Dresden becomes a blueprint for urban mobility of the future

Autonomous e-buses or a decentralised data ecosystem for automated driving: Just two of various transport experiments that will soon become reality in Dresden. This is because the Saxon state capital is one of two pilot cities in which sustainable mobility solutions are being trialled that are intended to be adaptable for municipalities throughout Europe. A total of 28 institutions are taking part in the "Mobilities for EU" project, which is funded by the European Commission and aims to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral transport. The core topics: Electrification, automation and connectivity.

Europe is to become climate-neutral by 2050 - the states have agreed on this as part of the European Green Deal. 112 cities, including the City of Dresden, which are participating in the European Commission's "Climate Neutral and Smart Cities" mission, want to achieve this ambitious goal as far as possible by 2030. Transport has a key role to play here, as it is responsible for over 30 per cent of total energy consumption in Europe and is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It is therefore high time to achieve success in the transport sector as well - and as quickly as possible. With this in mind, the "MOBILITIES for EU" project was launched to accelerate the transition to environmentally friendly urban mobility in European cities. This is to be achieved with the help of concepts for passenger and freight transport that are energy-efficient and user-orientated. To this end, the European partners involved are meeting this week at the Dresden Communications Festival in Dresden to discuss the implementation of the five-year project. At the same time, the Dresden lighthouse project NEUTRALPATH will be discussing how innovations can pave the way to climate neutrality.

Mayor of Economic Affairs Jan Pratzka: "In the MOBILITIES for EU project, the cities like Dresden and Madrid want to demonstrate the effectiveness of 27 mobility solutions in eleven pilot actions. These include, for example, the introduction of autonomous electric buses or a decentralised data ecosystem that paves the way for automated driving in urban areas. The aim is also to develop new business areas for the players involved."

To this end, the City of Dresden is working with partners such as Volkswagen Group Innovation, SAP SE, the Fraunhofer IVI, TU Dresden and the Saxon Energy Agency SAENA. Five cities in Greece, Slovakia, Finland, Poland and Bosnia-Herzegovina are to adapt the processes and develop them further in line with individual requirements.

The pilot measures and results from the two EU projects Mobilities for EU and NEUTRALPATH are aimed at the Climate City Contract, which must be drawn up as part of the EU mission "100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030". This is an urban framework plan that describes what the path to climate neutrality could look like. The two EU projects are important building blocks for concretising this path.

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Communication Festival Dresden

Smart City Dresden