Autonomous vehicles (AVs) and Public Transport in Europe

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.

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.

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)