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The 2023 TRB annual Automated Road Transportation Symposium (ARTS) took place on July 9-13, in San Francisco. ARTS symposia bring together thought leaders from industry, government, and research communities from around the world to discuss the ongoing research and development, technological progress, and the deployment results related to road transport automation.

Dr Stephane Dreher, Senior Manager of Innovation and Development at ERTICO, and FAME coordinator was attending the event in California to present the state of play of CCAM in the EU, as well as updates from the CCAM Partnership and some of EC-funded CCAM-related projects .

Dr Dreher’s participation in the Symposium highlights FAME’s commitment to international collaboration. The project endeavours to strengthen ties with partners from around the world, engaging in fruitful knowledge exchange and cooperative efforts to tackle shared challenges in CCAM. Partners in FAME’s consortium have been supporting the ARTS organisation for several years now by bringing EU experts into the sessions and establishing contacts between similar research initiatives in the EU and US. In particular, the project has been supporting the trilateral EU-US-Japan cooperation in ARTS but is now also focussing on identifying cooperation opportunities more globally with the objective to establish concrete cooperation areas and counterparts in several world regions (Asia, Middle East, South America), fostering a global approach to CCAM advancements.

Source: ERTICO

Local and national governments across Europe – if not the globe – are seeking to increase the share of trips taken by bike. From cutting carbon emissions to reducing congestion and supporting healthier living, pedal power offers a huge array of benefits for cities and their residents.

Recently we have seen some incredible progress:

• Cyclists outnumbered drivers this year in London;
• In Paris the Seine has been transformed into a cycle friendly district;
• In Lisbon the ‘cycle train’ is supporting children and their families cycle safely.

However, change on the ground is often complex. Despite significant advances, in many cases prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, many cities are far behind their modal shift goals and struggling to bridge the gap.

Radical transformations in urban and peri-urban road networks are now critical in order to make cycling more appealing to exis­ting and future travellers.

To support municipalities in achieving this, Cerema, a French public agency for developing and capitalising on public expertise in the fields of planning, regional cohesion, and ecological and energy transition, has produced a detailed guide to ‘infrastructural adaptations and recommendations for their implementation’.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for cities- and regions- when it comes to cycling infrastructure and services,” says Andréia Lopes Azevedo, POLIS Network’s Active Travel and Health Working Group Coordinator.

“A new cycle lane which works for Bologna, may not be right for Groningen; a bike share scheme which is successful in La Rochelle’s condensed city centre, may not work in London’s larger proportions. Progress means taking a tailored approach, and understanding different social, geographical and political contexts.”

Why is this needed?

Cycling is an efficient transport solution with proven individual and collective benefits. Many European countries have made this form of mobility a central feature of their urban development strategies. The key to achieving a massive uplift in cycling is to encourage a modal shift away from car transport, by facilitating safe cycling whilst also restricting car use.

However, this is often a complex process, requiring comprehensive behaviour change and a cross-disciplinary approach which combine infrastructural adaptations such as cycle lanes, new traffic flows, slower speed streets, and adapted intersections.

In an effort to demonstrate the wide variety or actions available to municipal planners, architects and policymakers, Cerema’s guide examines:

• measures to build efficient cycling infrastructures, reclaiming space from cars;
• the general trend for traffic calming measures;
• limitations on motorised through-traffic in residential neighbourhoods;
• development of comfortable pedestrian areas to ward off potential conflicts.

The cycling framework plan is the core planning tool for ensuring that routes are continuous and suitably meshed. Versions of this plan can be produced at local, department/county, regional, national and European scales.

What do cities need to consider?

The notebook supports decision makers and planners with key actions including the choice between segregation and sharing when developing cycle lanes.

“Three main criteria must be considered in parallel, before choosing whether cyclists and motorists should share a particular space: the volume of motor traffic, the actual speed of travel, and the desired cycle traffic,” say the authors.

Traffic circulation is also given specific focus and the notebook explores how traffic flows can be adapted to support cycling, while minimising confusion for drivers and creating cohesion between modes.

The framework also examines intersections, where user interactions and potential conflicts are frequently concentrated. Advice includes:

• Mutual visibility must be ensured on the approach to the junction, in particular by removing obstacles.
• Imposing tight bends on motor vehicles helps to control their speed during turning movements.
• Easily-read junctions give users an accurate, readily-understood representation of the behaviour required of them, in terms of speed, trajectory, priority schemes, etc

Financial investments are critical

Cerema advise that the plan may be produced as part of a broader mobility planning approach, and may for example be the subject of a concrete measure in a simplified mobility plan, or a regional plan for planning, sustainable development and territorial equality.

The framework plan also includes a multi-year investment plan, governing the actual implementation of the planned improvements.

Indeed, as the European Cyclist Federation (ECF) asserts in their advice to cities for boosting cycling, cycling is a low-cost transport mode, but it still requires sustained financial investment. The Netherlands, for example, has on average invested €35 per capita in cycling annually over many years, with cities like Groningen and Utrecht leading the way here.

“For cycling to play a greater role as part of a just transition, it must be treated as a fully-fledged mode of transport and given the priority it deserves in terms of policies, budgets, and road space,” ECF’s CEO, Jill Warren told POLIS’ Leadership Summit last month.

Cerema will be exploring this topic further at the “Accessibility and Connectivity of the 15-minute-city”, a conference dedicated to issues of accessibility and connectivity, especially in the context of 15-minute-city urban model, for both goods and people.

Adapting to size and geography

Given their smaller size, Small and Medium sized cities have a unique opportunity to expand their active travel infrastructures, and encourage a major modal shift away from private car travel. They are in fact, by their very nature, “15-minute cities”.

Johanne Collet from Cerema joined POLIS’ recent Small and Medium sized city meeting in La Rochelle to work with cities from Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and others to explore the options available, and how these may be adapted to suit their specific geographical and social contexts.

Indeed, La Rochelle, a city on the West coast of France has radically enhanced their cycling provisions, with many lessons for others. Now hosting an extensive bike share system and numerous bike lanes which connect the city centre and areas beyond the core, bike counters in the city how count thousands of cyclists passing each day.

“Despite the differences cities and regions coming together to discuss and exchange will always support them in moving forward by learning from one another,” says Azevedo.

While many may look to the Netherlands, where cities like Groningen, Emmen and Eindhoven have achieved unparalleled shares in cycling, cities across Europe such as Bologna, Vic, Strovolos and others are rapidly catching up – often in very different, but effective ways.

Find out more here: https://acute-uera-antwerp.sciencesconf.org/

The Clean Cities Campaign has published a ranking of cities’ commitment to shared and zero-emission mobility. The study looked at 42 European cities and used a set of indicators in the areas of “shared bikes and e-scooters”, “shared electric cars”, “zero-emission buses” and “electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure”.

The Danish capital Copenhagen leads the ranking with a score of 87%. It also received the maximum score under “shared electric cars” and “EV charging infrastructure”. Second and third in the overall list were the Norwegian capital Oslo and Paris (France), with Oslo helped by its strong performance in the areas of “EV charging infrastructure”, while Paris received the maximum score for its actions under “shared bikes and e-scooters”. By implication, a city’s score and ranking also reveals where they need to progress, which is evident by their low score compared to other cities.

The report concludes that progress in shared and electric mobility services largely stems from consistent political choices and timely investments, such as the effective regulatory frameworks to manage shared mobility and zero-emission buses that have been put in place in Milan, which is ranked 7th in the list. In addition, the report underlines that shared and electric mobility is a viable alternative to private car ownership, even in areas that lack good public transport services and so are considered to be “car-dependent”. In addition, the report notes that shared and electric mobility solutions are a more cost-effective and “quick-to-realise” alternative to expensive investments in sustainable urban mobility, such as underground public transport.

Barbara Stoll, director of Clean Cities Campaign, said: “City leaders that show leadership and ambition are able to make wise and nimble investment decisions which can super-charge their efforts towards a zero-emissions urban future. It’s not primarily about having more money – cities that are not among the richest have far outperformed their peers through good regulatory frameworks and forward-looking planning”.

The report is available at the Clean Cities Campaign website.

Bucharest City Hall has launched in public consultation a project for the new General Urban Plan (PUG), that includes the largest expansion of the tram network since the Revolution, according to the Metrou Ușor Association. The route, subject to public debate, is the main traffic ring and has a length of 11km between Giurgiului road and Basarabiei boulevard (the project details are available here).

On 13 June, the City Hall of the Romanian Capital published the documents for the initiation of the public consultation stage of the project to expand the tram network on the Southeast Median Ring. The initiation phase ended on 28 June. The route under debate is between Bd. Bessarabia and Șos. Giurgiului, which is 11km long and crosses the arteries of Bd. Nicolae Grigorescu, Str. Iuliu Hatieganu, Sos. Vitan-Bârzești, Str. Sgt. Ion Iriceanu, Str. Turnu Măgurele and Str. Luke. The route mirrors line 41 in the west of the Capital, also located on the middle ring. The Metrou Ușor Association has campaigned for years for the implementation of this project.

The Metrou Ușor Association proposes to maintain green surfaces by adopting green-track technology with grassy rails, where possible, to avoid the decrease of green surfaces, to increase the efficiency, comfort, safety and accessibility of public transport and to ease the correspondence between the future tram and other means of transport. This could be done by keeping the tram at ground level in intersections with Bd. Metalurgiei and Sos. Berceni, and placing the tram platforms next to the metro stations entrances.

Another benefit of keeping the tram at ground level is to facilitate the correspondence between the tram and the metro at the Aparătorii Patriei (M2) station, with the possibility of creating direct pedestrian access passages, in order to ensure passengers’ safety at this public transport exchange node.

The association also proposes the same green-track technology for the Nicolae Grigorescu overpass (bridge over the Dâmbovița River).

Finally, a tender has been launched for the modernisation of line 5 (approximately 45 km of the old line) and the bids submitted are currently under evaluation.

Last month, the European Commission approved EUR 179.5 million for Croatia’s state aid, for the development of an innovative urban mobility service based on fully autonomous electric vehicles led by Croatian electric car producer, Rimac Automobili.

The measure is part of a wider urban mobility project in Zagreb, Croatia, where users will be able to combine multiple transport modes via a single integrated mobility service platform. The robo-taxi project will be trialled in Zagreb and, if successful, rolled out to other European cities.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will provide part of the funding after Croatia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan received a positive assessment by the European Commission and approval by the European Council. The state aid granted to the project will cover approximately 45% of the eligible costs. A claw-back mechanism will be triggered if the project proves successful and generates additional significant revenue, where the beneficiary will return a proportion of the aid to ensure fairness and balance.

KIA Motors, as part of the Hyundai Motor Group, is an investor and shareholder of Project 3 Mobility, which is Rimac Automobili’s sister company and is in charge of the project.

Marko Pejkovic, CEO of Project 3 Mobility, said that they were proud to have successfully fulfilled all the criteria and demonstrated the value of the project to Croatian and EU institutions. Over the last two years, they have demonstrated how the project aligns to the Commission’s green and digital transition goals and provides added value to various societal aspects.

The initial investment in the project is estimated at EUR 450 million, prior to the commercial phase of the project (expected to be reached from the end of 2024). This investment will come from foreign investors, such as KIA Motors, and potentially from other European investors and investors in the Middle East.

CCAM Association organised its General Assembly on 4 July 2023 in a hybrid format in Brussels and online, and proudly welcomed 18 new members:

Furthermore, the CCAM Association is pleased to announce the inclusion of 2 new delegates who will contribute their expertise to the CCAM Partnership work:

• Dr Per Olof Arnäs from Einride. Per Olof will fulfill the role of CCAM Partnership Board Delegate for the member category of Freight and logistics services and users.

• Aymeric Audige from the French Ministry of Transport. Aymeric will represent the member category of National Ministry in the CCAM Partnership Board.

Since 2020, the SAFE-UP project has been developing and testing active and passive safety systems and tools for future autonomous vehicles – to reduce injuries and fatalities in traffic accidents and contribute to the EU’s Vision Zero. 

In a bid to empower all road users, the SAFE-UP project has launched its e-Learning Platform. The platform has been designed to raise awareness among all individuals interested in the SAFE-UP project and its outcomes, regardless of their technical expertise.

Leveraging the expertise of the project’s team, the eLearning courses offer a wealth of knowledge translated into easily digestible content, ensuring that users can navigate the intricacies of future traffic scenarios seamlessly. The platform is a product of tireless efforts in knowledge translation carried out within the project.

The e-Learning Platform comprehensively covers the extensive work undertaken within SAFE-UP and currently includes four distinct courses:

The courses are available in five languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, and Greek.

By addressing various aspects of road safety, these courses empower participants with the knowledge required to navigate and mitigate potential risks in future traffic scenarios effectively.

To enrol and contribute to safer roads, visit here.

Country: Europe-wide

 

A recent survey conducted by the Finnish Information Centre of the Automobile Sector has predicted an increase in fully electric vehicles within the Finnish vehicle fleet, with figures expected to rise to 42% by 2025 and to 70% by 2030.

Expectations are based on a positive opinion trend towards electric vehicles coming from increased personal experience with electric cars. Whilst only approximately 44% of survey respondents said that they are prepared to transition to a fully electric car, a large majority (82%) stated they were inclined to buy a petrol hybrid car and 55% would choose a plug-in hybrid.

Factors including high petrol prices and the large average distance between major cities in Finland (100 – 500 km) are changing attitudes towards electric vehicles. 

However, the average price for a fully electric vehicle is still EUR 50,000, which is deterring many households from purchasing one, as demonstrated in the 2022 car sales figures (18% share of fully electric vehicles). In addition, whilst the number of charging points is increasing, the lack of speed in deploying new ones is also affecting the lower share of sales figures.

Article published first at EURACTIV on 14 June 2023.

Madrid’s first bus rapid transit (BRT) service has been launched this month, connecting two main neighbourhoods over a length of 15.5 km and cutting travel time by 20 minutes. It will now be possible to reach the Hospital Ramón y Cajal in the north of the city in only 30 minutes when departing from the Valdebebas neighbourhood, which has rapidly grown in recent years.

The newly launched BRT service is expected to substantially benefit residents living in these neighbourhoods, which are currently underserved by public transport. This is the first BRT service launched in the Spanish capital, connecting two key neighbourhoods, two major hospitals and fostering the link for which locals have been asking for a long time. The service was launched at the beginning of June with the fully electric buses driving on bus priority lanes on 2/3 of the route.

The Spanish capital also chaired the 2023 Eurocities Mobility Forum, which took place in Porto from 31 May to 2 June, and will lead the Forum for the two coming years, showcasing its efforts in enhancing public and active travel. In March 2023, Madrid recorded an additional 800,000 more trips per day (by car, bike, walking, scooting and public transport) compared to the previous year, with a decrease in the use of car and an increase in trips by public transport, cycling and walking. According to Lola Ortiz Sanchez, Madrid’s General Director of Planning and Mobility Infrastructure, this success is due to ‘improved public transport services and better space for active travel, which are making people voluntarily shift to more sustainable and socially inclusive transport modes.’

Among the topics of this year’s forum, European cities and mobility experts discussed transport poverty and how this is being addressed by European cities, the role of digitalization in innovating urban public transport, as well as the expected impact on cities of the upcoming revision of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Regulation. The proposed revision of the TEN-T Regulation aims, in fact, to reinforce the role of cities as ‘urban nodes’ and adapt their transport policies to meet additional requirements, further developing a connected network of transport corridors across Europe.

Starting this June, public transport users in the Netherlands can check in throughout the country using their bank card. The system is now operation nationwide – a milestone in the transition to a new payment system that should facilitate check in and out using contactless debit cards, credit cards or mobile phones in all public transport.

The new system OV-pay is to replace the chip card (OVchipkaart) which was introduced to replace paper tickets nationwide in 2012. It is operational in buses, trains, trams and metros. Some 60,000 gates at stations and card readers in various vehicles have already been adapted for the new system.

Users can check in and out with bank cards from all major Dutch backs as well as credit cards from Visa and Mastercard. The payment is processed automatically and will appear on your statement the next day. The price is the same as a standard ticket or trip with the public transport chip card without subscriptions or discounts.

For now, public transports users can only use the new system when travelling second class and without a discount or subscription. It is expected the service will be gradually expanded to include discounts and subscriptions, such as for students, business travellers and season ticket holders over the course of next year. In addition, a new public transport card and payment app will be introduced.

Implementation of the system has been delayed several times, mainly due to ICT problems. Recently, RTL news revealed a loophole in the system, making it possible to travel “for free”. By creating a virtual card via an app, it is possible to travel without paying. Translink, the company responsible for the app, responded that they are aware of the loophole but have no plans to stop or limit abuse, stating that most people use public transport “in good faith.” Translink warned that widespread abuse with payment cards could cause all of that bank’s cards to be excluded from OVpay, making it likely banks would act against this type of fraud.

The scenario of abuse of digital ‘disposable cards’, where the card is deliberately deactivated before the trip has been charged, was already known – also from other countries and places where you can travel with a (virtual) debit card, such as in Great Britain and Singapore. Based on these experiences, fraud detection and fraud control measures which are in place are considered sufficiently effective.

It is expected the implementation of the full OVpay system will take at least two more years. The current public transport chip card will remain usable in the meantime. It is expected that it can be used at least until 2025, but in the long term the card will be completely abolished.