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PA2: Core research

The Core research in FUTURES consists of three activities each of which is briefly summarised below. All activities operate in the common framework of People, Systems and Vehicles. Cross-fertilisation between the activities is enabled through PA3. Each core research activity begins with developing fundamental understanding, translates this into options and opportunities and then pursues priorities within these through developing (and evaluating) practical demonstrators and applications.

PA2a - Navigating the city - supporting the unfamiliar urban traveller
This activity will advance understanding in the field of wayfinding and identify opportunities and advances that can be made in providing wayfinding aids. The research focuses on understanding people's needs, capabilities, limitations and concerns in relation to how they travel in urban areas. This understanding will be related to an assessment of urban networks for pedestrians and motorists, systems of on-street signage, and the information services to support the urban traveller.
For more information on this activity click here (MSWord, 485KMb)

PA2b - Bespoke services for personal travel and goods movement
Technology to enable the location of people and vehicles in real time and to have two-way communication with a service provider will enable a range of new bespoke services to develop. Such services should support more environmentally sustainable personal travel and goods movement using a mixture of collective and individual modes. This activity will build on current understandings and work with city and service provider stakeholders to develop and trial systems and services.
For more information on this activity click here (MSWord, 716Kb)

PA2c - Environmental assessment of new vehicle technologies with improved confidence
This activity will collate a range of micro-scale driving parameters and emissions factors for vehicles equipped with select new technologies in order to assess potential absolute impacts, the sensitivity of the roadside environment to changes in emissions and the overall range of uncertainty in impact assessments. The determination of uncertainties will allow confidence in the assessment of these impacts to be evaluated and will thus lead to better informed policy decisions.
For more information on this activity click here (MSWord, 36Kb)