How should inclusive CCAM be designed and implemented? Share your views in the CulturalRoad survey
The CulturalRoad Project is working on new methodologies that integrate cultural and geographical diversity into Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) deployment plans, with the aim of ensuring that CCAM improves mobility for everyone. In addition to improving the efficiency and safety of CCAM services, the project also strives for greater inclusivity, aiming to eliminate transport poverty and address the diverse needs of different groups.
To support this work, CulturalRoad is launching a survey to gather perspectives and better understand users’ priorities. The questionnaire covers physical limitations, digital accessibility, safety measures, and other ethical considerations related to mobility in general, and CCAM in particular. No prior knowledge is required to participate – everyone’s experience is valuable.
The survey takes from 5 to 30 minutes to answer the survey, depending on how many dimensions you want to assess. Any contribution will be very valuable, and participation is possible either anonymously or by name. Your responses will directly guide CulturalRoad’s work within its Inclusivity pillar.
Take part in our survey and help shape more inclusive mobility solutions!
Photo credit: CulturalRoad
EMT Madrid Showcases Leadership in Augmented CCAM at Smart Urban Spaces 2025
Madrid, Spain | 12 November 2025 - Empresa Municipal de Transportes (EMT) de Madrid, a key partner in the Augmented CCAM project, took part in Smart Urban Spaces, a landmark event that reaffirmed Madrid’s position as a forerunner in urban innovation and sustainable mobility.
EMT presented, as part of a workshop, its experience and expertise in the field of connected and autonomous vehicle initiatives.
Held at Mercamadrid, S.A., the conference brought together institutions, technology companies and European partners to showcase advances toward connected, sustainable and people-centric mobility solutions.
Julián Olmo, Head of Rolling Stock Planning, shared EMT’s hands-on experience with connected and autonomous vehicles, building on major European initiatives such as SHOW, Augmented CCAM and its collaboration with the Centro Tecnológico de Automoción de Galicia (CTAG )
Meanwhile, Carlos Acha Ledesma, Director of Technology and Innovation, participated in the roundtable “Human Adaptive City”, exploring how emerging technologies can be designed to better serve people and communities.
Finally, Sergio Fernández Balaguer, Head of the International and European Projects Monitoring Department, moderated a panel on the physical and digital infrastructures needed to support CCAM mobility. The discussion featured experts from ETRA, TECNALIA, Alsa, CARTIF, INSIA and the Madrid City Council Digital Office.
Through these interventions, EMT Madrid underscored its role as a key partner within the consortium, presenting strategic decarbonisation and innovation measures that support the company’s commitment to clean and technologically advanced mobility, integrating seamlessly into the municipality’s broader Digital Transformation Strategy.
José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Mayor of Madrid, closed the event and highlighted Mercamadrid as a ‘real-life laboratory for logistics and smart mobility solutions’. He also reaffirmed the city’s ambition to lead Europe’s transformation toward smarter, more sustainable urban ecosystems.
For more information about Augmented CCAM in action, visit the link below:
Advancing automated transport systems across Europe
IRF is pushing to enable resilient Operational Design Domains (ODDs) for automated driving systems across Europe’s diverse transport networks to support projects such as Augmented Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (ACCAM) and iEXODDUS.
ACCAM, coordinated by the Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL), consists of a multi-stakeholder Consortium of 26 Partners, from 12 European countries and one Associated partner from Switzerland, the International Road Federation (IRF).
iEXODDUS, on the other hand, is co-Funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme (GA No. 101146091) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). iEXODDUS, coordinated by Virtual Vehicle (ViF), consists of a multi-stakeholder Consortium of 14 Partners, from 5 European countries and one Associated partner from Switzerland, the IRF.
Automated transport systems
ODD touches on areas such as Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs), future mobility, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), resilient autonomous driving, smart infrastructure, mobility innovation and much more.
IRF is leading conversations around the links between global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)-denied localisation, Digital Twin integration, open standards and governance models.
As a global road transport leader, the IRF is also exploring essential elements towards scaling Automated Vehicles (AVs) beyond pilot zones into mainstream deployment using policy recommendations and roadmaps towards harmonised Physical and Digital Infrastructure (PDI) for large-scale CCAM deployment.
ODD Extension for Automated Driving
The ODD defines the conditions under which an Automated Driving System (ADS) can operate safely. ADS are currently limited by strictly defined ODDs, often excluding challenging environments such as tunnels, urban canyons and construction zones.
The objective is to extend ODD boundaries so that they become a foundation for safer, more inclusive and compatible autonomous mobility across Europe. Without the reliable localisation and harmonisation frameworks, AVs risk being confined to narrow use cases.
GNSS-denied Localisation
Today’s AVs depend heavily on GNSS for positioning, however safety is compromised in areas where signals become blocked or distorted. To address this, IRF is also supporting the iEXODDUS project, an initiative that introduces multi-sensor localisation which blends camera-based mapping for high-precision navigation, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) anchors for tunnel and urban environments, HD maps and digital twins for environmental awareness and map-less perception modes for dynamic, unmapped roads.
This layered approach ensures resilience and redundancy which allows vehicles to maintain safe positioning when GNSS is unavailable.
Digital Twins in AV Deployment
Digital twin architecture provides real-time, high-fidelity models for road infrastructure. By harmonising these across Europe, ADS can be seamlessly integrated into high-definition maps to enable cross-border interoperability and real-time safety validation.
The EU has already recognised the importance of Digital Twins in mobility as part of its Annual Union Work Programme for Standardisation. The next step is ensuring that AV-specific standards for Digital Twins support simulation testing and live operational deployment.
ODD Extensions for Europe’s CCAM Strategy
Resilient localisation and harmonised standards are key enablers for extending the ODD of automated vehicles.
These efforts have a direct impact on the reduction of road traffic accidents, deployment in environments such as city centres and cross-border corridors, assurance of seamless AV operation across Europe and transparent governance which includes clear liability structures.
The expected outcome is a Recommendation Catalogue that will be submitted to the CCAM Platform Association to support feedback to policy makers and regulators with a view to substantiating deployment topics and implementation of large CCAM initiatives.
These recommendations aim to guide industry, regulators, and cities in shaping resilient CCAM ecosystems.
Sharing the results
Writers Iona Kirkpatricka, Karin Baier-Müllerb, Selim Solmazc, Martin Kirchengastc, Jakob Reckenzaunc will present a paper on these recommendations during Q1 of 2026 at the Transport Research Arena (TRA 2026) Conference.
The TRA 2026 is the foremost European Conference on Transport and Mobility gathering researchers, industry professionals, public authorities and other stakeholders from all transport modes to share knowledge, foster collaboration and address challenges and opportunities in the transport and mobility sectors.
The paper will explore ODD extension strategies, localisation in GNSS-denied environments, standardisation of data and interfaces, and governance models for trusted deployment.
Focusing on challenging scenarios such as tunnels and urban canyons, the modular localisation framework that integrates infrastructure-assisted sensing, onboard odometry and inertial navigation to ensure continuous positioning without GNSS will also be presented.
Acting DG Alcaraz: “Innovation is not an option, it is a must”.
“Innovation is not an option, it is a must,” said IRF Acting Director General (DG) Gonzalo Alcaraz at the ITS World Congress 2025 in Atlanta. Speaking before leaders of the global mobility sector, he talked about how the incorporation of CCAM can lead to the design of more sustainable infrastructure and develop vehicles that can ‘communicate’ with one another. This technology would be capable of avoiding fatal collisions and creating more inclusive and accessible vehicles for all road users.
Atlanta, USA – ITS America, ERTICO – ITS Europe and ITS Asia-Pacific organised the four-day ITS World Congress from the 24th of August 2025 with the theme “Deploying today, Empowering Tomorrow”. The Congress gathered representatives from the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) industry, serving as a major forum to discuss the latest Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) developments.
Acting DG Alcaraz represented the IRF and gave discussions on CCAM during sessions on the Building Blocks for CCAM Deployment, Strategy for Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Communication in Automated Vehicles and Creating a Safer Future with Connected and Automated Technologies.
Building Blocks for CCAM Deployment
This session focused on elaborating on the foundational elements necessary for the successful deployment of CCAM including infrastructure readiness, cross-border cooperation, and harmonised regulations.
In his presentation titled “Building the Autonomous Mobility Ecosystem”, Acting DG Alcaraz highlighted that vehicles are just part of the equation when it comes to CCAM. Other significant factors include technology, materials, diversity and inclusion and sustainability.
He presented the IRF Connected and Autonomous Mobility Manifesto (2021), explaining CCAM through legal and policy topics, workforce, technology and overcoming challenges in the use of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV).
To effectively build the autonomous mobility system, Acting DG Alcaraz presented the following areas of focus, areas also being addressed by the IRF:
- Traffic Management Measures – CCAM systems must be capable of handling both planned and emergency road works. This requires the ability to receive real-time updates and adapt to measures such as contraflow lanes marked with cones. Achieving this will necessitate revisions to existing New Roads and Street Works Acts (NRSWA) legislation as well as adjustments to current operating practices.
- Road Markings – Maintenance procedures for road markings must be strengthened, with signage regularly checked for cleanliness and clarity to ensure that automated systems can reliably interpret them.
- Safe Harbour Areas – The design and frequency of safe harbour areas require review to prevent misuse and to guarantee they serve their intended safety purpose.
- Role of Service Stations – Traditional service stations could be reimagined as transport hubs, potentially allowing passengers to board automated motorway taxis.
- Car Parking – Parking systems may evolve into ‘valet-style’ operations. Should CAVs reduce the overall number of vehicles on the road, existing parking facilities could be repurposed for alternative uses by other road users.
- Automated Demand Responsive Public Transport Vehicles – Public transport operators have an opportunity to encourage shared mobility through the deployment of automated pods that operate on demand.
- Crossing and Junctions – Automated vehicles will find signal-controlled crossings and junctions easier to navigate than those without signals, suggesting a shift in future road and urban planning practices.
- Impact on Bridge Structures – Vehicle platooning, particularly involving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), may place unexpected stresses on bridges, underscoring the need for further structural assessments.
The integration of CCAM into mobility systems would mean a long transition period of mixed traffic. Infrastructure can help move things faster while providing a safe environment and while leading efficient operations.
Strategy for Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Communication in Automated Vehicles
This session was on the deployment of 5G-V2X and IEEE 802.11bd for enhanced safety and efficiency by enabling vehicle-to-vehicle, infrastructure, pedestrian, and network or V2X interactions.
V2X is accelerating worldwide with Cellular V2X (C-V2X) emerging as the leading standard, the expansion of 5G networks and government-backed mandates and funding for V2X. There are also ongoing V2X rollouts that are targeting high-risk areas like junctions and schools while expanding beyond road safety into autonomous driving, tolling and emissions reduction.
Acting DG Alcaraz shared how recent V2X deployments in the United States and in Europe demonstrated the technology’s potential to improve safety, optimise traffic flow and enable the transition to CCAM.
Some examples include
- The Atlanta V2X Day One Deployment District with a one-mile downtown that includes traffic signal prioritisation and integration with emergency services, transit and school buses.
- The 5GAA Demonstration in Paris where CAVs were showcased using Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and 5G-V2X for advanced mobility services and real-time traffic management.
Acting DG Alcaraz noted that governments and authorities have been backing V2X with mandates, funding programmes and infrastructure investments seen in the expansion of 5G.
V2X rollouts prioritise high-risk areas with high rates of road traffic crashes. “V2X is moving into areas such as autonomous vehicle coordination, carbon reduction strategies and tolling systems”.
Safer Future with Connected and Automated Technologies
This plenary discussion focused on how CCAM technologies are transforming how people move and are essential to keeping our roads safe by reducing the annual number of crashes. It also moves that ensuring connectivity across all modes of transportation would require infrastructure equipped with communication capabilities and the connection for all road users, both human and machine.
The topics discussed included technology usability, consideration human factors, consumer education and the importance of trust to drive acceptance and adoption. It also covered the use cases of connected and automated technologies delivering near-term benefits that can increase transportation system safety and demonstrate the value to the traveling public.
IRF Leads CCAM Session at ITS World Congress 2025
Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) is a crucial element in achieving global targets that involve safety, sustainability, inclusivity, accessibility, urban development and collaboration. Some of its clear contributions include:
- Reducing road crashes by enabling vehicles and infrastructure to ‘communicate’ with one another.
- Compensating for human error in their influence in road traffic crashes.
- Improves traffic flow.
- Cutting emissions by managing vehicles and infrastructure more efficiently.
- Contributing to greener transport systems through electrification of vehicles, from passenger to freight.
- Generating transport and mobility data to aid in the development of road infrastructure.
IRF Acting Director General (DG) Gonzalo Alcaraz attended the ITS World Congress 2025 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, USA from the 24th to the 28th of August 2025.
Themed "Deploying Today, Empowering Tomorrow", the Congress brought together world leaders, decision-makers and representatives from the public and private sectors to discuss the implementation of new technologies and solutions like CCAM that are essential for smarter transportation systems.
The IRF led a sessions titled “Advancing CCAM Deployment: Augmented Physical, Digital and Communication Infrastructure for Smart Mobility”. The IRF session elaborated on how different elements of CCAM needed to merge and evolve so that they can better support safe, scalable and sustainable mobility.
The different topics of the session included:
TOPIC 1: Road Operator Roles in CCAM
Led by MAPtm Strategic Advisor on Connected and Automated Mobility Tom Alkim, this topic discussed how CCAM could increase safety and move society closer toward vision zero by increasing accessibility of mobility services, reducing emission from transport and addressing driver shortages.
Stakeholders must integrate CCAM into the broader transport system and to co-exist with other forms of mobility with key stakeholders needed to take the lead.
Mr. Alkim presented the following road manager roles in CCAM and digital representations:
- Road managers have active roles in digital representation in their core business or road maintenance and asset management. They also use models in road planning and building.
- Road manager roles will evolve in collaboration with the ecosystem stakeholders depending on the case of CCAM use and its requirements.
TOPIC 2: Enabling the Transportation Evolution
Presented by Vice President (VP) for Emerging Markets of Kapsh TrafficCom Lauri Brady, the topic focused on the importance of connected vehicles.
Connected vehicles lead to more efficient multi-modal transportation within and around urban areas, driving economic growth. It also results in a cleaner environment, enabling more access and use that attracts residents and businesses.
Some connected vehicle solutions and services include Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Mobility and Safety, Integrated Data Platform, Demand Management, Payment Services, Technology Neutral, Multi-Purpose Apps, Data Hubs & Analytic Solutions, Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Coordination and Supervision or Orchestration.
VP Brady explained that, to enable transportation evolution, three initial steps need to be implemented.
- Connected Vehicle Hardware – In-vehicle and roadside solution.
- Corridor and Device Management – Connected Vehicle (CV) data access and device management through the monitoring, operation and maintenance of CV devices and sensors. It could also include the collection, storage and distribution of CV messages and data usage.
- Connected Corridor – Digital corridors that enable cross-domain services and solutions through operationalisation of data & insights, flexible platform suites for highway and urban environments and transition legacy systems on digital infrastructure.
Infrastructure Solutions demonstrates transport evolution through situational awareness, functional safety, traffic efficiency and environmental sustainability, Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) support where traffic safety and mobility insights are translated from sensors and cameras, Deep Learning Versatile Platform (DLVP) that translates input into digital data and Traffic Flow Optimisation among others.
TOPIC 3: Efforts Towards Realising Automated Mobility Services
This presentation was led by Manabu Umeda, Project Researcher of Mobility Innovation Collaborative Research Organisation, Collaborative Research Coordinator from the University of Tokyo and member of the Mobility Innovation Alliance Japan.
The focus of the intervention was on the establishment of the Mobility Innovation Alliance as a key player in collaborating with global participants to realise mobility innovation.
The Alliance is creating basic goals and requirements for cooperative systems that other regions can replicate and deploy.
From 2021 to 2023, it set up prior pilot tests that used a level 2 automated bus with a driver and installed cooperative roadside equipment on public roads and developed elemental technologies for cooperative systems. In 2024, the Alliance held public road tests with the development of the bus capable of L4 automated operation. They also developed and installed Roadside Unit (RSU) for cooperative L4 services.
Currently, in 2025, the Alliance is leading pilot tests with operations as level 4 mobility services. The results are the commercialisation and expansion of CCAM to other regions.
TOPIC 4: Smarter Motorways and the Intersection with Connected & Autonomous Vehicles
Led by National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Caltabiano, this topic explored the integration of transport solutions in road, rail, ports and airports in areas on asset performance, infrastructure measurement, safer smarter infrastructure, sustainability and materials performance, structures & certifications, data and technology and transport futures.
Managing motorways and autonomous vehicles begins with understanding current behaviours and predicting lane capacity and use.
CEO Caltabiano explained that planning, design and operation of motorways requires quantitative understanding of the relation between capacity loss and Lane Changing Concentration (LCC). A better understanding of capacity and demand for proper planning and design can prevent or mitigate ‘planning disaster’.
TOPIC 5: The Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Programme (SIP) Development of Smart Mobility Platform
Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) through Strategic Innovation Promotion (SIP) Sub Programme Director Satoshi Hiyama, led the final topic for discussion.
Mr. Hiyama presented the notion of a society without ‘mobility divides’. A future where passengers and freight can move freely, safely and comfortably. To achieve this, JAMA is building a platform for safe, fair, eco-friendly and seamless mobility for passengers and freight.
The organisation has a task force for Sustainable Mobility Services that re-design planning guidelines, spatial evaluation methods and HR development programmes. This task force also deals with freight and related collaborative logistics, legal framework and business practices.
Another JAMA task force is focused on Comprehensive Infrastructure that deal with pure technologies along with legal framework, physical infrastructure and digital infrastructure.
JAMA envisions a future where road infrastructure will be capable of preemptive prevention of road traffic crashes through proactive risk notification.
Through CCAM, the IRF fosters innovation and progress in road infrastructure and sustainable transportation. It is presenting a platform for the successful adoption of CCAM technology that will include its rollout and deployment.
The session is one of the ways that will educate users about CCAM benefits and help build greater public trust in these innovations.
The way forward requires collaboration and knowledge sharing, with open conversations about CCAM at the centre. Further, the success with CCAM depends on partnerships between governments, industry, academia and civil society.
“The future of mobility isn’t about the autonomous vehicles themselves but in what they can offer when fully integrated with the whole mobility ecosystem”, Acting DG Alcaraz.
