9.2.12 Researchers have launched The Air Quality and Health Interest Group (AQHIG) to encourage collaboration between those interested in issues surrounding this topic.
Subjects covered at the launch ranged from air quality monitoring and modelling to personal exposure to air pollution, and environmental justice, the latter linking air quality, health and social deprivation.
The group intend to meet quarterly for presentations and discussion and will also establish an online forum with a regular update by means of an e-mail newsletter.
The founding group is made up of researchers from the Transport Operations Research Group (TORG) and the Institute of Health and Society (IHS) under the umbrella of Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability (NIReS).
Professor Margaret Bell CBE, Professor Tanja Pless-Mulloli, Dr Susan Hodgson, Dr Anil Namdeo and Dr Vera Araujo-Soares will steer this interest group and we expect to attract members from the University, local authority officials, NHS researchers and air quality and health practitioners.
If you are interested in finding out more or joining the group, then please contact Dr Anil Namdeo, TORG, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences.
driver behaviour article is journal’s most downloaded paper in 2011
17.1.12 Publishers Taylor and Francis report that a joint paper by Neil Thorpe and Simon Heslop from TORG and Joan Harvey from the School of Psychology was the most downloaded article from its journal Transportation Planning and Technology in 2011.
The paper proposes a categorisation of drivers in relation to attentiveness and boredom based on the statistical analysis of data collected from an Internet-based survey of over 1500 drivers in the UK, and draws out some of the implications of driver boredom for highway design and the road environment in a bid to improve road safety.
30.11.11 Leading experts at one of the country’s top institutions for civil engineering research have today welcomed the Chancellor’s announcement to invest £30bn into infrastructure schemes across the UK.
The team based in Newcastle University’s School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences say the investment into our transport networks, buildings and communication systems is vital if we are to deliver an infrastructure for the 21st century.
And achieving this goal will require a new generation of civil engineers with the vision to build a sustainable infrastructure that will continue to meet our needs in an ever changing environment.
Rated second in the country for research power in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise Newcastle University’s civil engineering department is doing just that.
Chris Kilsby, Professor of Hydrology and Climate Change, is part of a world-leading research team responsible for an EPSRC-funded, £6.1million programme aimed at addressing the fundamental issue of ensuring sustainable infrastructure for the UK.
He explains: “Our infrastructure is acutely vulnerable to weather extremes and other threats and the risk is made much greater because of the interdependence of our key networks – energy, transport, water and telecommunications.
“At the same time, efficient and resilient infrastructure is essential to the growth and competitiveness of the UK economy and to quality of life and the environment in the face of rising demand and increasing energy prices.
“This investment is vital and here at Newcastle we are recruiting some of the best students from all over the UK and worldwide to train to be the engineers who will design, adapt and build the infrastructure for the future.”
An estimated £150 billion has been invested in the UK’s infrastructure over the last five years and experts predict a further £40-50 billion will be needed every year between now and 2030 in order to maintain current levels of service.
Privatisation of key services such as water and energy, new expectations that many decisions are to be taken locally and the fact that information and communications technologies are now integrated into every one of these key networks means the whole system is vulnerable.
Toll roads - one of many of the mooted infrastructure projects and an initiative in which Newcastle University is a world leader - requires the development of hi-tech systems in order to be implemented and the University has received more than £4m in transport research grants to help deliver solutions to managing transport systems.
Professor of Intelligent Transport Professor Phil Blythe said there would be huge demand for excellent civil engineering graduates over the next few years.
“Transport is vital in delivering a successful economy and at the moment it is estimated that congestion and unpredictable journey times is estimated to cost the UK economy up to £20bn a year.
“It is vital that the government invests in new transport infrastructure projects to maintain the UK competitiveness and to utilise the skills and expertise of the world class civil engineering students that Newcastle University delivers.”
30.11.11 The CIHT North Eastern Branch Regional Dinner took place in the Assembly Rooms, Newcastle upon Tyne on Thursday 24th November 2011. TORG took a party of 41 that included lecturers, research staff, PhD and MSc students which, as in previous years, turned out to be the largest group from an individual organisation!
Throughout the evening, the students were introduced to the CIHT President and members from large transport organisations such as Jacobs and Colas. The opportunity to meet potential future employers and network with contacts served to strengthen our continuing strong links with the transport industry in the region.
One highlight of the evening was the guest speaker for the night, our very own Professor Eric Sampson. Eric delivered an entertaining and insightful speech into his experiences in the transport sector which was appreciated by everyone in attendance. Once again, the CIHT dinner was a successful and enjoyable evening out for all concerned!
30.11.11 TORG continues to expand its research personnel and expertise with the appointment of three new researchers on our ITS projects.
Craig Higgins and Myriam Neaimeh will be working with Graeme Hill and Yvonne Huebner on the analysis of Electric Vehicle data through the SWITCH EV project. Katerina Pavkova will be working with Dan Brennan on the SiDE project in developing our research expertise on the newly installed driving simulator located in the Devonshire Building, and she will also be supporting the SAVE ME project activities on occasions.
We are very happy to welcome Craig, Myriam and Katerina to the group and wish them every success in their new positions with us.
MSc transport student wins 2011 Colas papers competition
17.11.11 Carly Foster, currently studying for Transport and Business Management MSc at Newcastle, has won the 2011 Colas Papers Competition.
The national final was held on 2 November, and seven entrants from different regional branches of the CIHT (Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation), presented their papers and took part in a lively question and answer session.
The competition was extremely close and after much deliberation the judging panel awarded the winner’s laurels to Carly Foster who was the North Eastern Branch’s entrant. The judges were particularly impressed by Carly’s enthusiasm and breadth of knowledge of her chosen topic which was “Cashless Travel: How Fair is Fare Collection?”. This looked at the pricing and social benefits of public transport ticketing policy.
Carly was presented with her prize – a trip to visit the Colas Laboratory in Paris, courtesy of Colas UK – by the Institution’s President David Gilham and Richard Evans Business Manager Colas North.
26.10.11 Dr Gareth Evans recently attended a series of 2 x 2-day courses on 'Planning Public Transport Services', led by Professor Graham Currie (Monash University, Australia) and Professor Avi Ceder (Auckland University, NZ), hosted at PTRC's office in Barons Court, London.
The courses encompassed a wide range of topics relating to Public Transport services, covering frequency determination, timetable development, network design, demand forecasting, crew and vehicle scheduling, patronage data collection and project evaluation. The content was developed around existing and new research from Prof Currie and Prof Ceder's respective research groups, with the intention of bridging the gap between innovative academic theories and day-to-day Public Transport operations.
Participants on the course came from local authorities (both in the UK and overseas), transport consultancies and academic institutions. This mix of backgrounds brought different viewpoints, experience and knowledge to discussions and allowed the practices from different authorities and different countries to be compared. The knowledge and insight gained from this course will be applied through the teaching of CEG8412 'Characteristics of Public Transport Systems' led by Dr Evans on the MSc/MEng Transport degrees, and also in future research proposals.
EC study on public transport smartcards - final report published
26.10.11 The EC Study on Public Transport Smartcards Final Report has been released online by the EU. The report summarises the work undertaken by a consortium including AECOM, the Transport Operations Research Group at Newcastle University, PJ Associates, AustriaTech and NEA. The Study set out to identify what steps, if any, should be taken by the European Commission to encourage interoperability between smart ticketing systems, with the overarching aim of reducing barriers to the use of Public Transport.
Greater deployment of smart ticketing systems can be expected to result in improved travelling experiences for the passengers and an increase in Public Transport usage. This would deliver benefits to public authorities, private operators, Public Transport users and society as a whole. In addition to increasing revenues, more journeys being made by Public Transport, instead of by private car, have the potential to contribute positively towards a wide range of sustainable transport and other goals. Benefits include reducing congestion by making networks more efficient and reliable; reducing vehicle emissions, contributing to a lower carbon footprint and improving the quality of life of those living near main roads, through improved air quality, reduced noise pollution and road safety.
The report begins with a review of the current situation with regards to Public Transport ticketing, payment and verification systems across Europe and globally. This is followed by an assessment of trends in ticketing and fare payment/management and technological development in this area, considering the value chain and the business drivers associated with such technology and synergies with other potential applications. Current and emerging standards for such ticketing and fare payment systems are analysed to identify areas for integrated ticketing development. In light of the current and emerging future scenarios, the report suggests steps that could be taken at an EU level to enhance/accelerate the development, deployment and integration between smart ticketing schemes and considers the likely impact of such initiatives. Finally, the report presents recommendations for actions to be taken by the European Commission to encourage and support the implementation of interoperable smart ticketing schemes within Europe.
28.7.11 Prof Phil Blythe and Dr Yvonne Huebner helped coordinate a team of
experts from the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) and ITS
UK to produce an advice note to government on the opportunities ITS
(Intelligent Transport Systems) offer in delivering more for our
transport system with less resource.
28.7.11 The Transport Operations Research Group in partnership with ITS UK,
hosted three events in four days from 28 June to 1 July 2011.
On
28 June the Low Carbon Working Group (which is part of ITS UK's Smart
Environment Interest Group, which is chaired by Professor Margaret Bell)
met in Newcastle with more than 50 National and International
participants.
On the 30 June Prof Phil Blythe hosted the ITS UK
Electric Vehicle Working Group with experts from around the UK - the
meeting identified future research priorities for the group and also
heard an update on the SWITCH-EV project which is monitoring and
evaluating 44 electric vehicles under trial in the NE of England under
the TSB-funded Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle project.
Finally on the 1
July Newcastle University hosted the first 'ITS on your doorstep' event
which is aimed at introducing local authorities and industry to the ITS
sector and the significant expertise that resides in the North east of
England in this sector. Further information on this event can be found
at http://www.its-uk.org.uk/news/story.aspx?id=261
transport professor gives evidence to
Transport Parliamentary Select
Committee
28.7.11 Professor Phil Blythe of the Transport Operations Research Group was
invited to give oral evidence to the Transport Select Committee at
Westminster on the 7 June 2011.
Evidence was being sought on experts
view on 'Effective Road and Traffic Management'. Phil argued the case
for more innovation in how we manage the Nations road transport networks
and the need to join up thinking on how urban and inter-urban road
networks are managed.
ITS United Kingdom launches ITS on your doorstep series of events
26.7.11 ITS United Kingdom, the Intelligent Transport Systems association for the UK, has launched a series of events entitled “ITS on Your Doorstep” which enable Intelligent Transport Systems practitioners and those with an interest in ITS to learn, share knowledge and network – without going far from their workplace. ITS (UK) recognises that travel and training budgets have had to be cut in the current UK economic climate, and has designed these events to cover a wide range of ITS topics in one day, with sessions run on a drop-in basis so that delegates can choose the items which interest them. The events are also, of course, free to attend.
The first one took place in Newcastle on 1 July, with ITS (UK) Members Newcastle University acting as hosts for an extensive programme of activities which stretched from breakfast at 8am to an informal reception finishing at 6pm. Topics covered included using ITS to make savings on Local Authority transport budgets, smart ticketing and payment technologies, and electric vehicle infrastructure issues. Durham County Council came along with their own EV, which was demonstrated, and other local participants came from the City of Newcastle, NEXUS, Middlesborough Council, and of course the University itself. With about 45 people passing through the event at some point, the organisers were satisfied they had identified and met a need.
The ITS (UK) organiser, Neal Skelton, commented “There was general agreement that the event had achieved its prime intention of facilitating dialogue between Local Authority representatives and the ITS industry on a number of specific local initiatives”.
Richard Gibson, who works for local ITS SME, IDT Ltd, said ” It was great having such an excellent event so close to home.”
26.7.11 The official launch event of the Inclusive Mobility Interest Group (IMIG), entitled “Open Access? Accessible Technologies – Travel for all”, took place in Manchester on 22 July. The event was co-organised by Simon Edwards (TORG), Transport for Greater Manchester, and ITS UK, hosted at TfGM, and chaired by Simon Edwards.
The IMIG is one of a number of interest groups run by members of ITS (UK) and has been chaired by Simon since its inception over two years ago. Much of that time has been spent promoting the group within ITS UK. At meetings guest speakers have focused on the development and deployment of key technologies to enhance accessibility and mobility, or on the end user perspective in terms of the needs and experiences of older and disabled travellers. Many interesting topics have been covered including transport ticketing, the Olympics 2012, travel information, and shared space.
The launch event in Manchester aimed to bring IMIG to greater prominence by targeting local authorities and service providers and showcasing the expertise of the group in the light of new and revised legislation and the challenging economic conditions in which we currently live. Themes included delivering public sector equality duty, the business case for location and navigation technologies, accessible journey planning (a German case study), a personal overview of the accessibility experiences of Poland, improving access for disabled drivers, and future ticketing technology.
Presentations were provided by Nigel Dotchin, Head of Equalities Policy at the Department for Transport, David Partington, the Disability Access Co-Ordinator at TfGM, Juergen Ross, the Head of Planning and Customer Information at Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Department, Krzysztof Kaperczak, from ITS Poland, Gary McFarlane from Access4All, and Chris Shire, the Business Development Manager at Infineon Technologies UK Ltd. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion entitled “Addressing the Gap Between Accessibility Provision and Passenger Needs” chaired by Professor Eric Sampson of Newcastle University with participants Peter Wilkins of the National Federation of the Blind, Alan Norton of Assist UK, Gary McFarlane, and Steven Salmon of the Confederation of Passenger Transport.
14.7.11 The Air Pollution Research in London (APRIL) network aims to bring together scientists, policy-makers and the wider community to identify priority areas for research to improve air quality in London and other major cities, to support the development of new scientific research, and to communicate latest research findings. Glyn Rhys-Tyler of TORG was recently invited by the APRIL network to present his research findings on the exhaust emissions characteristics of the London road vehicle fleet, based on extensive remote sensing surveys carried out in Southwark and Ealing in 2008. The invitation followed the publication of elements of this research in Atmospheric Environment (Rhys-Tyler et al., 2011).
The seminar took place at the Greater London Authority, City Hall, London on 5 July 2011, and was attended by a wide range of stakeholders from the GLA, Transport for London, the Department for Transport (DfT), the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the London Boroughs, industry and academia. Glyn’s presentation highlighted a range of challenges facing policy makers, including the increasing ‘dieselisation’ of the passenger car fleet with associated higher emissions of oxides of nitrogen (relative to comparable petrol cars), potential issues with smoke (particulate) emissions from some groups of London taxis, and growing concerns regarding the increasing proportion of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in total oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from modern diesel engines. These issues are of particular concern to policy makers in London (and further afield), both in the context of UK and European air quality legislation, and wider public health policy. The TORG research has the potential to inform policies such as the future design and development of existing and new Low Emission Zones (LEZ’s) targeting both NOx and particulates, and the possible use of age limits for some groups of vehicles (a policy already adopted by GLA for London taxis and private hire vehicles from 2012).
Two other speakers at the seminar, Adam Moody and Charles Buckingham from TfL, gave presentations on the TfL programme to define representative drive cycles for passenger cars in London (together with some early findings on primary NOx/NO2 ratios arising from the vehicle testing), and an update on the London emission inventories respectively.
References
Rhys-Tyler G.A., Legassick W., and Bell M.C. (2011). The significance of vehicle emissions standards for levels of exhaust pollution from light vehicles in an urban area. Atmospheric Environment 45, Issue 19, pages 3286-3293. DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.03.035.
Clearing the air: the Mayor’s air quality strategy. Greater London Authority, December 2010. http://www.london.gov.uk/air-quality
14.7.11 Newcastle University hosted a successful project partner inception event for the EPSRC funded SECURE (SElf Conserving URban Environments) project, held in the Research Beehive on Friday 8th July 2011. Representatives from project partners including the Department for Transport, Natural England, Northumberland County Council, Gateshead Council, Newcastle City Council, Nexus, and Tees Valley Unlimited were welcomed to the University by the SECURE Principal Investigator, Professor Margaret C. Bell CBE. In addition, academic project partners attended from Exeter University, Sheffield University, and Loughborough University.
SECURE addresses the grand challenge of integrating greater conservation and more efficient resource utilisation across scales to meet future urban demands. The vision of the project is to deliver a step change in thinking by enabling integration of resource-supply-demand-waste systems across city-to-regional scales to create scientifically informed integrated policies to meet strategic objectives, in particular relating to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Professor Bell presented an overview of the research project, followed by a stimulating discussion amongst the stakeholders, providing valuable intelligence as the project moves forward. Presentations were made during the day prepared by the co-investigators working on the three main technical themes within the SECURE project, Urbanisation (Dr Anil Namdeo), Ecosystem Services (Professor David Manning, Professor Kevin Gaston, Dr Jonathan Leake), and Building & Energy (Professor David Graham, Professor Kevin Lomas, Professor Jonathan Wright, Dr Steven Firth). The partner inception event provided a firm foundation for the research project moving forward, engaging successfully with stakeholders, and facilitating access to data and information which will be invaluable for the SECURE research community over the next four years.
14.7.11 Carly Foster (current part-time MSc student in Transport and Business Management) has won through to the national final of the Chartered Institution for Highways and Transportation’s (CIHT) Young Members Papers Competition. Carly beat off strong competition from two other winners of the regional heats – Matt Caygill (Transport PGR) and Keiron Gooch (current MSc Transport and Business Management) - to reach the national final to be held in Newcastle on 2nd November as part of the CIHT Branch Officers’ Annual Conference. Carly’s presentation on cashless payment for Metro services was based on her MSc dissertation and her current work with her employer Nexus to implement the POP smartcard system throughout the Tyne and Wear Metro. Many congratulations to Carly and good luck for the final!
use and user issues in geospatial public transport information - first international workshop
2.7.11 As part of the International Cartographic Association’s 2011 International Cartographic Conference in Paris, the Commission on Use and User Issues organised a pre-conference workshop on 'Use and User Issues in Geospatial Public Transport Information (GPTI)'. The workshop ran from Friday 1 – Saturday 2 July, and was hosted by the Institut Geographique National, on the outskirts of Paris.
This was the first known workshop of its kind, with a remit specifically focussing on mapping information for Public Transport and the needs of the user from this information. The workshop attracted an audience of around 30-35 delegates, from both academia and industrial organisations, with most coming from Europe but there were also attendees from North and South America. As well as cartographers, there were representatives from a mixture of disciplines including transport, psychology, computing science and graphic design.
The workshop opened on the Friday afternoon with a series of presentations covering a wide range of issues to do with the needs of the user when designing and providing GPTI. Dr. Gareth Evans attended the workshop and gave a paper on the aspects of user testing of the Stop-Specific Bus Map undertaken in his PhD (at the University of Glasgow). This paper stimulated some interesting debate about how to realistically test maps designed to be used outdoors and also how there is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for providing GPTI to cover a journey in its entirety.
Following the first paper session, delegates then undertook a real-world user testing exercise of the GPTI readily available for travellers in Paris. The task required users to plan and undertake a journey from the meeting venue to the Eiffel Tower, before returning via the Jardin du Luxembourg, to rendezvous at an art and cartography exhibition near to the starting point. The user test revealed to many of the participants just how difficult it is to plan a journey in full using a limited number of mapping sources and took longer than expected to complete – although thankfully all made it back in one piece (eventually!)
The Saturday morning session began with a paper session on the design features of schematic GPTI, as found on the Tyne & Wear Metro map, which feature highly across Public Transport networks, and the limitations of this means of representation. This was followed by a demonstration of journey planning websites and then a detailed discussion of the results of the user testing took place. The workshop finished with a final paper session on tool and databases for making the production of GPTI easier.
To bring this first workshop on GPTI to a close, a discussion was had on the future steps required ensure this research agenda can continue to develop and grow. All delegates were encouraged by the diversity of disciplines represented at the workshop, the range of papers given and expressed their support for this to become an annual event.
9.6.11 Dr Anil Namdeo, Prof Margaret Bell and Dr Fabio Galatioto recently visited Sicily (Italy) to consolidate existing collaborative links and to explore ways to strengthen our activities and discover future research opportunities with Palermo and Enna Universities.
The visit coincided with the nomination of Dr Namdeo and Prof Bell as external examiner and international expert respectively on the Examination Commission for six PhD students at Palermo University. This commission also saw the successful award of PhD to Dr Patrizia Franco who studied for almost two of the three years of her PhD in the area of Public Transport at TORG. Dr Franco is the first Doctor Europaeus in transport at both Universities.
During this visit Anil and Margaret delivered a seminar for PhD and MSc students on "Traffic and Air Quality Modelling and Management Research at TORG", whilst Fabio Galatioto was invited to deliver lectures to MSc Students on Microsimulation Modelling.
Also, by invitation, Margaret and Fabio delivered a half day seminar to PhD and MSc students in the University Kore of Enna on "Interactions between Land Use, Transport and the Environment: Research and Future Perspectives" followed by the visit of their laboratory and a meeting with the Dean of Faculty of Architecture and Engineer Prof Giovanni Tesoriere to explore future opportunities for collaboration and research.
Finally, Margaret and Fabio met the Vice Chancellor of Palermo University and in acknowledgement of a decade of collaboration in research and teaching between Prof Bell and Transport Department of Palermo University she received the gift of a silver crest of the University.
3.6.11 The recently published special issue of the ICE Journal Urban Design Planning on ‘Urban Development and Sustainability’ contains significant contributions from a number of CEGS staff. Claire Walsh, Richard Dawson, Jim Hall (ex-CEGS), Stuart Barr, Ali Ford and colleagues have a paper on the ‘Assessment of climate change mitigation and adaptation in cities’, whilst Phil Renforth, David Manning and colleagues publish their work on ‘Designing a carbon capture function into urban soils’. Neil Thorpe acted as the guest editor for this special issue which emerged from the SUE 1 project SOLUTIONS (Sustainability of Land Use and Transport in Outer Neighbourhoods) in which TORG was a collaborating partner. Copies of the journal’s editorial and the individual papers may be viewed at http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/issue/udap/164/2
3.6.11 Thirty-two postgraduate Transport students have just completed an 8 day field trip to Germany. The party were hosted by Newcastle University transport alumnus Paulo Humanes, now working for PTV (Planung Transport Verkehr) in Karlsruhe, and included study trips to Karlsruhe University, the Merkur Railway in Baden Baden, the sustainable city of Freiburg, the Technical University of Darmstadt and Deutsche Bahn Fernverkehr in Frankfurt (courtesy of another Newcastle transport alumnus Rudi von Grot). During the tour, students received a number of lectures on car sharing, the real-life application of transport models including an e-learning session on the network modelling package VISSIM, and the implementation of sustainable development concepts in urban environments. The lectures and tour of Freiburg were kindly sponsored by the North Eastern branch of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation with students reporting back on their findings as part of a local seminar on sustainable transport to be arranged in Newcastle later in the year. Cultural elements of the trip included a brewery trip in Karlsruhe, a Nightwatchman tour of the old town of Durlach, wine-tasting in the Black Forest and an impromptu game of football somewhere under the English Channel on the journey home.
13.5.11 On Wednesday 11 May, a group of 20 Stage 2 students went to Scotland as part of their Design of Sustainable Engineering Systems module. The first port of call was the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh (see picture), although our visit coincided with the swearing in of the new Scottish Parliament! Students also saw the tensile fabric roof of the Dynamic Earth building next door. Next, students visited two sites on the Edinburgh Tram system which is currently under construction. The first site was the tram depot at Gogar and the second the site of a proposed tram stop in the Haymarket area of the city. Students learned how the tram project will play a vital role in terms of social integration across the conurbation to stimulate economic activity and reduce the environmental impact of road vehicle traffic. They also gained an appreciation of some of the challenges of undertaking such a large construction project in a World Heritage site. In the afternoon, students visited the nearby Falkirk Wheel which is the only rotating boat lift in the world.
accreditation of air quality CPD courses
Alison Bird
5.5.11 The Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM) has this week accredited the two short courses at Newcastle University that fall within their remit. Both courses, the five day ‘Air Pollution’ course and the one day Air Quality and Health course have been accredited.
The Air Pollution course, which runs annually, introduces the fundamentals of air pollution with a consideration of the background and historical perspective and a commentary on current air quality policies and standards. It demonstrates and discusses approaches to air pollution modelling and covers methods of estimating health impacts.
Air Quality and Health is the first course in a new programme of one day CPD courses of interest to those working in the Public Health field. The course is aimed at air quality and health planners and experts who are interested in learning about the sources of air pollution in urban areas; local, regional and national trends in air pollution levels, along with how pollution varies spatially and with time over different seasons. They will also learn about the impacts air pollution has on health. This course will discuss a methodology for carrying out an effective health impact assessment of changes in urban air quality.
As part of the new programme three further one day courses are planned:
Traffic Interventions for Environmental Management
Delivering Policy with Traffic and Environmental Monitoring
Transport and Environmental Appraisal: Tools and Techniques
The courses will be based on the internationally recognised research Margaret Bell, Anil Namdeo and their team are involved in. This when combined with their extensive experience of working with Local Authorities and other partners will mean the courses will be informed by both the latest research and experience of practical implementation.
8.4.11 The Spring 2011 CeG PhD Away Weekend took place on 26 and 27 March 2011 at the picturesque Low Gillerthwaite Field Centre in the Lake District. Attendees enjoyed a weekend of unseasonably warm weather, exploring the Cumbrian countryside around Ennerdale Water.
The event brought together students from 5 groups across CeG for a weekend of activities aimed at improving the dialogue between researchers in different disciplines. Building on the success of previous PhD away trips, the event provided an opportunity for researchers to share their experiences, discuss their research in an informal setting and meet colleagues based in other parts of the school. The trip also facilitated the further integration of CeG home, EU and international students.
The trip was organised by Alex Colman (Postgraduate Researcher in Structural Engineering) with the industrial scale catering operation ably coordinated by Alex Nicholson (Postgraduate Researcher in Water). The visit would not have been possible without kind support from CeG research groups, and it is hoped that many successful future events will follow.
university begins trials with fifteen Nissan LEAF electric vehicles
5.4.11 As part of the equipping of 49 electric vehicles in the North East England under the TSB (Technology Strategy Board) and ONE NE funded SWITCH EV project, fifteen Nissan LEAFs Electric vehicles were handed over to their volunteer drivers on the 24th March after being fitted with data loggers by Newcastle University. The vehicles will be recorded for two years to analyse technical performance, driving styles and user behaviour. The Nissan LEAFs were handed over to the participants in a ceremony at the Nissan Sunderland Plant in the presence of UK Minister for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk MP, who also received a tour of the production facilities where the Nissan LEAF will be manufactured from 2013.
In addition the University corporately took possession of one of the other types of EV’s that are included in the SWITCH-EV trial, the locally built Cue-V from AVID. A press release was produced on this last week, unfortunately they did not explicitly mention SIDE in the text:
Additional Press release from Nissan with more details of the SWITCH EV project.
photo: Nissan Leafs with Newcastle University Data Loggers, prior to being handed out to the volunteer trialists by Mark Prisk MP, Minister of Business and Innovation, at Nissan factory, Sunderland on 24 March 2011.
25.3.11 Newcastle University Transport Masters students Carly Foster and Keiron
Gooch shared the top honours in the Chartered Institution of Highways
and Transportation's North Eastern Branch Papers Competition, with their
presentations on Smart Ticketing in the North East and Bus Service Cuts
and the Big Society. This continues the University's long association
with the event, which this year was chaired by CIHT North Eastern Branch
Chairman Richard Smith who is himself a Newcastle Transport Masters
graduate and past papers competition winner Richard Smith. Newcastle is
hosting the national competition in the autumn which will include a
north east representative.
Photo: Front row (l to r) Carly Foster, Richard Smith, Keiron Gooch, Gemma
Paget, Ayan Chakravartty Back row (l to r) Shripad Vaikar, Kyle Kellam
EPSRC Impact Awards 2010 – TORG organises a series of one-day workshops
10.3.11 Thanks to EPSRC Impact Awards 2010 funds a series of one-day workshops were organised by the Transport Operations Research Group, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University. Four Workshops were organised on 17-18 February, and 3-4 March 2011 to disseminate knowledge from recent research on the EPSRC funded MESSAGE project. Each of the workshops focussed on a particular aspect relating to low cost pollution sensors and involved a separate stakeholder group. The themes of the workshops were: the use of relatively low cost environmental sensors(motes) and their deployment (Workshop 1); analysis of sensor data, and the Integrated Platform developed to inform traffic management and control, with the objective of supporting local air quality action plans and carbon reduction initiatives (Workshop 2); integrating pervasive monitoring into legacy systems to meet policy objectives (Workshop 3); and how traffic management interventions can reduce the impacts of traffic related pollution on public health and climate change (Workshop 4).
The four Workshops have been designed and organised by Professor Margaret Bell and Dr Fabio Galatioto, in collaboration with Dr Anil Namdeo, Dr Jeff Neasham, Dr Graeme Hill and Glyn Rhys-Tyler.
The response met the expectation and all the available places were fully booked with more than 40 delegates from Government, different local authorities and consultant groups attended the workshops.
10.3.11 Simon Edwards (TORG) was guest speaker at the Transport Design and the
User Experience conference at Coventry University on 4 March. His
keynote speech, entitled "Keeping Older Drivers on the Road Safely",
presented the latest findings from the SiDE project's Transport and the
Digital Economy theme with particular emphasis on the potential
application of intelligent transport systems to the needs of older
drivers.
The conference speakers and delegates largely represented aspects of
industrial design in the transport sector, with presentations on the
human machine interface and driver interaction, vehicle interiors,
public transport, and electric vehicles.
TORG meets transport and air quality experts from India
28.2.11 A two-day workshop titled ‘Transport, land use strategies and technology interventions for urban air quality management’ was organised on 9th and 10th February in India by TORG, Newcastle University, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Prof Margaret Bell and Dr Anil Namdeo were involved in organising and delivering several presentations followed by discussion sessions on the looming issues of transport-related air pollution in rapidly growing Indian cities. The event included five sessions: Transport and Air Pollution; UKIERI Research Outcome; Land Use Strategies and Technology Interventions for Urban Air Quality Management; The Way Forward. The workshop was attended by high profile dignitaries including the Joint Secretary, Environmental Research Division, Ministry of Environment and Forests of India; Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board; Director, Delhi Police Authority, Dr Alicia Greated, Director, RCUK Office in India; Miss Megha Sugner and Miss Malyaj Varmani, UKIERI, India and a group of academics and scientists from leading Indian institutes.
This workshop was organised as a part of the ongoing UKIERI ( UK India Education and Research Initiative) project on Modelling and Management of Air Quality in Indian and UK cities. The project involves collaboration between Newcastle University and two institutions in India (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Indian Institute of Technology, Madras). The scope of this project is to evaluate the performance of air quality models whenn applied to Indian and UK urban traffic and meteorological conditions
23.2.11 After almost one year of activities, the VERITAS project has already achieved some of its milestones and successfully organised two events with external stakeholders as well as a meeting of the international Scientific Advisory Board and a reunion of the VUMS Cluster. Research activities undertaken by Transport Research team at Newcastle (TORG) include instantiating the VR simulation models at each pilot site, optimising them when incompatibilities between the pilots occur, pilot planning and framework for beneficiaries as well as dissemination and events organisation at Newcastle. Culture Lab research team at Newcastle is responsible for UCD methodology and the development of cognitive interaction tools.
There are a number of options for you to receive updates of and news on the project if you are interested in VERITAS or e-Inclusion:
22.2.11 Growing cities around the world pose significant risk to the environment and the human health from what is still predominantly 'fossil fuelled' road transport. A collaborative research link has been established between CeG and the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi to tackle this issue under the auspices of RCUK’s UK-India networking activity. The primary focus of the 2-week research interactions was to develop collaborative capacity for devising efficient land use strategies in terms of resilient green urban infrastructures and to assess its implications for the city-region. This is being piloted in the context of the Delhi 2020 master plan.
The funding for this trip was awarded to Dr Abhishek Tiwary, an early career researcher in TORG. The networking activities were conjoined with the UKIERI workshop on Transport, Land Use Strategies and Technology Interventions for Urban Air Quality Management, held at IIT Delhi. The key contributors to this network building exercise included experts from Civil Engineering (Transport and Atmospheric Sciences groups) IIT Delhi, the Central Pollution Control Board of India and the Energy and Resources Institute, India.
3.2.11 As part of this year’s Transport Ticketing event held at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel in London, Dr. Gareth Evans took part in a panel debate on the future of transport ticketing, and how organisations can work together to accelerate the implementation of smart ticketing into Public Transport systems.
The debate covered various issues such as defining common goals in a multi-stakeholder environment; achieving both technological and commercial integration; approaches to revenue sharing; and managing the expectations of different shareholders. The panellists covered a wide range of perspectives, from the commercial operations side, through to the procurement and implementation aspects of smart ticketing technology.
As the conference website states: “Ticketing is changing. From Dundee to Dhaka, paper tickets are becoming a thing of the past as forward thinking transport operators seek new alternatives that will hand them significant cost savings, enhanced management information, and vastly improved standards of customer service.”
Whilst there are many key organisations involved in the value chain associated with smart ticketing provision, the statement above highlights one of the key points raised by Gareth - not to forget the needs of the actual user i.e. the everyday Public Transport traveller!
Smart ticketing and technology is very welcome and beneficial to Public Transport use, but too often it was felt that the needs and desires of the technology providers, the service operators and the authorities were given priority, when actually ticketing is only one part of the overall Public Transport service.
The general traveller does not care much about which operator runs their service or the colour of the vehicle they travel on, and the same thinking applies to ticketing – all people really want is a fares system that is easy to understand, that will get them from A to B with the minimum of fuss. Smart technology can be applied to help minimise the fuss of paying for travel and improve operations through decreased boarding times.
It was noted that one key expectation, which will be a tough challenge to meet, concerns the overall impression people have about smart ticketing based upon their experiences of the TfL Oyster Card. For those living outside of London (where services operate in a deregulated environment), future smart ticketing may not be able to deliver the same flexibility of service as that provided by Oyster. As more and more Public Transport systems move towards smart ticketing, it will be important to help the travelling public appreciate what limitations there are to these new systems.
2.2.11 The 4M project (Measurement, Modelling, Mapping and Management: an evidence-based methodology for understanding and shrinking the urban carbon footprint) held its Third Away Day in Durham on 19 -20 January. Participants from the consortium, comprising of researchers and academics from partner universities (TORG Newcastle, De Montfort, Loughborough and Sheffield), attended this event. Progress was updated on cross-cutting themes of emissions (building energy and transport) and carbon sequestration in urban green space. Much of the discussion focussed around the methodologies required to deliver integration of the results from the three themes. The final session covered a coordinated approach towards development of Management Strategies for more efficient carbon management using the CAMEO system (a postcode-based geodemographic classification system applied to British consumers).
4M is funded by EPSRC-SUE2 (Sustainable Urban Environment Call 2). Key academics and researchers from TORG, Newcastle University include Prof Margaret Bell and Drs Anil Namdeo, Paul Goodman, Fabio Galatioto, Graeme Hill and Abhishek Tiwary along with PhD researcher Justin Cairns.
CeG wins British Council UK-US new partnership fund
1.2.11 Researchers in CeG have been successful in obtaining the prestigious British Council UK-US New Partnership Fund under the Prime Minister’s Initiative (PMI2) to develop collaborative research activities with Universities in the USA. PMI2 is a five-year strategy which aims to secure the UK's position as a leader in international education and sustain the growth of UK international education delivered in the UK and overseas.
The competition was stiff with 22 projects finally funded out of 230 applicants (prioritised by a mix of both internal and external academic reviewers in the UK and the US; the final selection was made by an independent panel consisting of senior members of staff from universities and appropriate sector bodies from both countries). Over the next 12 months, in association with Pennsylvania State University (Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences) in the US, the pump priming activities will focus on developing our complementary research strengths, enhancing common visions of research led teaching and networking for urban sustainability. The activities will be mainly embracing the important urban interactions of land transport and natural vegetation in the foreseeable future. Newcastle University is the lead UK partner (Prof Margaret Bell as Principal Investigator with Key researchers Drs Abhishek Tiwary and Anil Namdeo). The project also involves Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT Delhi as the third country partner with their contributions to the collaborative research on Urban Heat Island mitigation.
universities transport study group, 43rd annual conference
17.1.11 Universities' Transport Study Group (UTSG) 43rd Annual Conference was held in Milton Keynes (Open University) from 5 - 7 January 2011. Similar to the past years’ consistently good attendance, this year also saw a very strong presence by staff and research students from TORG contributing six papers one of which (by Patrizia Franco) was entered for the Smeed Prize.
Another paper (by Bell, Galatioto and Hill) entitled “Comprehensive analysis of traffic congestion over a decade to evaluate carbon emissions impacts of transport policy” was presented as a plenary and the closing paper which was simultaneously web-cast.
Dr Anil Namdeo was elected onto the UTSG Executive Committee with the added portfolio of Treasurer.
roadside hazards may improve people's driving
Edmund King
4.1.11 Newcastle University researchers found that 31% of drivers were easily bored and therefore more likely to seek excitement by taking driving risks. These thrill-seekers were prone to speeding or overtaking as they did not find the highways taxing enough. The researchers said building in more obstacles - such as taking away kerbs - might be the answer.
Lead researcher Dr Joan Harvey said: "Contrary to what you might expect when driving, hazards can actually increase our attention to the road so this may well be the way forward for planners. In towns we may need to start considering some radical schemes such as removing kerbs so there are more hazards - like pedestrians - around your car. Our research suggests that this might actually improve people's driving."
For their study, the researchers questioned 1,563 drivers about their motoring style and personality. The 31% who got bored and sought thrills on the road included women and younger drivers. Also, 35% of all those surveyed were described as "enthusiastic", found driving challenging or interesting and were less likely to have crashes. A total of 21% were categorised as slow with a dislike of driving, while 13% were seen as safe and slow.
AA president Edmund King, who is also Visiting Professor of Transport at Newcastle University, said: "As cars come fitted with more gadgets to make driving easier and planners remove more of the distractions it comes as no surprise to me that some people are finding the pleasure of driving has become a bore. With that comes an increase in the risks drivers take as they mentally switch-off instead of focusing on the road. Drivers need to stay alert at all times."
21.12.10 Richard Smith (MSc Transport Engineering and Operations 2000) reports on the 10 year-reunion of Transport graduates in October in Newcastle, and looks ahead to the fortieth anniversary of TORG (Transport Operations Research Group) in 2012.
Transport Masters Graduates from around Europe celebrated their 10 year reunion with dinner at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art on 16 October. Early arrivals enjoyed an evening of traditional Geordie tapas by the Castle Keep and also took in a behind-the-scenes tour of the Metro Control Centre thanks to Nexus and DB Regio. This was a bit of a railman’s holiday for one of the group who plans rail services for Deutsche Bahn in Frankfurt. The Metro also transported visitors on a family trip to Tynemouth beach, which was a far cry from the Baja Beach Club nights of student days past.
The last ten years have seen a transformation of the Tyne and visitors were able to see this for themselves by crossing the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and ascending to BALTIC’s rooftop restaurant. Although the glass lift was somewhat grander, the view across the Newcastle skyline did bring back fond memories of our Masters year from 1999–2000 in Claremont Tower, where we enjoyed the Transport Operations Research Group’s dedicated library and computer suite.
Cliff Spencer the librarian joined the celebrations with TORG’s Professor Phil Blythe, Dr Neil Thorpe, Roger Bird and former Professor Mike Bell. Staff were pleased to see that their graduates are still working in transport in the public, private and voluntary sectors in roles ranging from railway planning and management to transport consultancy.
The evening was also a great chance to catch up on the latest developments on the home front. It was interesting to see how many friendships with fellow Newcastle graduates had blossomed, resulting in four marriages and three children so far. The reunion also attracted apologies from as far away as Japan and Morocco and even a participant in the Amsterdam Marathon who couldn’t get back in time.
After the positive feedback we are now looking forward to the celebration of 40 years of TORG in 2012 and hope to catch up with even more TORG Masters graduates from Australia, Greece, Thailand and beyond. If you couldn’t make it this time but would like to know more please email torg.ten@gmail.com
NICHES+ guidelines for implementers available to download
25.11.10 The NICHES+ project has been investigating at how various innovative concepts (ICs) can be developed into more mainstream practices. These ICs have been categorised into four working groups (WGs), each focussing on three ICs:
WG1: Innovative Concepts to Enhance Accessibility
IC 1.1 - Travel training for public transport
IC 1.2 - Neighbourhood accessibility planning
IC 1.3 - Tailored traveller information for users with reduced mobility
WG2: Efficient Planning and Use of Infrastructure and Transport Interchanges
IC 2.1 - Passenger friendly intermodal interchanges
IC 2.2 - Innovative cycling facilities for intermodal interchanges
IC 2.3 - Infrastructure for innovative bus systems
WG3: Traffic Management Centres
IC 3.1 – Financing and Implementing for traffic management centres
IC 3.2 - Mobile travel information services for the public
IC 3.3 - Using environmental pollution data in traffic management
WG4: Automated and Space Efficient Transport Systems
IC 4.1 - Group Rapid Transit
IC 4.2 - Personal Rapid Transit
IC 4.3 - Advanced city cars
To assist with the development of these ICs, the NICHES+ consortium, together with leading experts on urban transport, have produced 12 highly attractive and interesting practitioner manuals which can be downloaded here. These Guidelines for Implementers explain how to implement the different NICHES+ ICs, what costs will be incurred, what timeframes for delivering the concepts are expected, what the benefits of the concepts are, and which stakeholders to involve.
Simon Edwards has been the lead researcher on NICHES+, co-ordinating TORG’s input into the various project phases and managing two work packages, including the production and editing of the Guidelines for Implementers for all 12 ICs. TORG were responsible for the three WG3 ICs on Traffic Management Centres, Gareth Evans and Amy Guo assisted with the production of the copy and sourcing of hi-res images which have been used in the Guidelines for Implementers.
15.11.10 TORG has a strong team of Visiting Professors and we think it’s interesting to have an insight into their life from time to time – there is no such thing as a typical V P and their schedules and plans differ a great deal. In addition to working with us Eric Sampson is also Ambassador of ITS (UK) and in that role he has a varied and wide-ranging brief. This is his account of attendance at the recent World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems in Busan S Korea.
first site visit for stage 1 civils students completed
11.11.10 The School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences has continued its strong
track record of getting new Civil Engineering students on to a "live"
site as early as possible in their course with the first Stage 1 site
visit taking place today.
Hosted by Carillion, the visit took place at a new potable water
reservoir being built for Northumbrian Water near Morpeth,
Northumberland. Tom Bramald, who led the visits, said, "The job was a
real mix of structural, environmental, geotechnical, and water
engineering coupled with some interesting water supply and security
issues too. Carillion have supported a number of visits by our students
in recent years - our thanks go to them for their support."
Half of the Stage 1 Civil Engineering students attended today's visit
with the other half visiting a new hospital building in a fortnight's
time.
8.11.10 Newcastle University has won a £6.1million grant to lead a major investigation into the vulnerability of the UK's infrastructure.
The interdependence of our five key networks – energy, transport, telecommunications, water and waste - means our infrastructure is acutely vulnerable to changes in the weather and other threats.
Now a world-leading team of engineers and scientists has been pulled together to analyze the risks in the face of an uncertain future and suggest ways in which we can protect our infrastructure against potential meltdown.
Led by Newcastle University, the team will be analyzing how this can be done at the same time as meeting ambitious targets for carbon emissions reduction from energy, transport and other infrastructures. Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the programme aims to address the fundamental issue of ensuring a sustainable infrastructure for the UK.
Project lead Professor Jim Hall said it was crucial “to think ahead about the situations we might end up regretting in the future”.
“The whole process of strategic planning is fraught with uncertainties,” he explained. “What we can’t do is plan for one unique predicted future because if we do that we risk getting things seriously wrong.
“Instead, we will be developing computer simulation models that will enable complex national infrastructure systems to be tested for a wide range of possible future scenarios.
“Testing infrastructure systems in a virtual environment will help to realistically plan for a range of possible futures so we are not suddenly caught unawares and in a situation where it is already too late to react.
“Our aim is to show that by taking a ‘system of systems’ approach – that is, to look at the interaction of all our key networks – we can achieve a sustainable outcome.”
8.11.10 The first ICE North East Graduates and Students event of the year was
held on Wednesday 3 November at Opera in The Gate complex in Newcastle
City Centre. 42 people joined the event to hear from graduate engineers
about their experience of work so far and to collect hints and tips on
entering the job market or taking a postgraduate course. Speakers came
from Jacobs, the Environment Agency, Sunderland City Council, Newcastle
University and Rapid 5D and, as well as their talks, took the time to
take questions from individuals afterwards.
Jennifer Kelly of the ICE North East G&S committee said, "The night was
a great success and we are so grateful to our speakers for giving up
their time. Events like this are a great help and we hope that more
students from across the North East universities will be able to join us
at future events."
Engineers Without Borders newcastle branch starts up
Nicola Lazenby
8.11.10 Engineers Without Borders is an international development organisation that removes barriers to development through engineering. This year, a new branch of EWB has been set up at Newcastle University and 67 students from various engineering disciplines are now branch members. Although only a few weeks old, the inaugural year of the branch has already been action-packed with many more events on the horizon.
The first regional meeting of the year saw the Newcastle branch travel to Edinburgh for a “Slum Survivor” event that introduced new members to the aims of EWB, and included hands on work shops relating to various aspects of international development including hydropower, shelter building, camp planning and latrines.
After Edinburgh, the Newcastle branch committee attended a RedR/EWB training weekend at Clare Farm (Cambridgeshire). The training was very hands on, with workshops on slow sand filters, mud brick construction, an introduction to DelAgua kits, truss design and a whole range of other aspects which have been brought back to be incorporated in to the Newcastle branch weekly meetings.
A busy October ended with some branch members attending the National Conference at Manchester University. The national conference explored the charity work of EWB along with an introduction to other activities EWB branches can undertake. The Newcastle representatives developed their knowledge in Outreach work, and the placement and bursary schemes available through EWB. It was also a good opportunity to network with other branches from across the country.
The Branch is now planning for the 1st Regional Meeting to be held at Newcastle University on 20th November 2010. Named “GET SHELTERED!”, the weekend event will see Newcastle University students joined by students from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Durham, Strathclyde and Manchester for workshops on mud-brick construction, straw and lime brick construction, truss designs and simple field surveying.
Weekly branch meetings are held on Thursday evenings at 1930hrs with topics such as Hydropower and sharing skills and ideas from the regional and national events. The branch has also set out its year-long project. The branch hopes to put together an outreach programme to local schools that will deliver simple workshops that highlight issues faced in developing countries including water treatment and sanitation, shelter building, renewable energy sources and nutrition. The branch also has plans to visit the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) along with other branches from Scotland and the North early next year.
29.10.10 “Do all forms of transport pollute the environment?”, “Can’t we move all transport systems under ground?” and “Mobility means freedom – why are we concerned about building more infrastructure?” were only some of the questions asked at a debate about ‘The future of transport’ on 25 October 2010.
Yvonne Hübner (TORG), Michelle Di Leo, the Director of FlyingMatters and Austin Williams, the Director of the Future Cities Project formed the panel trying to answer those questions. Aim of the discussion was to help develop a two way conversation between engineers, technicians, scientists and a wider public audience. The event was jointly organised by the Manchester Salon as part of Battle of Ideas 2010 festival of ideas and the Institution of Engineering and Technology and featured in the Manchester Science Festival programme.
26.10.10
The SEA review for the Department for Transport (DfT) was initiated in November 2009. The review considers how effectively DfT uses science and engineering in its strategy, policy and decision making, with its high-level scope guided by the SEA Framework. The report highlights good practice within the Department and also makes ten strategic recommendations aimed at supporting it to enhance its use of science and engineering.
The review was led by an Independent Expert Panel, appointed by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser:
Professor Philip Blythe, FIET CEng, Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems and Director of the Transport Operations Research Group, Newcastle University
Dr Chris Elliott FREng, Director of Pitchill Consulting Ltd, Non-executive Director of the Office of Rail Regulation
Prof Roger Kemp FREng, Professorial Fellow, Engineering Department, Lancaster University
Professor Nick Tyler, Head of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering Department and Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering, UCL
Professor John Urry, Distinguished Professor and CeMoRe Director, Lancaster University
19.10.10 As part of the latest SAVE ME project meeting in Luzern, Switzerland, project members were given a guided tour of the Gotthard Road Tunnel and its facilities. Gareth Evans and Dan Brennan represented Newcastle at the meeting and site visit.
The visit opened with a presentation from by Major Luca Ceresetti of the Swiss National Army about the activities of the tunnel’s emergency services. The Swiss Army are primarily responsible for the rescue operations within the tunnel itself, and work closely with the tunnel’s dedicated Control, Fire Brigade and Police teams to ensure that traffic incidents are dealt with quickly, safely and efficiently, minimising disruption to the wider traffic network.
Following this, members were given a tour of the tunnel’s control centre, seeing the camera stations, video screens, ventilation control systems and traffic control monitoring desks in action, all systems are used to control the traffic flow and air quality conditions within the tunnel. After this, members were taken down the emergency evacuation tunnel and into one of the 64 refuge chambers, which are located every 250m along the tunnel’s length. When in the refuge chamber, the communication panel to allow trapped travellers to contact the main control centre was demonstrated and the main roadside door was opened, allowing everyone to experience the speed at which traffic travels through the tunnel – this was especially apparent with a HGV passing by at 80kph (~50 mph) no more than a metre away!
Finally, once the party were above ground again, the tunnel’s fire and rescue vehicles were demonstrated, including a fire truck which can rotate 180 degrees to assist with quick turn-around when in the tunnel, and another vehicle which had a multitude of multi-directional water cannons, nozzles and fans. All the rescue vehicles have been specifically designed and equipped to operate within the close confines of the tunnel environment.
The Gotthard Tunnel is one of the pilot test sites to be used in the SAVE ME project, along with Monument Metro Station in Newcastle City Centre. Work is now progressing on the project’s technical sensor systems, with the final pilot tests to be realised in the middle of 2012.
19.10.10 The final results of the DfT’s Co-operative Vehicle Highways Systems (CVHS) Evaluation Study have been published by AECOM. View the various deliverables from this work.
TORG were initially responsible for contributing to a State of Art review into CVHS technologies and research programmes, but the majority of the work on this project was concerned with evaluation the potential CO2 reduction levels of a variety of CVHS technologies. View the final benefit ‘scorecards’ .
electric vehicles – the journey from power station to wheel
12.10.10 Electric vehicles lecture - 7.10.10
Forget the presentations (undeniably informative) and the discussion (lively and entertaining), the cars themselves were the darlings of last week's IET event. Not one, not two, but three of the cute electric cars that can be seen darting around Newcastle these days - and best of all, really drawing in the crowds, a sleek, black, sporty Tesla...
But seriously, the whole event was a success. Areas covered by the lectures included:
Scope for electric vehicles – findings of Arup/Cenex Report commissioned by Government
*
Charging and grid implications
Consumer charging for domestic usage
There was plenty of scope for discussion, such as whether investment in city centre fast charging infrastructure could potentially be detrimental to the uptake of electric vehicles across the country.
The event was organised by the IET, the Power Generation, Conversion and Utilisation Network and the Automotive and Road Transport Systems Network. The event was supported by transportNewcastle and TORG from Newcastle University, One North East and the SWITCH-EV Project.
8.10.10 Three CeG undergraduate students recently won scholarships awarded
by the University's Engineering Exhibitions and Scholarships Committee.
Inga Vareikaite, studying BSc Surveying and Map Science, won a M A
Burnip Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to just two female
students across the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering each
year.
Josh Stitt and Kaspars Novickis, both studying MEng Civil Engineering,
won a R A Batey scholarship. Like the Burnip scholarship, only tow of
these scholarships are awarded each year across the Faculty of Science,
Agriculture and Engineering.
Congratulations to all three students from all in CeG.
8.10.10 The School has recently had virtual, 360° tours of six of our facilities built. They have already proven to be very useful during recruitment talks and might be useful to those dealing with enquiries from international students who may find a visit difficult.
27.9.10 Simon Edwards (TORG) was a guest speaker at the launch event for
ITS(Ireland) in Cork on Friday 24 September 24.
The event, which took place at the River Lee Hotel Conference Centre,
attracted 120 delegates from industry, local authority and government.
Other speakers came from the European Commission, AA Ireland, the
National Roads Authority, Dublin City Council, IBM, and the Department
of Transport.
Simon's presentation was entitled Mobility Management for Smarter Travel
and was given jointly with Ian Winning of Cork City Council. It focused
on the EU 7FP project NICHES+, in particular the involvement of Cork in
implementing an integrated traffic management centre, and Cork's Smarter
Travel initiative, which seeks domestic funding to deploy ITS to
influence travel behaviour by enhancing the attractiveness and
practicability of public transport and sustainable modes (cycling and
walking) as alternatives to the private car.
24.9.10 transportNewcastle exhibited at the recent Low Carbon Vehicles 2010 Ride & Drive, Conference and Exhibition held at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedford on 13 and 16 September 2010.
LCV 2010, supported by the Technology Strategy Board, UK Trade and Investment, SMMT, and Cenex, is the largest Low Carbon Vehicle event in the UK and attracted around 1500 visitors over the two days. The low and ultra low carbon vehicle and technology exhibition showcased innovative R&D from the UK's leading automotive technology companies and universities.
transportNewcastle was represented by a truly multi-disciplinary team from Newcastle University including Trevor Bedford (SAGE Faculty Office), Volker Pickert, Bing Ji and Dave Winterborn (School of Electrical, Electronic & Computer Engineering), Gordana Vasic Franklin (School of Mechanical and Systems Engineering), and Glyn Rhys-Tyler (School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences), showcasing our capabilities in power electronics and drives, light weight structures, intelligent transport systems, and electric vehicle infrastructure and monitoring. The transportNewcastle exhibition stand attracted numerous visitors, with many enquiries and potential opportunities for future research.
20.9.10 The publication of a major report by the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) that was led by Professor Phil Blythe of the Transport Operations Research Group at Newcastle University, which looked at the rebound effects of a number of transport policies suggest that research, indicates that, people who shop on the web or work from home could be increasing carbon emissions rather than helping to reduce them.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Professor Blythe said “We hear a lot about the environmental benefits achieved as a result of working from home. However, on closer inspection it does appear that any environmental benefits are negated.
"Our report highlights two important messages for policy makers. Firstly, climate change is a real threat to our planet, so we must not get overwhelmed by the task and use rebound effects as an excuse not to act.
"Secondly, policy makers must do their homework to ensure that rebound effects do not negate the positive benefits of their policy initiatives and simply move carbon emissions from one sector to another." He added that what was fundamental to tackling climate change through the reduction of green house gas emissions was to ensure that in the future the UK had green sources of electricity so that we significantly reduce emission from the use of electricity, whether at home, work or in an electric car.”
14.9.10 As part of the Nuffield Foundation Science Bursaries, Newcastle University hosted 11 students from various Sixth Forms and Colleges across the North East, for a period of 4 to 6 weeks over the summer vacation period. Four students had their placements within CeG, working with members of staff on ongoing projects or assisting with laying the foundations for future research work.
In TORG, Abbey Forster worked alongside Fabio Galatioto and Abhishek Tiwary on part of the 4M project, investigating black carbon absorption in soils, which included laboratory visits to Sheffield and here in Newcastle.
David Owens developed an online questionnaire to gather attitudes towards eco-driving, supervised by Neil Thorpe and Rick Fairchild, analysing over 200 individual responses as part of the ongoing Foot-LITE project.
Dean Grainger worked with Dilum Dissanayake and Gareth Evans to evaluate responses from national datasets (DfT Best Value Performance Indicators and Omnibus surveys), to investigate experiences of, and attitudes towards, bus travel in Great Britain, which will lead to future research proposals in this area.
In Geosciences, Phil Renforth and Carla Washbourne supervised Joe Taylder on a project looking at the historic production of silicate minerals for carbon capture (please see www.ceg.ncl.ac.uk/engscs
for more details). Joe’s project was highly relevant in the context of recent research investigating geoengineering and mineral carbonation technologies.
All the Nuffield students worked extremely hard during their time here, and their efforts made a significant contribution to CeG research activities. All staff involved in the scheme were very appreciative of the hard work put in by the students.
The Nuffield scheme offers up to 1000 bursaries a year, for students to work alongside those practicing in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM). Projects take place during the summer vacation, giving students an insight into the world of University life. Students in the first year of a post-16 STEM course are eligible to apply for a Nuffield bursary to support them during their project. Placements are available across the UK, in universities, industry or research institutions. Further information can be found at www.nuffieldfoundation.org/science-bursaries-schools-and-colleges
14.9.10 Simon Edwards (TORG) delivered a lecture at the Polis Summer University at the Université Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, France, on Friday 10 September on the subject "Implementing Traffic Management Centres". The lecture covered findings identified in the EU 7FP project NICHES+ which looks in part at financing traffic management centres and the delivery of enhanced services such as mobile travel information services and pollution management schemes.
The audience comprised engineering students and professionals from France, Germany and Romania, whilst other speakers were from Polis, CERTU, Southampton University, and City of La Rochelle.
8.9.10 Joe Mear, an MSc Transport Engineering and Operations student in TORG, shared the results of his recently completed dissertation with an audience at Gateshead Civic Centre on 31 August. Joe was the latest recipient of the annual Gateshead Council transport scholarship which aims to support student dissertations that have a strong local interest. Attendees at the presentation included Gateshead Council staff and Drs Anil Namdeo, Abhishek Tiwary and Fabio Galatioto, along with PhD and MSc colleagues from TORG.
Joe’s research investigates the barriers to public transport usage at the MetroCentre, a topic which has become even more important in recent years due to increasing traffic flows in the post-DaSTS policy environment. The main findings suggest that although congestion and parking problems remain a major issue, with 20% of the car users interviewed as part of the research inclined towards choosing public transport in the future. The most useful service improvements to stimulate a shift from private-car to public transport include an extension of the Tyne and Wear Metro to the shopping centre and improved marketing and information provision. However, the results also show that trip-chaining and travelling with shopping goods remain important barriers to public transport use.
9.8.10 Technology has been developed to help experts discover more about keeping the air around Tyneside clean.
Newcastle University professors are using a powerful new software system, called Airviro, to track poisonous fumes from cars on a street by street basis.
Teams from the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences have already produced a system of using sensors to measure levels of harmful gases and particles from exhaust emissions which are found on city streets. Using the new technology they hope to combine data – like the volume and speed of traffic – with weather information and the height of buildings to give an accurate and detailed picture of how vehicle fumes gather in specific locations. This will allow traffic engineers and planners to see what effect limiting vehicle numbers, changing speed limits and even changing the height and arrangement of buildings could have on air quality.
Margaret Bell, Newcastle University Science City professor of transport and the environment, said: “The Airviro model is a crucial tool to help us to understand where the emissions from traffic are ending up in the urban environment in specific streets. If you have a street that’s narrow with tall buildings, depending on the wind, that pollution will become trapped in that street. But when it’s windy it will blow the pollution away so will not necessarily be a problem.
“The Airviro model is a way to help us predict where the pollution will build up so we can advise how to prevent it. For example in a street with high congestion, in certain metrological conditions it would be sensible to hold traffic away from the area and move it to a place where there’s open space so the pollution will be less harmful. If the public understands the effect of congestion and particularly the role traffic has on producing emissions, hopefully we will get the message across that high levels of traffic cause higher levels of air pollution.
“This might persuade them to take action to reduce traffic on the roads, by avoiding making trips that are not necessary, ride sharing and making positive steps to cut down on the number of trips made by car.” Dr Anil Namdeo, senior lecturer in Transport and Sustainability at Newcastle University added: “Local air quality has a massive impact on quality of life – and can even prematurely shorten it.
“What we need to do is make individual lifestyle changes to alleviate this problem, which will grow because of increasing numbers of trips and vehicles on our roads.”
The software has already been tried and tested in some of the world’s biggest cities, including Singapore and Stockholm. Closer to home, it has been adopted by Sheffield, Leeds and Leicester.
The new system has been welcomed by the collective local authority initiative designed to raise awareness about air quality issues across Tyne and Wear, Be Air Aware. Ed Foster, Be Air Aware manager, said: “We’re thrilled Tyne and Wear has joined a select band of cities to use Airviro – it’s a real boost to our armoury for improving air quality in the future. But while the data will be incredibly useful, the best way to improve air quality is to swap the car for more sustainable forms of transport – and that requires action from everyone across the region.”
23.7.10 Two civil engineering students from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) have completed an eight week internship with the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences.
Mansi Dhiman joined the Transport group and worked on Air Pollution Modelling and Mapping while Swati Pasrija joined the Geotechnics group, working with Dr Gaetano Elia on slope stability research. In addition to their projects, both interns attended the 8th Annual British Geotechnical Association conference in London, visited Cragside (the home of pioneering engineer Lord Armstrong), and visited a number of local attractions during their stay.
Writing in their final reports, both interns commented on the technical knowledge they have gained during their work. But the scheme seems to have left a lasting impression of the wider university too - the research, international atmosphere and the city of Newcastle all contributed to an enjoyable placement with CeG.
The internship scheme is part of a strong relationship between CeG and IITD that has included workshops and collaborative research.
additional student places for september 2010 entry
21.7.10
Owing to the excellent performance of Newcastle University's Science and Engineering schools, the government has made some additional undergraduate student places available to the university.
The School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences will be able to take an additional 15 students in September. The 15 places will be spread across all of the School's undergraduate activity - geomatics, civil engineering, and foundation year.
8.7.10
A workshop titled ‘Transport and the Environment: a Coalition Enhanced by Technology’ was organised as part of the dissemination event of the EPSRC funded 4M research project within TORG in association with the Carbon Working Group of the Smart Environment Interest Group of the Intelligent Transport Society for the UK. It aimed to bring the ITS UK community to share knowledge and experience with technologies, techniques and initiatives that support transport-related carbon reduction.
The workshop was hosted by TORG on 1st July 2010. It brought together over 50 researchers, academics and practitioners from across the UK and the USA through a combination of tele- and video-conferencing facilities in the Research Beehive, Newcastle University. The morning session commenced with a plenary on Climate Change and Carbon Reduction Strategy for Transport (Keith McCabe, Atkins, Chairman of the ITS UK Carbon Working Group). This was followed by a series of parallel workshops, broadly split into the following two themes. 1. Supporting Policy – including Electric vehicles (David Beeton, One North East); Eco driving (Tim Felstead, Southampton University); Smarter choices (Helene Vergereau, Atkins); Travel demand management (Keith Mortimer, Chairman of the ITS UK Road User Charging Group); Enforcing traffic regulations (Tim Thornton, Speedcheck Services); Integrated land use and transport planning (Margaret Bell, Newcastle University). 2. Opportunities and Challenges – including Transportation of goods (Mike Page, AECOMM); Energy consumption of roadside equipment (Gary Stockbridge, Highways Agency); Environmental impact of managed motorways; Economic, social inclusion and health goals (Mark Wilson, One North East); Climate Change Adaptation (Steven Fraser, Atkins); Carbon tools (Farhad Pooran, ITS America Sustainability Forum). Over lunch there was a series of exhibits including a demo-version of an Electric Vehicle Charging kit by Tegrel, demonstration of data processing tools and posters (on work carried out so far covering Measurement, Modelling, Mapping and Management aspects of transport-related carbon for a city) presented by the 4M project research team. In the final stages of the workshop Marcia Pincus of the US Department of Transport presented a summary of the ITS and Environment (AERIS) project remotely from Washington by teleconference. It turned out to be an interesting and successful workshop which paves the way for moving forward a plan of action within the ITS community aimed to deliver real cuts in transport CO2 levels.
28.5.10 Professor Margaret Bell, Dr Anil Namdeo and Dr Fabio Galatioto were interviewed by Kelly Scott of Real Radio as a part of the Be Air Aware initiative.
Real Radio conducted many events during the 19 - 23 April 2010 to highlight problems of air pollution and raise awareness by linking it with the Be Air Aware programme.
Dr Namdeo gave a general definition of air pollution, what the main causes and sources are and how its affect human health. Dr Namdeo referred to a recent report published by the Environmental Audit Committee of the Houses of Parliament which highlighted that air pollution in UK is responsible for more than 50,000 deaths per year. Dr Namdeo highlighted that children, elderly people and those living close to busy and congested streets are more susceptible to harmful effects of air pollution. Prof Bell then gave a summary of the ways in which individuals and local authorities can reduce emissions and contribute to improving air quality. She stressed the role of sharing trips, avoiding short car trips (e.g. to schools), use of cycles and public transport in tackling congestion and air pollution. Dr Galatioto demonstrated “motes” sensor which have been developed at the Newcastle University, in the context of MESSAGE project, to monitor key air pollutants (CO, NO2) and noise. Motes are inexpensive and easy to deploy in large numbers across an area/city to study temporal and spatial variations in air pollution and also to test effectiveness of traffic management scheme in improving air quality.
25.5.10 Electric vehicles are only as ‘green’ as the electricity that charges their batteries, according to a new report by some of the UK’s leading engineers.
In Electric Vehicles: charged with potential, The Royal Academy of Engineering identifies the serious challenge of ensuring that the electricity supply system can cope with charging tens of millions of vehicles whilst still reducing carbon emissions from power generation.
Professor Phil Blythe, professor of intelligent transport systems at Newcastle University and one of the authors of the report, said: "It is do-able but if we want to have electric transport we have to ensure that we have the overall supply strategy in place.”
Professor Roger Kemp, Chair of the Academy’s Electric Vehicles working group, added: “When most electricity in Britain is still generated by burning gas and coal, the difference between an electric car and a small, low-emission petrol or diesel car is negligible. We welcome the new Government's commitment to mandating charging sockets for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, but establishing these as the technology of choice for personal transport is only one aspect of what is needed to reduce transport emissions.”
In preparing its report, the Academy has identified four major technical issues:
the availability of high energy-density batteries at a price and with a long enough cycle life for electric vehicles to be economically viable
the practicalities of charging vehicles – particularly for users without off-street parking
the electrical distribution infrastructure to provide power to millions of charging points and
the need for a national energy system and ‘smart grid’ that can recharge millions of electric vehicles using low-carbon electricity without overwhelming local distribution circuits.
17.5.10 ISO (the worldwide ‘International Standardisation Organisation) formally published this month the standard ISO-IEC-12905 Standard “Integrated Circuit Card – Enhanced Terminal Accessibility using Cardholder Preference Interface”. This is essentially a standard that enables a smart card to be personalised so that when it interacts with another device it can configure that device to provide information and services in a bespoke way, in particular supporting consumers with special needs. The standard is based upon the research originally developed in the DISTINCT project where a precursor to this stand was developed (the DISTICT ID) which was formally standardised as the eURI (extended User Related Information) by the standards body CEN-ISSS in 2004 and adopted in part by such schemes as ITSO (the UK’s interoperable transport smartcard organisation). The DISTINCT project itself was a highly commended EU project funded under the IADS (Integrated Applications of Digital Sites) programme which was led by Newcastle University and comprised over 70 European partners. During the five year lifetime of the project the partners deployed over 5 million citizen and transport smartcards with a common architecture and the DISTINCT ID in: Rovaniemi, Helsinki, Espo and Vantaa (Finland); The City of Torino and Region of Piemento (Italy); The region of Zeeland (NL); Thessaloniki and the Region of Macedonia (Greece) and in the North East of England – including being responsible for the introduction of the Newcastle University Smartcard.
17.5.10 The first trial of electric vehicles in North East England has been a major success, leaving hundreds of drivers ready to make the switch to low carbon transport.
Cenex, the UK's Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies, in conjunction with Regional Development Agency One North East, deployed four electric two-seater ‘Smart ForTwo’ cars over six months in the region from September 2009. These were placed into ten different vehicle fleets, featured at three public events and in total were driven by 264 different people. The in-vehicle data-capture telematics and the data analysis and visualisation were provided by the Intelligent Transport Systems and low carbon vehicle research team in the Transport Operations Research Group and the SIDE Digital Economy Hub. An updated version of the data-capture equipment will be installed on the 35 Electric Vehicles that will begin deploying in the region from September 2010, this will include locally manufactured electric vehicles from Nissan (the Leaf), AVID, Smiths EV’s and Liberty EV’s.
12.5.10 The Institution of Engineering and Technology comment on Budget proposals for a green investment bank and high speed rail.
The IET welcomes announcements on a green investment bank, but has some concerns about its delivery. Professor Steve Evans, chair of the IET Manufacturing Policy Panel, says: "There is an enormous opportunity for the UK to take a global leadership role in low-carbon manufacturing and low-carbon technology. We have got great universities and a long tradition in innovation and engineering. In order to achieve a low-carbon economy, however, government has to create the right environment for investment into the low-carbon industrial sectors of the future."
Ian McDonald, technical chair of the IET Electric Vehicle Charging Interoperability Group, points out that legislation and regulations have to keep pace with new and emerging technologies. A systematic review of the implications of new technologies has to be performed at a government level in order to maximise the benefits and minimise potential financial and safety risks. Professor Phil Blythe, chair of the Transport Policy Panel, adds: "Electric vehicles only address one of the key issues with road transport – at some time in the near future fiscal measures will be required to deal with road congestion, as the cost to the UK per annum is many billions of pounds in associated costs."
12.5.10 A party of 15 Transport MSC students recently took a trip underground – to see the latest developments on the construction of the tunnel forming the New Tyne Crossing. The visit began with a presentation from Paul Fenwick, Project Director for the New Tyne Crossing, on the rationale for the tunnel, the construction methods being used and some of the more socio-political considerations surrounding its design and role within the region. The students were then taken on an extensive walking tour of the site, both above and below ground, to see the engineering work currently taking place on the tunnel and toll plaza, both of which are on schedule to open in February 2011. This visit formed part of the Public Inquiry into a Transport Scheme module, during which students take part in a mock public inquiry to discuss and debate whether or not the New Tyne Crossing should be constructed. A follow-up visit is planned for the autumn as the tunnel nears completion.
12.5.10 Dr Neil Thorpe was recently invited to attend a seminar in Stockholm to discuss future options for the charging of heavy goods vehicles for their use of the road network. The expert seminar was convened by the National Transport Commission in Melborune, Australia as part of their investigations into how to improve their country’s current system of lorry charging, and to gather information of current research and perspectives from European experts. Dr Thorpe gave a presentation to the other seminar participants of previous research in TORG that has successfully developed and demonstrated a prototype on-board system for measuring the pavement wear caused by HGVs that could then form part of a charging system that attempts to recover this and other costs from individual vehicle operators. Following the presentations, the seminar discussed at length some of the key technical and economic issues facing the reform of lorry charging in Australia.
The ITS (UK) Public Transport Interest Group (PTIG) held its first seminar under this new name (previously this was the Passenger Information Interest Group), at etc venues, Tower Hill, London, on 27th April.
Gareth Evans had the honour of being the first person to present under this new name, giving a presentation on the work conducted for his PhD (at the University of Glasgow) on the Stop-Specific Bus Map. These maps are a new concept in Public Transport mapping information, reducing complex network maps down to maps which provide the relevant information to users at the point of use. In this case, maps are designed to only show the onward sections of those services which call at a particular bus stop, and Gareth’s PhD looked at the potential for this mapping concept compared to existing forms of Public Transport information.
Following the presentation, some important questions and issued were raised on this topic, particularly from the ITS perspective of producing these maps semi-automatically, delivering graphical information to mobile devices and PDAs, and the potential for intelligent Location Based Services to personalise information content in real-time.
SAVE ME - British transport police visit to Newcastle
22.4.10 As part of the SAVE ME project, TORG invited Chief Inspector Rae Jiggins from the British Transport Police (Counter Terrorism Support Unit) to visit Newcastle. Gareth Evans and Phil Blythe first met Rae during the First SAVE ME Project Workshop in Rome back in March, and have maintained this link as we develop our research underneath the transportNewcastle ‘Safe and Secure’ theme.
Chief Inspector Jiggins has over 20 years of experience in the British Transport Police, and is responsible for both operations and policy/strategy development and implementation. He is project leader on Behavioural Assessment Screening, to detect suspicious human activity without racial and religious profiling, and has worked as a Team Leader at the National Search Centre, training officers from almost all police forces in the country. Before this, he spent 7 years with the Royal Marines Commando.
In a busy afternoon, during his visit, Chief Inspector Jiggins met with members of the SAVE ME and SecureMetro (NewRail) projects, gave an excellent seminar on the BTP’s ongoing activities in the area of Counter Terrorism to a very appreciative audience, before finally participating in a Focus Group for the SAVE ME project. Following on from this, there are plans to organise an official transportNewcastle half-day seminar on the theme of ‘Counter Terrorism in Transport’, details of which will be circulated once plans and speakers are finalised.
CENEX launch smart move report on electric vehicle trials in north east england
1.4.10 CENEX, the Centre of Excellence for low carbon and Fuel cell technology launched the ‘Smart Move Trial’ report at the Green Vehicle Congress, held at the Baltic Centre, Gateshead on 25 March 2010. The report summarise the evaluation of the four electric Smart-Cars which were trialled in the North East from October 2009 to February 2010.
The data logging system and the subsequent analysis of the data derived from the vehicles were developed and analysed by a Lakshmi Suresh and Dr Graeme Hill as part of the ultra low carbon vehicle research team led by Professor Phil Blythe. This report provides and insight into users views on the performance and general acceptability of electric vehicles as well as developing new techniques to monitor and assess the performance of electric vehicles in ‘real world’ driving situations to help the industry understand the issues associated with electric vehicles being a significant proportion of the road vehicle fleet in future years.
The in vehicle technology and analysis techniques developed for this project will be utilised to develop the SIDE driving-lab instrumented vehicle which will provide a facility to monitor and assess the driving performance of older drivers and explore how new digital economy technologies could possibly be developed to assist older drivers in driving safer for longer. The report is available to download from CENEX at: http://www.cenex.co.uk/news/newsid609/30/cenex-smart-move-trial-report-available-for-download
Nissan to build electric vehicles in the north east
26.3.10 The research that Newcastle University is carrying out in understanding how electric vehicles can be made an attractive and viable proposition for businesses and as a family car has helped to persuade Nissan that the North east is the right location for it’s investment in a plant to build their European Electric car model, the ‘Leaf’. The transport operations research group is at the forefront of research in understanding how electric vehicles may perform under different traffic and driving conditions and also in studying the end users views and perceptions of barriers – funded through the TSB project Switch EV reports the Evening Chronicle.
In addition to the work on the vehicles itself, Newcastle University has announced that as part of the plugged in Places project they will install a number of electric vehicle charging posts across the campus by the end of this year. Further details are available from newslink.
green vehicle congress, quayside 23 - 25 march 2010
26.3.10 To reflect the regions leading role in electric vehicles and green transport CENEX and the UKTI held their first Green Vehicle Congress in the Northeast this week. The congress attracted delegates from around the world who exchanged views on the technology, policy and societal issues associated with green road transport Link to further information. The congress is a major milestone in putting the North east firmly on the map as a key player in this sector. There were several contributions from Newcastle University: Prof Phil Blythe presented on the wider challenges facing the deployment of an electric vehicle fleet; Dr Volker Pickert presented a comprehensive review of the research that the University undertakes in low carbon vehicles and Professor Eric Sampson moderated one of the parallel sessions the programme is available at http://www.cenex.co.uk/events/green-vehicle-congress.
17.3.10 Towards the end of February, TORG once again hosted the annual Young Professionals event organised by the local branch of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation.
This event is designed to help those embarking on a career in the transport to prepare for life in industry. The well-attended seminar opened with a relatively light-hearted look at the development and implementation of transport policy in the UK, before TORG Visiting Professor Eric Sampson gave the audience the benefit of his industrial experience of the ‘politics of transport’ following his long and distinguished career in the civil service. Dr Richard Hibbert from Jacobs Consultancy gave a thought-provoking presentation on the prioritisation of transport investment in the UK before the seminar closed with a wide-ranging discussion on transport issues with a panel of experts drawn from local industry and academia.
17.3.10 Matthew Caygill, who is studying for a PhD in CeG, recently won the top prize in the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation’s Papers Evening (North East branch) for his presentation about the future of high-speed rail ‘New Trains, New Gains? The Possibilities of High Speed Rail’. Matthew fought off stiff competition from four other speakers, including two other CeG members – Patrizia Franco (PGR) who spoke about ‘Bus Operations – A Subsidised Service’ and Clare Woroniuk (PGT) who gave a presentation on ‘ITS Developments in EU road Safety -The e-call system’. Both Clare and Patrizia were awarded runners-up prizes.
Congratulations go to all of our three speakers. Matthew now goes forward to the national stages of the competition where he will compete against other regional winners from around the country. Good luck Matthew!
17.3.10 TORG has a strong team of Visiting Professors and we thought it might be interesting to have an insight into the life of one of them from time to time – there is no such thing as a typical VP and their schedules and plans differ a great deal. In addition to working with us Eric Sampson is also Ambassador of ITS (UK) and in that role he has a varied and wide-ranging brief.
In December he chaired the transport session of a high profile workshop organised jointly by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with DfT and the Institution for Engineering and Technology. The headline was “Engineering, Infrastructure and Climate Change Adaptation – Engineering to ensure long-term climate resilient infrastructure”. The event heard from the DEFRA Secretary of State and the Chief Scientific Advisers to DfT, DBis and DEFRA then divided into five breakout groups – energy, interdependencies, telecommunications, transport and water. The transport group worked especially hard and were well supported by Yvonne Huebner from IET. The full report of the conference is downloadable and has an annex with some thought-provoking issues regarding the key role transport plays in supporting and sustaining nearly all classes of infrastructure.
In February Eric went to Pretoria as a guest of ITS South Africa and with Andrew Pickford, well-known to TORG as a guest lecturer on the ITS module, delivered a 2-day technical workshop on road pricing theory and practice. This was the first time such an event had been held and there was some nervousness about the likely support but with strong backing and help with organisation from the SA equivalent of the Highways Agency the workshop “sold out” and will probably have to be repeated.
Eric’s next major engagement was back to Europe and the “Fully Networked Car” Workshop in Geneva. This meeting was organised jointly by the ITU, IEC and ISO and drew 100+ participants from around the globe, possibly as a result of the event’s overlapping with the Geneva Motor Show. Eric was Moderator for 2 Executive Round Tables discussing the opportunities, problems and solutions for extensive vehicle–vehicle and vehicle–infrastructure linking and also the final session Summariser. He commented that there is a great deal of high quality work being done in the various sectors: automotive, telecommunications, network management, ITS services but far too little integration and cross-sector working. If the safety, efficiency, economy and comfort gains from a networked vehicle are ever going to be deployed then the EC and similar top level bodies will have to push the different stakeholders closer together.
So a brief picture of one Visiting Professor’s activities – and a big bonus for TORG is that the experience and wisdom of all our VPs flows through to undergraduates, postgraduates and even staff as they join us in lecturing, seminars, mentoring and generally sharing knowledge.
16.3.10 King gives first seminar on power of media in influencing transport policy.
The appointment of Edmund King, President of the AA, as a Visiting Professor working with the Transport Operations Research Group at Newcastle University has been confirmed by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Chris Brink.
Professor Edmund King will today (10) give a key seminar in Newcastle talking about the power of the media in influencing transport decision making and policy. He will argue that the media can be essential in influencing the outcome of campaigns and will cite examples from campaigns against cowboy clampers through to the recent AA campaign on inadequate gritting of the roads.
King studied Politics at Newcastle and has continued to work with the University on a variety of areas. He was appointed President of the AA in December 2007, and is responsible for public policy, communications, research and campaigning on behalf of motorists. He also is director of the AA Charitable Trust for Road Safety and the Environment. He is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Transport Sector panel, the Motor Industry Public Affairs Association committee, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and is renowned as a one of the UK’s leading PR practitioners and winner of PRWeek's PR Professional of the Year.
Professor Edmund King said: "Having studied at Newcastle University I am honoured and delighted to be able to give something back. As I have worked in the transport field for 25 years in the UK and USA I have lots of practical experience of the politics and practicalities of transport. I look forward to this new challenge.”
“In the seminar I will argue that the media, both local and national, can be powerful tools in influencing transport policy whether in pushing for a local bypass, trying to keep down the price of fuel or promoting the electric car strategy in the North East.”
Professor Phil Blythe, Director of Transport Operations Research Group, Newcastle University, said: “We look forward to harnessing Edmund's insight and practical approach to transport within the research group and building on his strong links to the motoring industry.”
16.3.10 Following on from the final transportNewcastle theme seminar on Ageing and Mobility, the transportNewcastle network was officially launched by Professor Chris Brink, Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University with an opening speech by Mr Brian Simpson MEP and Chair of the European Parliament Transport Committee.
To demonstrate the vast transport research capacity available within Newcastle University, an exhibition of the various transport research activities operating throughout the University was put on for delegates. TORG represented CeG with a live demonstration of the Motes from the MESSAGE project and an outline of the work currently being undertaken in the Electric Vehicles sector, an area where the North East region is leading the UK research and development.
The vision of transportNewcastle is for Newcastle University to be Europe’s leading transport technology research University, and the network operates under four general thematic areas:
16.3.10 The second meeting of the EU FP7 SAVE ME project took place in Rome on 1-2 March at the Istituto Superiore Antincendi in Rome. The meeting was attended by Gareth Evans and Phil Blythe (representing CeG), and Peter Stout, Health Safety and Environment advisor from Nexus. Work is now progressing on this project with some exciting initial developments, including a virtual 3D simulation environment of Monument station on the Tyne and Wear Metro system created in ‘SecondLife’ by Simudyne.Following the meeting, the first SAVE ME project workshop was held at the Istituto Superiore Antincendi on March 3rd and was attended by over 200 delegates. The opening session covered existing response strategies and policies for emergency situations, with presentations from a variety of European organisations involved in transport safety including the Italian Fire Brigade Corps, the Gotthard Road Tunnel, Nexus, British Transport Police and the Italian National Autonomous Road Corporation.
The second session focussed on improving the self-rescue practices of travellers, including presentations on the SAVE ME project, and addressing the needs of travellers with specific needs (such as mobility, language or cognitive issues). The final afternoon session focussed on the SAVE ME project, including a demonstration of the virtual 3D simulated environment of Monument Metro station.
Overall, the workshop was a very successful event with excellent feedback received from delegates. Presentations from the event can be downloaded from the CNVVF website (webpage in Italian, although some presentations are in English, some in Italian).
21.12.09 On 17 November Simon Edwards chaired the latest meeting of ITS(UK)’s Inclusive Mobility Interest Group at ITS(UK) headquarters in London. The subject of the meeting was Shared Space, that is, the removal of delineation between vehicles and pedestrians in certain locations (for example Oxford Circus and Exhibition Road, Kensington), and its impact on the blind and visually impaired community. Speakers were John Dales of Urban Initiatives and David Partington of GMPTE.
21.12.09 On 1-2 December Simon Edwards and Gareth Evans ran workshops for the Niches+ project in Cork, Ireland. The workshops, using a methodology designed by Simon Edwards, developed Guidelines for Implementers of innovative ITS concepts, in particular mobile travel information services and uses for environmental pollution data. The workshops also discussed policy and research gaps and recommendations. The participants represented Cork City Council, Trondheim Council (Norway), international transport consultants, traffic management centres in Europe and research organisations.
21.12.09 Simon Edwards represented TORG and the Niches+ project, presenting a paper entitled “Innovative Concepts for Sustainable Transport in Cork City: The Niches+ Project” along with Ian Winning of Cork City Council.
air pollution project to be funded by UK education institute
Chennai: Post graduate and post-doctoral research students of IIT- Madras and IITDelhi, and their counterparts at Newcastle University, UK, will soon be involved in analyses of traffic and air pollution in three key pockets of the three cities. The Rs 128. 95 lakh joint project funded by the UK India Education and Research Institute (UKIERD) will extend over three years.
“The thrust is to understand the differences, the characteristics of travel behaviour, effect of vehicular emissions in hot, humid climates and cold, wet and windy climes,” said Margaret C Bell, professor of transport and environment, Newcastle University. How the traffic flow and weather pattern impact on pollution would be scientifically quantified by the study. The results would be presented to urban planners for corrective measures.
Areas identified for monitoring traffic and air pollution include Sardar Patel Road and the Velachery Main Gate Road in Chennai; I-T Office intersection and near the IIT in Haus Kauz in Delhi; and at Gateshead, Newcastle Railway station and Gosforth in Newcastle. Density of surface transport and pollution are relatively high at all these places. Project coordinators include Bell and Dr Anil Namdeo a chartered environmentalist from the same university, Professor Mukesh Khare from IIT Delhi and S M Shiva Nagendra, assistant professor, environment and water resources engineering division, IIT Chennai. After a series of meetings with top officials in the transport department, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and NGOs, Bell is happy to have got the stakeholders involved in the issue of traffic management.
“There is wide awareness of pollution from traffic in most countries, and its impact on health. What we need are engineering solutions and attitudinal changes,” said Namdeo. In the UK, road discipline has come about, thanks to stringent enforcement and better public transport. “On Indian roads, fast acceleration and deceleration have become a habit, but such a method of driving contributes 50% more emissions from vehicles. Learning to drive smoothly will bring down pollutants by more than 25%,” he said.
Bell pointed to the successful pilot testing of the ‘walking buses’ concept in Leicester, England. “The pavements have foot prints marked on them, and students who walk on them are ‘driven’ by ‘driver’ mothers, usually in the ration of 1: 4 . This has reduced the number of unnecessary trips by vehicles,” she said. Recycling of cycles, which are kept roadworthy by local engineers by schools, and companies encouraging their staff to ‘ride sharing’ and offering flexi time working hours have helped in not only reducing pollution levels, but have also freed car parking lots,” she added.
4.12.09 ONE of the most powerful figures in the vehicle sector yesterday said the North-East was “looking to compete with the best in Europe” when it came to the development of electric vehicle technology.
Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association (AA), was speaking at the launch of a project which will see businesses across the North-East given the opportunity to use electric vehicles as part of their fleet to assess their practicality. Mr King, a visiting professor at Newcastle University, said it was a great opportunity for fleet users.
Four electric vehicles provided by Cenex, the UK’s Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technology, will be offered to businesses running fleet operations for a one-week trial during the next six months.
19.10.09 Founded in 1977, WTS is an international organization dedicated to the professional advancement of women in transportation. The London chapter of WTS has set up a scholarship open to any female candidate in the UK studying for a Transport MSc.
We are delighted to announce that the winner of this award for 2009-10 is Clare Woroniuk. Clare is studying for the MSc in Transportation Policy and Planning in the Transport Operations Research Group (TORG) at Newcastle University, and expects to graduate in 2010.
5.8.09 Two students from IIT Delhi worked with us in CeG for 8 weeks this summer. Both Surabhi and Mitali were enthusiastic, hard working young ladies and got on very well within the teams in which they were placed (CLUWRR and TORG).
The School generously supported this activity which has been useful to continue fostering the link with IIT Delhi, not to mention being extremely beneficial for us and of course the students themselves.
Surabhi Bhandari said 'this internship has indeed been an unparalleled learning experience both academically and otherwise, that has provided us with valuable exposure to high level research. '
15.5.09 Newcastle University in conjunction with One North East, TAG and the ACE are hosting a North East Transport Education and Training Forum on the 5 June 2009 at 10.00am in the Devonshire Building. Invited speakers to the event will include One North East, Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit, Association of North East Councils, Nexus, Association of Consulting
Engineers, the Institution of Highways and Transportation, the Tyne and Wear LTP Core Team and Newcastle University's Transport Operations Research Group.
The event is hoping to attract transport representatives from throughout the North East with the aim of identifying and understanding better the training needs of the region's transport industry (for policy development, planning and implementation) and how these needs might be met both from within and outside the region. These training needs might include half-day workshops and week-long courses, or possibly longer term requirements for new undergraduate and postgraduate education. This exercise will cover gaps in both technical and transferable skills. Training is a fundamental part of staff development and with skills in certain areas in short supply, the transport forum will be used to
establish a programme of Continuing Professional Development for the transport industry in the North East.
13.5.09 Neil Thorpe has been invited to be the guest editor of a special themed issue of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ journal ‘Urban Design and Planning’ and has also been invited to join the Editorial Advisory Panel. Authors are invited to submit papers that cover a range of issues concerning the relationship between land-use, urban development and sustainability on local, urban and regional scales. Abstracts should be submitted by 1st September 2009 with full papers required by 1st December 2009. The journal’s website can be found on http://www.thomastelford.com/journals/ under ‘Proceedings of ICE, Urban Design and Planning’ and the full call for papers is attached as a pdf.
13.5.09 The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) (28.04.2009)
recently hosted a research symposium at their offices in Crowthorne, Berkshire.
The main focus of the day was to identify the key issues which will shape future transport policy and decision making. Throughout the day, delegates were involved with an in-depth discussion regarding the possible directions in which transport research should be heading to assist policy makers in meeting new and more challenging demands on the transport networks, from both a socio-economic and environmental perspective.
Presentations were given on ‘The Effectiveness of Urban Transport Plans’, ‘Human Factors in Transport’, ‘A Vision for Intelligent Low Carbon Vehicles’ and ‘Landslides and Climate Change’ – all vitally important issues in defining the future of transport.
As part of the event, UK universities involved with transport research were invited to attend the symposium and take part in a poster exhibition to showcase their research. Gareth Evans attended the event on behalf of TORG to present three posters outlining key areas of research (Intelligent Transport Systems, the Environment and Regional Engagement) and also to give a live demonstration of the MESSAGE project, which highlighted TORG’s expertise in both Intelligent Transport Systems and the Environment.
The demonstration illustrated how the MESSAGE project allowed traffic emissions to be remotely monitored (in real-time) from the TRL’s offices, using a network of low-cost pervasive sensors deployed around 120 miles away in Leicester, and was received with great interest from the other delegates.
27.4.09 CeG transport PhD student Glyn Rhys-Tyler was recently invited by ITS UK to present at Traffex 2009. Traffex, held at the NEC in Birmingham from 21 – 23 April 2009 is a biennial international event for the traffic management, road safety and transportation industry, attracting 11,000 visitors. This year Traffex was opened with a keynote address by Paul Clark, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.
The Traffex 2009 seminar programme was organised by ITS UK and the Institution of Highways and Transportation (IHT). Glyn is a Fellow of the IHT and a member of the IHT Network Management and Operations advisory panel. His presentation, entitled “Traffic Management for Environmental Benefit: Beyond UTMC 28”, discussed the opportunities presented by emerging technologies. The presentation was warmly received and generated interest amongst a number of UK local authority representatives.
17.4.09 The Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative (NSRI) have recently acquired a new XPI Simulation Ltd. DS1 driving simulator, which is being showcased across the North East to promote safer, more responsible driving styles. A group from TORG were invited to visit the NSRI headquarters in Cramlington to experience the simulator's capabilities and investigate the potential for developing the simulator into a research tool. TORG has been involved in collaborative research activities with the NSRI since its inception in 2003, most notably in an in-depth investigation of the impacts of road safety cameras on the demand for secondary heath care.
The NSRI are keen to explore how the simulator can be used to investigate the environmental impacts of different driving styles, which has strong synergies with the existing Foot-LITE project and other aspirations of the Environmental team within TORG. It is hoped that there will be some exciting future collaborations between TORG and the NSRI to explore various research opportunities, including combining the DS1 simulator with the University's Virtual Reality suite in the Devonshire Building, the calibration and validation of the simulator's output against driver behaviour on real-world roads and ultimately, using the simulator output to measure and monitor environmental impacts under different driving scenarios.
For further information about the NSRI campaigns please see:
5.3.09 Two teams from Newcastle University have been singled out to take part in a national event showcasing some of the most cutting-edge research going on in Britain today.
The MESSAGE team – which includes experts from Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering (EECE), Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CeG) and Computing Science – and the Climate Change Impact Research team, also based in CeG, are featuring today at the Pioneers ’09 Event in London.Organised by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, they are two of just 23 teams from across the UK picked out for their pioneering work.
Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems Phil Blythe said: “Out of the 23 projects selected for the exhibition two are from Newcastle University."This is a fantastic achievement and reiterates the quality and societal relevance of the research we are undertaking."
Using a Weather Generator, the Climate Change team will demonstrate how our climate may change over the next century, producing valuable insights into how buildings, infrastructure and utilities – and those responsible for them - will need to respond.
Dr Claire Walsh explains: "It is absolutely critical that we plan and equip ourselves for the future right now. We need to develop strategies and make changes that will enable us to adapt to the impacts which will increasingly be felt over the next five to ten years."
The MESSAGE project – which stands for Mobile Environmental Sensing Systems Across Grid Environments – is developing wireless sensors that can be fitted to vehicles, infrastructure and mobile phones to produce real-time, second-by-second, metre-by-metre data on traffic pollution.The team will show how the sensors can be integrated together and the data consolidated into a constantly updated, interactive ‘pollution map’.
In other transport news, leaders from across the North East were at the university last week to find out more about our expertise in road, rail and shipping.Organised by the university’s Transport team, Professor Phil Blythe said the aim was to highlight the work going on at Newcastle and find new ways in which it could be used to improve transport networks of the future across the region.
Fiona Gough, Deputy Regional Director for the Environment, Government Office North East, said: "This event has given us a real flavour of what is going on at the University. What we need to do now is take that information away and make use of it to improve our region’s transport networks."
David Marshall, Transport Manager for the North East Assembly, added: "We have a world-class transport research centre here at the university and we need to take advantage of that. This is a first step."
transport@newcastle - interim regional transport board exhibition
26.2.09 The broad transport activities throughout Newcastle University are being brought together under the banner of Transport@Newcastle. To demonstrate and promote the diverse research strengths and activities in the area of transport, an exhibition was held in the Kings Road Centre where members from both the IRTB and other organisations responsible for regional transport were able to meet the various groups within the University and discuss current and future research projects.
Posters were on display from the following groups:
Transport Operations Research Group (TORG)
Newcastle Railway Research Centre (NewRail)
Centre for Urban and Regional Development (CURDS)
Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering (EECE)
Geomatics
Marine Science and Technology (MaST)
To support the poster displays, a number of demonstrations were also presented to highlight the capabilities of the Transport@Newcastle groups:
MESSAGE Wireless Environmental Sensors, deployed in both Gateshead and Leicester
• Real-time traffic monitoring and modelling using UTMC SCOOT data
Modelling of environmental emissions from vehicles
Laser Scanning, used for data capture and monitoring for transport corridors, and recoding of street-side furniture assets
Immersive Video for Future Traveller Information in the Virtual Reality Suite
Tyndall Centre Cities Model, a land-use, transport, economic and environmental model of London
The exhibition was extremely successful, with very positive feedback received from all the invitees to the event. Transport is seen as an important and cross-cutting research theme for the University, and it is hoped that the integration of all the research skills and expertise under the Transport@Newcastle initiative can be used to develop a closer relationship between the University and regional transport organisations.
20.1.09
TORG were involved with Nexus and the Association of North East Councils in organising a regional smartcard conference which was hosted at the Stadium of Light, home of Sunderland AFC, on 14 January 2009.
The event was supported by the three national bus operators who serve the North East – Arriva, Stagecoach and GoAhead - and was designed to understand what opportunities smartcards and smart-ticketing could bring to transport in the region, the existing barriers to implementing a scheme and potential solutions to overcoming these barriers.
Presentations were given from a diverse range of stakeholders, incorporating the views of Local Authorities, Nexus, transport consultancies, the Department for Transport, bus operators and user groups into the discussion. A number of interesting case studies were presented from a national and international perspective, outlining how existing smartcard schemes have been successful but also highlighted the dangers of “trying to do too much too soon”.
The day was very successful and well received by all. The concluding message from the event is that the time is now right for smartcards and smart-ticketing to be introduced in the North East. The reinvigoration of the Metro system has provided the region with the ideal opportunity to develop ideas and plans into a working system, the technology exists and has been proven across the world, and so the next two-to-four years will be a very exciting time for smartcards in the North East as Nexus begin to put their proposals into action… the first thing to do is to decide on a suitable name!
where next with congestion charging after Manchester no vote?
13.12.08
Professor Phil Blythe of the transport operations research group at Newcastle University is disappointed at the no-vote to Manchester's congestion charge.
27.11.08
The IHT North Eastern Branch Regional Dinner took place in the luxurious surroundings of Ramside Hall, County Durham, on 27 November.
TORG took a party of 25 that included lecturers, research staff, PhD and MSc students, which turned out to be the largest table of the evening! The students were introduced to the IHT President and members from large transport organisations such as Jacobs and Colas who kindly sponsored the attendance of our MSc students, and served to strengthen our continuing strong links with the transport industry.
One highlight of the evening was the guest speaker for the night, Sally Boazman who is probably better known as BBC Radio 2’s “Sally Traffic”. Her speech covered her role in broadcasting, how she came to be the only traffic and travel presenter at a national level and the wider importance of traffic and travel information in minimising the impacts of congestion and accidents. Sally thoroughly enjoyed meeting TORG staff and students to discuss their various research interests and promised us all a mention on national radio!
19.11.08 Members of the MESSAGE team presented a demonstration of the project to the local media in Gateshead Civic Centre.
The demonstration day was divided into three parts, illustrating the overall flow line of the project. The first part of the day demonstrated how data was remotely collected in real-time, explaining the technology behind the ‘Motes’ (specialised traffic and environmental sensors) and the advantages they have over existing technologies. As well as illustrating the static array of Motes, the ability to collect and process data from mobile Motes (located on- and in-vehicle) was also shown.
The next part of the day looked at how data was processed and disseminated. A live demonstration of the interactive Google Map interface was followed by an example of how individual static Motes could be queried over different time periods. This illustrated the ‘richness’ of the data that was being gathered for the project, allowing for temporal variations in the environmental and traffic indicators to be displayed in graphical form. In addition to the PC-based Google Map interface, the potential for viewing data outdoors, away from the desk, via a PDA was also presented.
Finally, the potential for using the data in microsimulation modelling was explained. One of the key outcomes of the microsimulation modelling was to identify new traffic management strategies and a model of the Gateshead network was used to illustrate how this can be implemented.
30.10.08 As part of the ongoing MESSAGE project, a series of traffic surveys were conducted over six days (across the morning, evening and inter-peak periods) throughout the last fortnight in Gateshead Town Centre.
On-street traffic surveys (manual counts and camera surveys) captured the traffic flows and turning patterns at six key junctions across the test routes in order to calibrate and validate a microsimulation model of the traffic flows in Gateshead.
At the same time, in-car surveys were carried out using a fleet of highly instrumented vehicles. The purpose of these surveys was to monitor and record a range of pollution indicators (CO and NO2), noise levels and driver behaviour. Some of this data will be used to further validate the microsimulation model in addition to providing data to validate the readings from 40 static and mobile ‘Motes’ (specialised traffic and environmental sensors).
All the data collected during the surveys will be incorporated into the microsimulation modelling and subsequently exported into emission and dispersion models. The MESSAGE team also hope to be able to produce a 3D computer simulation of the traffic conditions in Gateshead.
30.10.08 The inaugural meeting of the National Business Travel Network’s (NBTN) Postgraduate Travel Planning Network took place at Loughborough University on 28 October.
Travel planning is gaining momentum in the UK amongst local authorities, NHS Trusts, educational establishments and other organisations, as people become more aware of its financial, social and environmental benefits. More businesses are realising that there are substantial efficiency benefits to be gained from being involved in how their employees travel to, from and for work, including alternatives to travel, such as home working and teleconferencing. The remit of NBTN is to encourage businesses – specifically the FTSE 350 – to take up travel planning and adopt alternative ways of working.
The Postgraduate Travel Planning Network is intended to bring together academic institutions, businesses, consultants and Government organisations and act as a “conduit” between the different groups. The network will allow members from different backgrounds to share ideas, receive feedback on proposals and methodologies, stimulate discussion and disseminate research findings, all of which will raise the academic profile of Travel Planning and ensure that research output is put into business practice.
The network is supported by the DfT and funded by the NBTN. It will provide PhD students, early career researchers and other interested parties with useful access to contacts within businesses, industry and possibly the DfT itself.
30.10.08 Since May 2008 TORG has recruited six new full time members of staff to complement the existing team of Researchers and Lecturers. The first addition to the team was Dr Graeme Hill who was previously employed as an RA at the University of East Anglia and gained his PhD in Nanotechnology from Newcastle University in 2005. Dr Hill’s interests lie in theoretical and modelling techniques and he is currently working alongside Professor Margaret Bell on the MESSAGE (Mobile Environmental Sensing System Across Grid Environments) Project; analysing results from the on-street motes.
Amy Weihong Guo joined TORG as a full time Research Associate in June working on the Yorcard and IFM projects and developing future pervasive information research. Amy had previously worked part time on this project whilst completing her PhD part time in the area of “Future Intelligent Traveller Information Systems: Impacts on travel choices”. Amy is working under the supervision of Professor Phil Blythe. Dr Fabio Galatioto joined us in August from the University of Palermo where he gained his PhD in “Technique and Economy of Transports – Transport Engineering” in 2007. Dr Galatioto is also working on the MESSAGE and 4M projects alongside Professor Bell.
Also joining Phil’s ITS team are: Gareth Evans who joined TORG in October 2008 having joined us from University of Glasgow where he worked on his PhD on developing and testing the ‘Stop-Specific Bus Map’. Gareth is a TORG graduate (MSc Transport Engineering and Operations, 2003/04) and will be working on the Yorcard and other projects with significant evaluation research. He is also supporting new Business Development activities within TORG. Richard Fairchild who has re-joined TORG full time in October working primarily on the foot-LITE Project and to support new business development activities, previously. Richard has been involved in wireless research projects in TORG including the EU funded TRACKSS and EMMA projects. Richard has recently submitted his PhD Thesis on “Autonomous Navigation and Dynamic Collision Avoidance”.
And finally Dr Anil Namdeo joined us in October 2008 as a Senior Lecturer in Transport and Sustainability having joined us from ITS Leeds. Dr Namdeo has previously worked with Professor Bell on various major funded projects including more recently 4M (Measuring, Modelling, Mapping and Management). Dr Namdeo’s interests lie in traffic emission and air quality modelling; and environmental and health assessment of land use and transport policies.
Professor Phil Blythe said, “This is an exciting time for TORG, we are growing our skill-base to meet the future research opportunities in Transport – particularly in the areas of ITS, travel behaviour and the environment. These recent appointments, in addition to the appointments of several new visiting professor positions put TORG at the forefront of transport research to meet the future challenges we must urgently address. I hope that you will join me in welcoming our new staff.”
25.9.08 As part of the EPSRC Project Toolbox (Environmental engineers of tomorrow: developing a shared toolbox through collaboration) Professor Margaret Bell travelled to the India Institute for Technology (IIT) in Delhi in September 2008 to explore potential collaboration between IIT and CeG along with other colleagues from the school. This trip was building on a 6 year research collaboration between CeG Dr Jaime Amezaga and IIT Professor Mukesh Khare.
Building on from this collaboration there will be opportunities for our staff and students to travel to IIT in Delhi and reciprocal visits here, some of which have already taken place with the visit of Prof Mukesh Khare in August and student Arpit Gupta who worked on the MESSAGE Project in TORG. IIT held a workshop which enabled sharing of knowledge of research activity and planned for a PhD workshop in Delhi later in the year, which some of our students may be able to attend. A lot of potential research ideas were explored whilst out there including around transport, health and coal, due to the respiratory risk to health of fine particulate dust in the context of open-cast mining and water pollution. In the area of transport there was an overwhelming interest in the pervasive sensors and a desire to see them in Delhi, Bombay and Mumbai.
4.9.08 Urban transport options need to steer away from a ‘one size fits all approach’ in order to better serve our ageing population, according to research by Newcastle University. Older people are among the most socially excluded members of society and access to transport is a key factor.
Dr Jenny Brake presented her findings at the Urban Transport Conference in Malta on 1 September. She has found that bookable transport services such as dedicated taxis and designated ‘shopping buses’ operating in the North East are heading in the right direction, but better communication is required to ensure they are reaching those most in need.
‘We often speak about older people being isolated from public transport if they live in rural areas, but it can be just as much of a problem in the city. If you can’t physically get to your local bus stop then it doesn’t matter how good the service is,’ explained Dr Brake.
This latest research shows that the current generation of older people has enjoyed high car ownership, resulting in many people who have no idea how to access public transport, particularly bus services, or are unaware of alternatives such as car sharing clubs. Dr Brake suggests that as high profile information campaigns about public transport are not a priority in the UK, it can be difficult to overcome this problem. ‘We’ve got two key generations – the baby boomers and today’s teenagers – who see public transport as a second class means of getting around,’ she said. ‘Unless something is done to address these attitudes, bus passenger numbers will continue to fall and we’ll see a further decline in investment in those services.’
Her research suggests that although niche travel schemes designed for older people are not suitable for everyone, it’s the variety of options available that is important. However, the more flexible the service, the less visible it often is, due to the way these services are operated and concerns that demand could outstrip supply.
‘The main objective of a local authority is to get as many people as possible on conventional public transport as this is the cheapest option and keeps commercial operators in business,’ said Dr Brake. ‘However, different people have different needs and it is increasingly recognised that the one-size fits all approach just doesn’t work.
‘We should be asking people what they need. This will vary from county to county, between cities and even within cities. Local authorities and operators can then decide how best to use their resources.’
One of Dr Brake’s concerns about the take-up of these alternative transport options is that often the solutions provided as a result of consultation are simply not advertised, so people are left thinking that nothing has changed because no one has told them about it. In the North East, schemes such as TaxiCard (launching at the end of September) and Hop to the Shops, which has been running since the beginning of last year, are helping to fill the gap in public transport provision for older people who do not have access to a car and need very good customer care. Run by Community Transport Newcastle and supported by Nexus, Hop to the Shops offers a door-to-door service to major shopping centres for older people, mainly from residential homes. Door-to-door services such as TaxiCard and LinkUp, which are booked in advance, are also ideal for older people who are unable to get around on their own.
‘It’s not just about cost as many older people are more than willing to pay towards transport that meets their needs - but they do need more practical assistance,’ said Dr Brake. ‘It’s also a social occasion for people who live on their own.’
1.7.08 It is with great pleasure that I inform you that Dr Angelos Bekiaris, Research Director at the Hellenic Institute of Transport, joins us from 1 July 2008 as a Visiting Professor on a 3 year tenure.
Angelos is a well known figure in European Transport research and has acted as Project Coordinator on 16 research projects, technical coordinator in another 8, quality manager in 2 projects and administrative coordinator in another 3. His field of expertise ranges from Road Safety to specialised telematics applications for private vehicles, public transportation and even ships. He has profound experience in technology for the integration of people with special needs, with emphasis on accessible transportation systems. Angelos has been invited as expert evaluator of proposals in 4 different programmes of the European Commission, He has also been invited to speak in front of the European Parliament on the subject of mobility and transportation of disabled people. He has led several projects jointly with Newcastle University, including: IMAGE, ASK-IT, and OASIS, and is developing cooperation in a number of areas including the use of wireless systems and virtual reality platforms
He has been member of the organizing committee of 7 international conferences and he has chaired relevant sessions. Editor and co-author in various books. 41 articles in international scientific journals and 177 conference presentations. Editor-in-Chief of the European Transport Research Review – An Open Access Journal of the European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI). Chairman of the Forum of European Road Safety Research Institutes (FERSI). Alongside the support to the research of our group, Angelos will also undertake teaching responsibilities on our MSc programme in the areas of ITS and user behaviour.
I hope that you will join me in welcoming our newest TORG member when he arrives in Newcastle.
14.3.08 Tuesday 11 March 11 saw the ASK-IT UK Centre of Excellence First Showcase, Technologies for Independent Living, take place at Dance City and the Discovery Museum. The focus was the use of innovative technologies to improve independence and quality of life for disabled people.
The morning session provided an opportunity for delegates to listen to several guest speakers. These were: Professor Brian Collins, the Chief Scientist of the Department for Transport; Dr Evangelos Bekiaris, Co-ordinator of the ASK-IT project; John Gill, the RNIB’s Chief Scientist; and Graham Worsley of the Technology Strategy Board.
After lunch, the speakers participated in a question and answer discussion with the audience. This produced a lively debate of several emotive issues relating to technology and disability. Summing up was given by Steve Hudson of Gateshead Access Panel.
The last part of the day involved a demonstration of wireless technology in the Discovery Museum. The wireless network was constructed by researchers in TORG and demonstrated positioning, route guidance and information delivery to mobile devices.
Over 50 people attended the event, including disabled members of the public, and representatives from academia, local authorities and consultancies. The event included delegates from across the UK, Greece and Belgium.
Sponsors: Mouchel, Department for Transport and One North East
6.3.08 For the second year in a row, TORG supplied the winner of the Annual IHT Papers Evening held last night at the Gibside Arms Hotel in Whickham. Following on from last year's success of George Nicholson (MSc), Simon Heslop (PhD student) scooped top prize for his presentation on psychological aspects of driver behaviour. Supported by a strong team of TORG members, our two other entrants, Graham Grant and Ross Jackson (both MSc), were also rewarded for their excellent presentations on telecommuting and the use of public open spaces respectively with runners-up prizes. Simon will now go forward to the national event where he will represent the North East region. Well done to all three!! Simon is seen here collecting his prize from Dave Wafer, chairman of the NE Branch of the IHT.
The two other runners-up on the night, Peter Weller and Phil Freestone, also have strong TORG connections. Peter completed his Civil Engineering undergraduate degree and MSC in Transport here in the mid-1990s and now heads up the transport arm of the new Atkins office in Newcastle. Phil completed his MSc here two years ago and now works in the local office of Faber Maunsell along with many other of our Transport graduates!
transport ITS team demonstrates localisation system in Greece
2.3.08 Transport ITS team has recently demonstrated an indoor localisation system in Thessaloniki and Athens, Greece. The system was set up as part of a review of the EU funded project ASK-IT in Thessaloniki and in Athens International Airport on behalf of the airport authority.
The indoor localisation system uses a network of several wireless Zigbee Motes to determine the position of a user carrying a similar device within space and return this position to the user via a position on a map using a smartphone or PDA.
The ASK-IT project uses ambient intelligence technology to provide functions and services for older and disabled people in various environments, including home, work, leisure and transport and more information can be found at www.ask-it.org
The ASK-IT project UK centre of excellence will be hosting a free event at Dance City and the Discovery Museum on Tuesday 11th March 2008 allowing attendees to better understand the ASK-IT project and see demonstrations of indoor localisation. Registration is free.
three newcastle academics appointed advisors to the Commission for Integrated Transport
18.2.08
The Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) have appointed 3 academics from the Transport Operations Research Group as external advisors to the Commission. Dr Corinne Mulley, who has already served in this role for the past two years, is now joined by her colleagues Professor Phil Blythe and Margaret Bell who were appointed in January 2008.
The Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) is an independent body advising the Government on integrated transport policy. CfIT takes a broad view of integrated transport policy and its interface with wider Government objectives for economic prosperity, environmental protection, health and social inclusion. Physical integration - the principle of ensuring transport modes operate in conjunction with one another, is just one vital element of the bigger transport picture. The Commission provides expert advice supported by independent research.
The appointments reflect the high impact and wide-ranging research that the group undertakes across a range of transport disciplines particularly in the areas of economics, ITS, policy, environment and traffic management.
ITS UK publish a white paper on road user charging
17.1.08 ITS UK has published a white paper on their members views of road user charging. This focuses on the technical and operational challenges of road user charging as well as the options for the forms of road pricing that could be introduced in cities, regions or even nationally in the UK. The paper sets out a clear series of steps and challenges that must be addressed to ensure road user charging is considered as a possible viable option as a means of tacking traffic congestion in the UK. Newcastle University provided signifcant expertise to the paper as well as key background material to the authoring team.
The paper was launched at the ITS UK's annual conference on road user charging, held on the 11th December 2007, in London.
transport professor receives CBE at buckingham palace
Eric Sampson
3.11.07 Professor Eric Sampson, visiting Professor of Transport received his CBE from Prince Charles, at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on the 2nd November 2007. Professor Eric Sampson received a CBE in the Queens Birthday Honours, for services to transport. The award is in recognition of the immense contribution Professor Sampson has made to transport and ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) research and policy delivery during his time with the Department for Transport and more recently with Newcastle University and as Chairman of ITS UK.
3.11.07 In a recent faculty lecture on the future of transport which looked at how we may live, work and travel in the year 2055, Professor Phil Blythe, discussed the findings of the recent Government Foresight Study on Intelligent Infrastructure and suggested that pay as you drive and the possibility that individuals may be given an individual ‘carbon allowance’ to influence their carbon footprint. The lecture was reported in the Evening Chronicle and is available to download.
newcastle provide keynote address to european safety workshop
3.11.07 Professor Phil Blythe provided the keynote address to the recent ‘In-Safety’ workshop, held in Scotland House, Brussels on the 24th October 2007. Phil, who collaborates with the consortiums project coordinators HIT-CERTH of Greece in a range of projects, spoke on the role that intelligent infrastructure could play in the future in delivering additional safety to the transport networks of Europe. Information on the In-Safety project can be found at http://www.insafety-eu.org/.
31.10.07
Air pollution sensors small enough to be carried around in people's pockets are being developed at Newcastle University. A team of experts led by Prof Phil Blythe has come up with the innovative low-cost wireless sensors which can accurately measure how pollution levels build up on city roads.
17.7.07 The US Department of Transportation in Madison,
Wisconsin has invited Neil Thorpe and colleagues from Jacobs
Consulting to deliver a CPD course on Road Safety Audits at the
University of Wisconsin, Baraboo on 23rd-24th July 2007 as part
of a week-long Intersection Safety Workshop.
Up to 40 delegates are expected to attend the course which
builds upon the successful Road Safety Audit CPD course run
here annually at the University in conjunction with CIV8410.
Details of the Road Safety courses run at Newcastle can be
found at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/civ847.php
professor
Eric Sampson receives CBE in queens birthday honours
Eric Sampson
3.7.07 The Transport Operations Research Group are
delighted to announce that Professor Eric Sampson received
a CBE in the Queens Birthday Honours, for services to transport.
The award is in recognition of the immense contribution Professor
Sampson has made to transport and ITS (Intelligent Transport
Systems) research and policy delivery during his time with
the Department for Transport and more recently with Newcastle
University. Professor Phil Blythe said, “ This is a hugely
well deserved award, which rightly reflects Eric’s unique
contribution to the development of ITS both here in the UK
and internationally over many years. Eric is recognised worldwide
as one of the key proponents of ITS and through his position
as Chairman of the Board of the ITS World Congress, he was
responsible for organising the highly successful World Congress
in London in October 2006”
professor
Eric Sampson takes over as chairman of ITS united kingdom
Eric Sampson
3.7.07 ITS United Kingdom, the Intelligent Transport
Society for the United Kingdom, held its AGM in May and elected
new Officers to serve for 2007/08. Professor Mike McDonald
of Southampton University, who had led the Society for the
last two years, stepped down on the completion of his agreed
term. In his place, Professor Eric Sampson of the University
of Newcastle was elected. Eric retired recently from the Department
for Transport, where he headed the Transport Technology and
Standards Division. Eric was instrumental in setting up ITS
(UK) in 1992, a pioneering move since this was the first
national ITS association to be set up in Europe. Eric has also
always been associated with the ITS World Congress, right from
the first one held in Paris in 1994 . DfT was a major supporter
of the World Congress in London in 2006, marking a very fitting
finish to Eric’s career within the Department.
Eric says: “I am delighted that I have this opportunity
to help with the development of UK transport and transport
policies. I thank the ITS (UK) members for their support and
hope that I can achieve as much in my term of office as Mike
did during his.”
Professor Mike McDonald, who steered ITS United Kingdom through
its share of the responsibilities for the UK World Congress,
can look back on a period when the national and international
standing of the UK’s intelligent transport society was
markedly increased.
newcastle
professor gives evidence on the draft local transport bill
to the transport select committee
3.7.07 Professor Phil Blythe of Newcastle University
and Neal Skelton, head of Professional Services, ITS UK, recently
spoke on behalf of ITS UK when they gave oral evidence to the
Transport Select Committee on the draft Local Transport Bill
proposals to assign greater control to Local Authorities to
encourage public transport interchange. The ITS UK evidence
submission offered opinions on a number of issues contained
in the draft Bill including the need to understand local and
regional land use planning, the impact on transport and public
transport, the use of various technologies, enforcement means
and the environmental impact.
researcher
wins moving-on conference 'best paper' award
Jurgen Wagner
8.6.07
Jurgen Wagner, one of our researchers in transport, has won the 2007
Moving-On 'best paper' award, for his paper and presentation in Cardiff
earlier this week.
The conference is a major UK event which broadly covers public
transport, information systems and smart ticketing themes -
with high levels of participation from both industry, government
and local authorities.
major
new research project funded under the future intelligent transport
systems programme
15.5.07
The Transport Operations Research Group is delighted to announce the
award of the FOOT-LITE project under the Future Intelligent Transport
Systems (FITS) Research Programme. The FITS programme is a joint research
initiative of the EPSRC, DfT and DTI to take forward innovative ‘risky’ research
in the area of Intelligent Transport Systems.
The £3.5 million project will join the suite of projects
at the university that are investigating novel techniques and
approaches to better understanding and thus mitigating the
CO2 emissions associated with transport. The aim of the Foot-LITE
project is to create a revolutionary driver information system
designed to educate and encourage safer and greener driving
and longer term behavioural changes.
The Foot-LITE project will deliver innovative driver/vehicle interface
systems and services to encourage sustained changes to driving styles
and behaviours which are safer, reduce congestion, enhance sustainability,
help reduce traffic pollution emissions, and reduce other social and
environmental impacts. Fundamental research will be used to support the
strong industry base in the project through prototype systems development
and design, impact assessments and the further development of research
tools and processes, including instrumented vehicle to deliver a credible
evidence-based validation of the system through to real-world operational
experiences with user feedback and evaluation. The Foot-LITE system is
seen as a tool to encourage and challenge drivers to achieve very real
benefits that are already available in the current vehicle fleet but
whose benefits cannot be readily maximised without an advisory interface
to the driver. The approach has the ultimate choice and control still
resting with the individual. This is seen to be crucial to the public
and commercial acceptability of Foot-LITE.
The project is formed by a consortium of automotive industries,
service providers and road operators, fleet operators and underpinned
by leading academic research organisations. The project partners
are:
MIRA (project leader), TRW Conekt, TRG, University of Southampton (academic
leader), TORG, Newcastle, Hampshire County Council, IAM, Nissan Motors,
RDM
Ricardo, Sussex Police, ERG, Brunel , Transport for London, Zettlex Ltd.
The project will undertake all the necessary research and
development to produce a prototype system which will be evaluated
by fleets of drivers in normal driving conditions. The necessary
data collection/data base systems for the vehicle fleet will
also be developed so that robust evidence of the effectiveness
(or otherwise) of the system will be collected, analysed and
published to better the overall knowledge in this area. Additional
surveys of other user groups to determine long term effects
will be undertaken to better determine market opportunities
and implementation strategies to deliver future intelligent
vehicles and associated infrastructure. The system to be developed
in the project comprises an aftermarket, standalone vehicle
interface (although installation during vehicle build will
not be excluded) giving moment-to-moment feedback during a
drive (similar to SatNav), plus a back office support tool
for off-line analysis of journeys and retrospective feedback.
TORG will provide expertise on transport futures, requirements
capture, field trial design, wireless systems research, trial
operation, evaluation
and behavioural analysis. The project will formally start in June 2007.
transport
students win top 2 prizes in ICE wales papers competition
15.5.07 Hannah Bryan (right) and Suweidu Jehanfo (left)
Two of our former students have won 1st and 2nd place at the
ICE Wales Transportation Engineering Group Annual Papers Competition.
The final round of the competition was a papers presentation
event, which took place on Thursday 26th April, in Cardiff,
at which the 3 finalists had to present their work to the judges
and a well attended audience of professionals in Wales.
Hannah Bryan, an Meng Student who graduated last summer and
now works on ITS Research Projects in TORG, won the 1st prize
for her work on smartcards in transport, and Suweidu Jehanfo,
an MSc Student who also graduated last summer, won the 2nd
prize for his work on Modelling air - passenger access to airports.
The judges were very impressed with their papers and subsequent presentations,
highlighting the talents of our graduates, which reflects well on the
university and the quality of the courses we run.
achieving
the millennium development goals for africa
14.5.07
Prof John Nelson was among an invited group of senior academics and policy
makers from Africa, North America and Europe who gathered at Cornell
University, May 5-6, 2007, for a workshop on "Achieving the Millennium
Development Goals for Africa: The Role of Transport." The core
text for the workshop was the recent AU-AfDB-ECA-WB-EU document, "Transport
and the Millennium Development Goals in Africa,"
The overall objective was to take a fresh look at this document
(i) to take stock of whether policy is indeed moving in the
direction proposed in that document, (ii) to reconsider what
can be done to accelerate the role of Transport in achieving
the economic and social dimensions of the MDGs, and (iii) to
identify key research that is neglected in the document, or
new research that is called for by the policy issues raised
in the document.
newcastle
researcher wins prestigious prize from ITS UK
14.5.07
The Transport Operations Research Group (TORG) is proud to
announce that Ms Hannah Bryan, currently a Researcher in
the Transport Group was awarded the prize for best student
paper in ITS research vision. The annual competition is jointly
held by ITS UK and the Traffic Engineering and Control Magazine
with the prize presented at the Smart Moving Conference,
held at the NEC in Birmingham on 17th – 19th April
2007. The paper written by Hannah, summarised the research
she undertook for her undergraduate MEng dissertation in
2006, on the spatial analysis of data generated from public
transport smartcard systems, and how this data could be used
to improve the operation of smart ticketing systems in the
future. The research was supervised by Prof. Phil Blythe
and was supported financially and logistically by the DfT
and Nottinghamshire County Council. Hannah received a certificate
and cash prize at a dinner at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham
on the 18th April, from Stephen Norris who is the President
of ITS UK.
TORG also won the student papers competition in 2004, with
a paper submitted by MSc student Ashley Curtis. Hannah’s paper appears in Traffic Engineering and Control in June.
14.5.07
The University's Citizens' Jury is currently turning its attention
to
transport issues and the University's role in promoting more sustainable
patterns of mobility. As part of their investigation, Dr Neil Thorpe
was 'summonsed' as an expert witness to provide an insight into current
transport research at the University and to highlight the key challenges
facing the transport sector now and in the future. The jury then quizzed
Dr Thorpe about various aspects of national and local transport policy
and the University's travel plan. Issues raised included the
introduction of congestion charging schemes, workplace parking supply
and pricing, and measures to promote sustainable transport modes such
as
walking and cycling.
30.4.07
Prof Phil Blythe, Professor of Transport has joined the newly
formed Royal Academy of Engineering Round Table on Climate
Change and Energy, to provide the transport expertise to the
group. The round table is chaired by Lord Browne, the President
of the Royal Academy and intends to provide a view to Government
on how the Professional Engineering Institutes can contribute
engineering solutions to tackle climate change and future energy
issues. It is intended that the Royal Academy will submit its
recommendations to Government by the end of April 2007.
23.4.07
Spies in the sky may track motorists within a decade if the
government goes ahead with controversial plans to introduce
road user charging schemes, according to a panel of scientists
headed by Phil Blythe, Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems
in the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences.
The plans, which were unveiled in a report on future transport
policy in November as a way of cutting congestion, prompted
1.8 million people to sign an electronic protest petition.
Monitoring would be via a combination of static cameras to
capture licence plate details, electronic tags in vehicles
that would be read by roadside monitoring stations and global
positioning system satellites to read on-board transponders.
Speaking at a press conference at the Science Media Centre,
in London, Professor Blythe said it would take a minimum of
ten years for a national roll-out of road pricing schemes,
and added: 'I do not see many other options available to us
to manage our transport system.'
Professor Blythe, who heads a panel of transport experts from
the Institution of Engineering and Technology, said the technology
was already available
and had been tried and tested in various countries including Australia
and Brazil.
The London congestion charge zone uses static cameras and
will bring in electronic tags from 2010. Cities such as Singapore
have been operating electronic tagging for years and Stockholm's
pilot scheme becomes permanent in July.
There are 30 million vehicles on the roads of Britain, a figure
forecast to surge by one-third within 15 years, increasing
journey times that industry complains are hurting their competitiveness.
Professor Blythe said the government had to explain clearly
to people what was at stake in terms of personal benefits from
faster journeys, and global gains from reduced greenhouse gas
emissions due to fewer traffic jams.
british
embassy in Tokyo hosts UK-Japan ITS workshop
Photo of the UK-Japanese Workshop taken at the British
Embassy, 20th March 2007
26.3.07
The British Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, hosted a high-level workshop
to explore future research links in the area of ITS (Intelligent
Transport Systems) from the 19th to 22nd March 2007. The objectives
of the workshop, according to 1st Secretary at the Embassy,
Mr Paul Johnson were to explore synergies in future research
between the research communities in Japan and the UK and to
develop new ways of successful collaboration. The workshop
outcomes included commitments to develop cooperative research
on modelling, CO2 reduction technologies, future intelligent
infrastructure and safety systems. Highlights of the workshop
included a reception at the Embassy hosted by the British Ambassador
Sir Graham Fry and a visit to Nissan Research to join in demonstrations
of the new interactive route guidance and information system
the ‘Sky Project’. The Japanese delegation was
led by Professor Hironao Kawashima, Keio University, and the
UK delegation was led by Professor Mike McDonald (Southampton
University) and comprised: Professor Mike Bell (Imperial College);
Professor Phil Blythe (Newcastle University); Professor Margaret
Bell (Currently Leeds, soon to join Newcastle University);
Neil Skelton (ITS UK); Phil Pettit (InnovITS) and Dr Alan Stevens
(TRL).
Dr Stephen Ladyman experiencing eye-mounted traveller
information on the move
15.3.07
Professor Phil Blythe, recently published his vision on how
future intelligent infrastructure, as highlighted in the recent
OSI-Foresight project, may evolve into a ‘connected world’ using
small wireless devices embedded in transport systems, infrastructure
and through ‘wearable interfaces’ on people and
their mobile devices (mobile phones, PDA’s etc). The
Article first appeared in Eurotransport 'Industry Focus 2007'
www.eurotransportmagazine.com and is downloadable as a pdf.
Phil said "the future connected world is a significant
area of our ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) research here
at Newcastle with a number of current projects investigating
this area and a number of innovative demonstration platforms
being developed. Projects include MESSAGE (wireless Smartdust
sensors for the real-time pervasive monitoring of traffic pollution);
EMMA (embedded middleware sensor systems); TRACKSS (Transport
applications of cooperative sensor systems); ASTRA (applications
of Smartdust in Transport); and ASK-IT (Assistive technology
for the mobility impaired).
10.3.07
A Newcastle University graduate who went on to head up an
organisation responsible for building 15 million homes for
low-income families in India is to return to the University
to receive an honorary degree.
Prem Singh Rana, who gained a PhD in Transport Engineering
and Management in 1983, has recently retired from the post
of Chairman and Managing Director of the Housing and Urban
Development Corporation (HUDCO) of India.
He is among four individuals who will receive honorary Doctor
of Civil Law degrees at a ceremony on Friday 20 April 2007,
presided over by the Chancellor, Lord Patten.
Following a PhD from Newcastle University, Dr Rana has had
over 30 years experience in planning, design, implementation
and management of major housing and infrastructure projects.
Since 2003, he has been at the head of probably the largest
housing and infrastructure financing organisation in the world.
HUDCO is so large that it is difficult to comprehend. For example,
it has built or enabled the building of 15 million dwellings
in India of which 12 million are for the lowest income group.
Its total projects number 15,300 and cost £14.4 billion.
Prior to his appointment as both Chairman and Managing Director
of HUDCO, Dr Rana was Senior Executive Director in the housing
finance division. Dr Rana was instrumental in the diversification
of HUDCO’s portfolio into the areas of Joint Ventures
and Consultancy Services. He has been a pioneer in propagating
regional development through growth corridors. Before his career
at HUDCO, Dr Rana worked at the Delhi Transport Corporation
rising from Traffic Planner (1975) to General Manager in 1986.
His PhD from TORG at Newcastle was instrumental in this achievement.
Dr Rana has also been President of the Indian Building Congress,
Chairman of the Indian National Committee on Disaster Management.
He is Vice President and a founder member of the Institute
of Urban Transport, India.
Dr Rana has taken keen interest in the growth of universities,
especially IIT, Delhi. He has been responsible for the setting
up of the "National Resource Facility on Bamboo Technology" and
also inaugurating the HUDCO Chair of Bamboo Technology.
transport
student wins top regional prize
7.3.07
On 7 March, George Nicholson (MSc Transport Engineering and
Operations) fought off stiff competition to win first prize
in the Institution of Highways and Transportation's Annual
Papers Evening for his presentation on the use of safety performance
functions in predicting accident occurrence and vulnerability
on Jamaican roads. Two further Transport students, Simon Field
and Lokesh Reddy, were awarded runners-up prizes at the event
held at the Gibside Arms Hotel in Whickham. George is pictured
with the current NE Branch Chairman John Barrell from Jacobs,
and Senior Vice-Chairman Dave Wafer from Durham County Council.
northern
mobility in transport research
24.1.07
Professor Margaret Bell is moving north to join the transport
research team at Newcastle University as the Science City Chair
in Transport and Environment. This move reinforces the current
research at Newcastle addressing the key challenges of transport,
energy and climate change. Margaret’s research activity
naturally enhances all current transport research at Newcastle
both in TORG within the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences
but also in many other parts of the University – i.e.
within Transport@Newcastle. Her research also sits naturally
alongside the Newcastle contributions to the Tyndall Centre
for Climate Change and the Science City theme of Energy and
Environment. This move strengthens existing collaborative research
between the two northern region transport research centres
of TORG at Newcastle and ITS at Leeds and enhances the research
activity of the Instrumented City, a national UK academic facility.
There is further northern mobility with Professor John Nelson
moving to the University of Aberdeen following his appointment
to the Sixth Century Chair in Transport Studies with responsibility
for establishing a new transport research centre. The new centre
at Aberdeen is part of a major investment in the field of transport
research and will have a strong public transport focus. With
a strong emphasis on collaboration between centres of excellence,
the plan is that a very strong connection will be developed
between the new centre in Aberdeen and the public transport
research team John leaves at Newcastle.
As part of the commitment to the further growth of transport
research, Newcastle announces the appointment of two new eminent
visiting professors, Professor Eric Sampson and Professor Richard
Allsop. Newcastle welcomes back Richard Allsop who has recently
retired from UCL but who actually established transport research
at Newcastle nearly 35 years ago. He will be supporting the
safety research portfolio and mentoring early stage researchers.
Eric Sampson who recently retired as Head of Transport Technology
and Standards Division at the DfT will be supporting the ITS
research and developing strategic links within the region.
workshop
for the economic costing of demand responsive transport services
To be held at Newcastle University on Wednesday 7th March
2007
The Transport Operations Research Group at Newcastle University
recently completed a Good
Practice Guide to implementing Demand Responsive Transport
services with sponsorship from the Department for Transport.
The Guide was launched at a Seminar in Newcastle held in July
2006 under the chairmanship of Professor Eric Sampson (then
Head of Vehicle Technology and Standards Division, DfT).
Whilst Demand Responsive Transport services are now recognised
as meeting social inclusion needs, ways of ensuring the sustainability
of these services still need to be understood. Consequently,
the discussion at the launch identified a strong need for a
follow-up workshop on the economic costing principles contained
in the Guide.
The workshop will take place on 7th March from 10am until
3.30pm. The workshop is particularly aimed transport planners
in local authorities and Community Transport operators.
13th
ITS World Congress, London 8 - 12 October 2006
13.10.06
October saw the annual Intelligent
Transport Systems conference come to London. The event
was extremely successful, with exhibitors, speakers and over
8,000 visitors from all over the world. The actual exhibits
were particularly spectacular with an emphasis on vehicle
safety, including Toyota’s pre-crash seatbelt retraction
and Bosch’s Electronic Stability Program, both demonstrated
using simulators. There were also extravagant stands from
both the DfT and TfL. A highly memorable finale to the 2nd
day was a party hosted by Q-Free, to launch their newest
On Board Unit design. Glossy models strutted on the catwalk
wearing clothes designed to match these new concept On Board
Units.
TORG had a particularly large presence this year with several
academics, 4 researchers and 2 PhD students attending the event
and manning the UTSG exhibition stand. In addition all the
current MSc students who are taking the ITS Masters Module
at Newcastle visited the exhibition for the day, courtesy of
funding secured by UTSG through the EPSRC research council.
5.10.06
The DfT funded research carried out by one of our recent graduates,
Hannah Bryan, for her dissertation is currently generating
a lot of interest. The purpose of the study, using real, anonymous,
public transport data provided by Nottinghamshire County council,
was to determine if transport planners could use smartcard
data to learn more about their customer and create a more user-oriented
service.
She has given a number of presentations at key smartcard events.
These events include the Smartex Transport Card Forum, in London
in September, and the Cartes
a Puce Conference held in Paris in early October. She has
also presented a technical
paper, written with Professor Phil Blythe, which expands
on the work in the dissertation, to an audience of wider interests
at the ITS World Congress,
a large conference held annually around the world. This year
it was in London, 8 - 12 October 2006.
Through her involvement with DfT and the presentations she
has given, interest for publications has also sprung. An Article
was published in August
issue of the ITSO newsletter. ITSO is
the national specification for integrated public transport
smartcard schemes. This article was followed by one in the Surveyor magazine
in October. Further articles are to appear shortly in Smart
Card News and, once translated to French, in Le Rail magazine.
new
book on road user charging launched at world congress
1.10.06
A new book on ‘Road User Charging and Electronic Tolling’ was
launched at the ITS World Congress on the 9th October. The
book written by Professor Phil Blythe, Director of the Transport
Operations Research Group, at Newcastle University and his
friend and colleague Andrew Pickford – bridges the gap
between the technical options and trade-off of scheme design
and the policy and traffic-orientated issues of road charging.
Phil Blythe said ‘The aim of the book was to provide
a useful reference source and how-to guide to current and future
road user charging and tolling schemes. The book will be of
use to practitioners and to students alike’.
9.06
Dr Stephen Ladyman, Minister of State for Transport will
be visiting Newcastle University on the 29th November 2006.
During
the afternoon, Dr Ladyman will be visiting the Transport Operations
Research Group to view demonstrations of various ITS (Intelligent
Transport Systems) research projects, including wireless sensor
networks, the ASK-IT assistive info-mobility suite and the
virtual reality cave.
In addition to his visit to the Transport Group, Dr Ladyman will deliver
the Henry Royce memorial lecture which is jointly sponsored by the IET
(Institution of Engineering and Technology and Newcastle University.
Dr Ladyman will consider the social and environmental impacts of transport,
particularly in the light of increasing demand for vehicles and road
space which raise concerns over congestion, safety and the environment.
He will also consider the long term strategies that are in place to ensure
the future sustainability of the transport network.
Picture from right to left: Dr Stephen Ladyman, Sir
David King, Professor Will Stewart and Professor Phil
Blythe (at the launch of the Foresight Intelligent Infrastructure
Project earlier this year)
Details on how to obtain a ticket to the lecture and the accompanying
dinner (optional) can be found at IET
CeG
transport student wins major prize at ITS World Congress
9.06
It was announced last week by the DfT (Department for Transport)
that Amy Guo, a 3rd year PhD student in the transport operations
research group in CEGS won a major prize in the ITS Student
Vision competition. The competition was established by Dr Stephen
Ladyman, UK Minister of State for Transport, to encourage researchers
to think visionary in future ITS research. Amy produced a DVD
visioning how future pervasive information delivery using ITS
may be more effective at influencing travel mode choice.
Amy is a research student in the Transport Operations Research Group
within the School of Civil Engineering and GeoScience and has been working
with the ITS team and Informatics Institute on the use of pervasive computing
in transport for three years. Further details of her research can be
found at: http://www.ceg.ncl.ac.uk/staff/pgprofile.aspx?code=49
The prize, for her second place in the competition, is 2 free
delegate passes to the 2006 World Congress in London, £2000
to the School, plus £1000 in travel costs towards a trip
to next years World Congress to be hosted in Beijing.
The TORG team will have a major presence at the World Congress
with 7 staff, 4 PhD Students and 30 MSc students attending
the congress at various times. Eleven papers being presented
by Newcastle and various sessions being organised and chaired
by Newcastle University. In addition joint exhibition stand
at the Congress with other ITS research active universities
under the guise of UTSG (University Transport Studies Group)
where the University will be showcasing its wireless ad-hoc
sensors research.
Professor Phil Blythe, Board Member of the ITS World Congress
Association and Professor of Intelligent transport Systems
said “We are delighted that Amy has won a student vision
prize – her research is leading edge and visionary in
its approach. Moreover, the overall participation from Newcastle
will be significant and reflects our role as a leading academic
institution in the area”
Edited by G Ambrosino, M Boero, J D Nelson and M Romanazzo.
Published by ENEA (ISBN: 88-8286-137-6).
This book analyses key findings from recent research relating
to the concept of e-logistics and its contribution to the goal
of sustainable freight distribution drawing principally on
recent experience gained from European-funded research. The
central thesis is that a clear understanding of the developments
in e-logistics – essentially the supporting operational
processes to fulfil the distribution of goods in urban areas
by advanced ICT tools - is necessary in order to appreciate
the applicability of these concepts in the urban context.
Transport planners throughout the UK are to benefit from the
knowledge and experience of a University research group.
The Transport Operations Research Group (TORG) has produced
a Good Practice Guide for the Government, which is to be distributed
to local authorities, Passenger Transport Executives and transport
partnerships throughout the country.
The guide draws on TORG’s ten years of wide-ranging
experience in an area known as Demand Responsive Transport
(DRT), which uses sophisticated computer technology to provide
transport such as buses and taxis on demand.
DRT is particularly useful in remote rural areas but can also
complement conventional bus services in urban areas.
The guide, published by the Department for Transport, was
launched at a seminar on Friday, July 21, chaired by DfT representative
Eric Sampson.
Issues covered by the guide are grouped under five key themes:
economic framework, technologies, service design, setting up
a travel dispatch centre and marketing and promotion.
Project leader, Professor John Nelson (pictured above, right),
said: “Being asked by the Government to produce this
guide was a welcome recognition for the experience we have
built up in demand responsive transport over the last ten years,
which includes helping to set up and evaluate schemes throughout
Europe.
“It also demonstrates the usefulness of our research
to the real world and we hope this guide will inspire many
more DRT schemes in the UK and beyond.”
Logistics
research network conference to be held in Newcastle
The Annual Conference of the LRN was organised by the
University of Newcastle and took place there in September
2006. Papers were invited from academics, researchers and practitioners
in the fields of logistics, transportation and supply chain
management. The theme this year was 'Sustainable Logistics
in an Intermodal Setting'.
January 26th 2006 saw the launch of the Intelligent Infrastructure
Futures (IIF), part of the Office of Science and Technology
Foresight Programme, at the IEE Savoy Place, London. Sir David
King, the Government’s Chief Scientific advisor opened
the debate, speaking to a chamber of leading industrialists,
academics, policy makers, consultants and other key stakeholders.
His presentation kicked off a day of lively and enthusiastic
debate about the possible paths our society might take over
the next 50 years as a consequence of adopting a more ‘intelligent
infrastructure’.
The IIS component of the Foresight Programme was tasked to
look to the future. 50 years from now what will society be
like? How will we travel? What are the drivers for change to
balance travel and transport, environmental sustainability,
personal choice and economic growth? In trying to offer possible
answers to these and other questions, the consortium examined
the predicted advances in pervasive technologies, sensors,
data communication, information and computing science, leading
them to propose a set four of possible futures. Further details
and copies of all the reports can be found at: http://www.foresight.gov.uk/
Professor Phil Blythe, Director of TORG, was one of four leading
academics appointed as Science Experts to Dr. Stephen Ladyman,
the Minister of State for Transport and sponsor of Foresight.
Dr. Ladyman spoken eloquently and enthusiastically about the
key findings and was confident their conclusions would go on
to shape government action across a wide cross section of transport
policy and the wider society.
At the media launch event, Phil Blythe said ‘The opportunity
to call more than 300 experts to give evidence and input to
a study which is attempting to look at how intelligent infrastructure
and transport systems will evolve over a 50 year time period,
has been rewarding, albeit challenging… however, unless
we look at the future and consider how transport, energy sources,
climate change and the way we live may change, depending on
technology adoption and policy decisions that may need to be
taken soon, we will not be able to generate the right level
of debate in the country to seriously examine these issues.
The window of opportunity to foster change in a direction which
will deliver a more positive future, may well be quite short.’
IIS now moves to the action phase. This launch marks the start
of more research and further investment in the applications
and future questions to be considered. Newcastle has a key
role to play in this future work.
Tyne
and Wear ambient intelligence trial secures additional funding
from the EU
(ASK-IT) Ambient Intelligence System of Agents for Knowledge-based
and Integrated Services for Mobility Impaired users
ASK-IT is a set of enhanced software services made available
to a group of individual users all with specific needs. Services
can be configured to suit an individual user. Services will
be accessible through a variety of means including the Web,
mobile Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), suitably equipped
mobile phones, and publicly available Internet kiosks.
ASK-IT is clearly positioned at the intersection between technology
and functionality: between what is possible and what is practical.
It aims to inform and enhance the user’s experience.
Through consultation and understanding of the ASK-IT user’s
range of activities, the project’s primary objective
is to bridge this often difficult divide and join together
the user community and the service provider serving that community.
There are 5 key sectors under investigation in the project:
Transport
Tourism and Leisure
Personal Support Services (including in the home)
Work, Business and Education
Social Relations and Community Building
Currently, available information content in these sectors
(e.g. websites, timetables, etc.) is being catalogued for each
pilot site. The content is being matched to the requirements
of people with one or more of ten identified categories of
impairment, including lower limb, upper limb, wheelchair users,
upper body, visual, hearing, physiological, psychological,
cognitive, and communication difficulties (e.g. illiteracy).
A set of key services is under development, including location-based
and navigation services, route guidance, e-commerce, e-payment,
personal assistance, and e-learning, e-working, social relations
and community building services. The necessary e-content for
these services is being developed (based on the catalogued
existing content) and adapted for seamless and integrated delivery
in a “one stop shop” service.
Eight pilot sites are currently developing their pilot plans
in order to test the ASK-IT system and services. The UK pilot
site is in Tyne and Wear and has recently won additional funding
from the project to develop its innovative plans for a trial
of the technologies in 2007. Many local stakeholders are involved,
including the Institute of Ageing and Health, Codeworks ATL,
Gateshead Access Panel, RNIB, Tyne and Wear ICT, One North
East, Government Office NE, transport operators (including
the DfT), Cityspace, Sunderland Community Development Network,
and various departments at the university (CEGS, Medical, Culture
Lab, Computing Science, Mechanical Engineering, Institute for
Aging and Health and the Informatics Institute).
1st User Forum, Stuttgart 14th October 2005
The first User Forum meeting took place in Stuttgart on 14th October
2005. The main aim of this meeting was to gather together the main
stakeholders related to the ASK-IT test sites in order to better inform
them about the demonstration phase and their role within the project.
The representatives would also be able to ask questions regarding the
ASK-IT device. It was also an opportunity to deal with financial and
administrative issues, such as the budget allocation as well as discuss
the important ethical and legal issues surrounding the ASK-IT test
user. The aim was also to gain feedback from sites regarding important
work carried out in the project such as the Use Cases, Scientific Glossary
and work on design-for-all. The project paid for several of the Tyne
and Wear Stakeholders to attend the forum and to provide input to the
specification phase of the project.
Contact Simon
Edwards in the Transport Operations Research
Group for more details….
Smeed
prize awarded to transport student
Congratulations to Ibrahim Hashim, a member of the Transport
Operations Research Group in the School of Civil Engineering
and Geosciences, who was joint winner of the Smeed Prize, awarded
for the best paper presented by a student at the annual Conference
of the Universities' Transport Study Group (UTSG).
His paper, entitled "Exploring the Relationship between Safety and
the Consistency of Geometry and Speed on Rural Single Carriageways",
was presented at the 38th Annual UTSG Conference hosted by Trinity College
Dublin on 4th-6th January 2006. The UTSG comprises over 50 member institutions
in the UK and Ireland engaged in transport research. It aims to promote
transport research and teaching and act as a focus for academics in this
field. In awarding the Prize, the panel of judges consider the complexity
and depth of the research and analysis, the age and experience of the
speaker, the quality of the oral presentation and the written paper and
the student's performance in answering questions.
Ibrahim shared the prize with Jan-Dirk Schmöcker, (a TORG MSc alumnus)
who also completed part of his PhD studies in TORG before moving to London.
Ibrahim joins former PhD students from TORG who have won the prize, including
Budi Yulianto (2003), Banihan Gunay (1999), and John Nelson (1990).
the
journal’s ‘Go For Jobs Campaign’:
neglected north ‘needs transport champ’
Newcastle University Professor of Transport Phil Blythe added
his weight to The Journal’s campaign, saying there was
a ‘massive contradiction’ between the actions of
the Highways Agency and the Government’s drive to boost
economic developing in the region.
… Phil Blythe, who works closely with countries around
the world on road charging schemes, said there was a recognition
by ministers that traffic growth could not continue at its
present rate.
However, there was now a ‘real dilemma’ facing
the Government as it sought to boost the north east economy
after promises to achieve full employment – equivalent
to an extra 100,000 jobs here – by 2010.
He said, in theory the north east should not be suffering
major congestion problems because it had some of the lowest
car-ownership rates in the country, but investment had not
been pumped into key roads, so they could not cope.
‘If we had the capacity, driving forward economic
development would not be a problem, but we don’t have
the capacity on the A-roads to do that.’
Calling for a ‘transport champion’ in the north
east, he added: ‘There is no strategic overview and that’s
been to our disadvantage because we see other regions with
that voice and they are already in there talking to the Government
and being very proactive.’
As quoted in The Journal, Thursday November 24th 2005
new
journal from the IEE dedicated to research in intelligent
transport systems
Professor Phil Blythe is one of the Editors-in-chief of the
new IEE Proceedings Intelligent Transport Systems which
is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to research into the
practical applications of intelligent transport systems and
infrastructures. The editors seek original research papers
that apply the following technology areas to intelligent transport
systems:
Information Collection and Processing
In-Vehicle ITS, Safety and Vulnerable Road User Aspects
Putting the ‘green’ into everyday transport, maintaining
the UK’s competitiveness and identifying new robust,
sustainable and safe solutions to transport infrastructure
challenges, are just a few of the issues a new Foresight project
announced today will be investigating.
The Intelligent Infrastructure Systems Project is looking
50 years ahead at the possible opportunities and benefits developments
in science and technology can make to transport systems.
The Intelligent Infrastructure Systems project is part of
the Foresight programme,
managed by the Office of Science and Technology within the
Department of Trade and Industry.
The Foresight programme looks beyond normal planning timescales
to identify potential opportunities from new science and technologies.
It produces challenging visions of the future to ensure effective
strategies now. It brings together scientists, technologists,
businesses and consumers to discuss the future.
One of the external project experts is Phil Blythe,
Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems and Director of
the Transport Operations Research Group at the University of
Newcastle upon Tyne. Regarded as one of the early pioneers
of electronic payment systems for transport, Professor Blythe’s
research interests are in the areas of road user charging and
the use of innovative communications and computing technologies
to better manage and control transport systems. He has been
involved in the design and implementation of such technologies
for 15 years.
ITS
UK/Traffic Engineering and Control prize
We are pleased to announce that Ashley Curtis who studied
at Newcastle as a part time MSc Student on Transport Engineeringa
and Operations (2001 to 2003) has won this years ITS UK/
Traffic Engineering and Control prize for the best student
essay in an ITS topic. The essay was based upon his dissertation
topic 'Advanced Driver Assistance Systems'.
He won a small cash prize plus free entry to this years
ITS UK summer conference plus the honour of having his paper published
in the March Issue of Traffic Engineering and Control.
Ashley is a traffic engineer at Cambridgshire County Council
and regularly commuted to Newcastle to undertake his part
time study. Ashley was also the first part-time student to
be awarded an MSc with Distinction.
Faber
Maunsell prize
The first holder of the new Faber Maunsell prize, Isaac
Muyinza, following his graduation with an MSc in Transport
Engineering and Operations.
Faber Maunsell has generously endowed this prize for the
'Best performing postgraduate student in the area of traffic
engineering or transport infrastructure.'
Professor Phil Blythe of the School’s
Transport Operations Research Group (TORG), and our late
colleague,
Prof
Peter Hills OBE, FREng, have recently published a topical
article
on the future for road congestion charging in the UK.
They discuss the options and technology available for
road charging schemes and conclude that a lack of appropriate
technology will not constrain the implementation of
such schemes.
The paper is available in Issue 14 of Ingenia,
the prestigious magazine of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Ingenia specialises in articles addressing cutting-edge engineering
and has a wide readership amongst the business, industry
and government communities, as well as in academia.
transport professor gives evidence to 
double top for transport
EPSRC Impact Awards 2010 – TORG organises a series of one-day workshops
older drivers - TDUE conference keynote speech
TORG meets transport and air quality experts from India
VERITAS and e-inclusion
redesigning city-regions for sustainable mitigation of transport emissions
transport ticketing 2011 conference and expo
4M project Durham away day
CeG wins British Council UK-US new partnership fund 
universities transport study group, 43rd annual conference 
roadside hazards may improve people's driving
transport masters celebrate 10 years
NICHES+ guidelines for implementers available to download
visiting professors
first site visit for stage 1 civils students completed
ICE G&S careers and beers event
Engineers Without Borders newcastle branch starts up
the future of transport – stargazing and guiding principles
Science and Engineering Assurance review of DfT
ICE themed issue on urban development and sustainability 
TORG @ the TRL
CeG student presents at Traffex 2009
torg visit to the northumbria safer roads initiative driving simulator
pioneering research from Newcastle university
transport@newcastle - interim regional transport board exhibition
MESSAGE media day
MESSAGE traffic surveys, gateshead
NBTN postgraduate travel planning network
TORG recruits six new members
CeG builds on IIT delhi collaboration
urban transport options need to be updated
TORG appoints new visiting professor
ask-it UK: technologies for independent living
transport repeat success at IHT papers evening
transport ITS team demonstrates localisation system in Greece
three newcastle academics appointed advisors to the Commission for Integrated Transport
ITS UK publish a white paper on road user charging
transport professor receives CBE at buckingham palace
newcastle provide keynote address to european safety workshop
gizmos help clean the air
CeG
road safety CPD course to be delivered in the US
newcastle
professor gives evidence on the draft local transport bill
to the transport select committee
researcher
wins moving-on conference 'best paper' award
transport
students win top 2 prizes in ICE wales papers competition
achieving
the millennium development goals for africa
newcastle
researcher wins prestigious prize from ITS UK
citizen's
jury investigates transport problems
Royal
Academy of Engineering launch round table on climate change
and energy
drivers
face 'spy in the sky' monitoring
british
embassy in Tokyo hosts UK-Japan ITS workshop
a
connected world?
honour
for former transport student 
transport
student wins top regional prize 
northern
mobility in transport research
workshop
for the economic costing of demand responsive transport services
13th
ITS World Congress, London 8 - 12 October 2006
work
on spatially analysing smartcard data
new
book on road user charging launched at world congress
minister
of state for transport to visit newcastle university
CeG
transport student wins major prize at ITS World Congress
Logistics
research network conference to be held in Newcastle
Intelligent
infrastructure futures
Tyne
and Wear ambient intelligence trial secures additional funding
from the EU
Smeed
prize awarded to transport student
the
journal’s ‘Go For Jobs Campaign’: 
future
transport systems examined
ITS
UK/Traffic Engineering and Control prize
Faber
Maunsell prize
for
whom the road tolls?