List of Strategies & Action plans

This document sets out government’s response to the Law Commissions’ recommendations and commits to a new legislative framework for safe self-driving road vehicles, based on these recommendations. This new framework will enable innovation whilst also ensuring safety.

This roadmap for Connected Automated Driving contributes to the long-term vision of ERTRAC for the transport system. In one sentence: by 2050, vehicles should be electrified, automated and shared.

The main objective of the ERTRAC Roadmap is to provide a joint stakeholders view on the development of Connected Automated Driving in Europe. The Roadmap starts with common definitions of automation levels and systems, and then identifies the challenges for the implementation of higher levels of automated driving functions. Development paths are provided for three different categories of vehicles.

The Key Challenges identified within the three areas (Users & society, System & services, and Vehicles & technology) should lead to efforts of Research and Development: ERTRAC calls for pre-competitive collaboration among European industry and research providers. The key role of public authorities is also highlighted: for policy and regulatory needs, and support to deployment, with the objective of European harmonisation. Connected Automated Driving must therefore take a key role in the European Transport policy, since it can support several of its objectives and societal challenges, such as road safety, congestion, decarbonisation, social inclusiveness, etc. The overall efficiency of the transport system can be much increased thanks to automation.

Relation with other roadmaps/plans:

The previous “Automated Driving Roadmap” of ERTRAC was issued in 2017 and provided updated definitions and development paths, an updated list of EU and international activities, and an extended list of R&D challenges. This new 2019 version presents again a full update of these chapters, and given that the topic of connectivity is becoming progressively more important, it includes connectivity related aspects and the addition of infrastructure related topics. A collaboration with the CEDR CAD work group helped a lot to bring these additional aspects into the document. This new version also builds on the STRIA CAT Roadmap developed by the European Commission.

Automated driving is becoming increasingly important, and will place demands to NRAs (National Road Authorities) in very near future, before 2020. While automated driving will bring about several benefits to NRAs, it will cause also costs and changes in the traditional roles of the NRAs. The cooperation with key stakeholders such as vehicle manufacturers, the telecommunication industry and the IT industry will intensify as a consequence. Closer collaboration with globally operating industries makes it necessary for NRAs to intensify their European and intercontinental cooperation (Americas, Asia-Pacific). The development will also bring a number of new challenges concerning legal issues, data security, and road safety especially in the transition phase towards high automation. Coming to full automation, general mobility and interworking with other transport means will fundamentally change. Furthermore, totally new players are expected to enter the market.

In April 2016, the European Transport Ministers gave out a declaration on connected and automated driving, indicating strong EU and Member State support to developing and deploying road vehicle automation. A week later, the CEDR Governing Board discussed road vehicle automation in a dedicated workshop facilitated by CEDR Task Group “Utilising ITS for NRAs”. This position paper reflects the GB view based on that workshop. In doing so, this position paper complements the CEDR ITS Position Paper (issued 2014).

This report is the deliverable of the second phase of the C-ITS platform (July 2016 – September 2017) which further develops a shared vision on the interoperable deployment of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) towards cooperative, connected and automated mobility (CCAM) in the European Union. This includes making tangible progress towards the definition of implementation conditions for topics already discussed during the first phase1, but also recognizes and further investigates the mutual benefits that future CITS services will bring in terms of automation. All members of the C-ITS platform believe that the ultimate goal is the full convergence of all developments under Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM), making use of the digitisation of transport.

In 9 working groups, the C-ITS Platform developed policy recommendations and proposals for action for the Commission as well as other relevant actors along the C-ITS value chain. The first set of outcomes of the second phase of the C-ITS Platform addresses the common technical and legal framework necessary for the deployment of C-ITS and is grouped under section Phase I continued – support for deployment of C-ITS. The second set of outcomes focuses on CCAM, i.e. they explicitly also take the needs and possibilities of higher levels of automation into consideration, and are grouped under section Beyond C-ITS, towards Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM).

As a result of developments in the automotive, ICT and telecoms sectors and the introduction of connected and automated vehicles1, mobility will change more in the next twenty years than in the past one hundred years. Further automation of vehicles and advances in information and communication technologies provide excellent opportunities to improve traffic flows and to make transport safer, cleaner and easier. This development could also strengthen the economy of Europe. Ultimately, once fully automated driving becomes possible on a large scale, there may be societal benefits beyond the aforementioned goals, in terms of social inclusion, improved mobility services in rural areas and cities, the development of mobility as a service and lower travel costs. These advantages should bring extra flexibility in door-to-door mobility, especially in the field of public transport, also to the benefit of the aging population, vulnerable road users and disabled persons. Furthermore, this innovation could be linked to other important developments such as a shared economy, decarbonisation of transport and the transition towards a zero-emissions society and the circular economy.

Besides technological progress, there are further challenges and uncertainties related to development of connected and automated vehicles. There are important questions to be answered regarding security, social inclusion, use of data, privacy, liability, ethics, public support and the co-existence of connected and automated vehicles with manually controlled vehicles.

Member States support the development of connected and automated driving through a range of initiatives, such as truck platooning, autopilot on the highway and the establishment of ITScorridors. Connected and automated vehicles are already being tested on public roads and are gradually being introduced on the market for commercial use. In the early stages of this transition, open competition between different models and initiatives is needed to instigate creativity and innovation. However, both industry and users demand that new services and systems should be interoperable and compatible when crossing borders. The European Commission has taken important steps with the Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) platform, the Round Table on Connected and Automated Driving and the Gear 2030 initiative. Nevertheless, a more coordinated approach is called for between Member States and at European level to remove barriers and to promote a step-by-step learning-by-experience approach such as the European truck platooning challenge. It is essential to support an exchange of information of results and best practices by linking and integrating such initiatives.

As early as 2018, France adopted a strategy for the development of autonomous vehicles, updated in 2020, with two objectives: develop the production of automated technologies and modernize mobility services.

This 2022 update explicitly takes into account connectivity issues, and enlarges the scope to mobility services made possible by automation and connectivity. It aims to accelerate France’s commitment to regulatory, technological and economic models that will make the country a leader in the deployment of the most relevant and achievable use cases.

This 2022-2025 strategy is based on four key actions:

• Prioritize and coordinate connectivity systems and data exchange deployments;
• Finance investment projects in industrial supply of automated road mobility, ambitious service pilots, or first commercial deployments, in particular via France 2030 and by mobilizing European credits;
• Support volunteer local authorities and operators in the deployment of passenger services;
• Finalize the legal framework for automated freight and logistics.

This document provides a summary of the strategic framework that will structure the French government’s policy actions dedicated to the development of automated or driverless vehicles. The publication of this document, which follows a wide-ranging public consultation process, constitutes the conclusion of the first stage of the project I have been entrusted with by the Ministries of the Interior, Economy and Finances, and Transport, as well as the Secretary of State for digital affairs.

Germany is increasingly digitalizing its transport and mobility sectors, with autonomous and connected driving set to play a central role. This strategy aims to establish Germany as a world-leading innovation and production hub for autonomous driving, with the goal of integrating this technology into regular operation nationwide. A particular focus is placed on public local transport and freight transport, as their application can provide crucial impetus for innovative autonomous mobility concepts while simultaneously strengthening public trust and acceptance. Autonomous vehicles are expected to contribute to better participation and higher quality of life, especially in rural areas where dense public transport often faces economic limitations. The German government identifies measures and formulates proposals in this strategy to accelerate market adoption, primarily focusing on road transport but also briefly considering rail, waterways, and aviation, where autonomous concepts offer significant opportunities. The ultimate goal is to create an innovation-friendly framework – to be shaped by business and industry – to make autonomous and connected mobility a seamless part of the future.