For press info, contact Peter Vanham, Media Lead, US, Tel.: +1 646 592 5907, Email: peter.vanham@weforum.org
· The World Economic Forum announces a call for applications from cities around the world interested in developing a Smart transportation plan
· The Forum will select one laureate city and help it prepare and implement a multi-modal transportation plan, and possibly a self-driving vehicle pilot programme
· Interested city officials are invited to submit expressions of interest to the World Economic Forum by 11 May 2016
New York, USA 27 April 2016 – The World Economic Forum announces a call for applications from cities around the world interested in developing a Smart transportation plan. The Forum will select one laureate city, and help it integrate its existing transportation systems with currently-available and soon-to-be-available technologies, encourage the sharing economy and prepare it to integrate autonomous and connected vehicles.
The Forum will convene an advisory panel of industry experts and staff experts to help the one city selected from among applicants to prepare and implement a multi-modal transportation plan, and possibly a self-driving vehicle pilot programme. The project aims to support the selected city to become one of the first in the world to implement this kind of technology – paving the way for adoption by other cities around the world.
The selected city would receive:
· Expert analysis of its particular regulation and infrastructure needs
· A tailored roadmap to an integrated, multi-modal intelligent transportation system, possibly including self-driving vehicles
· An international platform to discuss and share findings at Forum events and through Forum digital media
This pilot builds on World Economic Forum research into Personal Mobility and Self-Driving Vehicles, conducted in in 2015 in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group, and the Future of Cities. The results show that transportation could be the biggest factor contributing to escaping poverty and that autonomous vehicles have the potential to take 60-70% of cars off the road, reduce road fatalities by 90% and reduce emissions by 2-4%. Most mayors and consumers expect self-driving cars in their cities as soon as 2020, but plans and regulations have not been put into place to prepare for them. A strong transportation plan, including a self-driving vehicle pilot, could be instrumental in guiding the selected city and others thereafter through the process of integrating, and maximizing benefit from, new technologies.
Interested city officials are invited to submit expressions of interest to the World Economic Forum by 11 May 2016.
For more information, please contact:
Alex Mitchell
Head of Automotive Industry
World Economic Forum USA
E-mail: alex.mitchell@weforum.org
Tel: +1 212 703 2315
Notes to Editors:
Visit the World Economic Forum homepage: http://www.weforum.org
Visit the Automotive community page: https://www.weforum.org/communities/industry-partner-au
Read our blogs: http://wef.ch/agenda
Access photo archive: http://wef.ch/pics
Become a Facebook fan: http://wef.ch/facebook
Follow us on Twitter: http://wef.ch/twitter