Oslo looks into the autonomous future

Karlsruhe, Oslo, 21/03/2018. Autonomous vehicles and new mobility trends will have major implications for cities around the world. Norway’s capital Oslo wants to be prepared for this. Therefore, the local public transport authority Ruter contracted the consulting firm COWI to develop a model for driverless transport. The software tools required for transport planning and modelling are provided by PTV Group from Karlsruhe, Germany.

“The job is to develop a model that helps us understand the implications of new forms of transport and trends brought about by the introduction of driverless vehicles, for example,” explains Trude Flatheim, project manager at Ruter. COWI has been selected to identify potential opportunities, risks and implications for urban and transport planning in Oslo and Akershus that may arise from these new mobility trends. Various future scenarios will be examined using PTV software. What is the impact of driverless vehicles that are integrated into the public fleet on the people’s mobility behaviour? What happens if everyone owns their own autonomous car so that conventional vehicles are steadily being replaced? What kind of autonomous sharing concepts should be implemented?

“With our PTV MaaS Modeller, we can map and analyse exactly these kinds of scenarios," says Robin Huizenga, PTV Business Manager Traffic for Benelux and Scandinavia. “Many cities are simply waiting to see how autonomous driving will develop and are running the risk of sleepwalking through decisive future developments. We are looking forward to supporting the public transport operator in Oslo in setting the course for tomorrow's mobility today and then perhaps even developing a specific business model.”

André Kvalø, project manager at COWI, adds: “There is a lot of potential for saving space and improving the environment in the sustainable cities of the future. The transport model will provide Ruter and the City of Oslo with better tools to make decisions and create incentives and guidelines for the introduction of driverless units.”