The Department Intelligent Transport Systems has joined forces with 10 partner organisations from 6 other countries across Europe join forces in the OptiPEx project to improve the passenger experience and sustainability of public transport. The overarching goal of this €4M EU-funded project is to enhance the sense of comfort and safety of the passengers as well as the security and ease of travelling. This will be done by working with passengers to co-create ethical, passenger-aware public transport service solutions, with specific user groups including wheelchair users, passengers with large objects, fragile passengers with limited mobility, tourists and students. 

These services will be built on advanced vehicle technologies that assess the real-time passenger experience and adjusts the conditions to improve the sense of comfort, safety, and ease of travelling of the passengers. These solutions will be demonstrated and validated with the user groups and other stakeholders in three living labs with two trams and one shuttle bus in Finland, Austria and Germany respectively. An increase in the service quality and the improved passenger satisfaction will lead to an acceleration of the adoption of automated public transportation technologies and improve the sustainability of the mobility services. OptiPEx will join forces with other related initiatives in the domain of user-centric vehicle technologies and services through the Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) Partnership to harmonise efforts and to ensure long-term impact.