This interactive session will engage the audience to consider the future of infrastructure and in-vehicle design, policies, and future projects for for automated, road-based public transport systems. While automated vehicles has been primarily seen in taxis and low-speed, free shuttles operating in campus / controlled environments, the next challenge lies in scaling this technology to buses and in broader urban areas. This transition raises critical questions about how to create seamless, inclusive, and enjoyable customer experiences that cater to all demographics, ensuring no group is left behind. Particular attention must be given to the needs of women, the elderly, those from different cultures and those people with disabilities or mobility challenges. This session will invite the panel with experience in automated mobility in public transport, the adaptation to a user-centric design, highlighting the importance of cultural and geographical particularities. Together with the audience, we will consider practical considerations for automated buses such as how to open a bus door if there is no driver present, what to do in an emergency, anti-social behaviour, the feeling of security and how to provide access for those people in wheelchairs. Through engaging dialogue and audience participation, this session will consider potential solutions for making automated public transport systems inclusive, safe, and practical for a diverse range of users. This can then inform future policy, deployments and projects in automated transport systems.

Organiser:

• John Paddington, ERTICO - ITS Europe

Moderator:

• Céline Lefort, ERTICO - ITS Europe     

Speakers:

• Anna Anund, VTI    
• Giacomo Cantini, ICOOR     
• Margarita Martínez-Díaz, Universitat Politècnica de Cataluny