policy drivers for future transport r&i priority...

Policy drivers for future Transport R&I priority settingTPC meeting of 5 June 2013

NOTICEThis text represents a preliminary discussion paper, intended to stimulate a common early reflection on how the R&I activities to be undertaken in the years to come can contribute to achieving some key EU policy objectives. This text is meant to offer guidance for the definition of future priority actions.

Innovation has been identified as essential to reach the 2011 Transport White Paper ultimate objective of cutting carbon emissions in transport by 60% by 20501 and a number of other EU policy targets. As a follow up to the White Paper, the Commission adopted on 13 September 2012 a Communication on a Strategic Transport Technology Plan2 (STTP) which identifies a set of ten key technology areas which represent a starting point for defining a fully-fledged innovation strategy for transport at EU level.

Future EU funded actions will have to address the full cycle of research, innovation and deployment in an integrated manner and, hence, should be a catalyst for devising new solutions supporting the shift to a resource-efficient and competitive transport system.

In order to accelerate further the development and market introduction processes, EU support to innovation needs to be embedded within EU policies, and notably transport policy , serving its objectives. This support should be focussed on a set of priorities identified as key enablers to innovation and to growth, that have a strong replication potential and impact at EU level, and that cannot be provided by market forces only.

Future EU funded R&I activities should thus:

– enable the pooling of resources and sharing of risks in research and innovation to develop new technologies, products and services which will contribute to significant improvements of the EU transport system as a whole, minimise the environmental and climate impact of the European transport system, support European transport industry in taking worldwide leadership and allow the sector to achieve the highest levels of safety and security;

– address common problems and non-technological barriers, such as public acceptance and awareness of new technologies, to arrive at solutions with wide applicability;

– allow a better gathering and sharing of data and information to support sound policy making and guide investment decisions;

– facilitate strategic planning at both the technology and transport system levels to ensure a common approach to problems that have a cross-border dimension, such as networks, as well as to optimise the transition towards the transport system of the future;

– ensure coherence and critical mass in cooperation efforts;

1 WHITE PAPER - Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system (COM/2011/0144 final).

2 COM(2012) 501 final – Research and Innovation for Europe's future mobility. This communication refers to the Strategic transport technology plan (STTP).

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– facilitate close coordination of efforts on research and innovation and deployment between all actors concerned and by the related programmes (H2020, CEF, others).

The four transport modes (air, rail, road and waterborne) have to be taken into account, as well as the urban environment as a special case. In addition to that, the integration of the four transport modes is fundamental for a safe and seamless mobility. For all transport modes and particularly for their integration, infrastructures, ITS and logistics are essential. Thus the thematic fields covered here are: aviation, rail, road, waterborne, urban, logistics, ITS and infrastructures.

Aviation

Despite its importance to the economy, the current air transportation system is not operating at its optimum level resulting in negative effects such as additional costs, delays, noise and pollution, affecting both travellers and the general public. A major reason for this situation is that the operational concept of the air traffic and associated standards in the aviation sector has not changed much over the last 50 years to face the traffic increase. This demands the aviation sector to adopt now the future concept of aircraft and operation that will be effective by 2030 onwards.

Over the last decades, the EU has been providing continuous and focussed funding for research and innovation to improve air vehicles and associated products and services. This contributed to bringing the European aeronautics industry to the top level worldwide and this can be considered as a EU success story. To preserve its leadership in a context of globalisation and increasing competition, the EU needs more than ever to be at the leading edge of new aviation technologies and services.

Funding for aviation (i.e. Aeronautics and Air Transport) research has been growing in scale successively over the Framework Programmes, covering a broad range of instruments from smaller breakthrough research topics up to complex and highly integrated large-scale demonstrators. Under FP7, the collaborative research activities have been complemented by the SESAR and Clean Sky Joint Undertakings.

Future research and innovation priorities

Resource efficient transport that respects the environment

In order to reduce the environmental footprint of aviation and at the same time reduce the oil dependency of the sector, it will be necessary to interact at multiple levels. First of all a major effort will need to be invested in the development of aircraft that reduce pollutant emissions and noise and reducing climate change impacts, at the same time consuming less fuel and using less resources for their manufacturing. At a higher level, the entire operational system needs to be reconsidered; this starts by redesigning airport activities to reduce noise and nuisance, but extends to optimising aircraft trajectories (as investigated in SESAR and Clean Sky). Complementary to these activities, effort needs to be put into alternative fuels and measures to support the use and commercialisation of them, maintaining maximum compatibility with existing equipment. Finally, all environmental impacts need to be quantified based on a robust characterisation and monitoring system.

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Better mobility, less congestion, more safety and security

A time efficient management and control of air traffic needs to be researched, developed and deployed (SESAR). The optimisation of the airport operations will also contribute to improve air mobility. ITS will play an important role in providing new tools for operators and passengers (see section on ITS). The resilience of the system when facing crisis is also an aspect that research and innovation can enhance. At the same time, safety needs to be ensured on a system wide level in a context of increasing density and levels of automation of air transport. Safety needs to be addressed through the complete cycle, starting at the design phase. Innovative approaches should be developed to evolve from a reactive mode to a proactive mode.

Global leadership for the European transport industry

Horizon 2020 intends to support the full cycle of innovation, spanning through breakthrough ideas, upstream research focussed on individual technologies, integration of technologies in sub-systems up to large scale demonstration. Collaborative research will provide a broad basis, encompassing the full aviation system, delivering leading edge technologies for the aeronautics industry and the air transport system for all phases, i.e. design, manufacturing, production, maintenance, up to recycling. Joint Undertakings will integrate efforts and perform large scale demonstration in targeted domains such as air traffic management (SESAR) and 'green' aeronautics products and vehicles (Clean Sky).

In addition, actions on investment, regulation, standardisation and certification will complement the technological development and identify and resolve non-research related bottlenecks to innovation. For example, the certification process should evolve at the same pace as design, manufacturing and testing, in order not to become a hindrance to competitiveness.

Rail

In order to fulfil its potential of playing a significant role in meeting future transport needs, the rail industry at large will need to reach a "best in class" profile, heightening its performance in terms of cost, capacity, customer and carbon and competiveness. Set against such uphill challenge, crafting the right R&I strategy will require moving well beyond the boundaries of the technology-oriented innovation. Novel business, organisational and logistic solutions as well as new partnerships with service and technology providers from more advanced sectors are deemed essential to support new economies of scale and the needed search-for-excellence by rail. The R&I strategy below aims to rapidly address manifest weaknesses that hamper rail services and operations by focusing on a broader and more effective exploitation of legacy assets and to engage in a number of game-changers in rail services and operations.


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Energy strategy and management – innovative approaches for improving the efficiency of energy usage in rail systems, embracing vehicles, infrastructure and operation within a whole-system perspective. The end goal is to realize rail energy management solutions of wide-ranging applicability, able to provide end-to-end transmission and distribution equipment and to support it with advanced controls, such as EMS (energy management system) to balance of power generation and demand side. This will optimise energy use, decrease energy waste, minimise CO2 emissions, and increase economic value whilst improving the overall efficiency and total performance of rail operations. This will imply notably the development of smart concepts in intelligent design and management of energy systems for rail that covers all the relevant aspects from concept to implementation through the design, procurement, manufacturing, construction, operation and maintenance phases.

Whole-system approaches – development of innovative techniques and tools to foster an enhanced cross-industry collaboration and whole-system approach to the design, maintenance, delivery and safe operation of rail systems. In particular: Whole-system planning environment based on virtual design concepts to support the delivery of

rail projects from concept to deployment. This should include capabilities for the definition of project requirements based on well-reasoned and evidence-based valuation approaches, for overall system optimisation on multi-criteria basis (e.g. performance, reliability...), for quantitative risk analysis and risk management.

Decision-support systems for maintenance and renewal operations, based on life-cycle modelling and costing tools, that provide insight on the potential impacts on service, customers and operations, whilst enabling comprehensive assessments for work volumes, costs and outputs.

Advanced asset management systems based on real-time/Big Data, smart sensors technologies and predictive analytical approaches for condition-based monitoring of critical rail assets – notably infrastructure assets. These should support the deployment of predictive maintenance strategies with the potential to lead to step-changes in the reliability of railway mobile and infrastructure assets, thereby maximising uptime while minimising running costs.


Next generation traffic management – advanced intelligent and automated traffic management systems supporting a holistic approach to the optimisation of rail operation, at network, route and train level. The aim is to reach highly reliable and resilient systems based on state-of-the-art information and communication technologies that are evolvable and reconfigurable to meet rapid obsolescence and scalability necessities. Particular emphasis should be given to data analytics from trains and the infrastructure for purposes of goal-oriented predictive and adaptive control of the traffic or to minimise disturbances with a view to ensuring a minimum impact on services delivered and to increasing capacity.

Data and communications – innovative data collection/processing and communication systems are key research priorities for providing complete accurate and timely information to railway personnel, passengers and freight customers and for supporting enhanced processes, for example for asset management, while optimising energy usage. This will include the development of new methods to provide situational awareness capabilities in multimodal transport networks - to flexibly integrate and

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combine information from existing and emerging transport sensor systems (including social media) and to consistently propagate uncertainty through the data fusion process.

Besides, there will be a necessity to think in more unconventional terms and to prepare a roadmap of a rail vision of the future. Emerging notions such as New Generation of Vehicle Concepts3, Levelled Customer Experience4 and Smart Infrastructure5 will be at the core of the build-up of such effort.

However, such an exercise requires a mix of talents from within and from outside the rail sector to pursue a fresh outlook on problems and solutions that have often been seen as the trademark of the sector for decades. A joint initiative by the European rail suppliers aimed at changing the business and industrial paradigm that has ruled the sector for decades could potentially constitute one of the best opportunities for Europe to quick-start a process of reaction to global challenges. For such an attempt to be successful, it would need to question the basics how rail products are conceived, industrialised and operated.

Road

The road sector is responsible for the lion's share (approx. 70%)6 of the whole transport system's GHG emissions; light duty vehicles account for 15% of overall EU carbon dioxide emissions7 while Heavy Duty Vehicles represent a smaller but growing share. At the same time the growth in the demand for road transport in the EU has been spectacular: 36% in the freight sector (measured in tonne-kilometres) and 20% in passenger transport (measured in passenger-kilometres) between 1995 and 20108. In order to meet the White Paper and the Clean Power for Transport initiatives'9 60% sustainability goal, it is evident that, in absolute terms, the bulk of the effort will have to be delivered by the road sector. This will require a portfolio of complementary solutions - improvement of conventional technologies will be vital in the next decades but in the longer term will need to be accompanied by technological breakthroughs with the goal of reducing lifecycle GHG emissions per unit of transport. Additional ameliorations will still be feasible as a result of a better utilization and management of the whole transport system mainly enabled by advanced information and communication technologies (ICT).

The projects under the 7th Framework Programme have supported a very wide range of pathways with a technologically neutral approach from basic research and to industrial demonstration, with the view to contribute to reaching the European policy agenda goals. A lot of work has been performed by the European Green Cars Initiative, with the overall EU contribution of approx. 500 M € and the Fuel Cell

3 incorporating e.g. Wireless on-board train command and management systems architectures, leading to the creation of a new generation of connected rail cars enabling future-oriented operational concepts such as ATO, platooning and virtual coupling and Innovative lightweight and cost-effective car body construction techniques, using e.g. modular, multi-materials components that enable enhanced automation and serviceability.

4 enabling to focus services and operations/assets on the needs of individual customers, business and citizens alike.

5 bringing the full potential of the Web as well as whole new visions on construction technologies and practices towards developing a more resilient, flexible, scalable, and reliable rail infrastructure capable of yielding higher returns in productivity, in serviceability and in adaptability to change at acceptable costs.

6 http://ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/statistics/doc/2012/pocketbook2012.pdf; p.1257 SWD (2012) 213 of 11 July 20128 http://ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/statistics/doc/2012/pocketbook2012.pdf; pp. 36, 469 http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/cpt/index_en.htm

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http://ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/statistics/doc/2012/pocketbook2012.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/statistics/doc/2012/pocketbook2012.pdf

and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, with approx. 150 M € of EC funds devoted to transport & refuelling infrastructure, mainly road related. The results have been very impressive. Still, the efforts must be continued, and even stepped up under H2020 in view of the global competitive pressure that the road sector is facing. Particular emphasis will be on supporting measures to promote commercialisation and mass deployment of the most mature technologies.



Better vehicle efficiency for both HDV and LDV will be achieved through advanced clean propulsion technologies (including adaptation to alternative energies in line with the Clean Power for Transport initiative). Particular emphasis should be given to projects that reduce "real driving emissions" ICEs and the next generation of hybrid and fully electric vehicles. In particular large efforts will be devoted to the development of reliable and efficient energy storage systems for battery-electric vehicles and low rare earth content motors. Further improvements in energy-efficiency will be delivered by the reduction of vehicles' complexity and weight, improved aerodynamics and reduced rolling resistance. Specific infrastructure needs will be considered and in particular attention will be given to the development of new charging methods for electric vehicles, including inductive stationary and in-motion charging.


Integration and interoperability of key components of the transport system, in particular information, charging & payment and comprehensive intelligent traffic management strategies will contribute to raising the efficiency of the whole transport system. They are more of a cross-modal nature and will be more extensively handled under the ITS, Logistics & Urban Mobility parts of this document.

Road safety is a critical area to implement the White Paper's zero-fatalities vision by 2050, and halving them by 2020 (compared to 2010). This will be achieved by applying a holistic approach to safety addressing 3 main elements: road user, vehicle, and infrastructure. Better understanding of the biomechanical and behavioural factors of road users is a prerequisite in order to improve testing, modelling and simulation as well as to effectively influence the user behaviour in traffic. Integration of human factors in road infrastructure engineering as well as "interactive" infrastructure (e.g. cooperative systems) will contribute to enhancing the safety level of road users. On the vehicle side, the key research areas will include advanced driver support and automated driving systems, integrated active and passive safety, safety of new vehicles types (with special emphasis on crash compatibility between light and heavy vehicles). Particular attention should be given to research on road infrastructure and vehicle technologies to improve protection of Vulnerable Road Users. Another priority will be the development of innovative tools and methods for cost efficient traffic safety analysis to ensure a thorough knowledge of accident causation and mitigation.


In view of the economic significance of the road sector, it is crucial that the European road industry remains highly competitive in order to preserve and secure its global leadership position. R&D is by far the most important driver for company innovations, and the capacity to innovate will be the key to

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surpassing the competitors. The ability to maintain the global leadership in terms of the development of future generation of road vehicles, such as electric and automated cars, will be critical for the European industry. Such vehicles will require cost-efficient and highly flexible design and manufacturing techniques that allow meeting the demand for more customized, easier recyclable, more sustainable transport means and shortening the order fulfilment time. This, in turn will be based upon improved supply chain management taking into account the realities of globalized sourcing. Securing access to critical raw materials and components combined with efforts leading to the reduction of their use will therefore be of key importance.

The topics identified above will be covered by the successor of the Green Car Initiative - the European Green Vehicle Initiative (EGVI), with the overall aim of "Improving Energy Efficiency of Vehicles and Alternative Powertrains". It will include all types of vehicles (from passenger cars, through trucks to powered-two wheelers). The research related to fuel cells and hydrogen will be continued by the extended Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU II) under H2020. The areas out of scope of EGVI or FCH JU will be addressed by collaborative research.

Waterborne

The challenge for the waterborne transport industry (transport operators, auxiliary services and downstream supply industries, including shipyards and marine equipment manufacturers) is to sustain and build upon the achievements made so far in balancing safe and secure, but still competitive waterborne transport, with an expected increase in waterborne transport volumes in the mid- and long term future while at the same time increasing sustainability and resource efficiency over the entire transport chain and the vessel life cycle. Increasing transport volumes stem from ever more globalisation, increasing demand for energy and food, shifting trade patterns and the environmental imperative to move freight from roads to rail and water in Europe. Waterborne industries need to facilitate this increased demand, by ensuring continuous and cost effective improvements in competitiveness as well as strengthening seafaring and port professions in the EU and keeping the environmental footprint of waterborne transport operations to a minimum. Innovative solutions should find quickly their ways to the market (including non-EU export markets) and be deployed on the largest scale.



The greening of waterborne transport has become a global topic of major importance. Europe needs to address the sustainability and the environmental performance of shipping with a wide range of actions for "cleaner" fuels and increased energy efficiency, greener technologies (incl. freight handling equipment and operations in ports), measures for monitoring, managing and reducing emissions and pollution in general, including noise, wastes and recycling, through life cycle perspectives and multi-disciplinary approaches. Reducing GHG emissions from all aspects of waterborne transport will be a key objective.


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Efficiency of ship operations and traffic management (both including inland navigation) should be enhanced further through new technologies for faster cargo handling as well as for the protection, monitoring and maintenance of critical information infrastructures such as port community systems, surveillance and emergency response information systems. This should be helped further thanks to more integrated ICT and ITS solutions to enable more efficient planning, booking, monitoring and control of ships, traffic, cargoes and passengers.

With regard to ship safety10, research should aim to improve EU capabilities to manage ship safety and reduce the risk of accidents and incidents, losses and air and water pollution through proactive and remedial operations. The resilience of vessels and their systems should be improved as well. Equally important is the deployment of competences, systems and tools for monitoring, assessing and managing critical situations under distress and emergency situations. Recent incidents brought to the public attention some of the organisational and regulatory shortcomings in the maritime industry and the need for supports to minimise the human errors and deploy best operational practice across the industry.


The R&I efforts have to be focused on integrated, user-friendly solutions (vessel, equipment, life-cycle support, recycling). The excellence of the European capabilities, products and services need to be continuously improved through innovation in technologies and processes. A life cycle approach has to be implemented, translating new technical, regulatory and business requirements into improved designs, materials, production technologies and processes. Integrated monitoring and control systems, innovative equipment and resource efficient and innovative engines and vessels have to be developed, with due respect to usability, modularity and cost effectiveness.

Socio-economic research and forward looking activities

The European waterborne sector is very much dependent upon the availability of skilled personnel. The growing shortage of qualified professionals weakens the whole sector and related industries. Actions for attracting and retaining professionals by offering lifelong career prospects and enhanced mobility should be developed, both on the ship and onshore, including measures aimed at improving safety and health, working conditions and accessibility of information/communication systems for infotainment, social networking and effective training, education and professional support, quality of life on board ships and, in general, the well-being of the employees.

Urban

At a strategic level, EU funded actions on research and innovation focussed so far on developing new mobility strategies and solutions for passengers and goods in cities and their surrounding areas, as well as on reducing the negative impacts, such as congestion, noise and environmental pollution. At a more practical level, research and innovation has been directed at high quality public transport, improving traffic circulation and demand management, for example through the use of intelligent transport systems. A key focus was on improving accessibility for all citizens. Research and innovation has also addressed next generation urban mobility concepts and innovative approaches to city logistics.10 Managing ship safety and the associated risks is a life-cycle process that starts with the design phase and continues throughout the

life of the vessel including the conditions that she has been operated. Harmonised and formal processes for managing risks in shipping need to be addressed systematically and with a life-cycle approach.

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A significant challenge is how to bring the results of the research to the market and to turn innovation into business opportunities, thereby fostering growth and employment. Here, the CIVITAS Initiative has enabled local public authorities to become key players in the innovation process for better and more sustainable urban mobility and transport. The CIVITAS Initiative has brought cities together and allowed them to demonstrate and evaluate integrated packages of next technologies and innovative service concepts. CIVITAS has strengthened in particular the demand side of the innovation process and has produced knowledge on impacts of solutions and barriers to implementation.



Developing new technological, management and service solutions and approaches for urban transport: research and innovation needs to address policy tools for phasing out conventional vehicles, including demand management, an area where mainstreaming in policy has started but the knowledge base is limited, with special interest for urban charging, parking management, access control and regulation, public transport priority and mobility management. Another priority area is fare policy for public transport and for pricing of urban mobility in general, where, with the rapid development of smart cards new fare options emerge but at the same time there are requests for greater harmonisation.

CIVITAS 2020 builds on the EC-supported research and innovation work undertaken so far, in and outside of the current CIVITAS Initiative. The projects will allow cities to test and validate integrated sets of innovative technical, policy-based, and soft measures – and their integration into the existing transport system and planning framework – prior to their implementation. All measures implemented in CIVITAS demonstration projects are evaluated in terms of impact and process. CIVITAS 2020 will become even better focussed towards EU objectives and new means will be introduced to promote information exchange and market uptake. There will be more flexibility for cities in defining their integrated measure-set.

Transports' contribution to ‘Smart Cities’ will cover projects in which cross-sectorial cooperation and aligned innovation effort in the areas of transport, energy and ICT are needed. Projects specifically aim at scaling up (i.e. moving towards deployment) solutions that have been successfully tested but where the market presently doesn't provide the right incentives in terms of contents or timing. .

Smart mobility - developing new technological, management and service solutions and approaches for urban transport: research and innovation needs to address smart mobility and ITS, including multimodal network management, traveller services, and further R&I work on Car-to-Car and Car-to-Infrastructure communication, with particular emphasis on supporting the preparation of the market uptake and preparation of deployment of these technologies. Another area where mainstreaming in policy has started but the knowledge base is still limited is urban freight. The focus should be on improving the affordability of new solutions for freight consolidation and on innovative last-mile delivery solutions.

New concepts - developing new technological, management and service solutions and approaches for urban transport: research and innovation actions need to address new mobility and transport concepts for urban areas both for freight and passengers. In addition, they should cover public

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transport systems of the future, covering further work on improving the attractiveness of public transport systems, covering bus, metro, tram and trolleybus systems and including interchanges, in an effort to stop the decline of public transport use in especially small and medium sized cities.

Socio-economic research and forward looking activities

Specific urban work under the socio-economic section will address, among others, transport and land use, statistics, evaluation, questions related to societal change and accessibility, how to measure city accessibility / congestion at city level with an intermodal perspective, asset management, and the potential impacts of new ICT technologies on urban transport. In addition, a 'permanently open call' for prospective ideas and solutions to be explored or tested according to a standard assessment methodology looking at technical and market viability. Support actions are needed to facilitate collection and exchange of information, cooperation and mutual learning between the technicians, decision makers and industry, through among others high quality cross city measure evaluation; to active dissemination of results at EU and at national level; and to offering services and incentives to promote market take up for innovative solutions and specific actions related to international cooperation.

Logistics

The increasing dependence of the fragmented EU logistics11 industry on information for lean, efficient and sustainable operations emerges as one of the greatest challenge. Information sharing and collaboration through a common technological, legal and economic framework are considered by experts as key enablers to serve customers' requirements. Key to achieve a interconnected and green logistics chain is therefore innovation and exploitation of ICT along and across the value chain, available to all relevant actors, simple to use and thus also suited to SMEs and their long economic tail. ICT has been identified by experts as being capable of tackling the many challenges facing the transport sector both within each of the modes and, most importantly, in creating interfaces and integration between the modes.

Innovation in logistics is recognised by the sector as being primarily a business-related activity and a task for industry. Nevertheless, there is an important issue concerning the sharing of information between business and authorities, which has a negative impact on the efficiency of transport. Customs is the most eloquent player, but there also other authorities in relation to health, safety, etc. Therefore the EU has a clear role to play in finding ways to integrate the parts to make an interoperable, flexible and efficient logistics system leveraging technology to intelligently connect key stakeholders and constituents with information and expertise. It would foster Europe's competitive advantage in customer intimacy, operational efficiency and market competitiveness.

Logistics by design means to reconsider production and distribution processes, firstly by the manufacturers themselves. Major shippers, who have been forefront runners in the last years to innovate in the supply chain management, are key within their own internal production and distribution processes. "Avoidance of transport" is an option that becomes more and more a reality rather than a dream.

11 Transport logistics research encompasses the whole door-to-door supply chain, including non-transport activities (production, storage and handling operations), processes and facilities. Innovation across this wider system can exert a strong influence on the way European freight transport is planned and managed.

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Resource efficient transport that respect the environment

Sharing information for efficient transport - R&I actions should look for solutions to enable actors to take fast and well-informed decisions inside and cross-companies. This implies that information with right quality, reliable and sufficient content is made available to concerned actors and shared. For instance, evolvable and reconfigurable cross-modal tracking and tracing technologies that are adapted to the ever-evolving dynamics of the value chain should be developed as well as systems that could gather and provide information on cargo unit movements throughout the EU to optimise the loading of cargo carriers. Adding semantics to different levels of Internet of Things would ensure that data originating from different sources is unambiguously accessible and process-able across different domains and users. This needs to be demonstrated and its costs and benefits quantified along an active supply chain.

A common platform for pan-European communication should be put in place through combining different technologies such as GNSS and 3G/4G services in a novel way, smart, and interoperable containers, development of location technologies, interfaces between the GNSS and the vehicle and its CAN-bus through an On Board Unit that addresses regulatory functions such as the tachograph, tolling functions, route guidance (made dynamic as services are realised) as well as the provision of logistics management information and communication.

Sustainability - R&I efforts should be focussed on optimising the efficiency and ensure sustainability of logistics processes along the complete value chain. In particular, a carbon footprint calculator methodology should be developed as well as the appropriate mechanisms to encourage logistics service providers, carriers and shippers to make operational decisions to minimize their environmental impact..


Increased cooperation - R&I actions should enable all partners in the logistics value chain to work together, collaborate, optimise reliable relationships and therefore maximise value and benefit. The potential for tactical cooperation and collaboration between the different players in the logistics field should be fully assessed and promoted. "Cooperative" transport infrastructure, connecting the vehicle and the transported goods to the local transport network and through this to a wide range of information and management services should also be demonstrated.

Socio economic research and forward looking activities

Blue Sky Thinking - the above priorities relate to logistics as it is currently organised by the most advanced practitioners or where the advent of developed ICT systems and services are envisaged as future planning. However, the development of transport services into new directions could well have significant implication for sustainable logistics. These more 'blue sky' developments need to be trailed and validated and include: Continuous conveyor for containers which moves containers on their desired destination in a fully automated way, Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) outside the factory or port, Foldable containers and Exclusive Transport Infrastructure.

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Intelligent Transport systems (ITS)

The application of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) including Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has a past, present and future. The past was driven by the authorities with the Commission trying to roll-out common services across the TEN-T network, and within the other sectors (RIS, ETMC and TAF-TSI, etc.). However, efforts to spread ITS applications, for instance on the road network through the Easyway programme are meeting with limited success; to a greater or lesser extent in the densely populated, traffic congested 'blue-banana' economic belt while other Authorities are looking for cheaper solutions and possibly not currently experiencing the congestion problems that would justify the cost and effort today.

The future is in a greater collaboration between all the stakeholders (telecom, road and transport operators, service providers, banking sector…) and so a role of the EU would be to facilitate the interoperable interactions between transport information, billing, ticketing, freight-forwarding, supply chain monitoring, traffic management, etc.


Resource efficient transport that respect the environment

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can provide an accurate and real time climate environmental impact of transport system. The combination of vehicle tracking system, such satellite AIS for ships, combined contextual system (e.g. weather conditions reporting, congestion, etc.) can ensure an accurate monitoring, reporting and verification of climate and environmental impact of transport modes. Such systems could reduce the administrative burden of transport service companies while provide providing useful insight for policy makers.


Optimal use of road, traffic and travel data to improve mobility - R&I activities preparing the market take up of modal traffic management, information and planning systems are needed as well as large scale demonstration projects in the field of multimodal travel information and planning systems (including integrated ticketing) while continuing to pursue the work on access and sharing of data.

Activities focused on user charging/payment systems that are interoperable Europe-wide, control and parking management, emergency management, as well as a new European multi-modal management and information system are also desirable, creating synergies with Galileo applications.

Business models for co-mobility services and combination of co-mobility services should be identified and developed. These business models should include the service definition, the organisational structure/value chain, the financial framework and technology harmonisation. Full cost-benefit analysis of ITS and ICT tools need to be done and a best-practice guidebook developed.

Continuity of traffic and freight management ITS services - there is the need for activities aiming at supporting the rollout of information platforms, suitable for all stakeholders (including small players), for bundling and consolidation purposes, as well as development of the “single window” and “one-

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stop administrative shop" concepts in support of e-freight, and actions on applications and services for goods tracking and tracing using state-of-the-art location technologies.

ITS road safety applications - research and innovation activities on on-board Human-Machine-Interface, including devices traditionally built into the vehicle as well as the "nomadic devices", which are increasingly brought in. These activities should help in defining the required measures for the safe use and operation while driving as well as facilitating the safe integration of information and communication services and functionalities such as those related to traffic and travel information.

In addition, activities should be conducted in order to assess the impacts of ITS applications and services on safety and comfort of vulnerable road users and in order to detail concrete measures in order to enhance positive impacts or to limit/mitigate negative effects.

Activities in order to protect freight, passengers and transport workers and to secure transport facilities and assets, taking also into account the impacts of cybercrime and exploring possible governance forms to be put in place when the application and control mechanism lies outside the direct responsibility of the authorities. Linking the vehicle with the transport infrastructure - R&I activities are needed leading to a step forward on an open in-vehicle platform architecture for the provision of ITS services and applications, including standard interfaces. Also the market take-up of cooperative systems (infrastructure-to-infrastructure (I2I), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication) should be prepared. Smart infrastructure (including traffic management, road user charging, fuelling infrastructure) should be developed.

Infrastructure

Efficient and quality transport infrastructure is a prerequisite for the mobility of people and goods and for Europe's economic growth, competitiveness and territorial cohesion. The long term vision is to enable a resource efficient, smarter and safer transport infrastructure where solutions are designed for sustainability, giving proper attention to climatic, environmental, safety, and energy-use considerations. To achieve this long term vision under current budget constraints, key in the near future will be to find solutions to boost productivity of infrastructure - i.e. to get more value from each euro invested. It implies that the current infrastructure products, processes and services are re-engineered to keep up pace with political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal trends.



Although the building and operation of infrastructure itself accounts for about 1% of the total energy consumption (i.e. carbon footprint) of transport, low-carbon construction and energy-harvesting solutions would improve the energy efficiency of the infrastructure. These solutions include the reduction of the energy embodied in the physical structures through reuse and recycling, implementing low energy systems and harvesting energy from infrastructure to the extent of net production.

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A better integration of infrastructure in its natural habitat together with a reduced intrusion of noise, air pollution and vibration should be achieved. This includes also the appropriate adaptation measures to climate change and other disturbances.

Key factors also include solutions that enable seamless integrated transport through optimal inter-connectivity between the modes, which would allow more choice for the transport user’s movement from origin to destination as well as it would yield more flexibility in transport flow patterns, optimally responding to changes in conditions on the network (e.g. weather, works, incidents).

Innovative infrastructure specific systems and services should be developed in order to enable appropriate decision making for the operator, manager, owner and user of the transport infrastructure on the basis of complete, consistent and dependable, real time cross-modal data and information. This incorporates advanced safety technologies for early warning and enhanced rescue services and advanced security systems non hindering the normal flow of passengers and freight (“control in motion”).


Smarter design, construction and maintenance - Key to improving capacity and availability of the existing transport infrastructure network are innovative systems and processes for construction that support a transition to zero intrusion from inspection and maintenance (less, faster and better planned interventions with maximum safety for the workers). New material technologies for preservation and upgrading of existing infrastructure, in particular, innovative self-healing and self-cleaning materials (e.g. application of nanotechnology to coatings or asphalt), would also reduce the need of such interventions.

Innovative design and construction methods that are fast, cost-efficient, using long-lasting materials and flexible enough to accommodate increasing/changing demand are necessary. In particular, implementing advanced construction concepts and processes for corridors and hubs, i.e. flexible design and modular concepts, use of long-lasting materials, low rolling resistance pavements and advanced predictive models.

Identifying and disseminating the best organisational and technical practices would lead to quicker delivery of repair and rehabilitation.

Smart governance and streamlined delivery of construction plans - systems to establish comprehensive digital data documenting the full history of infrastructure and its components should be developed and disseminated. This should encompass the development/improvement of data collection methods as well as non-intrusive, non-destructive inspection and testing systems including embedded monitoring systems.

Sophisticated and innovative procurement should be developed accompanied by adequate monitoring systems, contracting and tendering methods. Management tools should also be developed to provide help in project delivery as well as tools to analyze the positions of the stakeholders affected and find compromise solutions.

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