Editorial

Karel Pospíšil

Transactions on Transport Sciences 2020, 11(1)  

Driverless, or Carless Future? Socio-technical Scenarios of Autonomous Urban Mobility in the Czech Republic

Daniel Szabó

Transactions on Transport Sciences 2020, 11(1):5-17 | DOI: 10.5507/tots.2020.003  

The autonomous vehicles are in the phase of prototypes and proofs-of-concept, yet the promises and visions of autonomous future already drive significant changes in long term urban planning. We utilise the socio-technical transition approach to autonomous vehicles' services to help to understand the dynamics of the development and to direct public policies in order to foster a more environmentally and socially sustainable urban mobility. The research uses a three-round Delphi method with experts and stakeholders in the field of research and development to explore potential pathways and develop a multi-level perspective (MLP) socio-technical model of...

Considering Habit in Research on Travel Mode Choice: A Literature Review with a Two-Level Methodology

Darina Havlíčková, Petr Zámečník

Transactions on Transport Sciences 2020, 11(1):18-32 | DOI: 10.5507/tots.2020.004  

This study used sources from selected databases to provide an overview of the role of habit in choosing a mode of travel. The articles were selected from two levels. The first included selected studies that considered the psychological aspects of travel mode choice and travel mode change. These created the context for the issues of mode choice and the change of travel mode. The second level was narrower and included studies that were directly focused on the role of habit in travel mode choice or that took the role of habit into account. These studies were used as the core of the review. Subsequently, the topic of habit and travel mode choice was divided...

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Primary Preventive Program "Clear Picture…!?" to Increase Traffic Safety

Gunnar Meinhard

Transactions on Transport Sciences 2020, 11(1):33-40 | DOI: 10.5507/tots.2019.004  

The present study describes the development of the "Clear Picture...!? course program and examines its effectiveness. "Clear Picture...!?" is a one-day course on alcohol prevention aimed at Estonian adolescents aged 17 to 19 years and is carried out in educational institutions. A traffic psychologist together with the police and an accident victim facilitate the knowledge transfer, personal experience, reflection exercises and experience exchange of accidents caused by alcohol through three modules. In the empirical part of the present study, the results with a re-measurement group design (N = 109) examine whether participation in the course program...

Evaluating Pedestrian and Cyclist Behaviour at a Level Crossing

Lukas Hartwig, Clemens Kaufmann, Ralf Risser, Christian Erbsmehl, Tom Landgraf, Martin Urban, Dominik Schreiber

Transactions on Transport Sciences 2020, 11(1):41-54 | DOI: 10.5507/tots.2019.009  

The article gives an overview about the results of the use of a newly developed measurement technique in order to analyse the behaviour of road users at level crossings. For the test of the measurement technique a before/after design was chosen in order to evaluate the effects of a speed bump on the behaviour of road users and on safety at level crossings. The measurement technique combines the use of (1) an infrared camera and (2) conventional video recording. The use of an infrared camera allows the registration of variables such as speed, position, distance and acceleration independent of lighting conditions. A conventional camera includes recording...

Visual Grouping and Its Application to Road Design and Traffic Control

Gerald Forbes

Transactions on Transport Sciences 2020, 11(1):55-64 | DOI: 10.5507/tots.2019.003  

Visual or perceptual grouping refers to the tendency of the visual system to aggregate discrete stimuli into larger wholes. It is the process of determining which regions and parts of the visual scene belong together as parts of higher order perceptual units such as objects or patterns. The central hypothesis of Gestalt psychology is that the mind forms these global wholes through autonomous processes in the brain using the following principles - simplicity, proximity, similarity, closure, common fate, continuity, and figure-ground. An understanding of the Gestalt principles of visual grouping helps explain why alert and attentive motorists can sometimes...

Transport System and Climate Change Risks: Potential Adaptation Constraints and Opportunities in Ghana

Gerald Atampugre, Martin Larbi, Thomas Kolawole Ojo, Gengyuan Liu

Transactions on Transport Sciences 2020, 11(1):65-81 | DOI: 10.5507/tots.2020.001  

This review explored the potential climate risks for transportation and probable institutional constraints and opportunities for adaptation in Ghana. Using documentary research and on the foundation of the Transport Sensitivity Framework and the Action Theory of Adaptation, policy and programme documents on transportation and climate change in Ghana were analyzed. The results indicate that potential consequences will be in two-fold; risks related to direct impacts on infrastructure and operations and risks associated with climate-induced socio-economic changes. There are three critical constraining issues; lack of data-driven information on potential...