Flagship-pilot: large-scale demonstrations of CCAM (CCAM Partnership)

Expected Outcome:

This flagship pilot is the culmination of the entire activity catalogue carried out by the CCAM Partnership since its launch in 2021. It will combine in one project the most promising CCAM use-cases across three key domains, with the technological advancements from all its R&I clusters^[1] supporting and enabling CCAM systems and services towards market uptake.

This action is expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:

• Large-scale demonstrations of inclusive, user-oriented, and well-integrated CCAM systems and services for people and goods in mixed traffic through Field Operational Tests (FOTs), Technology Pilots, and Living Labs, building upon advanced and emerging SAE Level 2 systems to move towards SAE Level 3 and 4 functionalities, at multiple test sites and corridors showcasing CCAM potential^[2], for a minimum of 12 months.
• Validation of enabling technologies that facilitate the extension of Operational Design Domains (ODDs) in large-scale operations and enhance perception performance under poor lighting and adverse weather conditions in large-scale demonstrations and pilots. Assessment of deployment readiness and demonstration of technological maturity focusing on their reliability, security, and real-world applicability.
• Identification of the remaining technological and societal development needs to accelerate deployment and drive user and societal demand. These demonstrations will strengthen the connection with users and society through a co-creative process, ensuring that technological developments align with real-world needs and societal expectations.
• Recommendations for regulatory action aimed at facilitating the deployment of Automated Vehicles (AVs) in Europe, by engaging with relevant policy and regulatory bodies.
• Identification and selection of viable business models for each of the use-cases explored per domain, aiming for continued operation after the flagship pilot through private investment or national/local public funding including mechanisms for transferability and replicability to enable a broader application of results to other cities and regions.

Scope:

CCAM solutions are expected to provide a more user-centred, inclusive mobility system that enhances safety, reduces congestion, lowers harmful emissions, and contributes to decarbonization. In addition, CCAM solutions enhance transport effectiveness, thereby strengthening Europe's competitiveness in the global mobility sector. Novel mobility services can enable seamless integration with existing services such as public transport and logistics, while higher levels of automation are expected to boost transport productivity and efficiency. However, the benefits of these solutions must be proven through large-scale demonstrations, validating their effectiveness for both people and goods. It is also of key importance to integrate and test enabling vehicle technologies and to validate trusted communication and cyber security, as well as real time information transmission. Moreover, a comprehensive assessment of technology maturity is necessary, evaluating the readiness of automated driving functions within mixed traffic conditions and in confined areas. This evaluation helps determine the readiness of automation technologies for deployment, considering factors such as operational reliability, regulatory compliance, and user acceptance. By fostering a systematic approach to large-scale demonstrations, technology validation, and maturity assessment, and by prioritising zero-emission mobility, these efforts contribute to the seamless integration of CCAM solutions across the entire public and private transport ecosystem.

The proposed action is expected to demonstrate different CCAM solutions and technologies in all the following domains:

• Individual mobility within mixed traffic environments, encompassing urban, suburban, motorway, and rural settings, with a focus on the seamless integration of automated and conventional vehicles. Use cases should consider diverse road conditions, infrastructure variability, traffic dynamics, and user needs, ensuring safe, efficient, accessible and user-centric mobility solutions. A key aspect is the integration of advanced technologies (e.g. AI, V2X, cybersecurity, precise positioning, etc.) and the validation of technological enablers ensuring that automation solutions are robust, scalable, and adaptable to all CCAM use cases for people and goods.
• Shared mobility and public transport operations in urban, regional and rural areas, for end-to-end journeys aiming to enhance safety, accessibility, equity, and sustainability, including improving business cases for mobility providers. Validate realistic door-to-door mobility services including links to mobility hubs, ridesharing and parking areas to enhance end-to-end journeys in urban areas and regions.
• Freight transport for hub-to-hub, corridors, and logistics hubs on public roads and confined areas, integrating logistics, fleet and terminal operators. Validate realistic end-to-end use cases, such as logistics hubs at airports, ports, cross-border, and transhipment terminals, connecting use-cases in confined operations with TEN-T freight corridors.

Where relevant, intersecting social factors, such as gender, age, social origin and income level should be considered. All new vehicles acquired for the project's activities, as well as all vehicles participating in final demonstrations conducted in public spaces, are expected to be environmentally friendly, with a special focus on electric vehicles, to maximise synergies and ensure the future integration of solutions into the sustainable mobility mass market.

The proposed action should integrate all the following common activities across domains:

• Ensuring close coordination and synergies with innovation actions planned under the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance, (ECAVA), in particular the Autonomous driving technology roadmap, announced by the European Automotive Action Plan.
• Leveraging on the Coordination and Support Action, HORIZON-CL5-2025-01-D6-02: Preparing for large-scale CCAM demonstrations.^[3]
• Leveraging on the Coordination and Support Action HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-05 Robust Knowledge and Know-How transfer for Key-Deployment Pathways and implementation of the EU-CEM.^[4]
• Ensuring close coordination, once launched, with HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-08: Demand-side 3C pilot demonstrators on converged Telco Edge Cloud Infrastructure, in particular the pilot demonstrator on unlocking telco-edge-cloud functions for the mobility ecosystem.
• Ensuring inclusive engagement of all key European private stakeholders (e.g., shared mobility, public transport and logistics operators, infrastructure providers, associations, SMEs and start-ups, in particular technology developers), and notably a broad representation of the European OEMs, in addition to Tier-1 suppliers, as well as public players (e.g., municipalities/cities/regions, motorway operators, emergency service operators, public transport authorities, research institutions) and community groups (e.g., user groups) for the transport of people and goods, across their entire value chain, in the designated domains. Each of these shall contribute to European technological innovation, sovereignty and competitiveness and none shall contrive the security and/or public policy interests of the Union.
• Assessing the transferability, adaptability, and scalability of advanced technologies such as photonics and Generative AI as key enablers for the extension of ODDs, ensuring broad deployment potential.
• Executing public engagement and awareness campaigns to increase societal readiness and promoting the use of CCAM as well as implementing CCAM education and training programs.
• Assessing the degree to which the demonstrated services comply with current regulatory requirements and providing recommendations to ensure full compliance.

Bringing forth real-world evidence on the effects, impacts, and long-term implications of integrating mixed CCAM solutions into the mobility system including long-term impact for users.

• Exemplifying concrete and strategic benefits of vehicle-vehicle or vehicle-infrastructure cooperation to improve safety, optimize traffic flow, and enhance the overall efficiency of CCAM transportation networks considering both digital and physical infrastructure and including guidance for remote operations and management.
• Using data from large-scale demonstrations to identify and extract pertinent scenarios and edge cases, ensuring these insights are systematically integrated into related databases for validation scenarios, while also exploring data sharing opportunities with relevant authorities.
• Facilitating the interoperability of connected and automated systems across vehicle brands, regions, and Member States and Associated Countries, taking into consideration different traffic environments and road densities, also in line with the Automotive Action Plan on large-scale cross-border testbeds.
• Encouraging collaboration with the European Software-defined Vehicle (SDV) initiative by adopting existing interfaces and proposing new ones developed within the project for potential inclusion in the SDV framework.

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts and institutions, as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility’ (CCAM). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on results to the European Partnership ‘Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility’ (CCAM) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.

Projects funded under this topic are expected to build strongly upon, and collaborate closely with, the CSA resulting from HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-02^[5], “Preparing for large-scale CCAM demonstrations”, ensuring that the implementation of their activities and findings aligns with the strategic direction outlined in the CSA.

Projects resulting from this topic are expected to apply the European Common Evaluation Methodology (EU-CEM) for CCAM^[6].

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[1] https://www.ccam.eu/our-actions/clusters/

[2] Such as previous experience in testing, developing and deploying CCAM services.

[3] https://cordis.europa.eu/programme/id/HORIZON_HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-02

[4] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101203053

[5] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-02?keywords=ccam&isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502,31094503&frameworkProgramme=43108390&order=DESC&pageNumber=1&pageSize=50&sortBy=relevance

[6] See the evaluation methodology here.