Enhancing Traffic Safety

The challenge

Ensuring the safety and well-being of all road users must be a top priority for cities — especially in high-risk environments such as road works and tunnels. At the same time, steadily increasing traffic and the growing number of people sharing the same limited road space are intensifying unsafe situations. Drivers are often confronted with sudden and unexpected conditions, including reduced speeds, traffic jams, narrow lanes, lane changes, unclear guidance, and poor visibility.

Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) — such as pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooter riders — are particularly at risk. Existing infrastructure is often not sufficiently designed to protect them, and poor or missing road markings further aggravate dangerous situations. In 2019 alone, 22,700 people died and 1.2 million were injured on EU roads, with pedestrians accounting for around 20% of the fatalities. Globally, 1.35 million people lose their lives in traffic-related accidents each year and 50 million are injured.

Limited road capacity combined with increasing traffic volumes leads to unsafe conditions not only in urban centers but also in work zones and tunnels. Accident figures in road works remain alarming worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for smarter and more coordinated safety solutions. Beyond the human tragedy, traffic-related fatalities can reduce a country’s GDP by up to 5%, whereas significantly reducing fatalities could increase GDP by 22% over two decades. Achieving long-term safety improvements therefore requires both better infrastructure and intelligent detection and warning systems, particularly to protect VRUs.

The solution 

SWARCO offers an integrated approach to improving safety in urban environments, road works and tunnels, with a strong focus on protecting Vulnerable Road Users. The foundation is comprehensive data collection and deep integration of all relevant sources. Through its mobility ecosystem, SWARCO connects VRU detection with data from traffic sensors, floating car data, apps, third-party systems, and event data. This information is stored, processed, and visualized to enable targeted measures that maximize safety.

Using VRU detection, dangerous areas and intersections can be identified and appropriate actions initiated. The SWARCO Mobility Management System visualizes unsafe zones and supports data-driven traffic planning and engineering — particularly for pedestrians and cyclists. Traffic, especially heavy trucks, can be redirected away from sensitive city areas. Drivers can be warned about cyclists or e-scooters in blind spots via digital signs or app-based notifications. Near schools, children can be detected when crossing streets and speed limits automatically reduced during critical times. Adaptive traffic control optimizes signal phases through early VRU detection, while priority requests for cyclists help minimize red-light violations.

In road works and tunnels, real-time incident detection enables traffic to be steered away from hazards before situations escalate. Speed limits can be adjusted automatically, lanes closed when necessary, and drivers warned early via Variable Message Signs (VMS), in-tunnel systems, or dashboard indicators. Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) systems identify overloaded lorries while driving and can preselect them to exit the motorway safely, with programmable VMS displaying clear instructions.

The modular SWARCO Mobility Management System integrates micro-, macro-, and cross-domain software on one open platform, preventing vendor lock-in and enabling a holistic safety strategy. Working with an open, single-sign-on system ensures that mobility management can be expanded incrementally as urban conditions evolve — including the rapid growth of micro-mobility.