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This is the final report on the project "The safety of trams - methods for lowering the probability of certain types of collisions in tram traffic." Tram traffic and road traffic are two transport systems which must operate in the street zone under conditions that are to some extent dissimilar, and this can result in conflicts and accidents. The most common accident in tram traffic is a collision between a tram and a road vehicle, but collisions also occur between trams. By designing a traffic environment that is clear, easy to understand and interpret, the number of conflict situations can probably be reduced. The ideas and judgments set out in the report may be summarised in the following conclusions: - In-depth cooperation among traffic planners, urban planners and behavioural scientists would be of great importance in designing safe and functional traffic environments where both tram traffic and road traffic operate at the same time. - Where tram traffic and road traffic operate at the same time, warning devices and safety installations must be designed so that they give clear and understandable signals as to what applies in which situation. - The external design of trams should be discussed from a safety perspective and not, to such a large extent, from an aesthetic perspective which is often the case at present. Alternativ URL: http://www4.banverket.se/raildokuffe/pdf/MS0109.pdf Denna rapport utgör slutredovisning av projektet "Spårvägssäkerhet – metoder för minskning av sannolikheten för vissa typer av kollisioner i spårvägstrafiken". Projektet har finansierats av Banverket och genomförts på VTI i Linköping. Projektet har genomförts i nära samarbete med Göteborgs Spårvägar, AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik samt Veolia Transport i Norrköping. Spårvägstrafik och vägtrafik är två transportsystem som under delvis olika förutsättningar skall fungera i gaturummet, vilket kan leda till konflikter och olyckor. Den vanligaste olyckan i spårvägstrafiken är kollision mellan spårvagn och vägfordon, men även mellan spårvagn och spårvagn. Genom att utforma en trafikmiljö som är tydlig, lätt att uppfatta och tolka, kan sannolikt antalet konfliktsituationer reduceras.

On behalf of the Swedish Road Administration a state-of-the-art study concerning work zone safety has been carried out. Literature describing new methods and evaluations of methods has been studied. Experts, working with work zone safety, were interviewed and gave their view of the safety problems at work zones. The aim of the study was to find new and effective measures to ensure safety at road work zones.

Everyday life of road-workers is often fraught with danger. High speeds and disrespectful drivers many times make it hard to accomplish the work. High speed means short time between detection and passing the working zone and in event of an accident the consequences will be more severe. At the same time, road-users are bothered by the road-work and want to maintain accessibility. During springtime 2007 the Swedish Road Administration was offered to try alternative types of road equipment which are used in Germany. In connection to a planned paving work in May at the motorway E4 south of Gävle different types of equipment were established. In the light of this, the Swedish Road Administration ordered an evaluation of the equipments in question by VTI, which is shown in this report. The aim is to compare the equipments with each other and with the conventional equipment that is used in Sweden today. The three different types of equipment arrangements that were compared to the conventional Swedish one (only in daylight) were: - Like the conventional equipment, but signing using variable message signs (VMS) for the road signs "overtaking prohibited", "speed limit" (at 50 km/h the sign also flashed for speeding vehicles) and "left lane ends". The sign "left lane ends" was additionally supplemented with VMS "warning for other danger". - Like the previous, but with an arrow-formed pattern of the limited access on side marker instead of the conventional diagonal stripes and running light in the chicane. - Like the previous, supplemented by white plastic barriers in the chicane

In the cost benefit analysis carried out when an investment in infrastructure is to be made environmental effects such as the encroachment of the investment and its effect on the landscape/townscape are not valued in monetary terms. In earlier studies VTI has shown that this could cause serious misdirection of the investments. In this report several case studies in the classification "barrier against water" are presented. The willingness of individuals to pay to avoid the barrier against water that an infrastructure investment can mean is sought with binary Contingent Valuation Method (CVM).We analyse the results and describe how a calculation model can be constructed. We have found that the people living near the barrier are disturbed in proportion to the distance between the residence and the barrier. For the rest of the town's inhabitants the valuation of getting rid of the barrier depends on how often they visit the area next to the barrier. With this report we have achieved an important sub-goal. A few additional case studies are necessary to be able to develop a complete calculation model for the type case "barrier against water".