NOVI SAD & MISSION AT THE EUROPEAN TRANSPORT CONFERENCE

The MISSION project, in which the City of Novi Sad is one of the partners, was a presenter at the European Transport Conference 2025 (ETC) — a key event shaping the future of transport policy, innovation and practice across Europe and the world, held in Antwerp, Belgium, from 17^th  to 19^th  September 2025.

Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Bulajić, Member of the City of Novi Sad Council for Transport and Roads, presented the findings of the Study "Identification and ranking of high-risk locations including cyclists and pedestrians in the urban area of ​​Novi Sad and integration into the MISSION Smart Application" at the Conference, within the special session "Environmentally sensitive urban mobility through intelligent systems and active transport solutions focused on people" for the MISSION project held on Thursday, 18^th September.

The aforementioned Study was developed within the MISSION project, with the aim of identifying and ranking high-risk locations involving cyclists and pedestrians in the urban area of ​​Novi Sad, and involves the development of a mathematical model (i.e. Safety Performance Function - SPF) that explains the relationship between accident frequency, road geometry and traffic characteristics. Based on data on the street network and the history of traffic accidents in Novi Sad for a certain period, SPF provided a more reliable assessment of road risks involving cyclists and pedestrians compared to other traditional methods.

The data obtained from the Study will be used, among other relevant data, in the MISSION project for the preparation of a smart application (“SmartApp”) that is currently under development and will be tested in five cities of the Adriatic-Ionian region. The development of the smart application uses available data sources and modeling techniques that can be easily transferred from city to city. It will be possible not only to identify integrated reliable travel solutions, but also to provide travelers with tailored information on the level of service (e.g. expected travel time) and safety (e.g. risk of cycling on certain paths). In other words, the MISSION smart application will provide added value to available data sources and allow it to be transferred to other cities.

The MISSION project addresses the challenge of decarbonizing urban transport by reducing the predominant use of cars by taking advantage of intelligent transport system solutions, which could to some extent overcome the structural lack of mass rapid transport infrastructure (tram and metro lines) in cities in the Adriatic-Ionian region.

The overall objective of the project is to promote multi-modal mobility solutions using information on integrated travel solutions (e.g. public transport and cycling). The MISSION smart application will be designed with the active involvement of citizens and stakeholders (coming from different sectors, e.g. NGOs, research institutes, public sector and associations), through the organization of focus groups, which will allow to identify the requirements and information needed by travelers, as well as the most desirable features and functionalities to be implemented accordingly.

For more details on the MISSION project, please visit the website: https://mission.interreg-ipa-adrion.eu/.