Connected mobility drives traffic safety, efficiency and sustainability

However, to realise its full potential, alignment and cooperation between diverse stakeholders is essential. TNO combines in-depth expertise in vehicle and communication technologies with the ability to orchestrate innovation, fostering the collaboration needed to unlock the full potential of connected mobility and create a positive societal impact.

Enabler of mobility transitions

As housing, climate, and accessibility challenges grow, mobility plays a key role in creating a liveable future. TNO’s Three Zero-mission focuses on achieving Zero Calamities, Zero Loss, and Zero Emissions. Four major mobility trends—automated driving, connectivity of road users, electrification, new mobility concepts—are interconnected and vital for this goal.

Connected mobility can e.g. enhance road safety by providing real-time information on dangerous situations and applicable speed limits on the road ahead, enabling both manual drivers and automated vehicles to respond in-time to challenging situations and traffic rules. It can also optimise traffic flows, reduce emissions and improve urban road usage by using the data becoming available through connectivity.

By assessing the added value of connected Mmbility across the entire mobility system, TNO aims to make an impact on safety, sustainability, and efficiency. In doing so, we identify areas that need development and help bridge the gap between industry, governments, and road users.

Our vision

TNO believes that connectivity will benefit mobility on societal, traffic, vehicle and road user levels. A vehicle doesn’t operate in isolation but interacts with other road users and vehicles, which may be either manually or automatically controlled, with varying levels of automation. It’s essential to understand the vehicle's performance within the broader traffic system.

Connectivity is key to advancing vehicle automation, as sharing external data enables vehicles to extend their horizon and better assess risks. All road users, not just automated vehicles, will benefit from connectivity. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), now common in many vehicles, face challenges that connectivity can help mitigate.

TNO's focus includes improving traffic safety, sustainability, and efficiency through connectivity, developing secure digital infrastructure, studying the impact of connectivity-enhanced ADAS/ADS in mixed traffic, and assessing societal benefits such as safety, liveability, and accessibility. TNO also explores enablers for CCAM services, fosters public-private collaboration, and guides the transition to digital road operators.

Unique building blocks

To facilitate a gradual and secure transition towards connected mobility, TNO offers interdisciplinary expertise to both industry stakeholders and policymakers. Our expertise is complemented by state-of-the-art proof of concepts building blocks that can be used to design, develop, and validate the future Digital Road Infrastructure. They include secure hybrid communication units, 5G radio & core, a data space, C-ITS/CCAM services, misbehaviour detection and a technical validation platform, able to assess the data quality and trust.

Collaborating on technology and implementation

Connected mobility and a future-proof digital infrastructure requires innovation in technology, regulation, and assessment frameworks: a secure and scalable, digital infrastructure, available for all, alongside the physical one, will be necessary. TNO partners for this with:

• Industry (i.e. automotive, telecom, service providers): We research and develop demonstrators for technologies like 5G/6G and secure data spaces, as well as industry partners that bring technology and services towards the vehicle;
• Public authorities (i.e. national and local governments, road operators, type approval authorities): We advise on digital road infrastructure and mobility policies;
• National and international research institutes (i.e. universities, other RTOs)