Requirements and SOTERIA architecture

SOTERIA aims to accelerate the attainment of European Union (EU)’s Vision Zero through a holistic framework of innovative models, tools and services that enable data-driven urban safety intelligence, facilitate safe travelling of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) and foster the safe integration of micro-mobility services in complex environments. In doing so, the project explores behavioural characteristics of VRUs and engages communities in different locations across Europe 
in social innovation activities for the co-creation of urban safety solutions. 

In the context of the above, this deliverable presents:
▪ the outcomes of a series of stakeholder workshops that were implemented at the Living Lab (LL) locations of the project,
▪ the initial findings of a questionnaire study that aims to explore behavioural characteristics of VRUs in their day-to-day travelling,
▪ a set of use cases addressing different user personas that can benefit from the usage of the SOTERIA platform, and 
▪ the conceptual architecture of the SOTERIA platform, encompassing the specifications of the various tools and services that are part of the platform. 

Five stakeholder workshops were implemented in Oxfordshire (United Kingdom), Saxony(Germany), Madrid (Spain), Chania and Igoumenitsa (Greece) by adopting the world café (WC) workshop methodology. The selected methodology allowed involved stakeholders to participate 
in four themed round discussions, each being facilitated in a different table. Participants circulated between tables at predetermined intervals, enabling them to join in and contribute to discussions at other tables by providing feedback using various mediums. The themes generated from the overall study underpins the necessity to address issues related to infrastructure designs, behaviours and attitudes of road users, training and awareness, regulations and enforcement, personal safety concerns, technical assistance requirements and environmental influences.

The VRUs behavioural questionnaire was translated in four languages and was disseminated in the four EU countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Greece) participating in the project. Notable findings include that, cyclists and motorcycle users consider personal safety as a priority 
when they travel, almost three quarters of the respondents expressed being uncomfortable when sharing spaces with other VRUs, half of the micro-mobility users claimed that they take risks to avoid traffic and other obstacles in their routes and participants considered the redesigning of the infrastructure as a positive measure for improving the safety of VRUs.

The analysis of the results from the workshops and the behavioural study led to the definition of seven personas describing user types that can benefit from the use of the SOTERIA solutions. Fourof the personas portray different types of VRUs, while the other three portray stakeholders that are dealing with road safety including a police officer, an urban planner and an infrastructure manager.
The envisaged SOTERIA platform is composed of 16 solutions that can provide different functionalities and services to VRUs and other road users. The offered services include, amongst other, accident and VRUs demand analysis and prediction, sensory kits for micro-vehicles, advisory and nudging services for VRUs and user information applications to support safety while travelling.