Scope of action

Technology
The first category of these hybrid transport modes is aimed at emerging in-car technologies for e.g. collecting driving guidance from other vehicles (speed, vehicle distance) and/or from the fixed road infrastructure (lane keeping). The second category is in the field of highway traffic management systems: dynamic information coming from the IT environments of the road operator or third parties. The dynamic information content allows route optimisation and reduces congestion problems by guiding vehicles to move at (elevated) uniform speeds in ‘platoons’. These new transport concepts improve the road capacity, will have a positive effect on the environment and safety and will reduce the use of energy.

Phase and type
The Platform’s prime objective is to identify, frame and stimulate commercially viable solutions for wider market introduction within 2-4 years. Most of these systems require both in-car technologies and devices as well as road (IT) infrastructure developments. This implies a concerted action – presumably in the form of public private partnerships - of the road infrastructure operator and actors from the business community. The implementation of these concepts affect not only the technical level but also the legal framework (who is liable in case of accidents) and – last but from least – driver autonomy. Diffusion of knowledge in this field can increase public acceptance and awareness of the role these hybrid concepts can play in European inter-urban road transport. This will accelerate market demand and introduction of successful concepts/combinations. It is typically this mixture of technical and non-technical barriers that HiGrids is aiming to address.