Pioneering Technological Advances Towards Electrification & Sustainable Mobility
Sustainable and environmentally considerate transport is key to our future, catalysing smarter, greener mobility. At ERTICO – ITS Europe, fostering innovation by aligning the interests of diverse stakeholders is key, from public entities to private partners throughout Europe and beyond. We explore and refine the technological prowess to bring safer, more intelligent, eco-friendly transport services and networks. An integral component of the four focus areas is the development and deployment of Clean & Eco-Mobility innovations. Through EU-funded projects and innovative platforms with its Partners, we have been able to develop and facilitate new innovations and technologies to meet people’s travel needs as well as mobility efficiency while reducing pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG) resulting from all forms of transport, and improving air quality, which is fundamental in today’s policymaking.
Pioneering Sustainable Mobility Solutions
In accord with the EU Sustainable & Smart Mobility Strategy and the European Green Deal, we are committed to helping reduce transport-related GHG emissions by 90% by 2050. As an integral part of sustainable development, ERTICO and its partners work together across a spectrum of initiatives in clean mobility to addresses a number of challenges: environmental, to cut the CO2 emissions that are causing climate change and reduce pollution from different sources including tires and brakes particles as well as our dependence on non-renewable energy sources; economic, for long-term mobility that will benefit the economy and employment; and social, for inclusive mobility that will make it easier for everyone to get around.
There is no single, miraculous solution for Clean and Eco-Mobility. Alternative fuel solutions and electrification are becoming a cornerstone in the pursuit of clean mobility, influencing all modes of road transport, including heavy goods vehicles, trains, ships, etc – which accounts for more than half[1] the sector’s CO2 emissions worldwide. Furthermore, new public policies are rapidly being adopted to address clean mobility, including acceleration of shared mobility, expanding active mode mobility options, decarbonising public transport, and increasing accessibility. As a facilitator of this transformation, ERTICO bridges the gap between public and private stakeholders and primarily focusing on three crucial dimensions: transport mode, infrastructure, and user behaviour. These efforts span from implementing Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations to using technology to encourage citizens (including drivers) to modify their habits in favour of sustainable transport.
Impactful Green Initiatives for a Sustainable Society
Like other key focus areas across the transport industry, an emphasis on reporting the effects of existing and novel developments and collecting evidence of outcomes for lessons learned is crucial. ERTICO’s City Moonshot[2] initiative continues with evidence collection through its second phase of interviews with 300 cities worldwide. The results show that decarbonising mobility, enhancing air quality, and upgrading public transport systems are among the top three mobility goals for these cities.
Around 92% of cities are implementing transport-related measures to combat the climate crisis, such as creating bicycle lanes, investing in public transport, and installing EV charging infrastructure. Air quality is also a top policy priority, with approximately 89% of cities regularly measuring air quality and, in 37% of cases, adjusting transport policies based on these measurements.
Advancing Towards Cleaner, More Sustainable Mobility
ERTICO is leading or contributing towards several actions to accelerate sustainable and cleaner mobility, including the EU-funded projects MODALES[3], eCharge4Drivers[4], NextETRUCK[5], eBRT2030[6], and SOLUTIONSplus[7], as well as other platforms and initiatives like ADASIS[8], SENSORIS[9] and the MaaS Alliance[10].
The MODALES project is one of the key contributors to advance towards cleaner and more sustainable mobility. By adopting a user-centric approach, it marks the first significant initiative investigating the interactions and impacts of pollutants (e.g. NOx, particles) from powertrain, brakes, and tyres of road vehicles with user behaviour (driving, maintenance, inspections, retrofits, legal aspects). The project’s activities before ending in May 2023 included testing of a new low-emission driving app in seven European cities and creating guidelines both for drivers and for policy-makers to reduce emissions.
Another pivotal role for ERTICO in developing cleaner and more sustainable mobility is eCharge4Drivers, an EU-funded project focusing on EV infrastructure and user perspectives. The project develops an EV Charging Location Planning Tool and demonstrates new user-friendly charging infrastructure for cars and light electric vehicles, with different solutions being trialled in ten locations across Europe. Ongoing work led by ERTICO includes Innovation Management, recommendations for legal and regulatory harmonisation, and guidelines for deployers and authorities.
The NextETRUCK project represents another collaborative venture aimed at decarbonising fleets and offering efficient, affordable, zero-emission logistics in medium freight haulage. Three demonstration sites are now operational in Istanbul (Turkey), Utrecht (The Netherlands) and Barcelona (Spain).
Expanding the Horizons: Innovations for a Multimodal, Greener Future
As a forward-thinking organisation, ERTICO is committed to accelerating shared mobility and multimodality of public transport across various modes of transport and infrastructures. The recently launched eBRT2030 project, which focuses on developing a fully electric European Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, epitomises this endeavour. Managed by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), eBRT2030 is anticipated to be a ground-breaking innovation in bus transportation. It strives to enhance urban transport sustainability while minimising the cost per kilometre per passenger. The initiative employs state-of-the-art automation and connectivity to amplify the efficiency and attractiveness of future priority bus systems, substantially curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, pollutants, and traffic congestion.
Innovation platforms, such as ADASIS and SENSORIS, are integral to our multimodal vision. Another key contributor is the TM2.0[11] governance model, dedicated to fostering collaborative traffic management, which continue to be pivotal in advancing cleaner, eco-friendlier mobility. Currently in its third phase, TM2.0 has successfully transitioned from innovation to implementation, reinforcing a myriad of other ERTICO projects and activities.
As ERTICO envisions a more sustainable future with greener and cleaner horizon for mobility. Together with its partners, ERTICO is at the forefront of this transformation, facilitating public and private partnerships to co-create the requisite tools and technologies.
In the words of Joost Vantomme, CEO of ERTICO, “We aim to be a beacon in the e-Mobility landscape, charting the path towards next-generation solutions. We are committed to mitigating the environmental impact of transport and to facilitating and deploying new innovative solutions to achieve the milestones and vision in the Clean & Eco-Mobility Roadmap. Our forward-thinking strategies and rigorous research initiatives are setting new standards and meeting ambitious targets, shaping a cleaner, greener future for all.”
Dr Tamara Djukic, Senior Manager, Innovation & Deployment, ERTICO – ITS Europe
[1] Source / International Energy Agency
[2] https://ertico.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Ertico-Moonshot-Report-Final-1.pdf
[3] https://modales-project.eu/
[4] https://echarge4drivers.eu/
[5] https://nextetruck.eu/
[6] https://ebrt2030.eu/
[7] https://www.solutionsplus.eu/
[8] https://adasis.org/
[9] https://sensoris.org/
[10] https://maas-alliance.eu/
