Skip to main content

2016 Polis conference calls greater understanding of automated transport

The recent Polis 2016 Conference was attended by 450 mobility professionals from across Europe and beyond who met to debate on urban and regional mobility. Local and regional authorities called for greater understanding of where automated road transport can benefit cities. The conference plenary session brought together local governments, the automobile industry, research and the European and international institutions to explore where automated vehicles can deliver benefit for cities and what needs to b
December 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The recent Polis 2016 Conference was attended by 450 mobility professionals from across Europe and beyond who met to debate on urban and regional mobility. Local and regional authorities called for greater understanding of where automated road transport can benefit cities.

The conference plenary session brought together local governments, the automobile industry, research and the European and international institutions to explore where automated vehicles can deliver benefit for cities and what needs to be done to make this happen. The panellists acknowledged that automated vehicles are not an end in themselves.

Using an online live voting tool, conference delegates proposed public transport as the most adapted mode for full automation, ahead of public transport feeders for the first/last mile, shared mobility and urban delivery services.

Automation will be a priority item on the Polis agenda for 2017 and will draw on information from Polis members involved in automated vehicle projects and the knowledge gained through Polis involvement in several European projects dealing with automation, including CityMobil2 which demonstrated fully automated first/last mile transport services, and MAVEN which is investigating the implications of fully automated vehicles on traffic management.

Related Content

  • Kerb your enthusiasm, warns Passport
    March 4, 2019
    Dynamic kerbside management is crucial if urban authorities are to address increasingly chaotic situations caused by the gig economy and mobility innovation, says Adam Warnes at Passport Demand for the kerbside is growing and changing and it’s no surprise when you consider the recent innovations within the mobility industry. For starters, there are new modes of transport, including ride-shares, electric vehicles (EVs), dockless cycles, last-mile consolidations and autonomous vehicles (AVs). Secondly, the
  • Kapsch looks to the future
    December 16, 2014
    Colin Sowman reports from a two-day meeting where industry leaders, academics and political advisers presented their thoughts on the future of mobility. Most governments do not dare to introduce tolling systems… they are too frightened.” So said Georg Kapsch in his capacity of chief operating officer of Kapsch TrafficCom, during a forward-looking press event at the company’s headquarters in Vienna.
  • Are truck bans the wrong move in the battle for air quality
    June 29, 2016
    Low emission zones and heavy goods vehicles’ access to city centres may at first glance appear attractive but how effective are such controls? Jon Masters reviews emerging trends across Europe. Around 1,700 European cities have implemented low emission zones (LEZs) and in addition some have restricted city centre access for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). Even those that restrict HGV access, such as Paris and Rome, allow exemptions at certain times and for particular classes of vehicle. But with what effect?
  • Singapore aims to set MaaS benchmark
    September 26, 2019
    Delegates at this year’s ITS World Congress in Singapore will be able to experience Mobility as a Service for themselves in the form of MobilityX’s Zipster app