The terrorist attack prompted the
Swedish government to investigate how digital technology could be used to
prevent these kinds of incidents. It began a four-year research program to test
one type, geofencing, in urban environments. Geofencing is a virtual tool in which
software uses GPS or similar technology to trigger a preprogrammed or real-time
action in vehicles to control their movements within a geographical area. It
can regulate a vehicle’s speed within the zone, determine whether the vehicle
belongs there and automatically switch hybrid vehicles to electric driving
mode. Johannes Berg, senior adviser for
digitalisation at the Swedish Transport Administration, said the technology can
improve traffic safety and lower emissions. It also has the potential to adjust
speed based on road and weather conditions, and to ensure compliance with
regulations, like stopping a vehicle if a driver doesn’t have a permit to enter
a geofenced area, he added. In simple uses — like when a map with
restrictions is downloaded to a vehicle before the start of a trip to reduce
speed automatically when it enters a low-speed zone — vehicles do not need to
be connected to an outside source, Berg said. But in more advanced applications —
real-time use, for example — vehicles must be connected. Rules and regulations are
in a tech cloud and could be changed based on the actual position of the
vehicles, he said. “The cloud service can access the engine
of the vehicle using the telematics connection of the vehicle,” Berg said. Sweden, which began a series of
geofencing trials in 2019, has long been an innovator in vehicle-related
safety. In the 1990s, it introduced Vision Zero, an approach to safety that
takes human error into account. The goal is to eliminate all traffic deaths and
serious injuries by creating multiple layers of protection; if one fails,
others will create a safety net. Sweden now has one of the lowest crash
death rates in the world, and many cities globally have implemented the
approach. Earlier this year the US Department of Transportation officially
adopted the strategy to address a dramatic spike in the US death toll. In Stockholm, geofencing pilot programs
have focused on commercial traffic in the city centre, assessing such things as
whether deliveries to businesses could occur at lower speeds at night when
streets typically have fewer people. “Switching to electric drive, in
combination with lower speed, can make nighttime truck deliveries almost
silent,” Berg said. “Increasing night deliveries could lessen congestion during
daytime rush hours and create a more even traffic flow around the clock,”
improving an area’s quality of life. In another trial, sensors added to
pavements monitor pedestrian flow, which have been able to trigger speed
reduction in pilot vehicles. “The trucks are actually decreasing
their speed automatically,” Berg said. Gothenburg has taken a lead in testing
geofencing on public transportation. Since 2015, the city, collaborating with
ElectriCity, a regional private-public partnership, including the Volvo Group,
has been evaluating the technology on two bus routes. The assessment focused on
busy areas like shopping streets and intersections. The city now has the
capability to adjust geofenced zones based on real-time conditions, with bus
operators getting information about the changes automatically. During the trial, which was recently
completed, buses operated at safe and fuel-efficient speeds in electric drive
mode in designated areas. “We see geofencing as a tool to create a
safer city with better air quality and less noise,” said Malin Stoldt, a
project manager for Gothenburg’s Urban Transport Administration. Other pilot projects, some ongoing,
include enhancing traffic safety around schools and creating smart urban
traffic zones to protect cyclists. Geofence technology that prioritises public
transport vehicles at complex intersections is already in use for everyday
traffic in Gothenburg. Geofencing can also contribute to city
spaces being used more dynamically, Stoldt said. “Areas can easily be changed and used
for different purposes depending on the time of the day or the season,” she
said. The trials have been well received,
Stoldt said. At least one more bus line plans to incorporate the technology.
Operators also approve of geofencing, she said, not only for safety reasons
“but also the wear of the vehicles.” Rodrigue Al Fahel, lead coordinator for
the Swedish national geofencing program, said geofencing technology has been
developing for a while and is being used to target messages to mobile phones
based on the phone’s location; manage commercial fleets; set maximum speeds and
control parking of e-scooters; and to enhance some advanced driver-assistance
systems, like intelligent speed assistance (ISA), which will be mandatory in
all new vehicles in the European Union beginning in July. Sweden is one of the most active
countries experimenting with geofencing for general traffic, Al Fahel said,
crediting that to “a great collaboration environment.” Still, collecting, standardising and
digitising data on the scale needed to widely implement geofencing remains a
challenge. First, developers must come up with a way to make traffic rules
machine readable and decide on communications standards. “This is something that has not been
developed fully yet,” Al Fahel said. However, collaborations in Europe have
developed through projects like GeoSence and NordicWay to aid advancement. A recent market analysis and a
state-of-the art report concluded that geofencing is on the cusp of more
widespread use. “It’s a tool for cities,” Al Fahel said.
“You can plan the city in a different way.” “We are trying to look into the
potential and effects it will have on the traffic and transport system. It is
not only about technology development,” Al Fahel said, but rather about creating
a system that works and is accepted by all involved. The pilot program, in its final year,
has yielded enough promising results that the Swedish government is considering
legislation amending traffic and other rules so municipalities are able to use
geofencing for traffic management, said Berg, of the Swedish Transport
Administration. New uses of technology can bring up
privacy issues. But one reason the Swedish program focused on professional
drivers rather than private ones, Berg said, is “we believe it is different
when the vehicle is a tool provided by the employer,” comparing it to
employers’ ability to regulate company computers. However, one of the reasons the European
Union is considered to have the safest road system in the world, experts said,
is that member countries emphasise community responsibility, along with
individual rights. “We realised that this technology might
not be bulletproof for stopping terrorists, but when you can make technology
smart and make the transport system more dynamic, then you can truly create a
sustainable transport system,” Berg said. “It makes everything more efficient. “The higher purpose is safety and
sustainability,” he said. “They go together.” © 2022 The New York Times Company