PAsCAL, YOUR GUIDE TO AUTONOMY

The PAsCAL project, funded by the European Commission, is coming to an end after three and a half years with a final result – the “Guide2Autonomy” (G2A).

Today's cars already integrate several features of automation (like autopilot and lane assistance) and therewith already function at a level 3 of automation. Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) are an inherent part of today’s new mobility and will be even more present in the near future. More is to come. 

However, are governments, public authorities, manufacturers, and users aware and knowledgeable about CAVs? What will be the effects of a full autonomous fleet on the way we travel and organise our societies? For sure it will be a challenging task for all the stakeholders involved to adapt the new forms of CAV to the actual needs of personal mobility in the best interest of society. 

The main goal of the PAsCAL* project (https://www.pascal-project.eu/), was to create a G2A, which is a toolbox containing guidelines and recommendations that will help to accelerate a user-friendly evolution of connected automated vehicles and transport systems. Industry, public authorities, user representative organizations, no matter the mode (car, bus, plane or drone) and specific type of connected and autonomous vehicle developments, will be able to use these recommendations in their daily work related to CAV.

The G2A and its recommendations: 

• allow an improved understanding of public awareness about CAVs and the requirements and needs of different types of users in relation to CAV. • help decision makers to manage the transition to the new form of CAV-based personal mobility.
• provide know-how to integrate more efficiently the “user” and wider citizen’s interests in all modes and mobility services when moving towards higher levels of connectivity and automation.
• allow education of future drivers, passengers and everyone who will have to share the road. 

Based on the research findings of the PAsCAL project as well as findings of other projects from both human and technological sciences, the G2A contains 100+ technical, political, legal and economic recommendations to provide guidance and facilitate the strategic decisions of any CAV actor on mobility issues at an international, national and local level. 

The G2A will allow among other to:

• develop and improve public strategies, policies, and regulatory framework: key public policies, developments and regulatory areas related to the implementation of autonomous vehicles and connected systems. 
• understand and steer user acceptance into the design of new CAV services and infrastructure: Affective and practically oriented transfer of acceptance research into advanced stages (e.g. concept and design) of the development of new CAV technologies and infrastructure.
• integrate user-specific factors in new CAV ICT software developments: ICT software-related factors which measure levels of Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), communication security, data privacy, trust and data sharing.
• create new CAV management and business models that are in line with the interest of the local economy and general public: Improved management of CAV development models, including wider public management models for the reinforcement of the local economy and the identification of future funding solutions.

As it is recognised that innovation in CAV is rapid, the set of recommendations, as well as the G2A toolbox, will be flexible to allow for the initially integrated tools to be adapted, as well as for new tools (e.g. guides, recommendations, methodologies, new design techniques) in the field of CAVs to be added. 
The G2A toolbox with more than 100 recommendations is available at: https://guide2autonomy.eu/. The toolbox can be used and specific recommendations can be retrieved by using the filter or chatbot functions. In addition, service providers can use the CrossSkill self-assessment tool to be guided to the most suitable recommendations for them.