EIT Urban Mobility is an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Since January 2019 the EIT has been working to encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities in order to make them more liveable places. It aims to become the largest European initiative transforming urban mobility. Co-funding of up to € 400 million (2020-2026) from the EIT, a body of the European Union, will help make this happen.
EIT Urban Mobility research includes Future Mobility, Active Mobility, Sustainable City Logistics, and Mobility and Energy.
Urban logistics operations
The expected outcomes of innovation are the improvement of urban logistic operations through logistical, future vehicle design, including urban air logistics, behavioral and technological innovations. The solution should be low-carbon, accessible, safe, efficient, and clean. The impacts should be healthier, safer environments, reduction of greenhouse gas emission and local air and noise pollution, as well as enhancing the overall quality of life of citizens.
Topics include demonstration and application of:
- Solutions to increase freight intermodality with a focus on zero-emission last mile transport.
- Solutions that reduce freight demand through for example waste management, local production, aggregate management, citizen engagement, etc.
- Solutions that optimize routes based on reducing emissions and noise pollution.
- Real-time enforcement of freight demand and access restriction measures including digital cameras, ultra-low emission zone control monitoring, and geofencing.
- Solutions to reduce last-mile freight transport from e-commerce, e.g. freight hubs unmanned collection and drop-off points, collaboration with retail to reduce and deal with returns, optimized delivery services, etc.
- Innovative logistics measures in urban areas with specific challenges such as dense historic city centers and the use of waterways.
- Drone delivery with vertical location mapping in a dense urban area considering issues such as noise, bylaws, airway zoning/ mapping, intrusion, reliability, and safety.
- Parking/ loading & unloading management solutions for freight to reduce obstructive vehicles. These can be both digital and physical measures.
Open Innovation Days
The EIT Urban Mobility is holding open Innovation Days, along four of its thematic challenge areas, including:
- Future Mobility (February 18th, 13:30 – 15:30)
- Active Mobility (February 23rd, 13:30 – 15:30)
- Sustainable City Logistics (February 24th, 14:00 – 16:00)
- Mobility and Energy (February 25th, 14:00 – 16:00)
These challenge areas will be core to the upcoming call for proposals (2022), and the Innovation Days are a key first step, in building Action and Interest Groups across all of EIT Urban Mobility’s challenge areas. Registration is free and it is open to any European Organisation or those with EU research agreements.