Problems to be solved

Despite their differences, all European cities beyond a certain size are facing the same issues: air pollution, noise, congestion, management of waste, infrastructure maintenance, building maintenance, safety, viability of economic activities, protection of employment. 80 % of Europeans live in cities facing increasing problems of traffic pollution and congestion. Almost forty millions Europeans are annually exposed to pollution exceeding at least one air quality guideline. The problem is also reflected in the 2 % loss in GNP due to congestion and in the continuing growth of traffic.

European cities have therefore to implement efficient strategies in order to improve the quality of life in urban and suburban areas, whilst reducing social inequity, increasing the participation of citizens in decision-making process, and finally contributing to improve the economic competitiveness. These are the main objectives of a sustainable urban development.

The aim of STARDUST is to assess the extent to which ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) and AVG (Automated Vehicle Guidance) systems can contribute to a sustainable urban development not only in terms of direct impacts on traffic conditions and environment but also in terms of impacts on social life, economic viability, safety, etc.

The majority of these systems were first designed to be used in an inter-urban context, i.e. on motorways. Now, progressively, they are considered for urban contexts and systems manufacturers are designing new prototypes adapted to urban contexts. For example, first Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems were designed to be used on motorways, at speeds higher than 50 km/h. So do the first marketed ACC systems. Meanwhile, however, other systems aiming to adaptive longitudinal control of the vehicle have been developed (at a prototype stage) for use on urban networks. This again confirms how much the work proposed in STARDUST is a topical question.

Scientific objectives and approach

STARDUST will carry out a global and quantified evaluation of the opportunity of the deployment of some selected ADAS/AVG systems. The selection of the systems to be evaluated will be made on the basis of a review of ADAS and AVG options to 2010. The impacts of the systems will be assessed at a city-level, in 3 case study cities, using semi-dynamic assignment models. The systems will then be evaluated, using an evaluation framework specifically set up, which will include environmental (congestion, energy consumption, pollutants emission,), social (safety, accessibility,), and economic indicators (accessibility to economic activities,).

The originality and the strength of the STARDUST approach are to combine analysis at behavioural, microscopic and macroscopic level, so that the final recommendations will be based on the actual driver behaviour, rather than on theoretical views. Most innovative in STARDUST is the integration of end user potential acceptance analysis (by means of stated preference surveys), investigation of the human factors issues (using data from instrumented vehicles, driving simulators, and microscopic modelling) and larger scale assessment of the impacts, at city-level (using semi-dynamic traffic assignment models). Besides, the results of the impact assessment will be compared between three Northwest-European cities (Brussels, Southampton, and Oslo), which again highly increases the reliability of the final conclusions. Finally, STARDUST will also carry out a review and synthesis of the existing analysis on the legal and institutional aspects of the deployment of the selected ADAS and AVG systems. Expected results

The final benefits from the project will be:
* an improved understanding of human interaction with ADAS/AVG technology;
* the re-calibration of large-scale traffic assignment models to represent the driver behaviour when supported by ADAS/AVG systems;
* a quantified assessment of the impacts of large-scale deployment of the systems, in the 3 case study cities, and a global, comprehensive and quantified evaluation of the systems; recommendations to the interested stakeholders : the Commission, cities and local authorities, governments and regional authorities, car and systems manufacturers.

Contact email:  Mm7@soton.ac.uk

Link to project details in the CORDIS database

Additional project information:  

Project website 

Project Deliverables

No.	Type	Description	Link
1	Scenario	Scenarios and evaluation framework for city case studies	web site