The CATS project aims to develop a new urban transport service based on a new generation vehicle. Its major innovation is the utilisation of a single type of vehicle for two different usages: individual use or collective transport.
This new transport service is aimed at filling the gap between public mass transport and private individual vehicles. It is based on two operating principles: the self service concept where small and clean urban vehicles are offered on a short term rental basis, and the flexible shuttle service where a variable length of vehicles convoy, driven by a professional driver, operates at fixed hours along a line on a permanent basis or on a case by case basis.
Four Cristal vehicles and two stations will be made available by Lohr Industrie to the project for experiments. The CATS project will investigate through an in depth mobility needs analysis, on-site demonstration and showcases, the environmental impact and social acceptance of the introduction of such a new system in three different European cities (Strasbourg FR, Ploeisti, RO, Formello, IT).
CATS will complement the design and manufacture of the Cristal vehicle via a detailed definition of its operating principles and by a design of its urban settings (stations, infrastructures,) in accordance with cities and citizens needs.
| Principal investigator | Prof. Vincent Kaufmann |
|---|---|
| Project manager | Derek Christie, Sonia Lavadinho |
| Sponsor | European Comission |
| Period | 2009-2014 |
| Laboratories | LASUR, TRANSP-OR |
| External collaborations | Europe Recherche Transport, Communauté urbaine de Strasbourg, GEA, Inra, Israël Institute of Technology, Centro di Ricerca di La Sapienza sul Trasporto e la Logistica, Primaria Municipiului Ploiesti, Agenzia Regionale per la Mobilità-Regione Lazio |
| Collaboration | TRACE |