in-car equipment to be based on the traffic regulations. Because of the above-mentioned discrepancies, this plan had to be abandoned and instead the roadside signs were taken as authoritative. This decision necessitated more positioning measurements and a special map had to be prepared for the trial. The biggest problems thus arose in the critical chain “Traffic regulations – Mapping – Vehicle”.

Lessons for a wider introduction of ISA:

A cartographic database including speed limits must be available.
The technology was not ready for the Stockholm ISA trial. Before choosing a technical solution and procuring a system, one should ascertain what is technically feasible and what solutions are available on the market.
There was only one supplier. Large-volume procurement is necessary to generate greater interest./li>
Strong support is needed from top management
It is important that there is a clearly-defined “introduction organisation”.
For ISA to be usable as a quality assurance tool, readily understood indicators must be developed for evaluation purposes.

Activities towards the introduction of ISA in Stockholm

The City of Stockholm aims to have its entire fleet (around 1000 vehicles) fitted with ISA by 2010. To achieve this, we propose the following activities:

Appoint a project manager who is “on fire for ISA”, and set up an ISA team tasked with driving the introduction process. A steering group including top managers and politicians should be attached to the ISA team. It is important that the ISA team includes representatives of multiple administrations.
Develop a project plan, which must be endorsed/decided at the highest level.
Find out what is available on the market today and if any relevant projects are under way nationally and internationally. This will be an important starting-point for the choice of technical solution.
Initiate meetings with important players on the supplier side in order to stimulate interest. This means producers of mapping and of navigation systems, the automotive industry etc.
Contact other Swedish local and regional governments etc. that are planning to install ISA. Exchange of knowledge and experience is important.
Set up a buyers group of organisations and businesses (in the region) who are interested in buying ISA systems. The idea is to be able to order a large enough number of units to attract more supplier interest and obtain a reasonable price.
Monitor and expedite the process of completing the local road database (LV) linked to local traffic regulations.
Monitor and expedite the process of producing communications solutions for transferring mapping information to vehicles.
Monitor and expedite the process of identifying simple, readily understood indicators for Quality Assuring the speed limit compliance of procured transport services. This is relevant to both the monitoring of the City’s own vehicles and the specification and monitoring of procured transport services. Work with the Swedish Road Administration (Stockholm Region) on this.
Disseminate knowledge about ISA to procurement officers in the organisations concerned.
Get prospective users involved at an early stage by setting up a panel which can be part of the whole process. This enables important user issues to be captured.
Investigate at an early stage what the introduction organisation should look like during and after the introduction process.
Set up a communication plan.
Set goals to be achieved: impacts on traffic behaviour etc.
Draw up a monitoring/evaluation plan.

ISA and the procurement of transport services

The traffic safety programmes and decisions adopted by the City of Stockholm provide that transport operators working for the City should have ISA systems. The Swedish Road Administration’s strategy for the introduction of ISA contains similar provisions. ISA is also an important component of the Road Administration’s work for the quality assurance of transport services. The present report recommends close cooperation on these issues between the City of Stockholm and the Swedish Road Administration (Stockholm Region). The two organisations should encourage the development of evaluation measures, exchange knowledge and experience, and perhaps procure services jointly.

Text is based on the final report: "ISA in Stockholm Results from trials and possibilities for implementation," which you can download here.