75 research and innovation projects under the Horizon 2020 challenge Smart, green and integrated transport  will receive €484 million EU funding to turn European air, rail, road and waterborne transport into a greener, safer,  more competitive and well- integrated system.

The selected projects cover all transport modes – air, rail, road, waterborne transport – as well as cross-cutting priorities:  green solutions for urban transport, development of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), logistics and infrastructure improvements.

Examples of selected projects:

e-Ferry – 100% electrically powered ferry

e-Ferry will build the first mid-size 100% electric ferry to link Aero island to mainland in Denmark. The ferry will be powered by wind sourced electricity and will be able to carry 130 passengers and 40 vehicles, saving 2000 tons of CO2 per year. The ferry will carry the largest battery pack ever installed with a record-breaking high charging capacity allowing for short port stays.

EU contribution: €16 million

Participating countries: Denmark, Greece, Norway

Silver Stream – Electric vehicles for elderly

Silver Stream will develop and demonstrate a new electric L-category vehicle (two or three wheels) for the use of elderly people in congested European cities. The project will combine ergonomic solutions conceived for elderly and advanced automotive technologies that are quiet, clean, energy efficient and safe.

EU contribution: € 4 million

Participating countries: Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom

ELIPTIC – Integrated electric transport in cities

ELIPTIC will show how to optimise and upgrade the existing public electric transport infrastructure and smart city vehicles through 20 use cases in 12 European cities, including Bremen (Germany), London (United Kingdom), Brussels (Belgium), Warsaw (Poland), Barcelona (Spain) and Szeged (Hungary). The use cases will integrate e-buses in the public transport infrastructure, upgrade trolleybus networks with battery buses or trolley hybrids, as well as make the public infrastructure available for recharging non-public transport vehicles (electric cars, taxis and trucks).

EU contribution: €6 million

Participating countries: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom

DORA – Information system saving air passengers’ time

DORA will design an integrated information system that helps passengers to optimise travel time between the airport and their destination. The system is expected to provide mobile, seamless and faster travel recommendations, including leading passengers through terminals to the right security and departure gate. Two system tests will take place in Berlin (Germany) and Palma di Mallorca (Spain).

EU contribution: €4.5 million

Participating countries: France, Germany, Greece, Finland, Spain

XCYCLE – Improving cyclists’ safety

XCYCLE aims to reduce the number of accidents involving cyclists by developing technologies for their detection in traffic. The project will work in particular on two use cases: bicycle interaction with cars at intersections and the provision of an immediate or extended green light for cyclists approaching traffic signals.

EU contribution: €5 million        

Participating countries: Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom

HIGHTS – High precision positioning for cooperative ITS applications

HIGHTS aims to improve the accuracy of the position information by combining traditional satellite positioning systems, such as GPS and Galileo, with an innovative use of on-board sensing and infrastructure-based wireless communication technologies (e.g. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth). The new system is expected to provide more reliable positioning information in challenging environments like tunnels and urban canyons.

EU contribution: €6 million

Participating countries: Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden

How were the projects selected for EU funding?

All 75 projects were selected under two calls for project proposals: Mobility for Growth   and Green Vehicles .

Two more sub-calls for project proposals just closed in the area of Mobility for Growth , and one call in the area of Green Vehicles  will open for submissions on 24 June 2015. There will be further funding opportunities for research and innovation projects in the field of transport, please visit the Participant Portal  for more information.

How will the projects be managed?

The projects are each implemented by a consortium of European partners. INEA will monitor their progress throughout the project life-cycle.

Overall, €6.3 billion have been earmarked for transport research in Horizon 2020, the main EU’s funding programme for the period 2014-2020. €2.9 billion of this amount will be managed by INEA resulting in approximately 400 projects of an average size of €7 million.

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