CityMobil
05.01
From 2006 to 2011
TML was the sole Belgian partner in the European project CityMobil, which improved the organisation of urban transport and tackled congestion and pollution. The project demonstrated automated transport systems such as cybercars and personal rapid transit at locations such as Heathrow and an expo centre in Rome and developed plans for implementation in other cities.
The aim of the European research project CityMobil was to improve the organisation of urban transport to make motorised transport more rational. This leads to reduced congestion and pollution, increased safety and liveability, and improved integration with spatial planning. It was a €40 million project involving 28 partners from ten countries. The only Belgian partner in the project was Transport & Mobility Leuven. To demonstrate and validate the potential of automated transport applications, Heathrow Airport (London) and a new exhibition centre in Rome were selected.
Although mobility problems in cities are well known (congestion, pollution, safety, etc.), the required solutions are still in their infancy. The desired trend consists of a mix of measures around spatial planning and a shift from car use to a multimodal approach. To make the multimodal alternative more attractive, there is a need for mass transport at high speeds (train, metro, bus) and individualised (public) transport on demand for short distances. Automation in all possible forms, from the provision of information to fully automated driving of vehicles, plays a major role in this.
Currently, the biggest progress is being made in private vehicles, where the introduction of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) increases driving comfort. Some notable applications of automated transport have also already been realised in public transport, such as the automated metro systems in Paris, London, and Lille and automated buses in Rouen, Eindhoven, and Capelle aan de IJssel. In CityMobil, the potential of automated transport systems was explored based on their application in realistic environments.
These systems include automated vehicles on rails (personal rapid transit), transport systems on defined corridors (cybercars), and dual mode vehicles (traditional passenger cars that can be manually driven in mixed traffic or can drive automatically in reserved environments or on reserved infrastructure).
In the CityMobil project, an automatic transport system was implemented and evaluated at two sites. These systems are more than a demonstration of technological capabilities: they are applications that are fully integrated into the transport system and will remain operational for a long time.
The aim of the European research project CityMobil was to improve the organisation of urban transport to make motorised transport more rational. This leads to reduced congestion and pollution, increased safety and liveability, and improved integration with spatial planning. It was a €40 million project involving 28 partners from ten countries. The only Belgian partner in the project was Transport & Mobility Leuven. To demonstrate and validate the potential of automated transport applications, Heathrow Airport (London) and a new exhibition centre in Rome were selected.
Although mobility problems in cities are well known (congestion, pollution, safety, etc.), the required solutions are still in their infancy. The desired trend consists of a mix of measures around spatial planning and a shift from car use to a multimodal approach. To make the multimodal alternative more attractive, there is a need for mass transport at high speeds (train, metro, bus) and individualised (public) transport on demand for short distances. Automation in all possible forms, from the provision of information to fully automated driving of vehicles, plays a major role in this.
Currently, the biggest progress is being made in private vehicles, where the introduction of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) increases driving comfort. Some notable applications of automated transport have also already been realised in public transport, such as the automated metro systems in Paris, London, and Lille and automated buses in Rouen, Eindhoven, and Capelle aan de IJssel. In CityMobil, the potential of automated transport systems was explored based on their application in realistic environments.
These systems include automated vehicles on rails (personal rapid transit), transport systems on defined corridors (cybercars), and dual mode vehicles (traditional passenger cars that can be manually driven in mixed traffic or can drive automatically in reserved environments or on reserved infrastructure).
In the CityMobil project, an automatic transport system was implemented and evaluated at two sites. These systems are more than a demonstration of technological capabilities: they are applications that are fully integrated into the transport system and will remain operational for a long time.
- At the new expo centre in Rome, a fleet of fully automated cybercars transports visitors between the car park, the train station, and the expo centre.
- At Heathrow Airport, a personal rapid transit system transports passengers to and from the terminals and car parks in fully automated vehicles on rails.
