MIRAVEC

Modelling Infrastructure influence on RoAd Vehicle Energy Consumption

01/11/2011- 31/10/2013

CO2 emissions from road transport represent an important part of the overall greenhouse gas emissions and consequently contribute to the ongoing climate change. Efforts to reduce those emissions need to consider all influencing factors on energy consumption of road vehicles, which is directly linked to their carbon footprint. Besides the ‘greening’ of vehicle technologies the improvement of road infrastructure characteristics related to fuel consumption can contribute to an overall CO2 reduction in road transport. This requires both a thorough understanding of those interactions and the implementation of results in current pavement and asset management practice. In contributing to both objectives MIRAVEC enables National Road Administrations (NRAs) to effectively support the reduction of road transport greenhouse gas emissions.

While some previous and ongoing projects like ECRPD or MIRIAM focused on specific topics in this area, the objective of MIRAVEC is to build on existing knowledge and models. In doing so MIRAVEC aims at achieving a more holistic view considering a broad variety of effects (e.g. the interaction between road design and traffic flow). Moreover, MIRAVEC will investigate the capabilities of available models and tools and evaluate the relative importance of different road infrastructure characteristics for different settings (e.g. topography or network type). The relationship with road safety and noise emissions will be examined. The project results will be compiled into recommendations to NRAs on how to implement the findings, models and tools in pavement and asset management systems. The dissemination to the NRAs is planned by using workshops, project presentations and a project website.

Methodology

Workpackage 1 (AIT) : Road infrastructure influence effects on vehicle energy consumption and associated parameters.
This work package focuses on describing and evaluating the phenomena influencing road vehicle energy consumption and highlighting those which are due to pavement characteristics or road design and their influence on the traffic flow. It will be led by AIT, assisted by the other partners, using their experience and wide range of expertise to achieve a comprehensive view of the subject.

Workpackage 2 (VTI) : Evaluation of modelling tools to achieve a comprehensive and detailed overview.
The main objective of the work package will be a description of the existing modelling tools and evaluation of their capabilities with respect to analysing the effects identified in WP1.
The focus will be on models used in other projects like IERD, ECRPD and MIRIAM, to evaluate these projects and to identify deficiencies and strengths. The objective is also to analyse factors of major importance identified in WP2, quantitatively or qualitatively depending on the information available and to describe methods for the estimation of uncertainties in model estimations.

Workpackage 3 (TRL) : Comparison of the relative importance of different effects and parameters in different contexts.
The objective of this WP is to assess the potential for NRAs to achieve reductions in vehicle energy use, understanding how this is influenced by the traffic flow, vehicle characteristics and infrastructure design. It will consider the types of intervention that NRAs can make on their network, for example reduced gradient, improved traffic flow or improved evenness.  This information will provide NRAs with an awareness of where the greatest potential energy savings are to be found and a methodology that can be used on their network to evaluate the potential energy saving for different options.

Worpackage 4 (ZAG) : Recommendations for implementation in pavement/asset management.
This work package is focused on investigating the possibilities and opportunities for implementation of knowledge and methods from previous work packages into existing pavement/asset management systems. The resulting recommendations will facilitate decision making regarding new investments in and maintenance of road infrastructure and will help to achieve national greenhouse gas emission goals for 2020.

Workpackage 5 (AIT) : Dissemination and project management.
The first objective of this work package is the management and coordination of the project in terms of organisational and financial administration and progress management to ensure the achievement of the project objectives. The second objective is to disseminate and exploit the results of the project. The results of this project will be disseminated to road authorities as well as to the wider road research communities. Project reports, technical notes, a project webpage set up by FEHRL and various print materials - including a logo, poster, and project flyer - will ensure the proper attention needed to spread awareness to the interested parties.

Project Coordinator                                                                                                      

MIRAVEC File Zone        (Must be logged in)

           

Manfred Haider,research scientist Austrian Institute of Technology Giefinggasse 2, 1210 Wien, Austria manfred.haider@ait.ac.at  Tel +43 (0) 50550-6256 Fax +43 (0) 50550-6599

Project Partners

	Transport Research Laboratory Dr Helen Viner, Technical Director hviner@trl.co.uk
	Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute Annelie Carlson, Ph.D., researcher annelie.carlson@vti.se
	Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute Darko Kokot., researcher darko.kokot@zag.si
	Centrum dopravniho vyzkumu Dr Josef Stryk, Head of department of management systems, technologies&diagnostics josef.stryk@cdv.cz
	Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories Dr. Adewole Adesiyun / Deputy Secretary General adewole.adesiyun@fehrl.org

        

KEY DOCUMENTS                             

• Deliverables of project per Work Package 
• Leaflet introducing project
• Newsletter about project
• Poster of project
• Article on MIRAVEC in FIRM magazine - June 2013