From electric cargo scooters, autonomous vehicles and data-driven public transport improvements to bridging the gap between research and practice; Latvia is teeming with ambitious urban mobility innovators and initiatives that aim to accelerate the Baltic country’s green and digital transition.
In November, EIT Urban Mobility met with local partners and collaborators from the public sector, academia, research institutes and private organisations during a trip that highlighted notable achievements as well as specific challenges in Latvian cities.
Innovating last-mile logistics in Riga
Riga, the capital of Latvia, has been a Leading City in the EIT Urban Mobility community for several years. The city has already participated in multiple EIT Urban Mobility innovation projects on topics such as micromobility, logistics, safe ways to school, EV charging and safe-driving software.
In 2024, Riga City Council is part of the GreenDash project, co-funded by EIT Urban Mobility, where the municipality and Latvian Post are testing the electric cargo scooter of Bruntor, a promising Latvian startup, as a safe and cost-effective solution for decarbonising last-mile parcel deliveries. While piloting in the streets in Riga has already started, the final classification and registration of the scooter is pending changes to national regulation.
Improving public transport in Jurmala
Meanwhile, the nearby city of Jurmala is facing the challenge of providing public transport for the entire city, as its long urban layout stretches 24 km along the Baltic coast.
To improve its public transport system, Jurmala wants to make better use of the extensive mobility data available, notably for planning new bus routes, and to complement existing public transport options with mobility points or hubs that provide shared mobility and on-demand services. The city is also looking into autonomous on-demand shuttles that could help reduce the number of buses currently running empty from one end of the city to the other.
Jurmala City Council, which recently joined the EIT Urban Mobility community as a Leading City, provides its residents with two free train tickets per day to encourage sustainable travel to and from nearby Riga. However, the city has even bigger ambitions for the future and wants to help drive innovation in the region, highlighting the importance of collaboration between civil servants and politicians as a critical factor for success.
Partners and startups at Smart Cities Conference
The collaborative approach in Latvia is also evident in the work of Riga Technical University (RTU). Together with Riga City Council, VEFRESH and LMT – all partners of EIT Urban Mobility – RTU organised the third annual Smart Cities Conference in Riga on 19 September 2024.
The Smart Cities Conference showcased advancements in mobility innovation, with a particular focus on autonomous vehicles and urban air mobility, and Anders Bengtsson, Head of Innovation Hub North at EIT Urban Mobility, gave a presentation on the future of mobility. The conference also included several technology demonstrations, including by Bruntor and Coding the Curbs, two startups supported by EIT Urban Mobility, providing an excellent opportunity for participants to experience the connection between research and practice.
Bridging the gap between research and practice
Having recently joined EIT Urban Mobility as a partner, Transport and Telecommunication Institute (TSI) is also focused on bridging the gap between research and practice. A notable example is their Smart Move Hackathon organised for students in May 2024, where participants developed solutions to pre-defined challenges such as digital twins for traffic intersections, gamification for carpooling and data collection on public transport accessibility. Moreover, TSI wants to organise field trips where students can experience first-hand how cities and industry collaborate on mobility topics.
Despite progress in many areas, one common challenge among mobility actors in Latvia – as in many other European countries – remains innovation procurement and how to secure financing for innovative solutions, as this issue often depends on national legislation.
However, the ambitions and trends observed in Latvia among the local partners of EIT Urban Mobility indicate a strong commitment to sustainable urban mobility and more liveable cities, a mission supported by EIT Urban Mobility and its innovation community of over 250 partners from all over Europe.
