150,000 commercial rides per week in October 2024: Waymo is demonstrating in the cities of San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles what a large-scale deployment of an automated mobility service in a city can look like. While companies like Waymo and Zoox aim to transform the ride-hailing market in the US, European cities are pursuing a different vision: close integration with public transport through shared vehicles. Oslo, for example, plans to deploy a fleet of 30,000 automated vehicles to replace 600,000 private cars in the region. Similarly, Hamburg has set an ambitious target of 10,000 automated vehicles for demand-responsive transport.
However, many other cities have paid little attention to the role of automated mobility in their transport systems. With the revised TEN-T regulation coming into force in July 2024, 431 European cities have been designated as urban Nodes. This designation requires them to develop Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). In drafting these plans, cities are encouraged to account for the role of automated mobility and its potential to contribute to sustainable urban transport.
»The phased integration of CCAM is striking, as it requires addressing systemic needs like administrative capacity and knowledge-building within SUMPs. This approach is surprising because it highlights that these issues must be tackled not just for CCAM but for future urban developments – such as data handling, AI, and similar innovations. «
Portrait Clarisse de Cerjat © Adélaïde de Cerjat
Clarisse de Cerjat
Project Coordinator, EUROCITIES
Vienna has become the first Austrian city to articulate a clear position on automated mobility. Between 2023 and 2024, the city developed Vienna’s position paper on automated mobility. The focus was on determining the necessary steps to ensure that automated driving contributes to keeping Vienna one of the most liveable cities in the world.
"Automated mobility will play a significant role sooner or later. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the impacts early on and intervene with control measures if necessary. The central question for Vienna is: Under what conditions does automated mobility improve urban life, and how does it actively contribute to climate protection?"
Portrait Clemens Horak © C. Jobst / Stadt Wien
Clemens Horak
Head of the Department for Urban Development and Planning, City of Vienna
As part of the SHOW project, EUROCITIES, in collaboration with other project partners, has explored cities' perspectives on automated mobility. Recommendations, tools, and a brochure for cities are now available on the EUROCITIES website.
