In the first work package of AMIGOS, urban mobility data is being collected in the project’s five living labs and 10 Safety Improvement Areas (SIAs) using various tools such as sensors, surveys and mobile applications.
In the last six months, traffic safety and traffic flows data has been collected with the Mobility Observation Box (MOB), operated by AMIGOS partner, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. This data will serve as input to the development of the urban mobility solutions to be implemented in the project, as well as baseline data for the impact assessment that will be performed later in the project to evaluate the solutions.
The Mobility Observation Box (MOB) is an image-based sensor for measuring traffic conditions and traffic conflicts. It makes it possible to measure the safety of transport infrastructures according to objective criteria and thus make them comparable. Once data collection is done, Machine Learning algorithms automatically recognize different groups of road users (pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trucks, e-scooters, etc.), detect them, evaluate their traffic behaviour using trajectory-based surrogate safety measures and provide a basis for targeted mitigation measures. The battery-operated system allows a quick and uncomplicated installation process of the box, neither requiring supplemental power nor networking sources. Due to its small size, a registration of all traffic participants can be realized without distraction or influence.
In 2023, the Mobility Observation Box received the award of “Excellence in Road Safety”, granted by the European Road Safety Charter, organised by the European Commission (Our 2023 Excellence in Road Safety award winners announced | European Road Safety Charter (europa.eu).
After several training meetings with the cities, eight of out 10 SIAs were equipped with one Mobility Observations Box to collect traffic data: Jurmala, Gabrovo, Hamburg, Lappeenranta, Las Rozas, Istanbul, Ankara and Reykjavik. The Safety Improvement Areas, where the AMIGOS solutions will be implemented include school areas, intersections, roundabouts, pedestrian areas and mobility hubs. The data collection was performed for one week at each location. For more information about the Mobility Observation Box, please contact Isabela.erdelean@ait.ac.at or Paul.rosenkranz@ait.ac.at from the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology.
