VTT to improve public transport for passengers

The Finnish research centre will for the next three and a half years lead an effort to develop a range of user-centric services and vehicle technologies in order to pave the way for a more sustainable mobility system with a greater degree of autonomy.

A part of Horizon Europe, the OptiPEx project was launched in response to two major trends in the mobility space: the shifts from private cars toward public transport and from human-controlled toward self-driving transport. It aims to leverage advanced vehicle technologies and real-time data on the passenger experience to deliver increased comfort, convenience and safety to passengers.

By improving service quality and passenger satisfaction, the services are expected to accelerate the transition to automated and sustainable public transport solutions.

“Our co-creation process, coupled with scenario-building techniques, will give us valuable insights into passenger needs and preferences and policy implications and trade-offs associated with different decisions,” commented Johanna Kallio, senior scientist at VTT.

The project will also take into consideration a number of special-needs groups, such as students, tourists, wheelchair users and passengers carrying large objects.

The services devised by the international project team will be showcased and validated in three so-called living labs, or real-life innovation ecosystems, with two tram and one shuttle connection in Finland, Austria and Germany. The team will additionally carry out studies of passenger needs in Spain.

The EU hopes that the services will allow for seamless interaction between passengers and vehicles, as well as deliver positive economic, environmental and societal impacts that contribute to the competitive edge of European public transport operators.

Officially kicked off on 15–16 May, the project has been allocated four million euros in funding by the union.