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Living Lab ToMove

Autonomous and connected shuttle for urban public transport

Autonomous shuttles are electric vehicles with a capacity of around ten passengers. Thanks to their ability to gather information directly from the road’s technological infrastructure, the shuttle can safely operate on the road and receive real-time updates on traffic conditions or other significant events. The technological infrastructure consists of a set of technologies that work together:

A system of sensors installed on the vehicle

that allows it to acquire information about the surrounding environment (streets and intersections, obstacles along the route, passing vehicles, etc.).

The internet connection

hat allows the shuttle to exchange information about traffic conditions with the Mobility Control Center, which collects real-time data on vehicle flow and road conditions.

A connected traffic light system

hat, through cameras and sensors, manages the duration of traffic light phases to improve traffic flow, like giving priority to public transport and the heaviest vehicle flows.

On board autonomous shuttles, there is no driver as we know it today, but rather a different role, called a safety driver. It is an operator who monitors the proper functioning of the shuttle and intervenes when necessary, for example, in the presence of an obstacle on the road. In such cases, the shuttle stops operating in autonomous mode and the safety driver takes control, switching to manual driving for the time needed to bypass the obstacle. Each shuttle is always equipped with a station featuring a steering wheel or controls, allowing the switch to manual driving at any moment.

In the 2024-2026 period, there will be several experiments in different areas of the city of Turin as part of the SHOW, In2CCAM, and ToMove projects.

In addition to the experimentation of the autonomous shuttle within the local public transport system, ToMove project includes the integration of other “cooperative mobility information” services: these are services designed to provide information to car owners about traffic conditions, parking availability, and shared transport options in a specific area, thus offering sustainable alternatives to private car use.