FUTURE-HORIZON

Future on-/off-road transport and mobility research, cross-border cooperation strategies, realization actions and procurement processes

Profiling future directions of Road Transport Research worldwide

FUTURE-HORIZON is a H2020 EU project that aims to support the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC), the future Horizon Europe partnerships of the upcoming framework programme Horizon Europe and the European Commission in identifying future research needs for upcoming R&I programmes to further facilitate a sustainable and efficient road transport system in Europe, while also extensively fostering international cooperation.

In addition, the project aims to contribute to the realization of the Green Deal objectives, as well as incorporate aspects of digitalization where possible. Through its strong international actions, the project fosters the development of inclusive societies and thereby helping to reduce economic, social and territorial disparities.

To explore opportunities for complementing the strategic planning of the well-established road transport research (RTR) ecosystem in Europe by analysis, benchmark and collaborations with other world regions, a list of main players of the RTR ecosystem, divided into research institutes, suppliers, OEMS, mobility services providers and innovation policy has been elaborated. This has been completed with information about public funding programs and political framework conditions, and relevant technical innovations and socio-economic developments in road transport resulting in comprehensive factsheets for the United States of America, China, Japan and South Korea. The analysis covers the topical areas environment, electrification, automation and connectivity, urban mobility, freight and logistics as well as road safety. For these areas, the factsheets summarise relevant innovation policy goals, funding programmes and ongoing and planned road transport research activities. A map provides a list of road transport players from the value chain, research and development institutes and mobility service providers for connectivity services to respective innovation policy actors. The factsheets shed light on specific socio-economic developments and impacts of the pandemic influencing research and development in road transport. The countries were profiled regarding their strategic direction for road transport research they are going to take. Future trends have been derived from government plans, company announcements and assessments of stakeholders, and have been reviewed by relevant reference points (ambassadors) in the different markets and countries. The relevant findings have been allocated to the corresponding topics of the ERTRAC Working Groups (Energy & Environment, Connectivity and Automated Driving, Urban Mobility, Freight & Logistics, Road Transport Safety & Security).

The outcome for the USA is shown in the picture below as an example, while the factsheets for China, Japan and South Korea can be found here.

Research in alternative fuels for heavy duty trucks (e.g. REFUEL projects funded by DOE, 2016)

BecomeAD market leader& safeguardcybersecurity& ensureprivacy6

Freedom of choice for consumers (manually/

Enhance inclusivity and accessibility, e.g. through automated driving6

2045: 100% electric truckssalesin California

Safe System Approach: Speed reg., safe vehicle design and infrastructure

Guarantee safety of automated driving6

Bipartisan Law:

Promotion of PHEVs (e.g. through DOE accelerator programme, 20 m$)

CARMA: Collaborative driving open source development (FHWA)

Complete Trip Programme: Intermodal transport (40 m$, ITS JPO)

Supertruck3: i.a. newenergy vehicle development(199 m$, DOE)

Road Safety

Connected Vehicle Pilot Programme (USDOT): Advanced

RTR for vehicle automation pushes research in advanced manufacturing, and vehicle-based decision making using AI& quantum computing

Automated delivery with light duty vehicles and drones (ODOT) amount of energy use through automated driving (DOE3)

UDELV: The start-up delivers groceries and goods for Walmart for mid-and lastmile by its automated, modular container pods.

V2V and V2I demonstration with 5G (CARMA, FHWA) on data-driven fleet management for shared micro mobility (Santa Monica, CA)

Car-centric mobility system

Strong IT-industry and startups as drivers for innovation

Cost-intensive, usually governmental tasks like provision of charging infrastructure are carried out in some cases by the private sector

Shortage of about 60.000 drivers in the logistic sector

Connected Vehicle Pilot Programme: In the NYC-pilot, vehicles connected to road side units and wirelessly with each other test safety issues with pedestrians with/without disabilities (USDOT//NYCDOT)

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programmeunder grant agreement No 101006598. This document reflects only the author’s view. The Commission and CINEA Agency are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

The FUTURE_HORIZON project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101006598.

This article reflects only the author's view. The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and the European Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

United Auto Union and the three Detroit OEMs neglected bailouts 2 b$ grants for transport providers during COVID-19 pandemic due to low occupancy rate

Automated delivery start-up like Nurogained market share for delivery of pharmaceutics and medical goods

Automateddrivingresearchfundingisahighpriorityacrossgovernmental departmentsduetoitspotentialforroadsafety,insurance,availabilityandhealth ofworkforce,energysavings,militaryandfarming.Duetochallengestoprovide mobiledatacoverageinsomeregionsinthe US,vehiclesneedtoapplymostof the decision-makingcapabilitiesin-vehicle,thoughsomeprojectsaimto strengthenV2I.Inmostcases,thegovernmentdoesnotsetspecific, timelygoals fortheindustry,sincethe US aimsatfosteringmarket-driveninnovation.

TheUS stillfocusesbothresearchonICEsandelectricmobility.Regional solutions,pilotsandlegal„patchwork“forautomatedorelectricmobilityhinder nationwidescale-up.Activitiesofnewinitiativesandoffices,liketheJointOfficeof EnergyandTransportorARPA-EandtheupcomingAPRA-Ccouldpossibly fosterresearchanddevelopmenttousesynergiesofautomationand electrification.