HINT (Human Implications of New Technology)

Objectives:

The Human Implications of New Technologies (HINT) project is developing a European strategy for managing the human and organisational impacts of the new technologies likely to be implemented over the next 10-20 years. The objectives of the project are to:

• Identify the relevant technologies
• Investigate the human factors, organisational and safety implications of these technologies
• Develop a strategy for managing those impacts.

Technical Approach:

The approach of the project is multi-modal. It is addressing all the modes of transport - road, rail, air and water - as well as intermodal operations and transport services. The modes are being addressed not separately, but in cross-modal studies by topic, so that the human and organisational issues can be studied generically. The timing and rate of introduction of new technologies often varies considerably between the modes; the cross-modal approach will provide a structure for studying how relevant is the experience of one mode for other modes.

The project will combine both a broad review covering all the major technologies with more detailed studies of four particular aspects, which have been identified on the basis of their centrality to the smooth operation of the transport system and their high rating in terms of human factors issues. The four identified for detailed investigation are: the organisation and operation of traffic information and control centres; information and the operator (driver, pilot, etc.); automatic and semi-automatic vehicle control; and intermodality of transport services. In each case, the issues and problems will be studied across the modes.

Expected Outputs:

Both the broad review work and the detailed investigations will provide the basis for the policy recommendations to be made in the final, integration phase of the project. Here a strategy for managing the introduction of the new technologies will be developed. Issues affecting the Common Transport Policy for sustainable transport will be identified. Needs for new policies and perhaps regulations or standards at a European level will be identified, as well as actions that might be more appropriately carried out a local, regional or national level (or even the level of the single organisation). In this phase, there will the widest possible consultation with relevant actors in order to obtain the maximum consensus.

Main Items in Workplan:

• Identification of new transport technology in a 10-20 year perspective
• Analytical framework
• Traffic control and information centres
• Information and the operator
• Automatic and semi-automatic control
• Transport services and intermodality
• Broad review of new technologies
• Integration of results

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Project Reports: (Adobe Acrobat format)