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Annex 13
Scoping Paper for
Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 'Smart, green and integrated transport'
Important notice: Working Document
This paper is a working document. It is sent to the Programme Committee for the Horizon 2020
Specific Programme for discussion in the context of the preparation of the Horizon 2020 Work
Programme 2016-2017. As such, information and descriptions of activities indicated in this
document may not appear in the adopted Work Programme 2016-2017, and likewise, new elements
may be introduced.
1. Context
This Scoping Paper is part of the ‘Strategic Programming’ of the Work Programme 20162017, which covers the full Horizon 2020 governance structure. It summarises the main
priorities identified for 2016-2017 and their links to major EU policy initiatives. It proposes a
structure of calls, indicating possible focus areas and cross-cutting activities.
The Paper has been developed taking into account 1) the Horizon 2020 Specific Programme,
which is the master reference for defining the contents of the work programmes; 2) the
response to the current priorities of Work Programme 2014-2015, as so to avoid unnecessary
repetition; and 3) consultation with the Transport Advisory Group, and the broader group of
stakeholders.
While taking into account the necessary complementarities with other parts of Horizon 2020,
the Scoping Paper focuses on the Societal Challenge ‘Smart, green and integrated transport’,
and on the broad lines of activity encompassed there in, including the modal specificities , the
system integration aspects, and the cross-cutting, socio-economic and prospective dimensions.
Figure 1 summarises these two major components, i.e. activities vs. areas. The priorities for
these activities/areas are in line with the major EU policy orientations, such as
– at an overarching level, ‘Europe 2020 – A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth’, including the ‘Innovation Union’ flagship initiative;
– at transport sectoral level, ‘White Paper - Roadmap to a Single European Transport
Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system’;
– in a broader context, ‘A 2030 framework for climate and energy policies’ and ‘An
Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era’.
In addition, the ‘Strategic agenda for the Union in times of change’, recently agreed by the
European Council, and the Political Guidelines for the next European Commission ‘A New
Start for Europe: My Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change’, by JeanClaude Juncker, have also been taken into account. Four out of the ten policy areas mentioned
in this Agenda are relevant for the definition of Transport R&I priorities. In particular, the
Horizon 2020 Transport Societal Challenge will contribute to 1) A New Boost for Jobs,
Growth and Investment; 2) A Connected Digital Single Market; 3) A Resilient Energy Union
with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy; and 4) A Deeper and Fairer Internal Market
with a Strengthened Industrial Base.
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Many other relevant policy documents affecting the definition of priorities for Transport
research and innovation have been analysed and taken into consideration for defining the
Transport R&I agenda for 2016-2017.
In the Work Programme 2014-2015, ‘Mobility for Growth’ was the main call (focus area). It
cross-cuts the Specific Programme, paying attention to optimising door-to-door mobility,
greater safety and less environmental impact, while increasing competitiveness and lowering
operating costs. The focus area addressed transport means, infrastructure and operations, with
a view to integrating them into a user friendly European transport system of smart mobility
and logistics. Targeted support was offered to develop and validate new solutions that could
be rapidly deployed, in the different transport modes and in urban areas.
A separate call on ‘Green Vehicles’ represented an essential component of road transport
research and innovation, implementing the European Green Vehicles Initiative (cPPP). The
call included research, technological developments, innovation and demonstration actions to
support improvements in energy efficiency of road transport vehicles and the use of new types
of non-conventional energies in road transport.
In addition to these two calls, there was a call on the SME instrument (‘Small business
innovation research for Transport’), with a bottom-up approach; and a contribution to the Fast
Track to Innovation Pilot. Transport also contributed to two cross-cutting focus areas: ‘Blue
Growth’, and ‘Smart Cities and Communities’.
2. Strategic orientations for 2016-2017
Most technology developments and innovations are based on incremental research. There are
however periods when paradigm shifts, the emergence of new disruptive technologies and
changes in the external business, social or physical environment demand more radical
responses from the research community. Transport is now entering in one of these periods,
and thus R&I agendas will need to be adapted accordingly. They will need to respond to
several developments, such as:
– ‘Trend-breach’ or discontinuities in longer term trends in key transport variables. For
example, ‘peak mobility’ appears to have been reached in some cities and regions, and
some EU countries are exhibiting a decoupling of GDP and freight tonne-km growth.
– New technology developments occurring or anticipated that have the potential to be
transformational. For example, inter-connectivity at all levels, energy storage
advancements, and automation may prove disruptive technologies in the transport
sector.
– New organisational concepts likely to impact on the planning and management of
transport. For example, individual travellers and businesses are starting to collaborate
and share transport assets, fundamentally changing the pattern of demand for passenger
and freight services.
– Social and economic trends are changing the way we live and have an important bearing
on transport. For example, older age groups represent an increasing share of the
population and their mobility needs are evolving; e-commerce is changing mobility
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patterns and last mile logistics; and life styles and travel behaviour are affected by the
economic situation in Europe.
– New risks affecting transport management, such as extreme weather conditions, security
threats, disruptions in energy supply, etc.
As pointed out in the Transport Advisory Group (TAG) report, these trends support the need
for updating the Transport R&I agenda for the second transport work programme under
Horizon 2020. The TAG has also suggested the conceptual framework depicted in Figure 2
for helping define the priorities for 2016-2017. This framework builds on the basic ideas of
the Work Programme 2014-2015 approach, i.e. technologies on vehicles, infrastructure and
their interactions, but it places the user and behavioural component at the same level as the
technological one.
Based on the TAG report, and the stakeholder consultation, major transport research
challenges have been identified which should receive particular attention in the next work
programme:
– Improving energy/resource efficiency, reducing transport’s dependence on fossil fuels,
take-up of alternative fuels, and achieving the required level of mitigation of climate
change, pollution, noise and adverse health effects in the transport sector.
– Supporting the development and take-up of automation in road transport, in view of
optimising its contribution to the ambitious EU policy goals in terms of road safety,
reduced congestion, energy efficiency and air quality as well as ensuring the leading
role of European industry in the global market to boost growth and create jobs.
– Modernising infrastructure for Europe-wide mobility demands and for reducing social
and territorial inequalities in access to mobility, introducing new materials and
processes, smart transport systems and new charging and refuelling options, and making
infrastructure more safe, adaptable, resilient and responsive to evolving weather
conditions and disruptive events.
– Assessing the impacts and cost-effectiveness of new solutions to address the mobility
challenges in urban areas, exploring new opportunities to support take-up of innovative
solutions, including through procurement.
– Paving the way for the deployment of innovative mobility solutions, including through
the use of ICT and satellite navigation technologies, for example in connected and
automated vehicles, personalised/smart services, overcoming fragmentation through the
bundling of existing services via single interfaces, and optimising the role of data and
connectivity (e.g. internet of things) as driving factors.
– Optimising the use of the infrastructure and redistributing passenger and freight traffic
between transport modes, as a way to mitigate environmental problems and ease traffic
congestion.
– Making quantum improvements in safety levels across the transport system, reducing
the associated costs for both the users and the public sector.
– Anticipating technological developments that have the potential to be transformational,
both internal to transport and in other activities that are likely to impact on transport and
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the competitiveness of the European transport industry, while promoting the use of
common standards and procedures across transport modes.
– Understanding and managing the impact of demographic trends.
– Assessing future requirements for skills and jobs across transport sectors and systems.
– Optimising the efficiency and interoperability of transport systems and operations
through new approaches to target setting and performance review.
All these priorities are related to one or more of the activities defined in the Specific
Programme. They have a two-fold aim: addressing key challenges that Europe faces, and
making our industry more competitive through transferring these solutions and standards
worldwide, as other regions are confronted with similar challenges.
In addition, the societal trend towards service-orientation is also visible in the transport sector.
Resources are scarce and decreasing while needs and expectations are growing. Hence, there
is a need to design, organise and manage transport and mobility in a smarter way. Horizon
2020 is the right tool to explore how these challenges can be addressed in an integrated way.
Outputs from actions meeting these priorities will have tangible impacts in the form of new
implementable technologies, information systems, and business practices. Some of these
impacts will be evolutionary, representing refinements to existing technologies, systems and
practices, while others will be more revolutionary, in offering a step-change in performance or
innovative solutions. Outputs will also have impacts on the demand-side of European
transport, including people’s behaviour and company logistics. Overall, they will make the
European transport system more efficient, sustainable, safe and competitive, and they will
place it on a trajectory to meet the 2030 and 2050 targets set out in the Transport White Paper
as well as those of other policy initiatives.
3. Translation into calls 2016-2017
The Transport Work Programme will take into account the existence of the actions that, being
part of the Transport Societal Challenge, are not implemented through this Work Programme.
This is important for almost all areas indicated in Figure 2. In particular, the Aviation area
will create synergies and avoid overlaps with ‘Clean Sky 2’. Air traffic management will be
implemented entirely in ‘SESAR’. Rail research and innovation will be implemented only
through ‘Shift2Rail’. Vehicles based on fuel cells and hydrogen technology, and the
corresponding infrastructure, will be part of ‘Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2’.
Actions meeting the above-identified priorities will be the subject of the following focus area
and calls:
 ‘Automated Road Transport – The New Frontier’ (proposed cross-cutting focus area
call).
Road transport automation holds the promise to help addressing many of the major
challenges of today's transport system, such as user safety, energy efficiency, air quality
and congestion, and at the same time, it represents a critical testing ground for the ability of
the European automotive industry to preserve and consolidate its global leadership.
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Automation technology is rapidly evolving. Building on Cooperative ITS and advances in
ICT, such as connectivity, cloud computing and big data, as well as on satellite navigation
technologies, automated road transport will enable driving strategies which are safe,
sustainable and efficient on the level of the whole transport system. It will also facilitate
the deployment of novel transport services and applications, and innovative infrastructure
solutions. Current technology will evolve further towards semi-automation and eventually
towards full automation in normal moving traffic. This evolution is very promising and, for
example, may help to drastically reduce fatal traffic casualties to near zero, as more than
90% of road accidents are due to human errors.
The trend towards automation will however present numerous challenges in terms of
technology and component development, human-machine interactions, testing of automatic
vehicles in real life conditions, transition scenarios including impact on traffic volumes and
transport management, legislative/regulatory implications, integration with infrastructure,
and aspects of user behaviour and public acceptance. Addressing these justifies a crosscutting effort in Horizon 2020.
Resources dedicated to this focus area will have a clear EU added value and a strong
leverage effect to meet these challenges. EU level investment is necessary to overcome the
current fragmentation of efforts in Europe; help achieve the necessary critical mass; and
reinforce the competitive position of the European players vis-à-vis their American and
Asian competitors, who are benefitting from substantial public investments. EU
intervention is indispensable in order to ensure inter-operable solutions at EU-level and
worldwide. At the same time, policy-related research will be essential, as legislation needs
to be developed, 'type approval' processes adapted, liability implications addressed, and
user attitudes considered, before the technology becomes mature, in order to avoid
bottlenecks in its market uptake.
Coordination with relevant initiatives/calls, such as the ‘European Green Vehicles
Initiative’, ECSEL, etc., will be ensured.
Contributions from and/or synergies with Leadership in enabling and industrial
technologies (LEITs), the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and
Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology and Advanced Manufacturing and
Processing (NMBP) parts, will be established.
 ‘Mobility for Growth’ (main call)
As in the 2014-2015 Transport Work Programme, this call will be the backbone of the
work programme. It will cross-cut the Specific Programme maximising EU added value,
involving all relevant stakeholders and providing strong potential for benefits. It will keep
a structure similar to the previous one (with areas corresponding to the transport modes and
the key components of an integrated transport system), and its internal focus will be on the
priorities identified for 2016-2017, with the exception of those that will be addressed by
the focus area and other calls. Building on Europe’s strengths, reconciling sustainability
and European leadership is the thread that runs through the entire call. It will pay special
attention to anticipating developments that are expected to have strong impacts on
efficiency, safety and competitiveness. The integration of the different dimensions of
transport, including behavioural aspects and the concept of mobility as a service, which
respond to the maximum possible extent to the user needs, will be one of the major goals.
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 ‘European Green Vehicles Initiative’ (cPPP call)
The EGVI cPPP aims at accelerating research, development and demonstration of
technologies for clean engines and vehicles based on alternative energies in road transport.
To a greater extent than in the 2014-2015 equivalent call (‘Green Vehicles’), the research
priorities will focus on the electrification of road transport and the market take up of
electromobility solutions. The approach will complement the technical content of the 20142015 calls for proposals. The targets will include low cost solutions and the development
of optimised key electrified vehicles systems and functions, such as electric drive trains,
extension of the range, energy storage and advanced recharging. Emphasis will also be
placed on the use of new knowledge and advances in key enabling technologies in order to
optimise vehicles concepts, designs and engineering. In order to measure real driving
performance and validate technological progress, new test methods and facilities, including
new standards, will be developed.
Multi-disciplinary approaches combining mechanical, thermal and electric knowledge will
be used. The improvement of the horizontal and vertical integration of the production base
and within the supply chain will result in new competitive advantages for Europe and will
support the SME involvement. New architectures, interfaces and the integration of new
parameters which are not represented in current existing design environments for
conventional vehicles will be addressed.
Strong links with the Automated Road Transport focus area will be established.
Contributions from and/or synergies with the LEIT-ICT and LEIT-NMBP parts will be
established.
 The Cleanest Engine (inducement prize)
The objective of this action is the reduction of polluting emissions originated from internal
combustion engines used on passenger cars and light freight vans in real life conditions,
which are presently leading to poor air quality, and therefore health and environmental
issues in many European cities. Current engines, while certified on test stands according to
the Euro standards in force, exhibit much higher emissions in normal driving conditions on
inter-urban roads and urban areas, for example up to five times the certification levels for
NOx in cars powered by diesel engines.
The prize aims at spurring the development of engine and powertrain technologies leading
to vehicles with the lowest attainable noxious emissions in real life driving conditions,
excluding however technologies in which the emission reduction targets are achieved by
using main propulsive energy coming from other forms of energy storage than the main
fuel (e.g. plug-in electricity with large batteries, compressed air, etc.).
 Contributions to other focus areas and calls
In addition to the above calls, Transport will contribute to and establish synergies with the
following cross-cutting focus areas: ‘Blue Growth’, ‘Smart Cities and Communities with
Nature-based Solutions’, and ‘Energy Efficiency’ (contribution to ELENA Facility). It will
also establish synergies with and may contribute to ‘Internet of Things’, and ‘Industry
2020 and Circular Economy’.
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In addition to these focus areas, Transport will contribute to the SME instrument and the
Fast Track to Innovation Pilot calls.
It is intended to create also synergies with other parts of Horizon 2020, namely LEIT-ICT,
LEIT-NMBP, Energy, Space and Secure Societies. For example, the European GNSS will
provide new opportunities for localisation and guidance for vehicles and users. Security of
systems, services and data will be addressed when appropriate and in complementarity to the
Secure Societies challenge.
International cooperation will have a key role to play. Global challenges such as CO2 and
polluting emissions, oil dependency, transport safety and security, and standardisation of
many services, products and procedures will benefit from global solutions. Other aspects that
are more local in nature such as traffic congestion, land use planning, behavioural issues
could profit from the exchange of best practice identified in effective international
collaborations. Activities at the international level are important to enhance the
competitiveness of world leading European industries by promoting the take-up and trade of
novel technologies, in particular where the applicable regulatory regime is international and
can thus result in barriers to the market introduction of innovative solutions coming from EU
actors. Demand for high-end European produced vehicles as well as for European know-how
is very strong in the emerging markets. With most of future transport growth occurring
outside Europe, access to knowledge and to new markets will become increasingly important,
and therefore cooperation as well as exchanges on transport R&I strategies and investment
priorities with major partner countries, for example US, Japan, China, Brazil and the EuroMediterranean region will be pursued.
Other cross-cutting issues. The whole innovation chain will be addressed coherently in
Work Programme 2016-2017, taking into account the nature of the challenges to be met, the
state-of-the-art, and the Transport Societal Challenge initiatives implemented outside this
work programme. Social sciences and humanities-related aspects including gender issues will
be tackled either in socio-economic actions and/or through integration in research/innovation
actions.
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Figure 1. Activities of the Specific Programme and areas of work
SMART, GREEN & INTEGRATED
TRANSPORT
1. Resource efficient
transport that respects
the environment
2. Better mobility, less
congestion, more safety
& security
3. Global leadership for
the European transport
industry
4. Socio-economic &
behavioural research &
forward looking activities
for policy making
Aviation
Rail
1.1. Cleaner & quieter
aircraft, vehicles & vessels
Waterborne
Integrated
Cross-modal
Urban
Logistics
ITS
Infrastructure
↑ AREAS / ACTIVITIES ↓
Road
2.1. Reduction of traffic
congestion
2.2. Mobility of people &
freight
1.2. Smart equipment,
infrastructures & services
1.3. Improving transport &
mobility in urban areas
2.3. New concepts of
freight transport & logistics
2.4. Reducing accident
rates & fatal casualties &
improving security
3.1. Next generation of
transport means
3.2. Smart control systems
3.3. Advanced production
processes
3.4. Exploring entirely new
transport concepts
4.1. Data, models &
scenarios
4.2. User needs &
behaviour
4.3. Transport economics
4.4. Policy support
Socio-economics
Figure 2. Conceptual framework diagram for Transport research and innovation
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