Austrian traffic technology corporation SWARCO and San Francisco-based shared electric vehicle provider Lime have announced they’re joining forces to improve the safety of vulnerable road users travelling with e-scooters and bikes.
The companies will bundle their respective expertise in traffic management and environmentally friendly mobility services in a pilot project to reduce the traffic crash risk of micromobility users at traffic light controlled intersections.
“As a specialist in mobility and intersection safety, SWARCO is well positioned to help cities offer a safer environment for their new mobility carriers like e-scooters, in particular at those blackspots and conflicting zones where pedestrians, vehicles, e-scooters, bicycles and other modes meet”, says Christoph Stögerer, Head of Innovation & Technology with SWARCO’s ITS Division. “We now team up with the major service provider Lime in order to develop safety solutions for the growing number of micromobility users.”
The joint pilot project, labeled Intersection Risk Mitigation, aims to optimise SWARCO’s adaptive traffic light management algorithms to improve the safety of vulnerable road users and enhance traffic efficiency for drivers as well. SWARCO will leverage Lime’s extensive and unparalleled anonymised ridership data to develop insights and potential countermeasures like adjusted crosswalk timing algorithms to support safer road conditions, especially for vulnerable users of micromobility. SWARCO and Lime say they look forward to working with City partners to implement data-backed safety measures.
“We know that intersections are key areas where conflict between cars and micromobility users are more likely to occur, which is why we’re excited to partner with SWARCO to reduce the potential for crashes,” added Annie Chang, Director of Safety Programs at Lime. “We’re encouraged by SWARCO’s leadership in providing traffic management solutions throughout Europe and believe that with Lime’s unparalleled expertise in micromobility data, we can make a real impact in improving safety for all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders.”
“Lime and SWARCO will engage with municipalities to create these Intersection Risk Mitigation Solutions“, concludes Christoph Stögerer. “This helps to understand current challenges firsthand from the stakeholders affected and evaluate the capabilities of such solutions under real life conditions.”
(Picture credit – Lime)
