SAFER project receives funding as part of NeueWege.IN.NRW
Copyright Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MUNV)
The project focuses on the question of how school routes can be made safer - with the help of modern mathematical optimisation and taking road safety aspects into account. On 8 May 2025, NRW Environment Minister Oliver Krischer handed over the official funding decision to project manager Dr Michael Stiglmayr.
Safety meets science
SAFER aims to develop an intelligent route planning system that not only takes into account the shortest route, but also safety aspects and the quality of the route. Particular attention is paid to the evaluation of crossing points such as zebra crossings, traffic lights or central islands.
In contrast to conventional navigation systems, SAFER does not simply weight these criteria, but treats them as equally important, (sometimes) contradictory objectives. Another challenge here is that the safety assessment is based on an ordinal scale - i.e. a ranking, not a measurable quantity. This results in a new type of ordinal optimisation problem, on the basis of which trade-offs between shorter and safer routes can be systematically analysed. In this way, well-founded compromise solutions can be determined.
Practice meets research
bueffee, represented in the project by managing directors Tanja and Jens Leven, has extensive experience from projects on school travel safety and school mobility management - especially in cities and municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia. A current focus of the company's research is the behaviour of children at different types of crossings. To this end, the office has already developed an innovative assessment procedure for use by transport planners.
The Optimisation working group at the university of Wuppertal, represented in the SAFER project by Prof. Dr Kathrin Klamroth, PD Dr Michael Stiglmayr and Dr Julia Sudhoff Santos, is one of the leading teams in the fields of multi-criteria network optimisation and ordinal decision-making processes.
Together for safe routes to school
The SAFER project combines mathematical-theoretical innovation, practical application and digital implementation. The close cooperation between science and practice has resulted in a new approach to designing routes to school that are not only efficient, but above all safe. With digital tools, safe routes to school and municipal footpath networks can be planned and implemented much more quickly in future. "We are certain that safe routes to school will soon be much quicker to implement," says Jens Leven from bueffee.
Last modified: 28.06.2023
