Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) are expected to be introduced in increasing numbers over the next decade based on the rapidly developing capability of modern technologies. The need for policies around the introduction of CCAM is starting to arise, based on the evaluation of the likely impact of different technologies, with the aim to capture the benefits of automation and ensure that new technologies contribute to wider policy objectives. The Horizon 2020 Levitate project aims to investigate the potential short, medium and long term impacts of CCAM, through an innovative multi-disciplinary impact assessment methodology, which will be incorporated within a new web-based policy support tool to enable city and other authorities to forecast impacts of CCAM on urban areas. The aim of the present paper is to provide an insight on the development of the Levitate Policy Support Tool (PST), the use cases, parameters and impacts considered and the methodologies applied for the estimation of relationships and impacts of connected and automated transport systems. This policy support tool will comprise a knowledge and an estimator module and will include forecasting and backcasting systems providing estimates for different types of impacts and allowing comparative analyses. The Policy Support Tool will integrate the methodologies and findings of the Levitate project, in order to develop an overall framework for the assessment of impacts, benefits and costs of CCAM for different automation and penetration levels and on different time horizons, as well as a public toolkit and a decision support system allowing the testing of various policy scenarios on the basis of the needs of relevant stakeholders.@en

Rapid technological advances leave limited margins for the preparation of cities to receive Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM). The LEVITATE project endeavours to develop an open access web-based Policy Support Tool (PST), that will provide decision makers at all levels with access to LEVITATE methodologies and results. The aim of the PST is to consolidate the outputs of different methods into an overall framework for the assessment of impacts, benefits and costs of CCAM, for different automation and penetration levels and on different time horizons. The PST comprises two modules: the Knowledge and the Estimator module, which includes a forecasting and a backcasting sub-system. The present research provides an insight of the PST, by presenting the studied automation use cases, parameters and impacts of CCAM, the applied methodologies and the online tool.@en

New technologies in the transport sector promise to bring about certain benefits, for example related to mobility or safety, but are also expected to cause negative side effects which are in conflict with strategic city objectives. These might be mitigated by appropriate policy interventions that are designed carefully and timely. The Horizon 2020 research project LEVITATE has investigated multiple impacts of connected and automated transport systems, using an integrated multi-method approach, ranging from microscopic and mesoscopic simulations to system dynamics and Delphi panels. In particular, the system dynamics model described in this paper served to assess several systemic and wider impacts that were found difficult or even impossible to assess with the other methods. The main parts of the model are a population sub-model, a simplified traffic demand model distinguishing between three modes of transport, and a model for the use of public space. In order to calibrate the model and get results that are consistent with those of other methods, the input and output data of those simulations have also been incorporated into the system dynamics model. By means of selected example impact variables – modal split, demand for parking space and average commuting distance – the obtained effect of increasing automation as well as of several policy interventions is demonstrated.@en