Autonomous vehicles (AVs) present an opportunity for governments, transport authorities and agencies to improve efficiency, competitiveness, safety, accessibility and reliability of the current public transit systems. This can be achieved by integrating AVs into the current network through deployment of autonomous shuttles and driverless cars for strengthening first-mile/last-mile connectivity. AVs also present public transport agencies with the opportunity to become the digital integrator, reap the benefits that data presents, implement Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), develop new business models, reimagine parking spaces, and create a balanced integrated multi-modal transport solution.

Europe is spearheading the development, trials and deployment of autonomous shuttles. By leveraging established public transportation infrastructure and strong partnerships with transport authorities, European AV companies and transit agencies have pioneered efforts to trial driverless shuttles on public roads.

Countries like France, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Austria and Sweden have led the way in developing and conducting trials of driverless shuttles. Due to various factors, including a lack of extended stretches of roads suitable for operating driverless shuttles and passenger safety considerations, all the autonomous shuttle trials have been modest in their scope. These trials have not been restricted to only large cities or only small, rural towns. Both metropolises like London as well as places like Bad Birnbach (a German town with a much smaller population of less than 6,000) have witnessed driverless shuttle demonstrations.

These efforts have been supported by the European Commission (EC). The commission aims to make Europe a world leader in the deployment of connected and automated vehicles (CAV). The Third Mobility Package, released in May 2018, included a communication on connected on automated mobility. It set out EC’s agenda in building a legal framework and providing financial support. The EC is also funding autonomous bus trials in five cities under the FABULOS (Future Automated Bus Urban Level Operation Systems) project. It has also launched various initiatives in recent years to promote digitisation in transport and to enhance research and development of connected and autonomous vehicles. These initiatives include the L3Pilot, which tests the viability of automated driving as a safe and efficient means of transportation, and Horizon 2020, which offers patronage for efforts towards innovation in AVs.

Federal and local governments have also launched several policy, regulatory, legislative and strategic initiatives to accelerate the implementation and adoption of AVs in public transport. For instance, the UK government has also rolled out a policy for Electrified Connected & Autonomous Vehicle (ECAV).

While AVs in public transportation have promising potential, there are challenges in mass adoption of the system and scaling up the existing pilots. There are concerns about interaction of AVs with non-AV vehicles, safety concerns regarding the ownership and accountability of unprecedented situations, public apprehension, and regulatory concerns regarding licencing, testing and commissioning. There are also concerns about viable business and OEM models and contracting framework for AVs. Moreover, transit agencies face challenges in their efforts to fully integrate autonomous modes of transport with existing mass transit networks.

The scale of public sector involvement in the AV industry in Europe is expected to increase in the coming years as mass deployment of AV technology becomes a more likely possibility. European governments have taken measures to ensure that this new technology is treated as a public commodity intended to benefit society as a whole. As a result, the AV industry in Europe is more utilitarian and less extravagant than its US counterpart, thus giving driverless shuttles an edge over driverless cars.

To discuss the developments and challenges, Global Mass Transit is organising its second conference on Autonomous Vehicles and Public Transport on November 11–12, 2020. The conference will discuss policy and regulatory framework in Europe, best practices to integrate AVs and public transport, noteworthy case studies, pilot projects and trials, potential use cases of AVs in public transport, strategies for deployment of AVs to support transit operations and asset management, ways to leverage AVs for post-pandemic recovery, funding and procurement strategies.

It will bring together experts from government agencies, public transport authorities, vehicle technology suppliers, R&D institutes, academic institutions and private companies to address issues in policy, planning, funding, technology, market development, testing and deployment of AVs.

Benefits of attending a virtual event

• Live interaction with senior speakers and key stakeholders (Q&A facility)
• Easy connectivity to geographically dispersed delegates (click of a mouse)
• Virtual meetings and interactions with industry peers and leaders
• Cost effective (lower ticket price as compared to a physical conference)
• Offers flexibility and convenience
• Access to conference recordings or watch later ‘on demand’

Key issues to be explored

- Roadmap for AVs in public transport
- Impact of COVID-19 on AVs and public transport
- Leveraging AVs for post-pandemic recovery
- Key policy, regulatory and strategy initiatives driving the development of AVs
- Potential use cases of AV technology in transit
- Integrating AVs in public transport
- Leveraging benefits from the launch of AVs
- Infrastructure requirement for deployment of AV
- Costs and requirements of launching automated buses
- Funding sources for AV testing and deployment
- Learnings from pilots, case studies and experience so far
- Strategies for deployment of AVs to support transit operations and asset management
- Key challenges and opportunities
- Sharing and utilising AV-generated data
- Public perception of driverless transport
- Insurance for AV in public transport
- Effective planning and launching of AVs by transit agencies
- Changes required for infrastructure, system (ITS, procurement, budgeting, planning, etc.) and business practices to integrate AVs into transit systems
- Impact of AVs on workforce
- AVs and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)