From 4 to 7 June, the UITP Global Public Transport Summit, the leading event for public transport in Barcelona, took place under the theme ‘Bright Light of the City’. ERTICO was present at the event, which made a comeback after the 2021 cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ERTICO works closely with UITP in a number of projects aimed at enhancing urban mobility, including SHOW, eBRT2030 and SOLUTIONSplus, which were actively represented at the event. John Paddington, ERTICO Senior Manager in Innovation and Deployment, attended the event and commented that “attending the event was important to discuss how intelligent transport systems can support public transport throughout the world.” 

SHOWcasing automated urban mobility 

Autonomous mobility is dominating discussions on the future of the industry. Global leaders shared insights on AV deployment, including lessons learned and best practices. SHOW is an ERTICO project coordinated by UITP. As Europe’s most holistic AV real-life CCAV urban demonstration, the project had a highlighted presence at the summit. SHOW was covered in two sessions on automated vehicles gaining in speed and size, and the benefits of automated technologies on large-sized buses, respectively; a workshop with the ULTIMO project to discuss the next steps and AV’s long-term potential; and a poster session devoted to the project’s different demo sites.

As a still-evolving topic, the UITP Summit offered a common space for the consortium and project stakeholders to delve into some of the limitations and main challenges in the effective integration of automated vehicles into urban mobility.

Presenting a chance to exchange knowledge with peers at an international level, and reinforcing collaboration with the US, Japan, South Korea and Australia, the event was an important opportunity to ensure the success of the SHOW project.

   

Advancing public transport’s sustainability 

Clean & Eco Mobility, one of ERTICO’s focus areas, was a prominent topic at the summit. Bus manufacturers showcased their latest advancements in batteries and hydrogen buses, as well as state-of-the-art charging and fleet management systems.  

ERTICO projects eBRT2030 and SOLUTIONSplus reinforced the clean mobility theme with insightful presentations on the exhibition stages. eBRT2030 had a prominent presence as it kicked off the summit with a side event discussing with international experts the latest developments in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the international context and the electrification of demanding bus routes. eBRT2030 also presented in a Spotlight session on how it will demonstrate the applicability of a new generation of electric BRT systems in seven pilot sites in Europe and South America to improve the sustainability of urban public transport. SOLUTIONSplus took part in a session on enhancing cooperation to promote clean bus technology worldwide. Patrick Mercier-Handisyde from the European Commission presented insights from the project’s Living Labs, focusing on the pantograph-based charging solution being demonstrated in the Madrid Living Lab.  

         ERTICO Partners showcasing innovations 

The summit also saw the presence of several ERTICO Partners including CTAG, Uber, Hamburg, and RTA Dubai, which exhibited at the event. CTAG had the opportunity to showcase their autonomous shuttle and RTA Dubai showcased an autonomous delivery robot. 

The city of Hamburg, ERTICO partner and host of the ITS European Congress 2021, is the selected city to host the 2025 and 2027 editions of the UITP Global Summit. The 2026 edition of the UITP Global Summit will also be hosted by an ERTICO Partner, Dubai RTA.