Project Details

Project goal

Ride2Autonomy’s general objectives are to:

• Accelerate the uptake of innovative, inclusive, user-oriented and well-integrated automated shuttle solutions for passengers; and
• Increase the public acceptance and use of automated shuttle solutions through fostering a clear understanding of its benefits and limits.
• The project’s specific objectives are to:
• Validate the functional and safe performance of automated shuttle solutions in operational environments (according to TRL 7-9 on the technology readiness level scale);
• Evaluate the socio-economic and environmental impacts and user acceptance, based on pilot site data and associated projects;
• Validate the potential reduction of transport emissions and congestion by increasing the efficiency of transport flows through automated shuttle solutions;
• Develop implementation guidelines with scalable models (addressing interaction with transport users/means, the environment and infrastructure, road and telecommunication infrastructure as well as automotive backend infrastructure) for automated shuttle solutions, enabling their full integration into others’ transport systems;
• Develop guidelines for stakeholder and citizen engagement, policy making, mobility planning for Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) solutions and business models, so as to support the full integration of automated shuttle solutions into transport systems and exploit the relevant strategic partnering opportunities between public agencies and the private sector.

Therewith, this pilot project will promote the European Commission’s political priorities in the area of smart, connected, green mobility.

Furthermore, the project aims at harmonising research and innovation efforts around automated shuttle solutions by assembling the lessons learned not just from the project’s ten pilot sites from ten EU member states, but also from a number of further sites and national networks that have expressed their willingness to exchange their knowledge and lessons learned from demonstration projects and activities.

Results

With a variety of approaches and local contexts in the ten pilot sites, the project will provide guidelines, implementation models and recommendations for other cities to replicate the experience.

To this end, Ride-to-Autonomy will involve the coordinators of three major shuttle demonstration projects: SHOW, FABULOS and ART-FORUM and their own demonstration sites, for the validation of key deliverables. This knowledge base, capitalising on much more than the ten project sites and supporting/follower organisations (shuttle suppliers, public transport operators, towns, and cities), will duly accelerate the implementation of innovative automated shuttle solutions and services across Europe, thereby exploiting the full benefits of such solutions as part of an integrated sustainable mobility system.

Ride2Autonomy main outputs are:

• D1: Stocktaking report on MaaS projects & SWOT analysis of MaaS concepts, e.g. governance and cooperation models for different geographical contexts, data availability and sharing, technological and financial integration besides business models.
• D2: Educational campaign guidelines for smart urban mobility, supporting the planning of educational outreach campaigns to increase user acceptance of automated shuttle solutions, incl. engagement methodologies will target different user groups (particularly citizens) and illustrate success factors based on existing best practice examples as well as reflect on the experiences accumulated at the ten Ride-to-Autonomy pilot sites
• D3: Pilot Fiches, incl. relevant technical demonstration data, use case information, monitoring and evaluation results as well as lessons learned, user feedback and the main socio-economic and environmental impacts.
• D4: Implementation toolbox, including scalable models and a framework that will facilitate the deployment of automated shuttle services into a smart urban mobility system. Step-by-step guidance on the implementation of automated shuttle solutions based on lessons learned, not only at our ten pilot sites, but also follower cities and those supporting from within ‘sister’ projects.
• D5: Lessons Learnt guide (in all EU member state languages), prepared based on a structured evaluation process which will accompany the projects’ pilots from planning through to demonstration, including citizen participation and effectiveness and impact evaluation.

Project partners

• Rupprecht Consult GmbH, Cologne, Germany
• MAP Traffic Management B.V., Utrecht, Netherlands
• Polis, European Cities and Regions Networking for Innovative Transport Solutions, Brussels, Belgium
• LUXmobility S.à.r.l., Luxemburg, Luxembourg
• ERTICO, Brussels, Belgium
• The Future Mobility Network BV, Delft, Netherlands
• UITP - International Association of Public Transport, Brussels, Belgium
• European Passengers’ Federation (EPF), Gent, Belgium
• Ubiwhere, Aveiro, Portugal
• City of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
• IT - Instituto de Telecomunicações, Lisbon, Portugal
• Sales-Lentz S.A., Bascharage, Luxembourg
• The Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership, (HITRANS), Inverness, United Kingdom
• University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Unimore), Modena, Italy
• Modern Mobility OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia
• E-Trikala S.A., Trikala, Greece
• Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy, Espoo, Finland
• Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), Athens, Greece