Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

The priority advantages of the first development areas are:

• Traffic light precedence - The solution provides the driver with the status of the traffic lights along the route and recommends the appropriate speed to synchronize with the green traffic light wave, thus improving passenger comfort and service efficiency. The development of a dynamic control system for traffic light signaling on the 5G network is planned which will allow priority to be given to public transport, for example during the peak period or in the event of a delay in the timetable.
• Junction management and traffic information - Thanks to algorithms that process video images and information collected by sensors along the road in real time, it will be possible to notify the driver and the trolleybus of the presence of obstacles obstructing the route, or of a vehicle arriving at the next intersection, or even of the people approaching at the next pedestrian crossing. In these cases the driver, thanks to a monitor next to the driving position, is alerted with a visual or acoustic signal and can thus be helped to pay particular attention when proceeding along the route.
• Control of stops - The technological instrumentation present on the shelters informs the driver, for example, how many passengers are waiting, whether the area around the stop is fully accessible and what the flow of passengers on and off the trolleybus is. Furthermore, it is possible to send information on the loading status of the vehicle from the trolleybus to the shelter.

Tech bus represents further progress in the New Urban Mobility scene, which combines technology and sustainability towards the cutting edge of Milanese public transport. 
The project advances in a scenario that places investments in innovation at the centre, drivers in the choices and strategic policies of institutions and companies, to support Milan's change towards increasingly electric, connected and safe mobility: from the present, with the driverless trains of the M5 and the next M4, towards assisted driving of surface vehicles, which in the future could also be autonomous.

"In Milan we invest in innovation, towards increasingly sustainable but also more connected, fluid mobility, capable of responding to citizens' needs. This experimentation - declares Marco Granelli, councilor for Mobility - represents an interesting collaborative approach between the public and private, between companies that work in different ways but are all interested in dealing with a very complex reality, not a laboratory, but a city made up of networks of streets, squares and intersections, fleets of public and private transport, people who use the road for a future where moving becomes increasingly easier and safer thanks to the integration between man and artificial intelligence".

"Mobility is a key sector for the development and growth of the territory and cities, a crossroads between cutting-edge technology and precision services – states Ferruccio Resta, Rector of the Polytechnic of Milan –. Here some of the great challenges of the future. Milan, like other realities in the world, becomes the theater of an experimentation that combines the skills of the university with the technologies made available by some large companies, with which the Polytechnic of Milan has been working in synergy for some time. A project that wants to become a demonstrator of technologies for sustainable and safe mobility".

"ATM is always at the forefront in the experimentation and application of technological and cutting-edge projects, essential for designing the mobility of the future – declares Arrigo Giana, General Director of ATM –. Technological innovation is in fact at the center of the strategic choices of the Company committed to offering an increasingly attractive transport service based on citizens' needs. A challenge, which, together with sustainability, represents one of the pillars on which our investments are concentrated, also to encourage the evolution and relaunch of Milan".

"The Tech bus – states Stefano Rebattoni, CEO of IBM Italia – is the demonstration that the combination of human capabilities and exponential technologies, such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things, can produce concrete and substantial benefits for each of us. By supporting, as in this case, the work of those who deal with public mobility and improving the quality of life in our cities. We are proud to have contributed with IBM's solutions and skills to the development of a public-private ecosystem to support the sustainable growth of Milan and, consequently, of our country".

"We are happy to contribute with our technology and our skills to a cutting-edge project, a forerunner of the mobility of the future – comments Giorgio Migliarina, Director of Vodafone business –. We make the experience gained during the 5G trial in Milan promoted by the MiSE, of which Vodafone was the leader. The distinctive characteristics of 5G will give a great boost to technological evolution on the roads of the future, improving road safety and reducing consumption, thus paving the way for connected mobility and sustainable".

JRL Joint research lab - The profile
The Joint Research Lab for autonomous and connected electric urban mobility (JRL) is an ecosystem that includes universities (Polytechnic University of Milan and Fondazione Politecnico di Milano with organizational secretariat function), industry (ATM, Brembo, Enel Pirelli, Solaris bus & coach, STMicroelectronics, Vodafone) and institutions (Municipality of Milan and Chamber of Commerce of Milan); deals with the topic of autonomous driving, considered from different points of view from public transport, such as buses, to privately managed autonomous car-sharing systems, up to the development of new products and services that can enable this technology.

The Joint research lab's first ambition is to bring one of the major innovations in the field of autonomous driving: the promotion of a promiscuous urban circuit with a smart, wired and technologically advanced infrastructure, which allows the transit of experimental vehicles safely. Milan presents itself as a hub for the technological development of autonomous electric mobility, creating new jobs and international interest in the sector, through an appropriately instrumented city test circuit and, in the future covered by the 5G network, for testing and validation of prototypes. The circuit could enhance the preferential lanes, the areas of the railway yards, and some peripheral areas.

JRL partners: ATM, Brembo, Chamber of Commerce of Milan, Municipality of Milan, Enel