Current projects
Sponsor: European Union HORIZON 2020
Project Partners: University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (IT), Institute of Communcations and Computer Systems (GR), SystemX - Institut de Recherche Technologique (FR), ISINNOVA (IT) , RELAB (IT) , Arriva Personenvervoer Nederlande (NL), ERTICO (BE), ICOOR (IT), Politecnic University of Turin (IT), City of Trikala (GR), Region Brabant (NL), City of Hamburg (DE), Region West Midlands (UK)
Contact: Juliane Anke, Dr. Madlen Ringhand
Duration: Sept. 2022 – Aug. 2025
SINFONICA aims to develop functional, efficient, and innovative strategies, methods and tools to engage CCAM users, providers and other stakeholders (i.e. citizens, including vulnerable users, transport operators, public administrations, service providers, researchers, vehicle and technology suppliers) to collect, understand and structure in a manageable and exploitable way their needs, desires, and concerns related to CCAM. SINFONICA will co-create final decision support tools for designers and decision makers to enhance the CCAM seamless and sustainable deployment, to be inclusive and equitable for all citizens.
The Chair of Traffic and Transport Psychology participates in the project with the development of a knowledge base on user needs and requirements, especially of vulnerable groups, such as elderly, women, children or people with disabilities.
The project is funded by the Horizon 2020 Science and Innovation Program of the European Union under grant number 101064988.

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Sponsor: BMI
Partner: Chair of Landscape Engineering
Contacts: Dipl.-Ing, Dipl.-Psych. Christoph Schulze
Duration: October 2021 - September 2023
The built environment shall be designed, constructed and managed to facilitate orientation. Orientation means to find one's way and to reach one’s destination, avoiding hazardous obstacles.“ (ISO 21542:2021-06, S. 11).
Supportive measures for information and wayfinding shall be provided in a format that is accessible to people with sensory impairments. Accessibility for persons with vision impairment of a complete route, for example from home to a specified destination, includes mostly more than one supportive system. The supportive function of different, following supportive measures for information and orientation has not been well described so far. The research project investigates generalizable criteria for this issue and aims to open them up for the evaluation and design of the built environment.
Sponsor: ERA-NET Cofund Urban Accessibility and Connectivity (ENUAC), BMBF
Project Partners: Chalmers University of Technology, City of Gothenburg, City of Munich, City of Stockholm, Lindholmen Science Park (CLOSER), RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, SINTEF AS, The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA), University of Westminster
Contact: Dr. Sven-Thomas Graupner, Dr. Jens Schade
Duration: April 2021 – March 2024
The overall objective of the GeoSence project is to design, test and evaluate geofencing concepts and solutions for specific applications that can contribute to improvements in traffic flow, safety and air quality in cities. Geofences are virtual (statically or dynamically defined) geographical boundaries that can be used to automatically detect when mobile objects (such as vehicles, people, containers, etc.) enter or leave these areas. GeoSence is a unique European collaboration on geofencing for traffic management and planning. In total, GeoSence will involve 10 project partners, 8 support partners and a broad partner network.
In order to achieve the project goals, experiences from previous and ongoing geofencing initiatives will be evaluated. Furthermore, new ways for the successful deploying of geofencing technologies will be proposed. In order to assess and evaluate the implemented measures, acceptance studies will be carried out in addition to behavioural analyses, potential and impact studies.
Among other things, the Chair of Traffic Psychology at the Technical University of Dresden will as a Work Package leader (WP2 "Envision & user acceptance") investigate the conditions of acceptance of various geofencing applications in the urban mobility sector. Furthermore, concrete recommendations for increasing acceptance and effectiveness of these solutions will be derived in order to increase the probability of introducing such measures.
In addition to tools for implementation, GeoSence will also develop and propose approaches to scale-up and for other relevant issues (e.g. standardisation). In the end, GeoSence will provide a strategic implementation guide to further facilitate the dissemination of this innovative technology in Europe and support decision-making processes by integrating geofencing.
Further Informationen: GeoSence Website
Sponsor: BMDV
Partners: Freistaat Bayern, BMW, MAN, PTV, Siemens, SWM, UPS, 3DMS, Trafficon, TTS, KIT, TUM
Contact: Dr. Jens Schade, M. Sc. Christina Gögel, M. Sc. Kevin Andrew Harkin, M. Sc. Marie Kühn
Duration: Jan. 2021 – Jun. 2023
In the future, vehicles will also be able to drive automatically in metropolitan areas and cities. In TEMPUS, effects of automated vehicles (AV) on efficiency and safety and the acceptance of other non-motorized road users and citizens will be investigated by extensive driving tests in the real Munich road network. The project is realized by several project partners from the areas of local authorities, industry, SMEs and research (Free State of Bavaria, BMW, MAN, PTV, Siemens, SWM, UPS, 3DMS, Trafficon, TTS, KIT, TUD, TUM) and funded by the BMVI (Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure).
In this context, the Chair of Traffic Psychology at TU Dresden is involved in analyzing the conditions of acceptance of automated vehicles among different target groups and is also researching the interaction and communication between automated/connected and other road users.
On the one hand, a quantitative acceptance survey in a pre/post design among the inhabitants of the test area will be conducted so that representative statements on the acceptance of automated and connected driving within the population can be concluded. This is accompanied by participatory formats (citizen information events, workshops, focus groups). On the other hand, an analysis and optimization of communication and interaction processes in urban mixed traffic between AV and vulnerable road users (VRU) such as pedestrians and cyclists will take place with regard to objective and subjective traffic safety as well as traffic quality.
Sponsor: European Union HORIZON 2020
Project Partners: Instituto di Studi per l'integrazione dei Sistemi (IT), Fundacio Privada ERSILIA (ES), Université Gustave Eiffel (FR), Zilinska Univerzita V Ziline (SK), Osborne Clarke (GB)
Contact: Dr. Jens Schade, M. Sc. Lisa-Marie Schaefer
Duration: Dec. 2020 – Nov. 2022
REBALANCE investigates a possible paradigm shift in the transport sector. New values associated with mobility seem to be emerging in society, today; the project aims to identify them in order to integrate them into public policy. An ambitious collaborative intellectual exercise will be carried out that will mobilize a large multidisciplinary group of thinkers internationally. This group brings together philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, geographers and lawyers in an unusual composition. These considerations will be incorporated into the draft of a manifesto for a new culture of mobility. This manifesto, which expresses the common values and aspirations of European citizens, aims to influence the fundamental elements of European transport policy and to provide a basis for changing the way people think about mobility and transport policy decisions.
The Chair of Transportation Psychology participates in the project in particular by developing a value-based macro-framework for European mobility culture, discussing it in discussion with other experts and further adjusting it in the course of the project.
This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101007019.
Sponsor: Federal Highway Research Institute
Contact person: Dipl.-Psych. Dipl.-Ing. Christoph Schulze, M. Sc. Lisa Zwicker
Duration: November 2020 – December 2022
Due to its accessibility and reach, the traffic area represents an attractive environment for advertising. Up to now advertisements can mainly be found on buildings or on special facilities at the roadside. Occasionally, vehicles are also used as an advertising medium, which is usually associated with an increased attention and reach. Using display or LED technology can further enhance this advantages by making advertising presented on vehicles more salient and (especially at night) more visible. In the future, technical developments will make it not only possible but also affordable to display (dynamic) advertising on vehicles. On the other hand, questions of environmental protection (e.g. light emissions) and traffic flow and safety arise.
In the project “Advertising on Vehicles” we therefore try to estimate the (negative) effects of digital displays on other road users, especially concerning glare and distraction. Glare can occur if, in absolute terms, the luminance levels are too high or there are strong relative luminance differences, and thus impair the visibility of traffic-relevant signals. By drawing too much attention to the advertisement visual and cognitive resources might be used to an extent which leads to a relevant distraction from the driving task. To estimate the impairment of traffic flow and safety we will conduct driving simulator studies using differently designed and positioned advertisements.
Sponsor: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Projectpartner: Professur für Verkehrsökologie (TUD)
Contact: MSc. Lisa-Marie Schaefer
Duration: Oct. 2020 - Nov. 2022
In order to meet the high demand for transport in urban areas of Georgia - especially in the capital Tbilisi - and at the same time reduce pollutant emissions, it is necessary to expand public transport and infrastructure for cycling and walking. In addition, routes for active modes of transport should be made safer in order to increase their attractiveness. These long-term goals can only be achieved if professionally trained experts from different disciplines work together on the basis of clearly defined objectives and responsibilities to advance sustainable urban mobility.
In order to create a reliable data basis on the current mobility situation in Georgia, a baseline study will be carried out in the project. This is based on the SrV ("System of Representative Travel Surveys") developed at the TUD and established in Germany, that will be adapted to the national context. Through cooperation with local experts and training of interviewers on site, the local initiative will also be supported in the implementation so that the survey can be carried out at regular intervals in the future by the local experts.
At the same time, a network with Georgian experts is established and thematic synergies in the courses offered by the local universities "Georgian Technical University" and "Kutaisi University" are being worked out. Finally, a new series of lectures on the topic of "Urban Mobility" will be compiled and integrated into the existing course syllabus. A first run will take place in the summer semester of 2022 and will be evaluated afterwards.
Sponsor: NRVP 2020 / BMDV
Project partner: IVI Dresden (Nora Strauzenberg)
Contact: Dr. Susann Richter, Christina Gögel, M. Sc.
Duration: 10/2020 - 11/2024
Children between the age of 10 to 14 increasingly use their bike as a means of transport. Unfortunately they still show deficits in competencies needed for safe traffic participation (e.g. erratic attention or self-awareness). This is reflected in an increase in the risk of accidents involving bicylces for 10 to 14 year-olds: 49.5% of 10 to 14 year-old children who have had road traffic accidents in 2019, had bicycle accidents (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2020).
There are various programs to improve bicycle safety for children. In contrast to the „Fahrradführerschein“ (bicycle driving license which usually takes place in fourth grade), programs for 10 to 14 year-olds are less standadized and various offers exist. There has been no evaluation on the quality, appropriateness and accuracy of these measures yet.
The aim of the project is therefore to create an evaluation standard for programs that aim to improve cycling safety for 10 to 14 year-olds. To do so, a catalog of criteria will be developed which will help describe and evaluate cycling projects for children in this age group. As an example, 10 existing cycling projects will be evaluated using this catalog.
Sponsor: BMBF
Project Partners: TU München, TU Chemnitz, Uni Ulm, DLR, AIST (JP), Keio University (JP), University of Tsukuba (JP), University of Kumamoto (JP), University of Tokyo (JP)
Contact: Daniel Eisele, M.Sc., Christina Gögel, M.Sc., Prof. Dr. Tibor Petzoldt
Duration: Sep. 2019 – Aug. 2022
For automated driving, it is crucial that different technologies ensure the same functionalities worldwide. This project therefore focuses on the investigation of people as road users in an international setting. Within the context of cultural differences between Japan and Germany, questions arise regarding the communication of automated vehicles with surrounding traffic, ways to inform, train and educate future users, and the interaction between the driver and the automation.
The project aims at investigating different interaction strategies of automated vehicles (including external displays) with other road users, different strategies for training and educating future drivers on automated driving, and cognitive processes of drivers during transitions between different levels of automation.