A practical experiment with intelligent speed adapters will be carried out in the Dutch borough of Tilburg during the period 1998-2000. The goal of this project is to: develop support and a public acceptance of ISA as a speed control instrument via a practical demonstration; and to gain insight in a number of effects of ISA by using a small-scale, pilot, practical application. In the realisation of the project, three types of activities can be distinguished: (a) developing and testing an operational ISA system, and selecting and equipping a demonstration area; (b) developing and executing a communication and PR plan; and (c) developing and executing a research programme. This report concentrates on the design of a research plan. The following conditions apply to the further elaboration: (i) approximately twenty vehicles will be equipped with ISA and will be driven by a varying team during a period of approximately one year; (ii) the system has been selected and the functional specifications have been established. The most important aspect of the research is the so-called ‘hard limits’ i.e. that a particular speed cannot be exceeded; and (iii) the experiment will be conducted within a marked area. The Campenhoef district of the borough of Tilburg has been chosen for this. At a later stage it was suggested to use a GPS-guided system instead of a beacon-guided system. GPS stands for Global Positioning System which can at all times determine the exact location of a vehicle. However, this has not been taken as a starting point for further elaboration. The possibilities have been looked at of introducing experimental variations for a number of aspects. By this is meant especially: the ‘hardness’ of the system, the system's intelligence, the recognizability of the ISA vehicle, and the system of speed limits in the Campenhoef district. Although not all choices are to be considered as definite, the elaboration of the research plan assumes the following: (i) that the hardness can only be varied slightly (possibility of ‘on’ and ‘off’’); (ii) that no, or very little, intelligence will be built in (situation and/or time dependent changes in the border values), and (iii) that the recognizability of the ISA vehicles will not be encouraged or varied. There are possibilities within the experimental district of, either varying the speed limits for a number of locations, or distinguishing between 30 km/hour streets with and without (i.e. few) speed bumps. The chosen research subject follows the model of a before-during-after study, with three distinguishable experimental groups, plus control-groups. The three experimental groups will consist of: (i) participants in the ISA experiment; (ii) non-participating inhabitants of the experimental district who know about the experiment, for example because they have been exposed to recruitment procedures and such, and (iii) inhabitants of the surrounding neighbourhoods who know something about the experiment. In determining the ISA sample there is a possibility of choice between participation by individuals or by families within which more than one person can use the ISA vehicle. The preference is for the second possibility. The point of departure for setting up the measurement scheme is a coherent system of measurements of the fields of knowledge, outlooks and support with regard to ISA, speed behaviour, and interactions or conflicts with other road users. In addition, for the ISA sample, there will also be observations about the operation and ergonomics of the system; its effects on fuel consumption and emission, as well as specific experiences of use and specific judgements. A number of experts are needed to execute the complete research plan. Their specialities need to be from: technical (functioning of electro-mechanical systems, effects on emission and fuel consumption), through ergonomic (man-machine interface), and traffic engineering and psychological (measurement programmes for speeds and judging road behaviour), to socio-psychological/sociological aspects (measuring attitudes and support, and designing questionnaires). The research plan thus designed should be seen as a maximum programme. Some parts can be omitted for practical or budgetary reasons. To arrange the thoughts on this, the following order of priority can be indicated, in terms of those parts which should be carried out first of all, or, in any case, at some time: the operation and ergonomics of the system; judgement and acceptation by ISA users; effects of ISA on speed behaviour (before-and-during); effects on groups other than ISA users (neighbourhood, area); effects of ISA on speed behaviour (compared with non-participants ISA); effects of ISA on interactions and conflicts with other road users; and comparison with representative control-groups (attitudes, speed behaviour). When some parts of the programme are omitted for practical or budgetary reasons, the minimum programme should at least give information on the effectiveness of ISA; and it also should tell something about the acceptance of the system. Within such a (maximum) plan it is, in addition, possible to add or link certain parts that can be included to a greater or lesser extent. Among others these are: the modular calculation of effects of speed on consumption/emission,explaining attitudes to ISA from underlying attitudes and knowledge,carrying out after-measurements, and the possible complexity of the method used (especially concerning speed measurements and interaction).
Samenvatting