The French General Directorate for Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility, together with Ruter, the public transport authority for Oslo and Akershus counties in Norway, have initiated the formation of a strategic European coalition of local authorities for the deployment of automated road transport services. As a first step, they co-hosted the seminar “European coalition of transport providers for the deployment of automated road mobility” on 27 June at the iconic Tour Séquoia in Paris La Défense.

EIT Urban Mobility, alongside coalition members POLIS, France Vehicules Autonomes, EMTA, Eurocities, UITP, PAVE Europe, ERTICO, and the CCAM Partnership, actively contributed to the event by engaging its ecosystem and sectoral knowledge.

Why this coalition matters

The coalition aims to build a critical mass of demand for automated transport services, ensuring that public transport organisers play a central role in shaping the future of mobility, and shaping a shared scaling plan for deployment across Europe.

By focusing on a vertical approach to innovation, the initiative aligns with the Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector (European Commission, 5 March 2025) and works toward strengthening European competitiveness in the automation of vehicles, systems, and services.

The coalition also advocates for a user-centric vision where automated road mobility:

• Is shared, and integrated into existing public transport networks;
• Enhances network coverage, service frequency, accessibility, and operational efficiency;
• Supports sustainable mobility planning and avoids the marginalisation of public transport;
• Strengthens the economic resilience and relevance of public transit systems in Europe.

Field visits and dialogue on shared automated mobility

The seminar featured a full-day programme focused on the deployment of automated road mobility. It opened with remarks from the Deputy Director at the French Directorate General of Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility and the Executive Vice President for Radical Innovation at Ruter (Norway).

Keynote speeches followed, covering topics such as the role of automation in public transport (UITP), perceptions of safety in ride-sharing, and lessons from U.S. experiences in autonomous mobility. Local and regional authorities, including Madrid (EMT), Hamburg, Oslo, Gothenburg, and Tampere, shared their visions and practical experiences in integrating automated services.

In the afternoon, technology developers such as Waymo and WeRide presented their solutions. Service operators like Uber Transit and MOIA shared deployment insights, while public transport providers including RATP Group, Keolis, Transdev, and DB Regio AG showcased use cases from active pilots.

The day concluded with reflections from the FAME project (ERTICO), followed by closing remarks from the European Commission (DG GROW), the European Parliament, and France’s High Representative for Automated Mobility.

A day earlier, participants also joined field visits to autonomous mobility demonstrations, including the Roland Garros shuttles by Renault and WeRide, and Urbanloop test rides operated by Keolis.

Structured around roundtables and presentations, the event saw discussions on the most pressing dimensions of automated transport including:

• The role shared mobility can play in transforming transportation systems and enabling increased coverage, frequency, accessibility, inclusivity and sustainable movement of people
• How automated vehicles work best when integrated, or are at least complementary to, existing public transportation networks.
• Automated transport as enablers of new business opportunities, models and services
• The need to have more automated road transport services on the road, driving hundreds of kms each month in varying levels of complex setups, for testing, refining and scaling.
• The need for clearer and simpler homologation process, harmonised regulations and a single European market.

A path forward

EIT Urban Mobility is proud to support the coalition in working toward their shared vision to accelerate the transition toward sustainable urban mobility for more liveable urban spaces.

The event in Paris is expected to be the catalyst for the development of a more formal coalition of public transport organisers aimed at knowledge sharing, contribution to EU policies, shared deployment roadmap and procurement, access to funding.

As Endre Angelvik, Executive Vice President for Radical Innovation at Ruter (Norway), aptly concluded: “We must shape this future together, not have it built for us.”