Event

At the upcoming annual Transportforum event in Linköping, January 8-9, 2020, which brings together the Swedish transport and mobility community, SAFER will a session about Road Safety on the European Horizon.

Transport research and innovation was one session topic at the Transportforum 2019. At the session, an overview was given, particularly focusing a number of key road transport topics. Entering 2020 we are one year closer to Horizon Europe and numerous activities have and are taking place in order to support the upcoming R&I framework programme. These include direction setting documents for climate, energy and transport. Furthermore, the European technology platforms, as well as other forums which gather a range of stakeholders, have published updated roadmaps. 

This session gives an up-to-date overview of the Horizon programmes, and in particular Horizon Europe, before focusing on road safety. Relevant roadmaps from the technology platform for road transport research, ERTRAC, and EARPA, the European Automotive Research Providers Association, are presented. Road safety issues relating to cooperative, connected and automated mobility is one of the aspects.  Results of Horizon 2020 and examples of areas needing further attention will also be discussed.

PROGRAM

European Horizons: 2020 and  Europe;  Mikael Sundh, Vinnova

In 2014 the European Commission kicked off Horizon 2020. Since then three multi-year work programmes have been launched. One of the main objectives with Horizon 2020 is to address Societal Challenges, of which road safety is one. Over the years, a number of research topics have been directly devoted to road safety. Calls addressing e.g. connected and automated driving, ITS or infrastructure often include enhanced road safety as one of the key objectives.

Horizon Europe, the next framework programme, is currently under development. It is expected to be even more driven by global challenges as well as competitiveness. The launch is expected sometime during this year and the European Commission is proposing a total budget of € 100 billion for research and innovation during 2021-2027.

We will outline the following areas:

- Objectives and work programmes, how does the EU meet the challenges?

- How does Sweden draw benefits from the EU-programmes?

- Horizon Europe, what happens now?

The road to Road Safety  -- ERTRAC Roadmap – Magnus Granström, SAFER
In its Vision for 2050, the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) provides long-term objectives for the improvement of road transport in the coming three decades. Being safe and secure at any time when using the European road transport system is included as an important objective in this vision. However, the EU is actually in a phase of stagnation in its efforts to improve road safety. Fatality and in particular injury figures have remained nearly constant since 2013. As a consequence, important European safety targets are getting out of reach.

Clearly intensified efforts for the improvement of road safety are needed, and research and innovation are key factors here. In this roadmap, ERTRAC proposes a set of eleven high-priority road safety research needs with a suggested timing for their inclusion in “Horizon Europe”, the next EU framework programme. Research and innovation projects addressing these needs should give ample room for citizens and road users themselves to engage. The overall scope of the roadmap is broad, covering all elements of the road transport system, all road transport modes and all phases from preventive to post-crash safety.

The presentation will cover the overall aspects as well as delving into some specific examples with high relevance to Swedish actors

On the horizon: connected & automated driving – an enabler for safer road travel – CAD – ERTRAC Roadmap – Mats Rosenqvist, AB Volvo
The Connected Automated Driving working group within ERTRAC has developed an updated roadmap released in 2019. This roadmap provides development paths for connected automated; personal cars, freight vehicles and urban mobility vehicles. The roadmap has also provided a list of challenge-areas that needs to be addressed in order to meet expected deployment of CAD in Europe. This presentation will provide an overview of this roadmap update and discuss what challenges are important to address to secure that CAD technologies will be an enabler for improved road safety.

The presentation will also provide information regarding the ongoing CSA (Coordination and Support Action) ARCADE, see https://connectedautomateddriving.eu/ and the latest development from the Cooperative, Connected, Automated and Autonomous Mobility (CCAM) Single Platform that consist of an informal group of both private and public stakeholders organized by the European Commission.

At the horizon: the future mobility – EARPA Roadmap – Margriet von Schijndel, EARPA
EARPA’s mission is to promote awareness and understanding of the specific role and contribution of R&D providers in the automotive sector and reinforce the high-tech character of the automotive industry as well as its potential for future innovation and new opportunities. In this context, the development of future transport systems that are sustainable and safe is of utmost importance.

European mobility is in a period of change, fuelled by several coinciding trends. Some examples:
-  Social drivers include demographic changes such as increasing migration towards urban areas, an aging population, and shifting user preferences.  This has a strong impact on mobility for people and goods.
- Regulatory drivers include environmental and health policies, more stringent standardization, as well as a drive towards zero fatalities and severe injuries from transport accidents.
- Disruptive technology drivers include electrification and automation, as well as data and AI revolutions.

Based on these factors, a number of key challenges have been identified and will be presented. One of the main conclusions is that the successful European model with strong collaboration between stakeholders need to be continued and supported.

Moderator: Ingrid Skogsmo