The Swedish government has decided that the Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA) can run a large-scale trial involving Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) in urban areas. This trial will be based on the experience acquired from previous small-scale trials. More than five thousand cars will be equipped with smart, supporting, voluntary systems to help motorists keep to the speed limits. The SNRA will be investing a total of SEK 75 million between 1999 and 2001. Borlange, Linkoping, Lund and Umea are the trial cities and are responsible for running the trial in the individual areas. The SNRA is co-ordinating the project at national level, in the form of project management, technical support and evaluation co-ordination. Different groups of road users are included in the trials. Private individuals account for the largest group, but professional road users, working for both private companies and public authorities, including taxi and bus transport, also account for a significant percentage. Three different systems will be tested: Informative, Actively supporting ISA systems and ISA systems for quality assurance. The field trials are oriented towards 30 kph and 50 kph streets, where the acceptance of lower speeds in risk situations is greatest. The project will be evaluated from three angles. What does the user think? How can the technology be integrated with the driver? What are the effects on safety and the environment? Each municipality will conduct its own local evaluation. The main issues in the evaluation will be to confirm positive safety effects from earlier studies and to identify possible negative safety effects that have to be tackled.
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