Members
Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH)
The main focus at BTH is applied information technology, i.e. the use of computers and telecommunication in various contexts. One important aim of the programme of growth for the Blekinge region is to develop the area of intelligent transport systems using various telematics solutions in close collaboration between companies, research and education, with the emphasis on ITS for heavy transport activities. The growth programme includes plans for an ITS Arena such as the one within the framework of Telecom City.
The Department of Logistics and Transport at Chalmers
includes the section for technology finance and organisation. This includes the departments of Work Organisation, Industrial Marketing, Industrial Dynamics, Industrial Organisation and Finance, Project Management, Industrial Quality Development, Innovation Technology, Service Management and Logistics & Transport. The section's activities in both research and education deal with the interplay of technology with its financial and social context, and how research creates a link between the fields of industrial development and renewal, production and distribution, as well as living conditions and quality of life. An interdisciplinary approach has been created.
There are 25 employees in the Department of Logistics and Transport, seven of which are senior researchers.
The GIS Institute in Gävle
(Geographic Information Science)
GIS involves such areas as physical planning, logistical development, positioning services, environmental analysis and location-based services. Lantmäteriet in Gävle is one of the major international players in this field. The GIS Institute, which is part of the social structure profile department at the University of Gävle, conducts research and education in partnership with the Geomatics course at the University of Gävle. This research aims to supplement existing research and to support initiatives including the following:
- The Digital City
- GIS in Business
- Mobile positioning services and transport systems.
- GIS in the forest.
Dalarna University
is divided into five departments, with bases in Borlänge and Falun. A significant part of the research is conducted at the Framtidsdalen Campus (Borlänge) in the fields of transport finance, IT, tourism, material technology, etc. The university's organisation encourages interdisciplinary research. The research programme in the area of Intelligent Transport Systems has been drawn up through ITS collaboration between heads of research in the fields of data technology, informatics, psychology, cultural geography, business economics, economics and road technology. The aim is to contribute to skills development in the field of ITS through groups of researchers. Around 40 lecturers/researchers, comprising four professors, two senior lecturers, nine doctors and about 25 assistants from various fields have been involved in research and educational projects relating to ITS.
The initiative within ITS has been run in close collaboration with the ISA and VITSA projects ("More highly developed ITS applications from the ISA project").
The Interactive Institute
Since 2001 the Interactive Institute's Mobility Studio has been working with "the interactive road" as its research agenda. This research is based on the notion that the road is not just used for transport, but also as a venue for work and experiences. A number of applications have been developed, such as "Hocman", to initiate and support social interaction between road users; "Platsmemo" for mobile workers; "Soundpryer" for increased awareness of interaction in traffic and "Backseat gaming" for increased enjoyment for passengers.
CTR - Centre for Traffic Research
was formed in 1995 and is a collaboration between KTH, VTI and the University of Linköping. CTR co-ordinates and conducts research and development in the analysis and modelling of traffic processes and its effects. The secretariat is based in the School of Architecture and the Built Environment at KTH. The head of CTR is also visiting professor at the Department of Traffic and Logistics at KTH, where he is in charge of the Traffic Simulation research group. Together with this department CTR uses an advanced measuring vehicle, logging devices and a mobile platform for field studies.
CTR's research projects employ six full-time researchers and six postgraduates at KTH and LiU. CTR is also associated with a council of interested parties, with representatives of consultancies and authorities that use traffic models.
Lindholmen Science Park
was created in 1999 and is now owned by Chalmers, Gothenburg University, the City of Gothenburg and the business sector. Growth companies in the fields of mobile Internet, telematics and modern media industry are offered excellent development opportunities in an area that is ready for implementation, with business, universities and research facilities on site. It is the aim of the players at Lindholmen Science Park that Lindholmen will be a centre for the research and development of intelligent vehicles and transport systems. The creation of test environments in the field of ITS is under way at Lindholmen. This planning work involves a partnership between Gothenburg's major players in the vehicle industry and players in the telecoms sector.
The Department of Technology and Science at the University of Linköping, Norrköping Campus
has a section with the name Communication and Transport Systems, where research and tuition is undertaken in the fields of Traffic Systems, Quantitative Logistics and Mobile Telecommunication. Both basic tuition and research applications are targeted primarily at the field of Intelligent Transport Systems. The Engineering course in Communication and Transport Systems (KTS) aims to educate engineers who will be able to contribute to the design, planning and control of future communication and transport systems, especially by using modern information technology. There is also an international master's course (80 points) called Intelligent Transport Systems. Current research in the field of ITS includes the development of models and methods for estimates of OD matrices, optimisation of road charges, development of simulation tools for the evaluation of ITS (in partnership with VTI) and the generation of road user information from mobile telephony networks. The group involves about 30 people, about half of which are postgraduates.
The Department of Technology and Society at LTH
has extensive, interdisciplinary expertise in the field of infrastructure and transport systems. In the field of traffic safety this department is working on the development of automatic systems that register traffic behaviour, to make it possible to analyse more effectively phenomena such as capacity, delays, traffic safety, etc. for various types of traffic. The Department has been a world leader in the concept of vehicle-based speed adaptation. The Department has initiated and participated in several EU projects in the field of driver support. The traffic and environment group is working on fuel consumption and exhaust emissions in traffic and what influences these. These projects aim to test whether positive environmental effects can be achieved from IT-based driver support for more environment-friendly car driving. Research in the field of public transport deals with how traffic systems should be designed with reference to travellers' preferences. Studies are taking place in various projects into such issues as how scheduled traffic can be combined with demand-based traffic, and strategies for combining various measures to develop an intelligent, sustainable, inter-modal urban traffic system. The Traffic Environment skills centre for older people and those with disabilities has interdisciplinary collaboration involving researchers from various areas of expertise. One important aspect is the needs and requirements of technology of older people and those with disabilities. Research into traffic safety finance has produced, among other things, base data for accident costs that are used in the Swedish Road Administration's planning and also by other traffic networks in their financial analyses of infrastructure investments.
Movea Trafikkonsult AB
is a company that has specialised in consultancy services and research in the fields of traffic and transport. Movea deals with surveys, analyses of needs and consequences, user surveys, system concept development, strategic issues, evaluations, instructions, model development and application in the roles of project managers, researchers or experts. Some of the key areas are transport informatics, traffic technology (signals, control systems, etc.) and traffic models. The company focuses on practically implementable applications that are based to a large extent on studies of road users' attitudes, reactions and behaviour.
The Teknikdalen Foundation in Borlänge
was formed in 1986 and was founded by the Swedish Road Administration, Stora Enso, SSAB, Föreningssparbanken and Borlänge municipality. The main areas are Transport & Communication, Material Processing and Liquid Crystals. It includes Dalarna University, the head offices of the Swedish Road Administration and the Swedish Rail Administration, the Triple Steelix centre of excellence, which was established within the VINNVÄXT programme, the Virtual FUD Centre Transport Telematics R&D Sweden (TTS), Dalarna University's Processing Centre, Företagsinkubatorn (Business Incubator) and a strong network in the fields of research, development and marketing. The Foundation's activities are targeted at regional business development, in which the promotion of research, development and education, as well as increased collaboration between business, the public sector and further education are the guiding principles. The area of Transport and Communication has for many years been a well-established development area within Teknikdalen. For example, ITS-Sweden has been established as a joint, national network via the Foundation in order to support education and skills development, technical and industrial development and Swedish expertise in the field of ITS.
A number of applications have been developed with links to NVDB (Swedish National Road Database). A complete ITS laboratory is gradually being developed. Företagsinkubatorn was officially opened in December 2004, charged with the task of identifying and helping technology and knowledge-intensive companies with clear growth potential and an international market to develop. This work has now been developed and consists of four development phases: School, Business Lab, Business Accelerator and Business Growth.
TFK - Transportforskningsgruppen i Borlänge AB
is a part of the network around the TFK TransportForsK Föreningen (Transport Research Association). The association is a group of companies and organisations in the field of transport with an interest in research and development activities. Transportforskningsgruppen i Borlänge AB operates in a field that we have called strategic planning. Within this field we focus on transport policy issues, infrastructure, goods transport, public transport and national economics. Most of these areas involve IT applications, which means that ITS is a regular element of our day-to-day work.
Transportforskningsgruppen i Borlänge AB, together with TFK's network in the form of TransportForsK AB in Stockholm and TFK's members, can offer a unique, powerful collaborative forum that few other organisations can offer. Furthermore, the opportunity to link and utilise synergies between R&D activities and consultancy services represents a strength from both a knowledge perspective and a financial perspective.
The IT research institute Viktoria AB
was formed in 1997 at the initiative of the business sector in the Gothenburg region. The ownership profile is the University of Gothenburg 51%, Chalmers 15% and IT-based companies in the Gothenburg region. Close collaboration has been established with business, the public sector and the university. The Viktoria Institute has focused on ensuring that research results produced will as far as possible result in the implementation of products and services at various interested parties.
At present 35 people work within the Viktoria Institute, seven of which are industrial postgraduates. Each research group consists of around six people under the leadership of an experienced doctor or professor. The business focuses primarily on mobile services and telematics. The research is characterised by its interdisciplinary approach, and it is conducted with a focus on the recipient, often in the form of studies of an ethnographic nature.
VTI - The Swedish Road and Transport Research Institute
is a national research institute that conducts society-based applied research and development. VTI's main task is to conduct research and development into infrastructure, traffic and transport activities. The institute's research and development work must include analyses of the transport sector's impact on the environment and energy consumption.
VTI conducts research assignments as ordered in an interdisciplinary organisation. The Swedish Road Administration is VTI's major client. R&D assignments are conducted for Vinnova, the EU Commission, the Swedish Rail Administration, the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration, SIKA, road contractors, the vehicle industry, etc.
VTI's expertise covers traffic technology, transport finance, demand and supply of transport activities, traffic safety, the impact of traffic on the environment, road user behaviour, crash safety, human factor research, vehicle technology, rail technology, and the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of roads and railways. At present VTI is involved in three so-called centres of excellence with Swedish universities and colleges. These are the Centre for Traffic Technology and Traffic Simulation (CTR), the Centre for Operation and Maintenance of the Infrastructure (CDU) and the Centre for Transport and Communication Finance (CTEK). The partners in creating these centres are KTH, Dalarna University, Uppsala University and VTI.
VTI has been in Linköping since 1975 and is currently organised into nine research units. The Transport Finance unit is in Borlänge. 17 people are attached to the unit, including one professor and six doctors.
WSP Analysis & Strategy
is a company that offers consultancy services and research in fields that have a bearing on the relationships between people's behaviour in traffic, the design of the traffic system and society's development. The company has specialist expertise in a number of different work methods, including the following general business areas: Market Surveys, Traffic Analyses, ITS, Logistics and Strategic Decision-making Support. The business applies both qualitative and quantitative methods.
Transek has seven people qualified as researchers, five of which are employees with postgraduate qualifications. Transek is a well-established so-called PostDoc environment. This has resulted in a relatively high proportion of FUD, and down the years around 30% of the business has involved various research and development projects. Transek has worked in the field of ITS since it was introduced in Sweden, and has over 30 reference projects. The focus has been on strategies, road user behaviour, effects and evaluation. Transek is a part of the WSP Group.
