New services that make mobility smarter, safer and more sustainable are the main attraction at the upcoming ITS European Congress in Lisbon, 22-24 May – and provided the theme for ERTICO’s latest pre-event webinar. Before a short recap, we invite you to sign up for the 3rd Webinar in the series, moderated by ERTICO Chief Innovation Officer Dr Johanna Tzanidaki, on Future Traffic Management on April 5, Wednesday, from 14.00 – 15.15 CEST. 

New mobility services are fast becoming a reality, driven by collaborative working and co-creation, user-focused thinking, and innovative technologies aligned with EU policymaking. Topics under the ‘new mobility services’ banner include intelligent transport systems and related infrastructure, listening and responding to user needs, decarbonisation, electrification and e-mobility, multimodality, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), traffic management, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

“ERTICO and its Partners are engaged in all of these areas and more, co-creating new solutions and tracking outcomes in terms of the user experience and social and environmental impacts,” says Joost Vantomme, CEO of ERTICO. “New mobility is about enabling change in multiple areas for the greater good, and we’re gearing up for increased traction in 2023. Many of these services will be on show in Lisbon: new mobility in action!”

Getting new mobility on the road

“New mobility services fit within our Urban Mobility roadmap, which targets savings of one million tonnes of CO2, one million hours of travel time and 10,000 lives by 2030,” says John Paddington, Senior Manager Innovation & Deployment, ERTICO. He says that flagship projects, including SHOW and SOLUTIONSplus are far from theoretical: “We’re delivering on the ground with, for instance, demonstrations in locations ranging from Salzburg in Austria to Pasig in the Philippines via Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, with a focus on knowledge sharing and capacity building.”

ERTICO and its Partners are supporting European Commission initiatives in new mobility, which currently include giving multimodal transport a boost. “Automated and connected multimodal mobility will play an increasingly important role, under the European Green Deal and as part of the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy,” says Petra Söderqvist, Policy Officer, European Commission DG MOVE. Plans for 2023 include revising a Regulation under the ITS Directive for Multimodal Travel Information Services (MMTIS). The main change, Petra says, is the mandatory accessibility of dynamic data, providing real-time multimodal travel information for passengers and enhancing services.

The Commission’s pipeline also includes a legislative proposal to speed up the deployment of Multimodal Digital Mobility Services (MDMS) and Communication on a common European mobility data space (EMDS) that covers both freight and passenger transport.

New skills for new mobility

Creating a world powered by new mobility services will also require new and different skills from the workforce, says Dr Oihana Otaegui, ITS and Engineering Director at Vicomtech. “Consumer, technological and societal trends are fuelling a revolution in the automotive industry. We’re moving to a mobility ecosystem where the vehicle is only one element alongside citizen needs, infrastructure and technology.”

This creates significant challenges around skills, especially those relating to Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM). As some roles disappear, Dr Otaegui says, new ones will emerge: “People will need to develop new technological as well as social and emotional skills.” The transition will, for example, require specialists in areas including data management, AI and connectivity, and integrating them with people already working in areas such as traffic management. 

Taking shared mobility forward

Part of the mix of new mobility services, shared mobility also brings new challenges. For example, “The road charging landscape in Europe is already highly complex, and the rapid expansion of shared mobility adds to this,” says Oscar Mellegers, Director Product Management, at Verra Mobility. “Our solutions enable issuing authorities to manage and enforce their traffic management programmes, such as congestion charges and low emission zones. We also work with fleet and rental companies to solve complex payment challenges for shared vehicles and provide a smooth cross-border experience for drivers.” He points to the importance of stakeholders working collaboratively to solve challenges and to have the greatest impacts in key areas such as decarbonisation, automated driving and improving safety.

Demand-responsive transport (DRT)

DRT is another strand: strengthening the public transport network, helping with congestion and improving sustainability by acting as a first or last-mile feeder service and reducing door-to-door travel times. “Your offer must be tailored to the needs of the people and the region,” says Franco Rosso of ioki, a DB company. “Flexible, customised and integrated solutions are the key.” In urban mobility, ioki’s award-winning on-demand shuttles are fully integrated into Hamburg’s public transport network. 72% of these emission-free journeys are for the first or last mile. In a more rural setting, ioki services are connecting small towns and improving the regional mobility offer for 112 municipalities in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

Learn more in Lisbon

“New mobility services are a reality, as you’ll see if you join us in Lisbon,” says Lisa Boch-Andersen, Director of Communications, Congresses & Events at ERTICO. “The city itself is setting a great example in how cities can enhance the resilience of their infrastructure and address the challenges of climate change and sustainability – goals that Lisbon shares with the European Commission, Vicomtech, Verra Mobility and ioki, all of whom are represented at the event.”

The three-day congress includes a high-level programme, plenary sessions, research and technical presentations, Partner exhibition, social events, and live demonstrations. It also features a Smart Mobility Summit for cities and regions, including a keynote address by Torsten Klimke, Head of the Innovation and Research Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport.

Watch the latest webinar on-demand and download the presentations here.

Registration is now open, early bird rates end on 17 April.

Subscribe to the Congress Eblast here.