The Open University’s expert on transport strategy leads discussion on connected vehicles and intelligent infrastructure at a prestigious conference on smart cars and urban mobility.
Last month saw Milton Keynes host the very first trial of a driverless car in the UK. This milestone moment put Britain and indeed Milton Keynes at the forefront of driverless technology.
It’s fitting then that the The Open University’s Professor of Transport Strategy, Stephen Potter, is a speaker and panel member at a prestigious event in Munich today.
Smart Cars and Urban Mobility is an international conference hosted by the Association of German Engineers (VDI). It gives senior figures in big data, IT security, new mobility and more the chance to exchange ideas with international experts on the topic of connected cars and urban mobility.
Professor Potter will give a presentation on connected vehicles and intelligent infrastructure as well a joining a panel discussion on the visions and channels for connected mobility.
One burning question is: how soon can see driverless cars our city streets?
“We need to learn from Milton Keynes,” says Professor Potter. “As a proof of concept project, the seeds have been sown. Once we’ve proven that driverless pods can take passengers from the train station to the business district, the service could be adopted on a wider scale. But the city will need to develop the infrastructure to support this and that will inevitably take time.
“What I expect to see emerging much more quickly is a blend of manual vehicle systems and new technologies. There’s a series of quite revolutionary new technologies coming into place that could bring benefits to urban transport much sooner.
“Uber’s a great example of a transition model that can easily slot these new technologies into its operation. With flexible models such as this, combined with revolutionary new technologies, transport will become more and more automated over time.”
The Conference will also feature keynotes from senior figures at CISCO and Intel, and its sponsors include Siemens, IBM the BMW Group. To find out more, go to Smart Cars and Urban Mobility.
