CHORUS partner SAAM explores how automated vehicles can improve intermodality, strengthen public transport connections and make everyday journeys more accessible.
Seamless journeys rarely depend on a single mode of transport. They rely on different services working together. Yet fragmented apps, disconnected booking systems, unreliable first- and last-mile connections and complex pricing continue to make intermodal travel challenging.
A new report published by the Swiss Association for Autonomous Mobility (SAAM), in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and participants of the SAAM Day on intermodality, explores how automated vehicles could help address these challenges.
Titled Intermodality and automated vehicles: Closing today’s mobility gaps with tomorrow’s solutions, the report brings together insights from experts across active mobility, public transport, private transport, logistics and public authorities. It focuses on practical challenges identified through real-world journey scenarios, with a particular emphasis on Switzerland.
From first and last mile to urban logistics
The report identifies first- and last-mile connections as a critical weakness in intermodal journeys, particularly in suburban and rural areas where conventional public transport may be infrequent or unavailable.
Automated vehicles could help bridge these gaps through feeder services connecting passengers to rail, high-frequency shuttles on selected corridors and on-demand services for less predictable journeys. In urban logistics, automated delivery vehicles could also coordinate temporary handover points with e-bikes and smaller electric vehicles, helping reduce the need for heavy vehicles to enter city centres.
However, technology alone is not enough. The report highlights organisational and regulatory barriers, including fragmented mobility data, incompatible booking systems and the lack of integrated platforms for journey planning and payment.
Turning potential into practical solutions
SAAM’s report proposes concrete next steps, including testing automated feeder services on promising corridors, developing common data standards and piloting dynamic micro-hubs for urban deliveries.
These findings resonate with the objectives of CHORUS, which seeks to improve the coordination of connected, cooperative and automated mobility with wider transport systems.
Ultimately, the goal is to make sustainable mobility easier, more reliable and more accessible for citizens. By connecting services around people’s needs, automated mobility can become a practical part of a more integrated transport network.
Read the report in our repository
