Keolis at ITS World Congress: innovating for mobility

ITS World Congress: the main event for creators of smart transportation systems

In the future, mobility will be smart not only for companies, but also for mobility authorities and users. This was the main theme of this year’s World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, the annual conference for mobility players. After Singapore in 2019 and Hamburg in 2021, Keolis once again attended the trade show in 2022, this year in Los Angeles, where its teams learned about the latest innovations in new mobility and autonomous vehicles. 

The only transportation operator to have a booth at the show, Keolis presented its latest solutions, including its autonomous mobility testing site (SEMA), and highlighted its North American subsidiaries grouped under the Keolis North America entity. Its CEO, David Scorey, and International Executive Director, Bernard Tabary, were also invited to speak on panels on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing single-occupant driving. 

Autonomous vehicles and V2X infrastructure on full display at ITS World Congress 2022

How do we ensure that autonomous vehicles slow down at the right time and at the right speed at red traffic lights? Connecting vehicles directly to traffic lights and receiving information about traffic light changes is one option. This was the idea behind V2X (“vehicle-to-everything”) communication. This innovation, closely monitored by a growing number of suppliers, attracted a lot of attention at the ITS World Congress. V2X communication enables an advanced interconnection between vehicles and road infrastructure, allowing vehicles to optimize their speed and braking in real time. As tests of autonomous trucks and robot cabs proliferate across the United States, this is a remarkable step forward.

As a leader in autonomous vehicles, Keolis monitors the latest developments on this topic in the American market. Though innovation remains slow in terms of autonomous public transportation, the market is still very dynamic and continues to gain supporters.

Towards a driverless Olympics in 2028? 

Another issue on everyone's mind at the ITS World Congress was the ambition of Los Angeles, host city of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, to rely solely on public transportation for visitors and fans at the event, excluding cars entirely. The prospect of a "car-free Olympics" has generated a lot of buzz and presents a huge challenge for a megacity where cars still reign supreme. Keolis teams had a chance to discuss these issues and new ideas with municipal public transportation stakeholders with the aim of finding potential alternatives to cars for the Games. These public transport stakeholders are now preparing to step up their efforts to provide more innovative and sustainable networks, such as the hydrogen-powered buses of Foothill Transit operated by Keolis in the city of Pomona, Los Angeles County.

The goal shared by all transportation players is to make progress, and the Keolis Group's innovations in on-demand transportation and mobility as a service (MaaS) may offer great opportunities to the City of Angels, provided they are combined with efficient, smart and safe shared mobility systems. 

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