The main goal of this state-of-the-art project which was to demonstrate that Automated Minibuses (AMs) represent tomorrow’s solution for Public Transit (PT) is totally fulfilled, our teams having concluded that if integrated as an On demand/Door-to-door service within a PT system, AMs have the potential to become a game changer for urban mobility.
The AVENUE project succeeded in achieving all of its 6 main objectives, but went much further:
ACHIEVEMENT 1 - Flagship innovation: First large scale Door-to-door/On demand AM deployments
The AVENUE teams deployed an operational Automated Minibus Door-to-door/On demand service in a world first on unrestricted public roads and at such a large scale.
ACHIEVEMENT 2 - Flagship innovation: Heavy traffic / complex routes operation
The AVENUE teams deployed an Automated Minibus service on complex routes with heavy traffic public roads in a world first. This includes itineraries with roundabouts, traffic lights, pedestrians, bicycles and heavy car traffic.
More about it within the demonstration reports (public deliverables) of our various demonstration and replication sites.
ACHIEVEMENT 3 - Development of a scalable model
The AVENUE project teams focused on the development of a model that can be replicated on a very large scale.
The model description and comments about the replication process within our public deliverables.
ACHIEVEMENT 4 - Financial viability confirmation
The AVENUE teams have been able to verify the Automated Minibus model economic viability.
More about it within the economic impact section.
ACHIEVEMENT 5 - Positive environmental and social impact confirmation
The AVENUE teams were able to verify the Automated Minibus model positive social and environmental impact.
-Fulfill Objective 5–
More about it within the social and environmental impact section.
ACHIEVEMENT 6 - Client-oriented environment development
Development of a client-oriented / user-centric environment: Mobility as a Service (MaaS) integration, ergonomic mobile phone reservation app taking into account the needs of everyone.
– Fulfill Objective 3 and 4–
ACHIEVEMENT 7 - Legislation evolution contribution
The AVENUE project contributed to the evolution of the autonomous driving legislation of various European states with the most important advances in Germany and Switzerland.
ACHIEVEMENT 8 - Public transit integration
For the first time, the AVENUE teams have integrated an Automated Minibus service into the pre-existing public transport network, giving an insight into the benefits of a Mobiliy as a Service (MaaS) ecosystem.
-Fulfill Objective 1–
ACHIEVEMENT 9 - Long term reliability and safety tests
- The AVENUE project’s teams have been able to verify the technological reliability of Automated Minibus services on a daily basis over more than 4 years on the multiple AVENUE demonstrator sites (wide range of conditions).
- Our teams were able to verify the very high level of safety of the vehicles throughout these extensive tests.
-Fulfill Objective 2–
ACHIEVEMENT 10 - Participated to the improvement of the AM technology
The extensive tests across all the AVENUE demonstration and replication sites and associated data and feedbacks also helped Navya©, the Automous Minibus manufacturer, to further refine the functioning of the Automated Minibus technology (braking algorithm or obstacle detection improvements for example).
ACHIEVEMENT 11 - Verified the AM public acceptance
Our teams were able to confirm the very positive attitude of the public towards Automated Minibuses as well as the high willingness to use this technology via large-scale surveys.
-Fulfill Objective 5–
A lot more details on the social impact summary section.
ACHIEVEMENT 12 - Participated to the AM visibility
Thanks to the AVENUE teams’ multiple communication efforts on multiple platforms, millions of people were informed about the AVENUE project but also about the existence of the Automated Minibus technology and of the On demand/Door-to-door services.
A lot more information on the communication activities summary section.
ACHIEVEMENT 13 - Helped people with reduced mobility
The consideration of the needs of people with mobility problems has been at the center of the AVENUE project teams’ attention, which has strived to create the most inclusive environment possible.
Our surveys also confirmed that autonomous buses were seen as a choice solution to their problems by people with reduced mobility.
The AVENUE project’s AMs have enabled many people with reduced mobility to move around freely, particularly at the Belle-idée site in Geneva and at the Slagelse hospital in Denmark.
See the deliverable social impact section for more informations.
-Fulfill Objective 3–
*for objective 6, see the recommendation page
