UCL Centre for Transport Studies and MaaSLab lead the way in UK EIT Urban Mobility projects
19 February 2020
EIT Urban Mobility aims to become the largest European initiative transforming urban mobility, striving for a form of mobility that allows people and goods to move affordably, fast, comfortably, safely and cleanly.
UCL Energy Institute and UCL Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering centres have secured EIT Urban Mobility funding to transform Europe’s cities into liveable spaces.
Consisting of 48 partners from fifteen countries, of which UCL is the only UK member, the initiative aims to create 180 start-ups, free up road space in 90% of its partner cities, launch 125 new products, increase shared mobility in all partner cities, and attract €38m investment by 2026.
EIT Urban Mobility is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an independent body of the European Union set up to power innovators to turn their best ideas into products, services and jobs for Europe.
UCL Energy Institute’s MaaSLab secured EIT Urban Mobility funding for its projects Pro-MaaS, ShareMORE and UMAM, and UCL Centre for Transport Studies (within UCL Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering) is leading the EIT Urban Mobility funded project AI-TraWell.
Pro-MaaS (Policies and Regulations required for enabling the MaaS concept), aims to identify drivers, barriers, enablers and challenges for the effective deployment of MaaS (Mobility as a Service).
SHARE-MORE (SHAREd MObility Rewards), aims to optimise the added value of car-sharing services and promote a portfolio of transport services that enable and encourage sustainable urban mobility.
AI-TraWell will improve users' travel experience through the creation of an AI-powered, proactive chat-bot to recommend personalised travel alternatives.
Dr Maria Kamargianni, the Head of MaaSLab and the PI of Pro-MaaS and ShareMORE, commented:
“EIT has allowed the opportunity to apply the MMI in the wider EIT city club and collaborate with universities, cities and councils in order to extend our research and at the same time test, validate and apply our results in different settings."
MaaSLab will provide state-of-the art tools to analyse the readiness of cities to initiate MaaS services, as well as methods and existing insights to map MaaS regulatory policies and governance models, and will offer analysis of other European cities in order to compare and benchmark Pro-MaaS cities.
Leading on social survey design for SHARE-MORE, including stated preference experiments, MaaSLab will capture individual’s preferences for mode choices, car-sharing, and related incentives.
MaaSLab studies all surface modes of transport for passengers and freight across space and time, and focuses on the planning, design and operation of low carbon transport systems, new mobility services and business models, and the potential of big data, also producing complete solutions and mobility concepts, including recommendations for a new generation of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans.