Coordinating national efforts in modernizing transport infrastructure and provide innovative mobility services

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

Europe is faced with a growing need to make transport infrastructure more resilient, and to keep pace with the changing mobility needs and aspirations of people and businesses and to reduce the impact of infrastructure on the environment. It is urgent to find innovative solutions to upgrade transport infrastructure ensuring an adequate performance level that reflects also vehicle and ICT developments. National Transport Authorities are facing a change in their role from infrastructure managers to service providers and a number of relevant activities are being carried out at national and international level. A close collaboration between these activities is necessary to ensure coherence at European level, and avoid duplication of efforts and resources.

Proposals should address all of the following, including National Authorities from at least 10 EU Member/Associated Countries:

1. Develop a coordination mechanism that will allow National Transport Authorities to align their efforts in modernizing the transport infrastructure network;

2. Identify new roles and competences for the infrastructure managers/operators to respond to the new and future functionalities of the transport infrastructure;

3. Consolidate partnerships and alliances between the transport infrastructure stakeholders and the research community;

4. Continue the coordination activities for information exchange and cross-cutting fertilization between projects funded under Horizon 2020, CEF and national schemes for the optimal exploitation of the results.

Proposals should consider the advancements already achieved with other initiatives (e.g. Infravation EraNet+^[1], C-Road^[2], RIS^[3], PRIME^[4]……).

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 0.8 to EUR 1 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

A multimodal approach as well as an international dimension are encouraged.

Applicants are invited to read the eligibility and admissibility conditions for this topic.

Align Transport Authorities' activities and decision-making options on the development of the core and comprehensive TEN-T, ensuring compatibility and interoperability of the system, and support joint cross-border actions fostering closer collaboration between national authorities. Enable infrastructure managers to provide higher quality and innovative services to users and customers of the transport network; ensure the appropriate flow from research to innovation to implementation; enhance the appropriate communication flow and cross-fertilization between actions.

[1]http://www.infravation.net/

[2]https://www.c-roads.eu/platform.html

[3]http://www.ris.eu/

[4]https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/rail/market/infrastructure-managers-prime_en