The special session on Advanced Traffic and Network Management

September 2023

The special session on Advanced Traffic and Network Management co-organized by the CONDUCTOR and TANGENT projects at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems ITSC 2023, held in Bilbao (Spain) took place on Monday, September 25th, 2023. In the special session, we had the opportunity to see novel works related to topics such as public transport prioritization, traffic management with connected and autonomous vehicles and last-mile logistics of perishable goods. More specifically, the following papers were presented:

• Integrated Signal and Bus Lane Control: An Intersection-Level Approach by Emmanouil Kampitakis, Konstantinos Katzilieris and Eleni Vlahogianni
• A Taxonomy of Signal Vehicle Coupled Control from a Mathematical Programming Perspective by Arka Ghosh, Juan Angarita-Zapata, Antonio David Masegosa and Ander Arriandiaga
• AI Assisted Dynamic Bus Lane Control in Connected Urban Environments: The Case of Intermittent Dynamic Bus Lanes by Konstantinos Katzilieris, Emmanouil Kampitakis and Eleni Vlahogianni
• The Pickup and Delivery Problem with Crossdock for Perishable Goods by Konstantinos Gkiotsalitis and Nikolopoulou Amalia

Handbook on Transport Pricing and Financing

September 2023

CONDUCTOR envisions a world with connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) with advanced, high-level traffic and fleet management solutions allowing efficient and globally optimal transport of passengers and goods. The transition towards CAVs may also impact the pricing of transport services.

Dr. Alejandro Tirachini of the Department of Transport Engineering and Management, University of Twente, recently released a "Handbook on Transport Pricing and Financing", including a chapter on "Connected and automated vehicles: effects on pricing".

The comprehensive book focuses on two central themes: transport pricing and financing - crucial factors with far-reaching socioeconomic impact. The handbook sheds light on how pricing goes beyond financial aspects, aiming for economic efficiency. You will discover the potential of new technologies like digital payment channels, dynamic pricing techniques, and information provision, shaping the future of transportation.

Chapter 13 on CAVs and its effect on pricing covers traditional private and public transport modes, plus shared mobility systems. Expected effects as discussed in the scientific literature are summarized. An optimal transport pricing model is presented considering three modes: private car, public transport, and an active mode, to uncover the potential effect of vehicle automation on first-best prices. The chapter shows, among other things, that cost reduction due to automation push towards lower optimal fares for both private cars and public transport.

Detailed use-case specifications and their key performance indicators

July 2023

Read about the detailed specifications of the use cases as well as the key performance indicators (KPIs) used in the pilot cases when testing the CONDUCTOR innovations.

Use case models describe the functional requirements of a system and specify how the system under consideration should interact with the user and other actors. Such specifications benefit further development and stimulate discussion between stakeholders, as use cases are easy to understand and follow without detailed knowledge. Working closely with stakeholders, an iterative approach was taken to create the use cases. For each pilot, different scenarios were identified describing the trigger conditions, the main process flow and the termination conditions.

A change is taking place in the context of measuring progress. Recent (European) research and reports highlight the importance of assessing positive and negative impacts not only on the economy, but also on the environment and society, including differentiation between user groups. In the light of this background, we present a comprehensive multidimensional framework to monitor and assess the impact of the CONDUCTOR functionalities in the pilot cases. The framework considers four groups or dimensions of KPIs: technical, economic, environmental and social KPIs. By considering use-case and site-specific indicators, local challenges are additionally included. Although not directly transferable to other sites, the groups included ensure an assessment along the dimensions of sustainable development.

On stakeholders’ requirements, user needs and social innovations

June 2023

The CONDUCTOR requirements gathering and analysis report on how to best design, integrate and demonstrate advanced traffic and fleet management for efficient and optimal transport of passengers and goods is ready. The report includes a thorough analysis of the use cases covered by CONDUCTOR, a set of general regulatory and societal requirements, and stakeholder and user needs gathered through a state-of-the-art review and a dedicated survey.

The CONDUCTOR consortium has developed an integrated methodology represented by a double funnel diagram.

• A top-down analysis gathers formalised and general input from regulators and public bodies. More specifically, the scope of the top-down analysis covers the EU policy programme directly and indirectly related to CCAM. In addition to the insights provided by DG-MOVE on CCAM in mobility and transport policy, the focus is also on the priorities highlighted by the EU Green Deal, the Digital Decade and the EESC Guidelines for more sustainable mobility.
• A bottom-up approach facilitates the collection of service-specific inputs derived from user needs and the interests of other stakeholders. The bottom-up approach uses a methodology to identify and prioritise stakeholder and user needs and requirements for each use case. The analysis included five pilots framed in three use cases, each related to integrated traffic management with intermodality (UC1), demand responsive transport (UC2) and urban logistics (UC3). The survey collected data from stakeholders and users, including regulatory needs, requirements, benefits, expected bottlenecks/challenges, and primary and secondary stakeholders.

Moreover, the CONDUCTOR consortium reviewed the results of the bottom-up and top-down analysis together, taking into account input gathered in a workshop involving the project partners. The in-depth examination of the use cases produced more insightful results that highlighted the primacy of certain conditions for the specific purposes of CONDUCTOR.

In the conclusion, readers will find insights and suggestions for a profitable use of the findings for the design process of the use cases and pilots.

The full document is available here.

CONDUCTOR project at EUCAD 2023 conference

May 2023

The CONDUCTOR project was invited to join the 4th European Conference on Connected and Automated Driving (EUCAD 2023) organised by the European Commission in Brussels (Belgium) the 3-4 May 2023. The organisation team recognised the importance of CONDUCTOR project for bridging the gap between the development and deployment of Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) technologies.

Our CONDUCTOR team, consisting in representatives from the partners Netcompany-Intrasoft SA, BAX Innovation Consulting SL and Deep Blue SRL, participated to the high-level policy plenary sessions and the thematic technical breakout sessions.

In addition, CONDUCTOR was offered the opportunity to promote the project’s activities, objectives and expected results during the Exhibition session organised on the 3rd of May at the Autoworld Museum. The CONDUCTOR booth was perfectly located, and we received positive feedback from all the participants who stopped by our stand.

CONDUCTOR‘s overview in new CINEA‘s Brochure

May 2023

CINEA has launched publication showing innovative CCAM project working on new transport solutions. Brochure provides an overview of the CCAM projects that are receiving EU funding following their selection under the first two calls of the Horizon Europe programme, in 2021 and 2022. The domain of the projects covers from data ecosystems to infrastructure support, validation methodologies to environmental aspects, and more. More about CONDUCTOR project can be found on p.21. The brochure is here.

ITSC 2023 Special Session

31 March 2023

We are organizing the Special Session on Advanced Traffic and Network Management at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems ITSC 2023, held in Bilbao, Spain.

The advent of novel information and communication technologies and computational tools create new opportunities to revisit existing problems and propose innovative solutions to battle the above-mentioned challenges. From the traffic and network management perspective, this special session focuses on presenting the concepts of operations for an efficient, resilient, and adaptable multi-modal network and traffic management system, using innovative data collection and fusion techniques, while leveraging state of the art technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, high-performance computing). Submissions detailing research initiatives within Europe but also worldwide, related to network and traffic management, are encouraged.

Paper submission is through the official ITSC2023 submission system (use code a16f7 to select this special session).

Submission deadline: 15 May 2023

The CONDUCTOR General Assembly in Rome, Italy

21-22 March 2023

A two-day CONDUCTOR General Assembly was organised by Deep Blue in Rome, Italy, 21-22 March 2023. We worked together to finalise the specification and needs for the future CCAM Association and outlined the next steps towards the successful realisation of the project. During the workshops on the second day, we explored the use cases from the perspective of the different users and worked on the detailing of the overall system architecture. We identified all significant impacts, the interactions of the architecture components and the required data sources.

The CONDUCTOR project was launched

November 2022

The CONDUCTOR project officially started on the 1st of November 2022 and will run for three (3) years. The project aims to design, integrate, and demonstrate advanced high-level traffic and fleet management to allow efficient and globally optimal transport of passengers and goods while ensuring seamless multi-modality and interoperability. To achieve this goal, the project has been built around a strong multi-disciplinary consortium of fifteen (15) experienced partners in the field of traffic and fleet management.

The CONDUCTOR consortium gathered on the 22nd and 23rd of November 2022 during the official kick-off meeting organised by the project Coordinator Netcompany-Intrasoft SA in Athens (Greece). The kick-off meeting was the occasion for the partners to meet each other and discuss the practical implementation of CONDUCTOR project’s activities and the achievements of its objectives via three (3) Use Cases.

The consortium particularly appreciated the participation and the presentation made by our Project Officer from the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) who showed genuine interest and support in our CONDUCTOR project.

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