Hi-Drive Project Participates in RTR2024 Conference in Brussels

The Hi-Drive project participated in the 7th European Conference on the Results from Road Transport Research (#RTR2024) from 5th to 7th February 2024 in Brussels. The event featured 76 EU-funded projects across 26 parallel sessions, showcasing outcomes from Horizon 2020 projects and new results from Horizon Europe funded initiatives.

Natasha Merat from the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds represented Hi-Drive in Session 17: “CCAM on the Roads.” She presented on “Developing a firm understanding of the user when interacting with automated vehicles,” addressing strategies and challenges for integrating CCAM solutions into daily transport and emphasizing user interaction. The session highlighted the importance of real-life testing, public acceptability, harmonized methodologies, and practical use-case transferability, aligning with the CCAM Partnership’s goals to advance CCAM technologies and services in Europe.

Hi-Drive’s contributions focused on understanding user interactions with automated vehicles, examining user needs, acceptance factors, and monitoring tools. Findings on external communication, driver response times, and the quality of takeovers were shared, showcasing the use of driving simulators and on-road vehicles.

Discussions during the Q&A emphasized differentiating explicit and implicit communication with external road users and understanding human behavior in mixed traffic. Insights on driver-vehicle handovers and public acceptability were also presented, stressing the role of public authorities in addressing user concerns.