ULTIMO: Making automated mobility part of public transport

From rural connections to metro feeders, automated vehicles could fill gaps in public transport and level up the service. ULTIMO is exploring what it takes to turn that possibility into a service that passengers can request, operators can manage, and people with different mobility needs can use, ergo, mobility for all.

A shuttle that drives itself is a technological achievement; however, a public transport service must do more. It needs to connect with trains and buses, respond when someone requests a journey, and provide assistance when a passenger needs it. Behind the scenes, booking platforms, fleet operators, and vehicles must exchange information reliably, while operators need to be able to manage vehicles from different manufacturers as part of one fleet.

These are the challenges at the heart of ULTIMO. The project aims to lay the foundations for large-scale, economically viable, on-demand and accessible automated public transport centred on user needs. Its objectives range from integrating automated vehicles into Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) systems and developing open interfaces to improving passenger services, exploring viable business models, and preparing the transition beyond individual pilots.

Three sites, three mobility challenges

ULTIMO is putting its approach to the test across three European deployment sites, each representing a different public transport challenge. Firstly, in Herford, Germany, automated minibuses are intended to strengthen connections between the city and surrounding rural areas, while also exploring how vehicles from different manufacturers can operate within a larger, interoperable fleet. In Oslo’s Groruddalen Valley, automated shuttles are initially envisaged as feeders to the metro, testing how on-demand mobility can become part of everyday public transport operations. Lastly, around Geneva, the focus is on a flexible service without fixed routes or timetables, using dynamic routing and ride pooling to integrate automated vehicles into the existing transport network. Together, the three sites allow ULTIMO to explore automated public transport across different operating environments, from rural connectivity and metro integration to fully dynamic on-demand services.

Fig 1. Automated shuttle in Oslo’s Groruddalen Valley

The work behind the journey

Making automated mobility work as public transport requires much more than an automated vehicle. ULTIMO’s preliminary Key Exploitable Results bring together the services and systems needed to operate automated mobility on a scale. The KERs address the different parts of that service: public transport and MaaS operations, logistics, passenger services, vehicle operations and intervention teams, as well as interoperability, in-cabin monitoring, vehicle-to-everything communication and cybersecurity.

Their shared purpose becomes clearer when viewed through a passenger’s journey. Someone must be able to request a ride. A system must identify and direct an available vehicle and coordinate the journey with the wider transport network. The passenger needs information and support, while an operator needs to know what is happening across the fleet and when intervention is required. ULTIMO is developing these elements as parts of one connected service rather than treating the automated vehicle as the service itself.
Interoperability is an important part of that challenge. ULTIMO’s Common Open AV API (KER7) is intended to provide a shared, two-way connection between fleet orchestration systems and automated vehicles of different types and manufacturers. Vehicle-specific adapters can provide a connection where a common protocol cannot yet be used. The aim is to make it easier for operators to manage different automated vehicles as part of one transport service rather than separate systems.

Connected automated services must also be secure. ULTIMO’s results include a CAV and 5G Cybersecurity Module (KER10), while research carried out within the project led to TARA 2.0 for Connected and Automated Vehicles. The approach addresses cybersecurity and privacy risks in highly automated vehicles, complementing ULTIMO’s wider work towards secure connected and automated mobility.

Designed around real passenger needs

Making automated mobility part of public transport also means designing the service around the people who will use it. This becomes particularly important when there are no staff members on board to notice that someone may need assistance to ensure mobility for all.

ULTIMO is exploring an accessibility service that can identify mobility aids, such as wheelchairs and white canes, and alert a remote operator. The project also evaluates digital passenger interfaces with input from people with reduced mobility. Accessibility therefore concerns more than entering and leaving a vehicle: it begins with how passengers find, request and interact with the service.

This passenger-centred perspective is reflected in 24 narrative use cases developed through co-creation. They cover situations such as travelling without a smartphone, taking a night-time trip, using a wheelchair, carrying luggage, or facing a vehicle failure. These scenarios help translate different passenger needs into requirements for booking, passenger information, fleet coordination, and operational support.

From demonstration to deployment

ULTIMO addresses a central challenge for connected cooperative and automated mobility. The project moves from demonstrations of what an automated vehicle can do to understanding what an automated public transport service needs to work.

The three deployment sites provide different environments in which the pieces can come together: vehicles that can be integrated into existing transport networks, systems that can coordinate mixed fleets, services that respond to passenger needs and operational structures that can support them reliably and securely.

By bringing these elements together, ULTIMO is exploring what cities and public transport operators need to put in place before automated mobility can move beyond individual pilots and become a scalable part of everyday public transport.

Fig 2. Automated shuttle in Herford (Germany)

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