At ITRL – the Integrated Transport Research Lab - we believe in an integrated approach. Therefore, in order to achieve our mission of building and conveying knowledge that contributes to the transition towards sustainable road transport, we integrate disciplines, system levels and stakeholders in our research.
This is achieved through three integration strategies:
Our aim is to study a challenge or a concept from multiple perspectives, acknowledging that each perspective uses different approaches and methods and contributes with valuable insights. Our team of multidiscpilnary researchers focusses on six main themes:
In our research projects, we try to achieve three distinct but interconnected levels of research, illustrated by the conical diagram to the right. These levels should not be considered static, but rather interactive and constantly evolving.
The lowest point of the cone represents the demonstration level, at which time a demonstration, test, or real-life experiment is performed and data & knowledge are collected in the form of measurements, surveys or interviews.
The knowledge gained at the demonstration level is then used at the simulation level to scale up our learnings; we take the results obtained at the demo level and try to simulate, improve, and project their various use cases.
Finally, at the system level, our results from the previous levels are synthesized and presented in the context of “real world” applications. At this point we can continue to test, refine, and learn from our observations, but in more practical, real world use-cases or new projects related to the previous learning.
Projects at ITRL are multi-stakeholder activities, where academia, industry (including SMEs), public bodies and users participate.
By integrating people with different competences, education forms, and experiences, knowledge is transferred and further strengthened. Look out for information on our project pages for the partners and stakeholders involved in our projects.
These strategies are executed across our research projects, research platforms, living-labs, and demonstrations. Our projects are in turn organised by thematic area. These areas, or research programs, cover a broad range of transport questions, from the mobility of people, to the transportation of goods and waste management.
Each program area, as a starting point, considers the greatest challenges facing the sector and poses questions which, if answered, can contribute greatly to creating more sustainable transport systems. It is through this process that research projects are designed.
An overview of our program areas:
The Mobility of People program is primarily focussed on the transportation of people. It considers the following challenges:
Changing transport systems
Change triggered by new technology
Changes in behaviour
If you have any questions regarding the program, please feel free to contact the program area leader
Mia HesselgrenProgram Area Leader: Mobility of People
The Urban Goods Distribution program is focussed primarily on the distribution of goods within the urban environment, however it also recognises that the collection and recycling of waste is a key driver of transport flows in urban areas. It considers the following challenges:
Changing consumption patterns
Unsustainable distribution patterns
Increasingly strained and inefficiently used/planned delivery environment
Energy supply of urban goods distribution
Lack of comprehensive knowledge about deliveries, goods and material flows, and related travels
If you have any questions regarding the program, please feel free to contact the program area leader
The End-to-End Freight program focusses on the whole journey of goods from origin to delivery. As opposed to the Urban Goods Distribution program, this program focusses predominantly on long distance transportation. It considers the following challenges:
