Conclusion

The AVENUE project, carried out under Horizon 2020, demonstrated remarkable progress in automated public transport by deploying almost SAE Level 4 AVs in six European cities. Despite significant challenges, including COVID-19 restrictions and partner insolvency, the project successfully deployed automated minibuses that carried over 160,000 passengers and travelled a total of 168,000 km. This conclusion highlights AVENUE’s achievements in improving urban mobility through on-demand door-to-door services and emphasises the potential of using automated minibuses as game changer towards a more sustainable, efficient and citizen centric mobility which serves the general interest.