Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The share of trips made by active modes is increasing, which is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
This increase is linked to cities actively placing more focus on the mobility and safety needs of pedestrians, cyclists, e-cyclists and users of other micro-mobility device, which materialises in new regulations, and in new or improved infrastructure. However, pedestrians and cyclists remain heavily affected by crashes.
Concurrently, the use of electrically assisted devices (such as e-bikes, e-scooters, e-cargo bikes, mobility systems used by people with disabilities, etc.) – to be referred to as micromobility modes – is increasing exponentially because these modes represent an efficient means of personal mobility, as well as a new and effective mode for the last-mile delivery of goods within the city area. Micromobility modes, shared and owned, have been adopted by commuters, tourists, the elderly, food and goods delivery companies, and come in varying sizes and operating speeds.
When their use emerged, micromobility modes were associated with high hospitalisation rates, mainly for the micromobility users themselves, but also pedestrians and cyclists. While efforts have been made to regularise and standardise these vehicles, especially in the case of shared e-scooters, there is still a significant knowledge gap related to the operational safety of these vehicles in cities.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals submitted under this topic should address all of the following aspects:
- Collect and use exposure data when analysing the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and micromobility users, and identify crash contributing factors and their interactions;
- Provide an extensive analysis of the safety needs, as well as tailored safety measures for cyclists and each type of micromobility mode (e.g. shared e-scooters versus owned e-bikes), while taking into account the trip purpose (e.g. recreational ride versus delivery of goods), and the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the users;
- Assess the actual and perceived safety risk of pedestrians and cyclists due to the emergence of micromobility modes that operate at higher speeds and that have increased in size and weight;
- Quantify the impact of the geometric design, quality, and continuity of the cycling infrastructure on the safety of cyclists, pedestrians and micromobility users, considering their increasing demand, operating speeds, and size of vehicles;
- Assess the potential effectiveness of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies in decreasing conflicts and near misses between pedestrians, cyclists and micromobility vehicles, and users and motorised vehicles;
- Identify best practices in the design of bicycles and micromobility vehicles in terms of stability and the avoidance of single crashes, contributing to the underlying development of a draft European regulatory framework on the type-approval of micromobility vehicles or self-certification based on harmonised standards;
- Identify, define and pilot test the following in at least two clearly identified real-life urban environments:
- new geometric designs of infrastructure to ensure safe, seamless, and comfortable mobility for pedestrians, cyclists and users of micromobility modes while accounting for the increasing demand, higher operating speeds and weight and size of e-bikes, e-scooters and all types of micromobility devices;
- smart technologies (V2X) to assess their effectiveness in preventing and decreasing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists, micromobility modes users and motorised traffic;
- road safety requisites, requirements, rules and/or regulations that could be put in place by local authorities in order to increase the take-up and the safety of active and micromobility modes in all age and socioeconomic groups, by 20% compared to the baseline at the start of the project;
- development of a comprehensive, real-time information platform for cyclists that includes data on route accessibility, signage, and infrastructure conditions.
Special focus should be paid to supporting the safety of user groups with particular vulnerability including people with disabilities (physical, mental, cognitive, developmental, intellectual, sensory, etc).
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Expected EU contribution per project: €5.00 million.
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Health
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Transport
Eligibility for Participation
- Associations
- Businesses
- Central Government
- Educational Institutions
- Legal Entities
- Local Authorities
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Services Providers
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
Address: 29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia, P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Persons to Contact:
Mr. Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy
Mr. George Christou
Scientific Officer
Email: gchristou@research.org.cy