Transport Technology and Standards

The research undertaken by the Transport Technology and Standards division is diverse in its nature and falls under three main programmes;

1. Vehicle Technology

2.Reducing Congestion

3. Choice and Public Transport

Vehicle Technology is the largest of our three research programmes and is split into four themes, cross-cutting, primary and e-safety, secondary safety and commercial vehicles.

All three programmes impact to a lesser or greater degree on each other, and all three lead or compliment several other research programmes within the Department and in the wider field of Europe and the international community.

Vehicle technology research contributes to the evidence base for policy to improve road safety through vehicle design, construction and operation. Our research seeks to identify and gain an engineering understanding of advances in technology that have the potential to address key issues affecting accident causation and post-incident injury and damage.

Research is undertaken with the following aims:

1. Identify those areas of vehicle design that may reduce the propensity for accident involvement and those that are significant with respect to casualty rates and severity;

2. Strengthen the knowledge and evidence base upon which policy decisions can be taken;

3. Ensure that regulatory standards keep pace with technological development; and

4. Identify policy options that minimise the burden on industry whilst delivering improved safety standards.

We work closely with industry and DTI, and also with international technical and engineering organisations to make sure our evidence stands up to scrutiny and to take account of economic competitiveness issues. Many of the decisions on regulatory and standards issues are at an international or global level for vehicle standards, and we use the evidence gathered through research to devise options for Ministers when setting UK policy and to strengthen our influence in the international regulatory processes.

The research programme is organised into four themes, each of which has a specific objective that contributes to the overall PSA targets for road safety. New research will be taken forward in primary and e-safety; secondary safety; and commercial vehicle safety, in a range of technical focused projects to explore how future advances in vehicle technology and design will impact on safety to all road users. In addition, cross-cutting research designed to extract maximum value from areas of technical research that read across the other three themes will continue. The research priorities for 2006/07 have been identified in the Roads and Vehicle Safety and Standards/Roads Performance Strategy (RVSS/RPS) Unit level Evidence and Research Strategy1. These include reducing roads casualties, promoting technology solutions to address road transport problems and recommendations of the Motorcycle Strategy, international developments and views from our external experts.

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Cross-Cutting Vehicle Technology The main objective of this theme is to strengthen the credibility of key areas of evidence gathering for vehicle design and construction. By identifying and addressing areas of potential synergy, the vehicle technology research programme will deliver cost effective and added value outputs in key underpinning areas of accident data gathering, non-vehicle specific futuredesign assessment technologies and expert international representation.

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Primary and e-Safety The main objective of this theme is to increase understanding of the implications that vehicle design and construction have on road safety and accident rates, with a particular focus on crash avoidance technologies in the general area of primary safety ( such as tyres, lighting, steering and braking) but also including the emerging e-safety technologies (such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) where the potential road safety benefits in helping drivers avoid accidents could be significant. We also seek to improve understanding of the driver's role in using these new technologies and in particular addressing the question of driver overload and distraction. Also included within this research theme is consideration of the evidence needed to support policy decision on motorcycle safety.

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Secondary Safety The main objective of research in this theme is to increase understanding of the implications that secondary safety vehicle design and construction have on road safety and accident rates. Particular focus is given to reducing child casualties through improvements in child restraints, reducing levels of pedestrian casualties through improved vehicle construction standards and improving the crashworthiness of vehicles and occupant protection. In addition, this theme identifies the evidence needed to support policy decision on minimising driver vision and reducing the risk of death or serious injury from motorcycling head injuries.

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Commercial Vehicles The main objective of research in this theme is to gather the evidence needed to improve the safe design, construction and operation of heavy commercial vehicles. A separate Environmental Impact theme is run by our Cleaner Fuels and Vehicles division.

Reducing congestion is a key government objective. To help deliver reduced congestion we need a better understanding of what people need, want and might legitimately expect in terms of road network performance as well as evaluating policy instruments and ensuring that the most appropriate technologies are used in implementing them. Research is undertaken with the following aims to provide the evidence that will support policy decisions on the future DfT exploitation of Intelligent Transport Systems:

1. To understand how we can better enable local authorities to manage their roads and traffic

efficiently and ensure they have the right set of cost effective tools.

2. To ensure that the benefits identified to date of technology applications such as Co-

operative Vehicle Highway Systems are proven and that we have a fuller understanding of

public perceptions to such new technologies.

Other DfT programmes focus on discrete areas of research to help reduce congestion, including the Highways Agency programme for the strategic road network, the Traffic Management programme for local roads and research into various aspects of road pricing. We look for opportunities to partner with international organisations where that offers potential for greater understanding of the issues and remain in touch with European Commission and other international research programmes. Where technical standards are involved, the work can be both national and international in scope. Similarly, we work closely with the HA and with local Highway Authorities as well as the Intelligent Transport Systems industry to facilitate shared understanding and delivery. The priorities identified for research in 2006/07 takes account of discussions with these groups and the views of our Expert .

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Choice and Public Transport The development of smart cards for seamless travel, through ticketing and e-commerce remains an important element in enabling transport choice.

The research being undertaken through the TTS programme complements the main programme of technical and deployment support for smartcards.

We work closely with key stakeholders internally (Regional and Local Transport Policy and Rail Directorates, DVO), in OGDs (including DfES, DCLG and Cabinet Office), local authorities (including West and South Yorkshire, Cumbria, Cheshire and Transport for London) and within industry. By doing this, we make sure our evidence stands up to scrutiny and that our work supports wider Government objectives for e-Government and e-Business. There is also an international dimension where work is ongoing to develop technical standards.