The Living Lab for Autonomous Driving as Applied Research of MaaS Models in the Smart City: the Case Study of MASA – Modena Automotive Smart Area

The process of urbanization molded our cities with a series of transformations, where each one stratified and left a legacy that still testifies the culture and the technologies of that time. The revolution of modernity massively changed the urban environment in terms of infrastructures by the use of concrete and steel for roads, bridges, tunnels, stations, etc…adapting to vehicle which suddenly became faster, larger, heavier and consequently more polluting (Fig.1). The digital revolution of nowadays instead, even though it occurs at the scale of a microchip or in the a-dimensionality of the ether, might be still more disruptive, as it applies no more to the implementation of physical capacity, but it debuts in the unexplored realm of simulating and replacing human intelligence (Fig.2). In the global scenario, mobility as a whole is estimated to impact for about 25% of global emissions1 and its implications on health, environment, safety and life quality are even more critical issues within the dense urban areas of the contemporary cities. The models based on non-renewable-energy-consuming private cars are no longer sustainable as population increases, cities densify, and resources become less available, so that research on sustainable and intelligent mobility has become a solid global trend, addressed in all international agendas2 and encouraged by actions for a common jurisdictional framework3(Fig.3). The wider application of information technologies in the field of mobility, on both vehicles and infrastructures, is a disruptive change that is generating a deep shift in the users’ habits, the automotive industry, the roads management, and the way cities are shaped to embrace these transformations. The combination of Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence and Data Communication Technology enables vehicles to connect more and more among them and with the infrastructures of the city due to V2X4 protocols, which is gradually leading to fully autonomous driving with ADAS5 of level 5 (Fig.4). The upcoming scenario of connected and autonomous vehicles enable a large variety of products and services based on the massive amount of generated data, increasing diversity and complexity in the urban ecosystem of mobility.