The SINFONICA project, almost reaching its’ final stage, has delivered draft policy recommendations about how to make CCAM services (i.e. shared public transport services using CCAM) more equitable and inclusive for people with mobility challenges. The draft policy recommendations have been described in the project Deliverable 5.3 “Vision policy recommendations for user-centric CCAM”, pending the approval from the client.
The SINFONICA policy recommendations draw conclusions from three sources:
- An extensive literature review on policy tools and instruments available to the policy makers and insights from recent EU projects dealing with CCAM services and public transport.
- Review of recent legislation from a sample of EU countries and international experiences with direct relevance in terms of shared public CCAM services. The sample of EU countries has benefited of information provided by the SINFONICA partners (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands and UK).
- And, last but not least, contributions from the SINFONICA stakeholders engagement activities. Surveys, focus groups, interviews, as well as a series of workshops which took place in Birmingham, Trikala, Noord Brabant, Hamburg, West Midland, Brescia (IT), Den Bosh (NL) and Brussels. These events gathered several stakeholders (e.g., citizens, operators, policy makers) around a table, to discuss how CCAM services could be deliverable in more equitable and inclusive way.
In terms of policy recommendations, it is important to stress the degree to which contributions from SINFONICA converge with recommendations from other studies [1]. This convergence of recommendations might indicate the preliminary definition of a policy agenda, of which policy makers at national and EU level could consider for future initiatives.
In particular, two recommendations from SINFONICA are shared by the JRC report:
- Accessibility to CCAM services should be ensured throughout the entire journey.
Accessibility must go beyond the vehicle itself to include infrastructure, digital systems, and the built environment. Policymakers should broaden their focus from “bus-stop to bus-stop” to “door-to-door” accessibility. While public transportation in many European countries is legally required to accommodate persons with disabilities, access to bus stops and railway stations often remains a significant barrier.
- Accessibility to CCAM services for people with special mobility needs requires their involvement in the design process of automated transport vehicles and services from the outset. It has been emphasized the importance of implementing a legal framework to support the development and deployment of accessible products. Associations of people with mobility challenges should be actively involved early in the design process of accessible AVs. Their involvement is particularly important during the testing of prototypes to ensure that the developed features are truly accessible and meet their needs effectively.
Want to know more about the final SINFONICA policy recommendations?
Stay tuned!
[1] Joint Research Centre, Duboz, L., E. Mourtzouchou, A., Garus, A Nahmias Biran, B.H. and Ciuffo, B., Requirements for Inclusive Automated Vehicle Services: Insights for Vehicle and Smartphone Application Design, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/7655690, JRC142261.
