The funding opportunity
Road and traffic safety is a critical concern globally. In many regions, rapid urbanisation and the growing number of vehicles have led to increased accidents, amplifying the need for improved traffic management, incident detection, and predictive safety solutions to reduce accidents, injuries, and fatalities on the roads.
Also, there is a change in the types of vehicles we see on roads, with increasing presence of micromobility and automated vehicles reshaping existing mobility patterns. These emerging modes of transport require updated safety solutions to ensure that traffic management and infrastructure are adapted accordingly.
This opportunity offers funding for teams who would like to develop sustainable space-based services and applications that address challenges related to the Road and Traffic Safety sector.
The challenge
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.35 million people die each year because of road traffic crashes, making it the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years. In September 2020, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the Decade of Action for Road Safety, with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. European governments continue to monitor progress towards this target, regularly updating standards and encouraging the ‘safety first’ mentality such as the use of seat belts and helmets.
Industry is also actively working on improving safety of both vehicles and the surrounding ecosystem. With the rise of digital, connected and autonomous mobility solutions, there is enormous potential for improved safety through reduced human error and improved information sharing. New services at the intersection of these trends have the potential to drastically improve the safety of roads and bring scalable benefits. The market is projected to grow, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, IoT sensors and cloud computing, allowing for greater accuracy, scalability and cost-effectiveness of road safety systems.
Against this backdrop of increasing risks, evolving mobility patterns and expanding technological opportunities, this proposed Road and Traffic Safety Call for Proposals aims to develop solutions that leverage space-enabled technologies to enhance safety and traffic management, to improve the collection of critical data, and to better protect vulnerable road users, ultimately contributing to the reduction of accidents, injuries, and fatalities on the roads.
Topics of relevance
This Call for Proposals has been designed in collaboration with ESA BASS partners, who have helped to identify the following use cases. Please note, that these are only examples and the call is not limited to the use cases listed below:
- Enhancing information exchange
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Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication applications could allow vehicles to share information about their speed, position and direction, as well as providing alerts about potential dangers, such as approaching vehicles or hazardous road conditions. This near real-time data exchange can enhance overall road safety of passengers, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
- Improving Road design, signage and maintenance to reduce accidents
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Well-designed roads with clear signage and better road markings can help drivers navigate safely and support automated vehicles by ensuring they have the necessary references. Regular and proactive road maintenance such as repairing potholes, clearing debris, restoring worn markings, and addressing drainage issues prevents accidents caused by deteriorating road conditions. It can be achieved through:
- Rapid detection, prioritisation and repair of road defects, such as potholes, surface cracks, faded markings, or obstructed signage.
- Designing and planning safer infrastructure to address the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and paying attention to the specific needs of people with disabilities, children and the elderly.
- Upgrading existing infrastructure for improved prevention, detection and communication of accidents.
- Improving road safety by optimising traffic flow
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Validation of environmental claims, cross-validation of data and validation of inconsistencies for insurance companies, auditing firms, certifying bodies and corporations. Monitoring traffic flow and congestion helps to identify bottlenecks and areas with high accident rates and allows for dynamic adjustments to traffic signals and other control measures. This can improve the overall efficiency and safety of the road network by reducing traffic jams and alleviating congestion during peak hours.
- Implementing measures to protect non-motorised road users
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Implementing measures to protect non-motorised road users and to ensure that pedestrians, micromobility users and cyclists have safe spaces to travel, reducing the risk of accidents. Such measures could involve systems monitoring vulnerable road users' safety and providing alerts about potential dangers, such as approaching vehicles or hazardous road conditions.
- Improving International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) survey completion
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The star-rating protocol, set out by the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), is a way to assess how safe roads are. These surveys rely on information about road context, observed traffic flow, and infrastructure attributes to produce risk-based safety ratings. Tools to significantly improve the completion of surveys, through increasing cost-effectiveness, efficiency, frequency and precision are needed.
Value of space
SatEO imagery can be used to update maps, monitor environmental hazards, and assess the conditions of roads. SatEO is valuable for planning and maintaining road networks, therefore preventing accidents caused by poor road conditions. SatEO data, such as weather nowcasting, can help vehicle systems to adjust the vehicle's speed and trajectory to current road conditions. Finally, SatEO can be used in advanced routing applications to optimise the route based on hazards or weather conditions.
SatNav provides accurate positioning, navigation, and timing, which are essential for guiding and navigating vehicles, especially those with autonomous capabilities.
Aggregated GNSS data from connected vehicles, fleets, and mobile devices can be used to monitor traffic flow and to identify congestion patterns. This can improve the overall safety of the road network by reducing traffic jams and congestion during peak hours.
SatCom can ensure seamless communication between various systems, enabling near real-time data exchange and coordination.
Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication can leverage Satcom to ensure seamless connectivity in remote areas, therefore playing a significant role in detecting and communicating information about potential hazards.
Who can apply?
This opportunity is open to companies that intend to develop space-enabled services and products related, but not restricted, to the topics of relevance outlined above.
The list of countries in which your team must be based in order to be eligible will be added here shortly.