Cooperation across transport modes to develop common research objectives for the reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions

Abstract

Greater cooperation across transport modes in research and development activities has the potential to develop systems thinking, optimise use of resources and improve services for customers. This paper presents the findings of a Horizon 2020 project called Users, Safety, Security and Energy in Transport Infrastructure (USE-iT) which aimed to encourage greater cross-modal collaboration, through the identification of common challenges and development of a cross-modal research roadmap to address these. USE-iT and its sister project FOX identified more than 300 technologies, processes and systems that could benefit from a cross-modal approach. The involvement of industry was an integral part of this process, and a key objective of the project was to bring together stakeholders from all modes to facilitate knowledge transfer and develop a network for future cooperation. The paper focuses on research supporting the reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions across transport modes, which was one of four topic areas addressed by USE-iT.