ITS European Congress Webinar 3: Towards Greener and more Sustainable mobility

Concepts around traffic management are changing direction in favour of mobility management: a multimodal, digitally-enabled world that moves people and goods in more efficient ways and with positive impacts on air quality, emissions and use of space.

These ideas were explored during the third webinar in the run-up to the ITS European Congress 2022 in Toulouse. Indeed, Clean and Eco Mobility is one of ERTICO-ITS Europe’s four priority areas. ‘This topic cuts across the Congress programme, including plenary sessions, exhibitors and technical demonstrations, and in areas ranging from electromobility and renewable energy to user engagement’ says Lisa Boch-Andersen, Director of Communications, Congresses & Events, ERTICO-ITS Europe. The Congress takes place at the MEETT Exhibition and Conference Centre, from 30 May to 1 June.

‘Toulouse is a great multimodal environment to showcase smarter, greener mobility’ says Joost Vantomme, CEO, ERTICO-ITS Europe. ‘This subject is high on the agenda for European institutions and authorities everywhere. Indeed, the first findings of the ERTICO City Moonshot project, published this March, highlight Sustainability (air quality & climate change) as the number one issue for the 150 cities interviewed in phase one’.

EU urban mobility: healthier, safer, joined-up

The EU’s proposed new urban mobility framework emphasises sustainability, improving life for commuters, and helping cities fulfil their roles as essential transport hubs. ‘The focus has changed from traffic management to the movement of people and goods,” says Isabelle Vandoorne, Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission DG MOVE. ‘This includes enabling stronger public transport networks, more active mobility such as walking and cycling, efficient zero-emission urban logistics and last-mile deliveries, and better management of mobility flows through multimodal hubs and digital solutions’.

Delivering this vision requires a holistic approach, connecting the dots across multiple disciplines and technologies. This will, for example, include a reinforced approach from EU institutions to TEN-T urban nodes: increasing from eight to 424 nodes by 2025, each with a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP), and promoting more efficient low-noise zero-emission transport, greening urban fleets, and increasing the modal share of public transport and more active modes. As Isabelle points out, ‘ERTICO has previously helped us to draft SUMP guides on key areas such as MaaS and ITS.

‘A topic on everyone’s lips’

‘This is a subject everyone is talking about it: using ITS in clean mobility to reduce pollutants and noise, improving health and quality of life, and in eco-mobility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the climate crisis’ says Jean-Charles Pandazis, Senior Manager of Innovation and Deployment, ERTICO-ITS Europe. In this area, he says ERTICO’s targeted activities include developing next-generation vehicles integrated into electrified transport infrastructure, deploying smart electro-mobility in cities and interurban corridors, a Europe-wide smart infrastructure for cleaner modes, and developing common methodologies to assess the impacts of ITS measures and solutions.

Global transport solutions provider Kapsch, an exhibitor at the congress, is measuring one such area: reducing traffic emissions through ITS, specifically tolling, traffic and demand management solutions. ‘Our vision is to contribute to a healthy world without congestion’, says Stefanie Gritzmann, Environmental Sustainability & Corporate Innovation, Kapsch. Transport contributes to one-quarter of all emissions in the EU, with road traffic causing more than 70% of transport emissions. Globally, 80% of citizens are subject to bad air quality.

‘We need the right policies to support the right technologies’, Stefanie continues. ‘In our own fields of expertise, we’ve seen distance-based road charging save up to 20% in CO₂ emissions – the ‘polluter pays’ principle, underlined in EU law – and techniques like High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes reducing vehicles and congestion.” She points to other measures such as the impact of Low Emission Zones in cities such as London, Milan and Stockholm in reducing GHG emissions and particulates, and avoiding stop-and-go through improvements in traffic lighting and incident management. Fully connected vehicles and AI also have the potential to deliver further CO₂ reductions, with more studies and common methodologies required.

Tracking activity

Monitoring is critical to learn from experience, define the way ahead, and keep developments on track. With active mobility a hot topic, Eco-Counter is an innovative French provider of solutions to count and analyse how people and vehicles move. Its solutions for bicycle, scooter and vehicle counting include magnetic loops, 2D cameras and AI algorithms, with matrix and digital displays to communicate data with citizens. ‘Bike usage and micromobility have increased a great deal’ says Philippe Delmas, Client Consultant. He says Eco-Counter is increasingly engaged in data science, going further with the data. ‘For example, data extrapolation, combining count data with GPS tracers for scooter mobility in Lyons with crash data from Vancouver on collisions between cyclists and cars, performing correlation analysis, and arriving at a map showing risk exposure’. Eco-Counter is also exhibiting at the Toulouse congress.

Building on experience: autonomous driving on public roads

Toulouse-based EasyMile is also contributing to the sustainability agenda with software and solutions for driverless mobility and goods transportation. ‘We partner with manufacturers to fully automate vehicles, with technology that’s built on safety-by-design,’ says Olivier Pairot, Product and Marketing Director. He says five years of deployment, with 180 shuttles running in locations worldwide, have meant significant learnings. ‘These include evidence of the real global demand for shared autonomous mobility, with a desire for fewer cars on the streets, and a business case supported by benefits such as reduced pollution and a safer environment’. As regulation becomes more stable and public acceptance increases, he believes the stage is set for Level 4 fully driverless operations. EasyMile is exhibiting at the ITS European Congress and is involved in three technical visits.

‘Autonomous mobility is another part of the jigsaw, as we move towards a more holistic approach to green and sustainable smart mobility’ adds Joost Vantomme. ‘And it’s another example of innovation that visitors will see in action in Toulouse, alongside expert high-level speakers from Europe’s institutions and across the ITS ecosystem, and a wide-ranging programme of technical sessions and demonstrations. I look forward to seeing you in May!’

Watch the full recording of the third webinar here.

Register for the 4th webinar in our series on the topic ‘Services for Cities & Citizens: Mobility at your door’, taking place on Thursday 21 April from 2pm to 3:15pm CET.

Registrationsare still open – early bird closes soon, 19 April.

Learn more about the ITS European Congress 2022.