We are proud to announce the Targeted Open Call project results for 2024. The projects address critical challenges such as accelerating the hydrogen transition, supporting companies to report their employee commute emissions, aiding bus manufacturers to comply with the new Vehicle General Safety Regulations (GSR2) regulations and supporting open innovation partnerships.
The conditionally approved projects that will commence in June and that will continue into 2025 are:
Targeted open call project topic 1 – Hydrogen technology: bridging the transition gap
Hero: Hydrogen retrofit for optimised and sustainable minibus mobility
The HERO project, led by EVARM, is a groundbreaking initiative targeting the decarbonisation of urban minibus fleets. While there are multiple zero-emission technologies available for standard buses, city minibuses face significant limitations. These vehicles require extended operational hours of up to 18 hours without the possibility of refuelling, a challenge unmet by current battery capacities or hydrogen solutions that necessitate daily electric charging. Specifically, this project will focus on developing a fuel cell retrofit solution for turning existing diesel vehicles into hydrogen-powered, zero-emission vehicles.
Partners: Metropolitan Transport of Barcelona (TMB) (fleet operator), EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies, and EVARM Innovation.
Countries: Germany and Spain.
Hyiptrain: Hydrogen internal combustion engine passenger train
Hyiptrain seeks to transform the railway industry by introducing a hydrogen retrofit kit for diesel trains. This project aims to significantly reduce the upfront costs of hydrogen adoption, facilitating the conversion of traditional diesel trains into more sustainable, hydrogen-powered models. This solution will not only help train operators align with the decarbonisation goals set by the European Green Deal in a cost-effective manner but also lead to a reduction in NOx and PM emissions, positively impacting air quality in urban areas.
Countries: Latvia and Ukraine
Targeted open call project topic 2 – Employee commute analytics and CSRD reporting
Travalytics: Automated collection and analytics of employee travel for corporate sustainability reporting
Travalytics aims to simplify corporate sustainability reporting by automating the collection and analysis of employee travel data. The solution will help companies comply with the new CSRD regulations which will mandate companies with 500+ employees to submit sustainability reports from 2025. The solution will offer regulatory compliance in a more accurate and cost-effective manner compared to existing solutions. The collected data can then also be used to promote more sustainable commuting behaviours.
Partners: Trivector Traffic, Backtick Technologies, Tetrapak, and the Danish Society of Engineers (IDA)
Countries: Sweden and Denmark.
Targeted open call project topic 3 – City buses & GSR2 compliance
ABC: Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) for buses in cities
The ABC project, led by Autonomy Now in collaboration with Sor Libchavy, aims to revolutionise bus safety in urban environments. With buses being a vital part of public transportation but also posing risks to pedestrians and cyclists due to their size and manoeuvrability limitations, the project focuses on implementing advanced driver-assistance systems(ADAS) to mitigate these dangers. The introduction of Vehicle General Safety Regulation (GSR2) mandates new vehicles to incorporate ADAS, pushing the need for innovative solutions.
ABC will deliver an out-of-the-box ADAS solution for small and mid-sized city bus original equipment manufacturers (OEM) from countries part of the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) preventing their lock-out from the market. The solution will incorporate features like blind spot monitoring, reversing camera view, and driver drowsiness warnings. This system not only meets current regulatory requirements but also includes Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) to further enhance safety. The project will involve extensive testing in both controlled environments and real-world settings to ensure the system’s reliability and effectiveness. Bus manufacturers will be able to acquire and install the validated solution as part of their homologation process.
Partners: AutonomyNow and Sor Libchavy.
Countries: Poland and Czech Republic.
Targeted open call project topic 4 – Integrating on-demand services for inclusive and accessible public transport
No project was selected.
Targeted open call project topic 5 – Multi-governmental open innovation partnerships for sustainable mobility solutions
EU-PROPEL: Collaborative partnership to propel innovative mobility solutions solving niche urban challenges in Europe.
EU-Propel will facilitate collaboration between EIT Urban Mobility and French Innovation Agency for Transport (AIT) will take the AIT’s current open innovation programme to the next level. The project will bring together 3 graduate startups from the open innovation programme Propulse and Bax & Company, innovation agency with a large network of EU cities, to tackle car-dependency issues in logistics, commuting, and leisure. Additionally, the project will stimulate scaling and replicability of mobility solutions targeting persisting sustainable urban mobility challenges and the internationalisation of the startups by enhancing the solutions’ overall readiness levels.
Partners: Bax & Company, French Innovation Agency For Transport (AIT), Ynstant, 1Km à Pied, and Deki.
Countries: Spain and France.
MoTO: a Turin living lab for a new inclusive, shared and digital mobility
The MoTO project aims to establish a mobility living lab in Turin, focusing on social, shared, and digital mobility innovations. Leveraging existing initiatives like “ToMove,” “Torino City Lab (TCL),” and “Casa delle Tecnologie emergenti di Torino (CTE NEXT),” it complements local and national programs with international support from EIT Urban Mobility and company networks. The project objective is to experiment within Turin’s context to assess feasibility, user value, and commercial potential of the urban mobility solutions proposed by Transcality, Dreamwaves, and Karos Mobility. MoTO aligns with the European “100 Climate Neutral Cities” mission and aims for scalability and replicability of solutions. Through this project and partnership, the city seeks to foster innovation, collaboration, and sustainable development, with an eye towards creating solutions that can benefit not only the local community but also society at large.
Partners:
Karos Mobility, Dreamwaves, Transcality, City of Turin, Piemonte Innova Foundation.
Countries: Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France.
Learn more about EIT Urban Mobility projects
