City Mobil

Cars and buses without drivers? Can be the traffic more efficient in this way?

Photo Courtesy: "Advanced Transport Systems Ltd. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/funonthenet/ .uk"

Probably the answer will be given by Citymobil, the European project that caught my attention. The €40 million project involves 28 partners in 10 countries, and three trial sites have already been selected - London's Heathrow airport, the new exhibition center in Rome and the town of Castellón in eastern Spain.

The coordinators consider that the main responsible for traffic jams is the driver. Therefore a car without driver won't generate this kind of problems.

Their goal:

"The overall objective of this project is to achieve a more effective organisation of urban transport, resulting in a more rational use of motorised traffic with less congestion and pollution, safer driving, a higher quality of living and an enhanced integration with spatial development. This objective is brought closer by developing integrated traffic solutions: advanced concepts for innovative autonomous and automated road vehicles for passengers and goods, embedded in an advanced spatial setting. The city of tomorrow is in need of integrated traffic solutions that provide the required mobility in an efficient, safe and economic manner."

.