SPROUT policy brief: Required regulatory and operational facilitators for the effective integration of new mobility solutions in the transport offer of cities

According to a recent study by BlueWeave Consulting, (2022), the global market of Autonomous/Automated vehicles is expected to increase by almost 30% (CAGR) by 2028. The rapid evolution of the specific market is highly correlated and boosted by the development of fast-growing technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Cloud computing, and Digital Twin, which can be deployed using real-time information to achieve automation. Regarding the level of automation, NHTSA, (2016) identified five different levels (Level 0 – No-Automation, Level 1 – Function-specific Automation, Level 2 – Combined Function Automation, Level 3 – Limited Self-Driving Automation, Level 4 – Full Self-Driving Automation). Focusing on the higher level, these vehicles are designed to be able to navigate through the urban transportation system, prioritizing critical decisions for safety, without any human contribution. The modal shift of the passenger and freight fleet from conventional fuel types to autonomous/automated will be a revolution in (urban) mobility (Meyer et al., 2017).