Human factors play a huge role in road traffic safety. Research has found that a huge proportion of traffic crashes occur due to some form of human error. Improving road user behavior has been the major strategy that has been emphasized for improving road traffic safety. Meanwhile, despite the training efforts, and testing for drivers, the global status of road traffic safety is alarming. This research highlights the seriousness of human factors on road traffic safety and provides actionable strategies to greatly reduce the negative impact of human factors on road traffic safety. Motor vehicle safety data that were made available online by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics were reviewed to evaluate the severity of traffic collisions. To evaluate the extent of human factors in motor vehicle traffic fatalities, data for Canadian motor vehicle traffic collision statistics were reviewed. The study confirms that human factors (such as driver distraction, fatigue, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol etc.) play a huge role in road traffic fatalities. The need for a reasonable degree of automation to help reduce the impacts of human factors on road safety and recommendations aimed at providing widespread support for a reasonable degree of automation systems in driving tasks are presented. Actionable strategies that can be implemented by policymakers to reduce global road traffic fatalities are also presented.

Road traffic congestion, partly resulting from inefficient land use plans and the inadequacy of existing transportation infrastructure to transport people from various origins to various destinations, using the same paths, at the same time (without delay) is an issue of concern to humanity". Inadequate funding for transportation limits the number of roads that can be built to increase the capacity of the transportation network. Road traffic congestion pricing has been identified as a way of reducing congestion, as it makes the cost of travel more apparent to users, but there is concern about equity issues for those who may not be able to afford the price tag. This study used the records of vehicle miles travelled in a country to illustrate the variations in revenue that could be achieved with varied fuel efficiency of vehicles. As an illustration, a comparison of revenue that could have been generated (all other things being equal) using a vehicle-kilometre travel (VKT) pricing system as compared to fuel tax for a 5-year period was also done. This review noted that the VKT ‘road user fee’ pricing system is a viable way to make the cost of travel apparent to motorists and form a basis for equity between those who use fossil fuel vehicles and those who use alternative energy. In addition to presenting a simplified procedure for establishing a sustainable transportation finance system, this study also presented a simplified method to estimate the appropriate fuel tax, as well as VKT road user fee to achieve a self-funded transportation system.

Aim: The threat of forest fires in residential communities close to the urban-wildland interface is a big concern in the face of limited manpower for firefighting operations. The paper seeks to answer the question of, 'how to design buildings to withstand the threats from seasonal forest fires. To encourage further research on automatic fire detection and suppression, the following questions are asked: 1. Can we develop a simulation system to manage water in reservoirs for fire suppression efforts while reducing the toll on firefighters in various communities? 2. What are the factors that we need to consider in establishing a minimum distance between the forest and residential communities? 3. How can we reduce fire hazards in various residential communities? Project and methods: A site visit was carried out at local fire station to have a better understanding of the equipment used in firefighting operations. To examine the feasibility of having an adequate water supply for automatic sprinkler operations for firefighting purposes in exterior portions of buildings, simulation processes were used to evaluate how long the water in a reservoir will be available for firefighting. Results: The results showed that water in reservoirs can be successfully managed for automatic fire suppression efforts. This indicates that automatic fire suppression systems would be a good complement to the human response to the encroachment of forest fires in residential communities. This would be helpful to reduce the toll on firefighters while reducing losses in various communities. Conclusions: This study describes a conceptual framework on how buildings can be designed to better withstand the threats from seasonal forest fires. An adequate application of the water sprinkler technology for the exterior part of buildings is recommended. Simulation systems were used to evaluate how long water from various sources may be available for firefighting purposes. Rather than waiting for firefighters to come and help extinguish the fire in residential communities, the design of our buildings can be such that it would not only put a major focus on the automatic deployment of the water sprinkler effect for the interior sections of the buildings, but the improved designs for residential buildings should be such that automatic water sprinklers are available to cover all the exterior portions of buildings for a pre-determined length of time, to mitigate the effect of seasonal forest fires. Field testing and validation of the proposed process are recommended. Keywords: forest fires; firefighting; building designs; automation; simulations