Competence Centre 2017- Stage 1
Application title: Bicycling for a sustainable future Coordinator name: Jan Andersson
1. Existing activities in the field
Bicycling has received a great deal of interest recently. In order to achieve an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable transport system and, at the same time, increase public health and well-being, public institutions increasingly turn to bicycling. However, research and development within the bicycling field is fragmented and the common knowledge base needs to be improved. Thus, the main objective with the Bicycling Centre is to gather existing knowledge and partners to enable excellent research on bicycling. We present a group of partners and stakeholders that are committed and have the will to make a change. Partners are the organisations that will perform research and education: Lund University, Luleå University of Technology, Malmö University, Svenska Cykelstäder, and VTI. Their present work within the field is presented shortly below. Stakeholders (Trafikverket, TÖI, and Ålborg University) are all organisations that are deeply involved in the centre by commitment in their own time and money in order to strengthen the centre. All stakeholders are involved in development of the centre but in different ways. Supportive organisations (SKL, Cykelfrämjandet, Viktoria Swedish ICT, Länsförsäkringar and Svensk Cykling) will be included in the network for sharing knowledge and experience outside the Centre’s organization, and support the idea of the centre in terms of a Letter of Intent.
VTI is an interdisciplinary research institute with a broad competence profile. Applied research from social psychological studies regarding mode choice (e.g. Forward, 2014) and bicycling behavior (e.g. Kircher, Ahlström, Palmqvist, & Adell, 2015) to crash tests of bicycles and friction measurements of bicycle tyres (Niska and Hjort, 2015) is performed at VTI. In accordance with VTI’s long tradition of research in the area of road safety, several research projects have looked into the underlying causes of bicycle accidents (e.g. Niska and Eriksson, 2013; Gustavsson, 2013). One of the main bicycling research areas at VTI is regarding infrastructure maintenance including for example a PhD-project on winter maintenance of bicycle infrastructure (Bergström, 2002), evaluations of winter maintenance methods and strategies (e.g. Niska, 2013; Niska and Blomqvist, 2015) as well as objective measurements of functional status (e.g. Niska and Sjögren, 2014). VTI bicycling research results have been implemented for example in the Swedish strategy for safer cycling (Trafikverket, 2014) and in the Design and maintenance guide of facilities for pedestrians, cyclists and moped riders (Wallqvist et al., 2010). A competence center focusing on bicycling
research would be in accordance with VTI’s overall strategy to widen and deepen the bicycling research at the institute.
Transport research at Lund University, LTH has a long tradition of building competence and excellence in the area of cycle traffic regarding design of
infrastructure and planning for safe and efficient cycle traffic. This includes surrogate methods for assessing safety (conflict techniques), studies on modal choice, mobility, and behavior, national economy, mobility management and cycling as part of the sustainable transport system. As educator of PhD-students and Civil Engineers, LTH provides municipalities, authorities and consultancies with well-educated staff in the area of traffic engineering. Research projects: Two powerful new projects within the frame of the application where LTH is coordinator: EU project InDeV – In-depth understanding of accident causation for vulnerable road users and Vinnova project with K2 partners: Planning strategic cycle infrastructure. Recent research projects on: Safety-in-numbers – the
influence of flow on safety; the relationship between speed and cyclists’ injuries; Motorists’ yielding behavior and cyclist safety; Balancing cyclists’ preferences of good level of service and safety, STRADA-analysis on cyclists’ single and collision accidents
Luleå University of Technology, LTU. LTU have long experience of working with traffic planning and road safety, especially regarding travel by bicycle and walking. The safety, mobility and comfort of vulnerable road users in the urban environment in relation to local climate, i.e. cold winter conditions has been in focus in previous work (Ebrahimabadi, Nilsson, & Johansson, 2015). Vulnerable road users of specific age groups have also been in focus in previous work, children and teenagers, but also elderly road users. LTU have previously also worked with the situation in smaller communities where residents interviewed about the travel habits etc. Safety, accessibility and comfort for vulnerable road users in relation to the local climate, i.e. cold winter conditions as well as challenges for rural areas has also been in focus. In recent years, LTU have also worked with ITS solutions to support the safety, accessibility and comfort of vulnerable road users.
The research at Malmö University could be positioned in the intersection between urban geography, sport and leisure studies, mainly focusing one or several of the following aspects:
-How urban planning affects the opportunities for active transports and physical activities.
-Cycling as part of a door-to-door perspective and time-space dimensions of everyday life.
-Cycling as a combined form of commuting and exercise.
-Active leisure-related movements. Projects such as IMPACT - Implementation paths for actions towards sustainable mobility, Book, Eskilsson & Kahn, (2010) is a natural focus for Malmö University.
Swedish Cycling Cities (Svenska Cykelstäder) today consist of 17 Swedish municipalities, the leader in everyday cycling. The Association works strategically through advocacy, knowledge sharing and collaboration. Swedish Cycling Cities wants to increase the proportion of bicycle trips, making it easier, more fun and safer to cycle in Swedish municipalities and raise the status of cycling in local government work, as well as on the national agenda.
The goal is to create a competence centre with 3 objectives: Research, Education, and Society requests. The centre will be located at Campus Lund University in the same premises as K2 – the Swedish Knowledge Centre for Public Transport, and hence existing structures for administration, research and education will be used. K2 focuses on research and education in close collaboration with public transport actors. K2 is run by Lund University, Malmö University, VTI, Stockholm County Council, Region Västra Götaland, Skåne County Council, and with the support of Trafikverket, Vinnova and Formas.
Administration and Society request
When localised in the same building, there will be synergies between the Bicycling Centre and K2 in terms of resource allocation, as well as creating an innovative environment for research and a critical mass of researchers working on related areas of interest. The head of the Centre and the personnel working with the networking with the Public and Business sector, will be able to share the same infrastructure. This means that conferences, seminars, workshops, and all forms of communication with the public and business sector will take advantage of the experiences and established procedures of an already existing Centre. The idea is to create a platform for sharing knowledge within the bicycling sector, i.e., an organisation that can offer expert support when needed, regarding issues relating to bicycling. The Centre will also develop a Bicycling Portal that the whole society can use when interested of the front line of bicycling research, similar to the Portal for Public Transport developed in K2
(www.transportportal.se/Search/Koll-index.asp). Education
From an educational perspective the involved academic partners will use their ordinary PhD programmes for students. However, as a complement to ordinary PhD courses a set of specific bicycle related courses will be given within the Centre. All PhD students in the Centre will take 20 credits of these courses developed to fulfil the needs of this unique group of students. The courses given will of course be open for other PhD students. The PhD programme will also include a seminar organisation for supervisors and students. A positive side effect of the PhD programme is that it will influence educations on master level to include cycling issues to a greater extent than today and hence contribute to a general increase in knowledge related to cycling. The main idea is to contribute to a long-term development of competence and to create an understanding of
bicycling from a holistic perspective. Research
The structures that will be used for research collaboration is one of the major tasks for the Centre to develop, i.e., to become a platform for bicycling research. The resources the centre will create is based on the resources from VINNOVA, partners and stakeholders. The monetary resources that the centre can use will be divided between the 3 ambitions. The major part of the resources available will be dedicated to research projects, including PhD-projects. The board will use only one Research Reference Group (RRG) for project applications. Academic partners
and Institutes can apply for resources from the Centre and should be involved in projects together. Specific project can also include organisations that is not involved as partner in the Centre. All applications from partners will need to be approved by the RRG who recommend the Board to grant or reject an application.
The RRG is represented by stakeholders and partners committed to the centre. Based on the scope discussed below all partners in the centre can apply for research projects and get funding’s from the centre. The projects approved could be granted the total amount of resources needed but the ambition is to use the resources as a catalyst for even more projects. The ambition is that the Bicycling Centre - in the future - will attract other stakeholders, research councils and
industry partners that are not already involved in the centre and maybe not directly involved in bicycling today.
2. Vision and strategy
The overall vision of the centre is to reduce travel by car and increase travel by bicycle in society; to support public health, reduce land use for transport
especially in cities, and reduce emissions and traffic accidents. The stakeholders, both business and society, will benefit from this financially and socially by
enhanced use and understanding of the bicycle as an alternative for transportation.
The vison of the centre is to fulfil the needs of society in terms of knowledge
concerning bicycling. The applied research area of bicycling is suffering from a
lack of knowledge related to a number of perspectives, in order to succeed with the vision to build the sustainable future. The questions raised cannot be fully answered today, in terms of traffic safety, mobility and environmental aspects, because of the complex relationships between cause and effect. The vision is therefore to create a platform that could help society to resolve these challenges. From a medium term perspective, the vision is to create an understanding in the public and business sector that the centre exists and that its purpose is to fulfil the requests from society. From a long term perspective, the vision is a recognised platform that can support society (public and business sector) with the knowledge they need within the area of bicycling.
The second vison is to ensure competitive future bicycle competence through
education and professional training. The goal is to initiate a number of PhD
projects and that the first group of PhD students will complete their work within the medium term horizon. In the long-term a number of PhD have taken their degree and continues to work with bicycle related issues, as researcher or qualified employees in the public and business sector. The centre has also developed master programmes/courses that increase the number of educated personnel within the area of bicycling from a number of scientific disciplines. The knowledge gained within the centre could be used by a number of partners and stakeholders within the public and business sector, i.e. growth. Growth can be expressed as: i) influence how cities will be build (to increase mobility in a safe
way) and ii) influence how products will be developed (produce bicycles, and equipment that fulfil the needs of citizens).
The third vision of the centre is to create a research platform for excellent
research on bicycling and perform research projects that increase the knowledge
of how industry and public sector can contribute to increased and safer bicycling. The centre should be recognised for creating useful knowledge within the
bicycling area, not only for the scientific members but for users of knowledge as well, such as municipalities and commercial industry.
Research scope
The research scope of the Centre is on bicycling, to increase the proportion of bicycle trips and improve its preconditions to contribute to a sustainable future. At forefront is the individual cyclist. The Centre will have to handle all the different groups of people from children to elderly, the every-day commuter to people using the bicycle for training and physical activity; people travelling shorter distances to people making long distance and perhaps inter-regional trips; people using the cycle for multi-modal trips, etc. All these different individuals have different needs and demands regarding the bicycle, design of the cycle transport infrastructure, in order to be able to include cycling in their every-day life and for mobility. This puts requirements on:
The overall planning for cycling: A new mind-set is needed for incorporating cycling in the general planning policy and to be part of improved mobility. To understand the needs of different cyclists in different contexts and situations. A focus on how bicycling can be offered and utilized as a service and on bicycling as part of intermodal and multipurpose transport patterns. Focus here will be to understand how the overall planning may affect modal share.
The bicycle per see: Create an understanding of how different bicycles are used for different purposes. Investigations of the effects of emerging types of bicycles, such as electric bicycles and cargo-bikes. There is to be a focus on the
development of the bicycle per see and the devices that can improve the bicycle as a vehicle that can fulfil user needs as well as requirements from society and city builders. This includes for example how servification, electrification and
digitalization can contribute to attractiveness and sustainability of bicycling. The healthy bicycle: The wide definition of sustainable future incorporates also a health perspective. It is of interest for the Centre to focus on how transportation by bicycling affects health of the citizens. What gains in terms of health is possible to reach by the use of bicycle as a way for transportations? The positive effects on environment and the positive effects of health might work in
collaboration in order to obtain wanted changes of behavior.
Infrastructure: The design of the infrastructure results in different behaviors among cyclists and among pedestrians and drivers of motorized vehicles in mixed use environments. Here focus will be on how infrastructure should be designed and constructed on a micro- and macro-level in order to fulfil the needs of safety and mobility for cyclists in separated as well as in integrated environments with pedestrians and drivers of motorized vehicles. Here will also be a focus on traffic flow and the consequences of increased use of bicycle in urban environments
from a mobility, as well as, safety perspective: The planning of the sustainable future with the inclusion of increased bicycling is considered.
Methods and indicators. This area includes methods and indicators regarding maintenance of the infrastructure; level-of-service, safety, subjective safety, mobility, etc. While some are available others e.g. level-of-service and maintenance need to be developed. These methods and indicators are both for research purposes and for local authorities in their everyday assessment of cycling.
Prioritizing and defining research projects and PhD-projects within - and between - the research areas above will be done in discussion between partners,
stakeholders and supportive organisations. The areas presented are strong areas for the partners in the Bicycling Centre, but the idea is to be open for a
development or broadening of the scope. New partners could be included in the Bicycling Centre if they provide competence that strengthen the Bicycling Centre.
The main applicant for this centre is The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI). The main research strategy for VTI is to perform excellent transport research in order to achieve our main task given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. VTI shall have a prominent role in the development of the more efficient, greener and safer transport systems of the future both in Sweden and abroad. The strategy used to fulfil this task is to, in collaboration with the public and business sector, develop and complete projects of interest for the community.
A number of initiatives have influenced the design of the Bicycling Centre. First, K2 is a centre in the public transport area (described above). From an
administrative point of view the Bicycling Centre will work in close collaboration with K2. The idea is to create synergy effects by locating the bicycle centre in the same facilities as K2. Offices and administrative personnel can be organised more efficiently reducing the resources needed to accomplish an innovative
environment for research. However, the research areas would also gain from influencing each other. Researchers from different fields of interest have
similarities in common, i.e., cycling and public transport share in some respect the same problems and difficulties.
ViP Driving Simulation Centre is another established centre, hosted and led by VTI, and related to the Bicycling Centre. ViP develops and uses a common simulator platform as a tool for development of the transport sector, in particular future vehicle functions, infrastructure and transport system solutions. Most of the projects in the ViP environment have a motor vehicle perspective. However, in order to develop a bicycle simulator, for example, the knowledge and know-how needed are fulfilled by the collaboration between the Bicycling Centre and the ViP centre.
SAFER is another centre in the transport sector focusing mainly on traffic safety, and with a scope related to the Bicycling Centre. However, SAFER is a centre
with a number of vehicle industry partners. It is therefore natural that the projects organised and developed within SAFER have a vehicle industry perspective, and little is left for projects focusing on cycling, even though knowledge from vehicle projects can be applied sometimes.
A number of activities have been started in the area of cycling, but one of the missing pieces is the platform for fundamental research. For instance,
municipalities have come together and started “Svenska Cykelstäder” with the ambition to increase cycling and to put cycling on the national political agenda. Bicycle advocacy organisations, i.e. Cykelfrämjandet, together with bicycle industry have formed “Svensk Cykling”. However, all these positive initiatives lack, to some extent, the fundamental knowledge about cycling from a holistic approach.
The overall goal is to create a centre that fulfil the needs of a modern society in terms of a transport system from a safety, mobility and sustainable environment perspective, i.e., the overall goal is to create a Bicycling Centre that is a living, dynamic and open innovative centre for all bicycling actors
The Bicycling Centre has 3 specified objectives.
a) To meet societal and industrial needs through demand-oriented development and dissemination of bicycle knowledge.
b) To ensure competitive future bicycle competence through education and professional training.
c) To create a research platform for excellent research on cycling.
The stakeholders and partners within the centre are the stakeholders that work with the issue of cycling on a day-to-day basis. The idea of a centre, supported by VINNOVA, is a unique possibility for these partners to come together and
develop the platform needed to get the bicycling field evolve as wanted. None of the partners in the centre have until now experienced that they, by themselves, can create the platform on their own. The idea is to develop a centre that fulfil the partners and stakeholders needs to such an extent that it can be self-sufficient in the future.
3. Partners
The academic partners performing research and education in the Centre are VTI, LTH, LTH, and MAH. The partners will guaranty scientific excellence. The partner Svenska Cykelstäder will contribute with practical experience, raise applied research questions, provide study objects and ensure the implementation of results (see item 1 above “Existing activities in the field”). The key people in the Centre representing the academic partners will be:
VTI: Jan Andersson (Prof.) and Anna Niska (Ph.D.) Malmö University: Karin Book (
Senior Lecturer)
LTU: Charlotte Johansson (Ass. Prof.)LTH: Åse Svensson (Ass. Prof.)
The stakeholders are TÖI, Aalborg University and, Swedish Transport
Administration. The stakeholders will be operative in the Centre and influence the research agenda. They, together with supportive organizations will also be
important in the network for sharing knowledge and experience outside the center’s organization.
The combination of stakeholders and partners in the Bicycling Centre represent the business sector, the public sector and institutes/universities and they are all involved in the area of cycling today. There are more organisations than those involved in the Centre that complete work within the field of cycling, and from a research perspective more disciplines could be involved as well. However, the combinations of competences gathered are substantial and in order to get going in an efficient way we believe that the number of stakeholders and partners
presented bring the knowledge needed to reach the 3 objectives discussed earlier: Education, Research and Society Requests
4. The structure of the competence centre
The geographical focus will be Lund, mainly because the synergy effects reached by the established K2 centre but also due to the synergy between research
questions within the public transport field (K2) and the Bicycling Centre. All stakeholders and partners will be represented in the Centre Board (CB). The board make all decisions necessary for running the centre efficiently. The board will be led by one of the organisations from the public sector. The chair will be chosen on an initial meeting in the history of the centre. The purpose with the choice of a chair from the public sector is to make sure that the projects fulfil the needs from the society. The head of the centre will lead the research reference group (RRG) that consists of representatives from partners and Stakeholders. They will however be well aware of the board’s responsibility to approve research applications or not. The idea with the centre is to come together from different standpoints in order to achieve and develop the field for the use of society. All stakeholders and partners express the need for a forum for collaboration since it would make their respective tasks and ambitions more reachable.
5. Implementation and outcomes
The time table (and milestones) is presented as bullet points. A number of activities and deliverables continue over all years but are only presented the first time they are put in progress and when they are finished.
First year
Establishment of the centre in Lund. Official opening; Responsible: VTI Board meeting by monthly. Word documents; Responsible Chair
Reference group meetings by monthly. Word document; Responsible: Chair (Head of Centre)
Road map for educational growth in the field of cycling. Responsible: The Board Road map for society requests in the field of cycling. Responsible: The Board Requiting the first number of Ph.D. students. Responsible: The Board
Visit all stakeholders and partners presenting the 3 road maps. Power point presentations: Responsible: Head of the centre
Initiation of the first projects: Responsible: The Centre Board. Launching of the Bicycling Portal: Responsible: The Centre Board. Second year
Establishment of the Ph.D. forum; Responsible: The Head of the Centre Association of projects that are linked to the Centre.
Evaluate the activities within the objective of society requests Stakeholders meeting: Include new partners
Establish the Research day forum. All projects organised within the centre will be presented for sharing knowledge and experience outside the center’s organization. Third year
An evaluation report will be written for all projects organised by the centre. Rewrite the 3 roadmaps written year 1. This will be done by yearly
Requiting more Ph.D. students. Word document: Responsible: The Board Research project will be reported
New partners have been included, especially Scandinavian actors. Year 4 and 5
In year 4 and 5 all processes will be established and the Centre is up and running. The first Ph.D. students will defend their thesis.
The Centre will be known as a hub for cycling research and development. The Centre will be used as a knowledge hub for municipalities in particular Year 6-10
In year 6-10 the Centre has become a known Centre for bicycling research. In year 6-10 the Centre has become a known Centre for bicycling education. Municipalities has recognised the Centre as a hub for bicycling knowledge
The overall (tentative) budget is based on the yearly amount the partners and stakeholders will provide (see table below). The total figure for the Centre to work with will be 24.6 million SEK/year. Administration will use approximately 4.6 million SEK/year. Ph.D. students will use approximately 13 million SEK/year. Research projects (excluding Ph.D. work) will cost 7.0 million SEK/year.
Partners
Cash Inkind CharacteristicsLuleå University 2.1 million SEK Academia
VTI 1 million SEK 2.0 million SEK Institute
Malmö Högskola 0.8 million SEK Academy
Lund University 100 000 SEK 1,6 million SEK Academy Svenska Cykelstäder 7.0 million SEK * Public Sector
Stakeholders
Aalborg University 500.000 SEK** Academy
Trafikverket 2.0 million SEK Public Sector
Supportive
Svensk Cykling Own Time Business Sector
Länsförsäkringar Own Time Business Sector
Cykelfrämjandet Own Time Public Sector
SKL Own Time Public Sector
Viktoria Swedish ICT Own Time Institute
VINNOVA
7 million SEKTotal Resources 10.1 million SEK 14.5 million SEK
* Svenska Cykelstäder will be the coordinator for municipalities in Sweden. The municipalities will finance PhD students that is employed by municipalities. ** The exact size of the inkind from TÖI and Aalborg will be decided by the degree of involvement from Statens Vegvesen (Norway) and the Danish Vejdirektoratet (Denmark).
6. References
Bergström, A. (2002). Winter maintenance and cycleways. Doctoral thesis, TRITA-VT FR 02:04, Avdelningen för Vägteknik, Institutionen för byggvetenskap, Kungliga tekniska högskolan. Stockholm.
Ebrahimabadi, S., Nilsson, K. L., Johansson, C. (2015). The problems of addressing microclimate factors in urban planning of the subarctic regions. ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING B-PLANNING & DESIGN.
Forward, S. (2014). Hållbart resande – möjligheter och hinder. VTI rapport. Gustafsson, S. (2013). Cyklisters hjälmanvändning i ett regionalt perspektiv: Fokusgruppsintervjuer samt analys av olycks- och skadedata. VTI notat.
Hjort, M. och Niska, A. (2015). Kan dubbdäck på cykeln minska singelolyckorna? Friktionstester av cykeldäck i VTI:s stationära däckprovningsanläggn. VTI rapport. Kircher, K., Ahlström, C., Palmqvist, L., and Adell, E. (2015). Bicyclists' speed
adaptation strategies when conducting self-paced vs. system-paced smartphone tasks in traffic. TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART F-TRAFFIC
PSYCHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR.
Niska, A. och Eriksson, J. (2013). Statistik över cyklisters olyckor. Faktaunderlag till gemensam strategi för säker cykling. VTI rapport.
Niska, A. (2013). Varmsandning på gång- och cykelvägar: Utvärdering i Umeå av för- och nackdelar med metoden.
Niska, A. och Sjögren, L. (2014). Mobilapp för mätning av cykelvägars ojämnheter. En studie av möjligheterna. VTI rapport.
Niska, A. & Blomqvist, G. (2015). Sopsaltning av cykelvägar. Utvärdering av försök i Stockholm vintern 2013/14. VTI notat.
Trafikverket (2014). Säkrare cykling: Gemensam strategi för år 2014-2020. Trafikverket, Borlänge.
Wallqvist et al. (2010). GCM-HANDBOK. Utformning, drift och underhåll med gång-, cykel- och mopedtrafik i fokus. Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, Stockholm.
