Application of the CIVITAS Evaluation Framework in the SOTERIA Project
Image from Unsplash by Dário Gomes
The European Commission's ambitious ‘Vision Zero’ target aims to achieve near-zero fatalities on European roads by 2050. Although Europe leads in reducing road traffic deaths for car occupants, 70% of fatalities still impact VRUs, such as pedestrians and cyclists. A clear understanding of user behaviours and vehicle interactions, fair and optimised use of public spaces, and age-friendly urban safety action plans are cornerstones toward achieving the EU’s ‘Vision Zero’. This includes capitalising on technological innovations and the plethora of available data for advanced accident analysis.
SOTERIA, a non-CIVITAS project focused on road safety, has utilised the CIVITAS Evaluation Framework, with the goal of implementing a standardised approach for the consortium to design, implement, and evaluate innovative solutions for road safety, particularly for Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs).
An intelligent, inclusive and safe urban mobility for all
Within this context, SOTERIA develops a holistic framework of innovative solutions and services that enable data-driven urban safety intelligence, facilitate safe traveling of VRUs, and foster the safe integration of micromobility services in complex urban environments. The deployment and evaluation of these solutions occur in four representative Living Labs (LLs) across the EU. Each LL reflects unique urban contexts and social conditions, enabling a comprehensive analysis of SOTERIA’s methodologies.
A common framework for the specification and evaluation of the activities to be conducted in each Living Lab
The SOTERIA guidelines, aligned with the CIVITAS process and impact evaluation framework, provide a common framework for the specification and evaluation of activities conducted in its four LLs. These guidelines are crucial to ensure consistency across demonstrations, facilitating the extraction of common insights while accounting for contextual differences. Harmonised methodologies enable the assessment of SOTERIA’s impact on road safety and its adaptability to diverse urban environments.
Within the SOTERIA evaluation framework, the key principles and axes of the CIVITAS evaluation framework have been carefully adapted to align with SOTERIA’s unique objectives. Specifically, SOTERIA adopts the three main axes of the CIVITAS framework: Process Evaluation, Impact Evaluation, and Stakeholder Engagement. These axes have been tailored to assess the co-creation and deployment processes in each Living Lab, ensuring that innovative solutions effectively address the needs of VRUs. Process Evaluation focuses on understanding the implementation phases and identifying key facilitators and barriers, while Impact Evaluation incorporates VRU-specific indicators to measure improvements in safety and mobility. Stakeholder Engagement is deeply integrated through iterative co-design activities, where inputs from end-users play a pivotal role in refining and validating the solutions.
These guidelines serve as a comprehensive guide to assist partners throughout the demonstration process. This begins with co-creation activities, progresses through key stages such as measure description, data collection, the definition of indicators, and measure implementation, and culminates in the final evaluation procedure.
The developed methodology has been used by the consortium to define the demonstration process for a total of 10 measures, reflecting the project’s holistic methodology and innovative focus, including:
- a tool for monitoring and predicting road usage
- leveraging novel data sources data to analyse road safety
- generalised accident and pollution prediction models
- integrating big data sources for road safety predictions
- safe and clean routing app
- safe and inclusive integration of micromobility to current mobility paradigms
- accident prevention schooling for Generation Z
- safety-oriented proactivity and nudge engine
- safe speed limit advices for micromobility users
- effectiveness evaluation of protective equipment.
The first round of these demonstrations is currently taking place in the four SOTERIA LLs: Oxfordshire (UK), Saxony (Germany), Madrid (Spain), and Chania/Igoumenitsa (Greece).
By adopting this framework, the SOTERIA project ensures a consistent and rigorous approach to addressing the road safety challenges faced by VRUs. The harmonised methodology facilitates the identification of common conclusions and the exploration of contextual influences, contributing to the EU’s Vision Zero target. SOTERIA’s innovative demonstrations and real-world validations underscore its commitment to fostering safer and more inclusive urban mobility systems for all road users.
More information about the project can be found here (https://soteriaproject.eu/).
Author: Jeronimo Bueno
