Offering sustainable urban transportation
The problem of traffic congestion and its negative effects in large cities is widespread. Now, however, new technology vehicles combined with revolutionary approaches to urban transport systems and services, can contribute significantly to urban sustainability and a cleaner environment. An EC funded project, NETMOBIL has merged a group of other projects as well as research from Europe, North American and Japan to address urban transport systems and services. Before a dissemination strategy could be developed, applications and common areas were analysed. Some of these included barriers and risks, user needs, legal and institutional issues, technologies, evaluation issues and research needs. Furthermore a roadmap for implementation and deployment was designed and a review and analysis of case studies was conducted to clarify the transport and business cases for the various systems. Following this, two roadmaps were identified for implementing potentially sustainable personal urban transportation systems. One is for ADAS systems which can lead to the use of cleaner, greener, safer and more efficient vehicles. The other is for PRT/CTS systems which can provide the same benefits but through public transport rather than through a personal vehicle. The goal of both is to supply automatic vehicle alternatives to the use of private cars in urban areas. These approaches and their contributions have been compared, and necessary steps for successful deployment for both have been distinguished. Among the final results from the project are recommendations for authorities at city, national and European levels. These include acknowledging the potential of NETMOBIL solutions for sustainable transport as well as a means for facilitating their adoption. Dissemination has taken place via numerous papers and presentations by NETMOBIL partners, via the NETMOBIL web site, and primarily through two workshops.