High attendance at final conference on impacts of connected and automated driving (CAD) on jobs and employment

Ecorys co-hosted a virtual conference to mark the end of a 16-month study launched by the European Commission to explore the expected impacts of connected and automated driving (CAD) on jobs and employment. Over a hundred attendees took part in the conference on the conclusions of the Study conducted jointly by Ecorys, ERTICO, IRU, М-Five, SEURECO, TRT, UITP and VTT.

The consortium studied the social impacts of CAD deployment up to 2050 along four scenarios – from low to high uptake of CAD technology and differentiating between futures focusing on shared or private mobility. The Study took into account potential consequences at EU, national and regional (NUTS2) levels for professional drivers and other workers in road transport, such as those involved in infrastructure provision, maintenance and IT personnel, customer service, administration, and management. Our results, which make a distinction between impacts on passenger and freight road transport, also cover the impacts in manufacturing sectors (e.g. vehicle manufacturing, electronics and communication technologies). The effort was geared to creating a better understanding of the social impacts impact of CAD on jobs and employment in the wider road transport sector and facilitating the development of appropriate evidence-based policy options. 

In describing the rationale behind the CAD Study on employment impacts, Mr Frank Smit, Policy Officer at the Ecological and Social Transitions Unit of DG RTD, made the link to the European Green Deal. To meet its goals and for Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent, unprecedented social, regulatory and technological innovation would be needed. The implicit disruptions of such innovations require transition policies that lead to sustainable development. “Fundamental systemic change for sustainable needs … has to emerge from design and not … continuous crisis management”, Mr Smit emphasised. He said that the CAD Study is a step towards helping identify “gaps and trade-offs at system level” for sustainable transition to Connected and Automated mobility.

The conference was co-moderated by Mr Geert Smit, Sector Leader Transport, Infrastructure & Mobility at Ecorys, and Dr Stephane Dreher, Senior Project Manager at ERTICO. Mr Frank Smit, Project Officer of the CAD Study at DG RTD, and ERTICO CEO Mr Jacob Bangsgaard gave opening speeches. During the conference, presentations by consortium members on the CAD Study were mixed with experts from JRC (Dr Amandine Duboz), CERTH (Dr Evangelos Bekiaris) and VTI (Dr Ingrid Skogsmo). The event concluded with a panel discussion by Dr Johanna Tzanidaki (ERTICO), Mr Joost Vantomme (ACEA), Ms Inga-Lena Heinisch (ETF), Mr Carlo Giro (IRU) Ms Laura Babío (POLIS) and Ms Brigitte Ollier (UITP).

View the entire conference recording.