Press releases

From 4 to 7 June 2023, the who's who of public transport from all over the world will meet in Barcelona for the UITP Global Public Transport Summit, the leading event on sustainable mobility. The Karlsruhe Mobility Lab, an association of institutions and companies from the TechnologyRegion Karlsruhe (TRK), will be on board. 15 partners, transport companies as well as representatives from business, academia, and the public sector, will present both Karlsruhe as a hub of innovation and their projects - from autonomous driving to artificial intelligence in public transport - at a joint stand. Also present in Barcelona will be a congress delegation led by Karlsruhe’s Lord Mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup, TRK Managing Director Jochen Ehlgötz and Britta Wirtz, Managing Director of Messe Karlsruhe.

Mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup comments: "It needs future-oriented mobility concepts if the transport revolution is to succeed - for the climate, the environment and a better quality of life in urban areas. Karlsruhe offers a climate of innovation in which actors from business, science and the public sector jointly develop solutions for sustainable mobility. We are pleased that we can once again showcase the fruits of this cooperation internationally at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit, after the Karlsruhe network with its interdisciplinary projects already gained international recognition at the last summit in Stockholm."

Experience future mobility first hand: from AI to automated driving

At the joint stand, attendees can explore the massive progress in flexible and sustainable transport of people and goods in practice: highlights at the stand are exhibits such as the e-trailer of the LogIKTram project of the partner KAMO: Karlsruhe Mobility High Performance Center/Profilregion. The trailer is part of a logistics concept for freight transport on the last mile. It is precisely this last mile that the second KAMO project DAKIMO also tackles to make sustainable and intermodal mobility more attractive through artificial intelligence (AI). The MobileCityGame, a collaborative project led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, is pursuing the same goal with an app that trade visitors can test at the stand. The serious game on the mobility transition offers urban developers, NGOs, and science an intuitive tool for testing low-carbon, reliable and affordable mobility in cities.

On site in Barcelona, the FZI Research Center for Information Technology brings the technologies behind its autonomous FZI shuttles and the Autonomous Driving Test Site Baden-Württemberg to life: In a demonstrator, FZI experts visualise interactive control centre views and provide unique insights into the infrastructure and communication of the various technical systems. A team around Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eric Sax from the Institute for Information Processing Technology at KIT, led by M.Sc. Nicole Kechler, presents the TEMPUS project on city bus platooning in Munich. Platooning enables vehicles to automatically follow the lane of a lead vehicle at a short distance. Through this technology, operations can be adapted to passenger numbers as demand requires, become more automated and thus more economical.

On site from the Karlsruhe Mobility Lab are also other partners of the hub, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the PTV Group, TransportTechnologie-Consult Karlsruhe GmbH, AVG – Albtal Transport Company, INIT GmbH, Karlsruhe Transport Network, the City of Karlsruhe, the UITP Regional Training Centre Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe Transport Company. Organisors of the joint stand are TechnologyRegion Karlsruhe GmbH and Messe Karlsruhe.

Jochen Ehlgötz, Managing Director of TRK: "Thanks to its partners, the Karlsruhe Mobility Lab has become a globally recognised centre for intelligent concepts in the field of urban and regional mobility. One main focus is to continuously improve local public transport and develop new mobility concepts. Together, all players contribute significantly to the global mobility transition." Dr Alexander Viehl, Division Head at FZI adds: "FZI is a leader in the field of connected autonomous driving and intelligent digital infrastructure for new mobility concepts. The UITP Global Summit is a very special platform for FZI to showcase its technological skills as well as its applications and expertise in automated public transport."

About the Karlsruhe Mobility Lab

Based in one of Germany's central mobility and technology centres, the Karlsruhe Mobility Lab is a globally recognised hub for the development of intelligent concepts for the urban and regional mobility of the future. Science, business, the public sector, and innovative transport companies work together in an interdisciplinary way in this unique ecosystem to improve public transport and develop new mobility concepts. The focus is on intelligent, connected, resource-efficient and sustainable mobility that reconciles environmental friendliness and mobility comfort.

Much has already been achieved in the Karlsruhe Mobility Lab - from a convenient mobility platform that integrates individually usable means of transport such as car and bike sharing as well as intermodal traffic control, to autonomous first/last mile services in on-demand transport, cross-border mobility solutions, an extensive network of cycle paths and innovative fast cycle lanes and, last but not least, the Karlsruhe Tram Train Model, which has received worldwide attention.

After a successful eighth edition, IT-TRANS has once again shown that intelligent mobility has an important role to play in the future, with more exhibitors, innovations and international participants than ever before. At a time of climate crisis and rising energy prices, multimodal transport networks are decisive. By combining private and public transport providers, they boost convenience and therefore acceptance. “Mobility is an issue that affects all of society”, says Britta Wirtz, CEO of Messe Karlsruhe, which hosted the event together with the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). “The challenge we face is to satisfy changing mobility needs while simultaneously achieving our climate goals. We believe that public transport will play a key role here, as future-ready, digitally connected transport and mobility solutions combined with intermodal approaches are the only way to meet both these objectives. That is why IT-TRANS and Karlsruhe as a technology hub are the ideal platform for this.” Dr Volker Wissing, the German government’s Minister for Digital and Transport, emphasised the particular status of Karlsruhe in shaping the mobility of the future: “You are turning Karlsruhe into a hotspot for sustainable mobility”, he summarised in a video message to organisers, partners and supporters of IT-TRANS at the opening of the event.

Karlsruhe a hotspot for sustainable mobility

With its unique collaboration between science, industry, government and transport providers, Karlsruhe is known throughout Germany and Europe as a hub for sustainable mobility. The city is also one of Europe’s most important IT clusters, with 25 research institutes focusing on issues related to IT and digitalisation. These all make Karlsruhe a leader in research whose reputation extends well beyond the region. IT-TRANS has a key position in this ecosystem.

IT-TRANS 2022 saw the first presentation of the Karlsruhe Mobility Lab: a unique and exemplary cooperation between science, industry, public authorities and innovative transport organisations involving 34 projects. These are dedicated to developing and implementing smart concepts for the urban and regional mobility of the future, and have already gained global attention and praise. “Researchers from the region are making important contributions to the transport revolution worldwide. Karlsruhe can therefore rightly see itself as a pioneer in sustainable mobility development”, says Jochen Ehlgötz, Managing Director of TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe GmbH.

IT-TRANS leads the way in the international mobility sector

276 international exhibitors from 33 countries as diverse as China, the USA and all over Europe presented their latest solutions and shared their experiences with colleagues and visitors from all over the world. This represented an increase over the last event in 2018. “We have been at IT-TRANS since the very beginning and have not missed one yet”, says Anna Bergstedt, Marketing Manager at Axentia Technologies in Sweden. “We were so disappointed when the in-person trade fair in 2020 was cancelled because of the pandemic, and are now even happier to be back and meeting both new and existing customers face to face. IT-TRANS is such an important event for us. Here we can network with customers and secure new business”. This was also reflected in feedback from visitors, 95 per cent of whom had a very positive view of the exhibitors’ presentations.

The three-day conference with 180 speakers also went down well. 800 delegates attended, around 30 per cent more than in 2018. They saw presentations from industry thought leaders and took the opportunity to network with colleagues. Various elements of the event were also offered digitally, with 130 people tuning into the conference remotely.

The next edition of IT-TRANS is scheduled for 14 to 16 May 2024. Around half of the stand spaces have already been reserved by exhibitors.

Mit rund 275 Ausstellenden aus 33 Ländern und ca. 180 internationalen Referierenden setzen sich die klügsten Köpfe der Branche mit der digital vernetzten urbanen Mobilität auseinander. „Voller Vorfreude blicken wir auf die kommende Woche, in der wir wieder Gäste aus aller Welt hier in Karlsruhe begrüßen dürfen, um uns auszutauschen, gemeinsam zu diskutieren und über Innovationen zu staunen“, sagt Projektleiter Jochen Georg. „Nichtsdestotrotz haben wir die vergangenen vier Jahre, in denen die IT-TRANS pandemiebedingt nicht als Vor-Ort-Event stattfinden konnte, genutzt, um innovative digitale Formate zu entwickeln. So haben wir 2020 mit einer rein digitalen Ausgabe überzeugt und ergänzen die IT-TRANS 2022 mit hybriden Formaten, wie etwa Live-Übertragungen einzelner Vortragsreihen unseres Konferenz- und Messeprogramms.“ Wem die persönliche Teilnahme nicht möglich ist, kann sich online über das digitale Angebot der IT-TRANS informieren und anmelden: https://www.it-trans.org/de/tickets/

IT-TRANS 2022: Plattform für innovative Start-ups weltweit

Auch für junge Unternehmen ist die IT-TRANS eine ideale Plattform, um ihre Konzepte und Lösungen vorzustellen. In der START-UP ZONE in der dm-arena präsentieren 30 Start-ups ihre innovativen Ansätze und neuen Ideen in verschiedenen Formaten. Bei Pitches, Start-up speed-dating sessions oder einzelnen Vorträgen können interessierte Besucherinnen und Besucher die Newcomer kennenlernen und ihre Fragen in der offen gestalteten Ausstellungsfläche stellen. Informationen zu den einzelnen Programmpunkten gibt es hier: https://www.it-trans.org/de/fachmesse/messeprogramm/

Die Beteiligung deutscher Start-ups an der IT-TRANS wird vom Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz gefördert (Programm zur Förderung der Teilnahme junger innovativer Unternehmen an internationalen Leitmessen in Deutschland). Die Messeteilnahme ausländischer Start-ups wird zu vergleichbaren Konditionen angeboten.

Market Update Foren: Experten zeigen best-practice-Beispiele

Die Market Update Foren A (Halle 1) und B (dm-arena) bilden auch 2022 einen wichtigen Bestandteil der Fachmesse. Dort berichten 70 Speaker von Ausstellenden wie IVU, INIT, Trapeze, Cityway, Scheidt & Bachmann, Teralytics oder Motiontag von erfolgreich implementierten Projekten und Konzepten ihrer Unternehmen. Dabei reichen die Themen von integrierten Planungstools, kontaktlosem Ticketing, Elektromobilität, Mobility-as-a-Service und Technologien zur Gestaltung urbaner Mobilität bis hin zu Apps für Reiseplanung und Navigation, AR/VR-Lösungen oder auch Fahrgastinformationssystemen. Das Programm der beiden Foren, die von allen Besuchern der Fachmesse und Teilnehmenden der Konferenz gleichermaßen kostenfrei besucht werden können, gibt es online unter https://www.it-trans.org/de/fachmesse/messeprogramm/.

Weitere Informationen über die IT-TRANS: www.it-trans.org und www.twitter.com/it_trans und https://www.facebook.com/ittrans.org/

IT-TRANS Insights: Hier den IT-TRANS Newsletter abonnieren:

https://www.it-trans.org/de/about/news/newsletter-abonnieren/

Karlsruhe/Brussels, 31.03.2022 – IT-TRANS has always given special support to young businesses, and for good reason. “Start-ups are a powerful driver of growth, competition and especially innovations”, says Jochen Georg, project manager for IT-TRANS. “That is why it is so important to offer newcomers a platform on which they can present their solutions. This helps both their own development and that of the sector as a whole.” The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is supporting German start-ups’ participation in IT-TRANS through a dedicated programme that helps young, innovative companies take part in trade fairs. These businesses will present their new ideas and pioneering approaches in a variety of formats in the START-UP ZONE. They will be joined by start-ups from outside Germany who can participate at similar conditions. Visitors who want to learn more about these companies will be able to do so in a series of pitches, start-up speed dating sessions or individual presentations. They can also pose questions in the open exhibition area. More information on the individual programme items can be found here: https://www.it-trans.org/en/exhibition/exhibition-programme/

IT-TRANS, the international conference and exhibition for intelligent solutions in public transport, will take place from 10 to 12 May 2022 at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre.

EYYES: “We make machines see”

Under the slogan “We make machines see”, the Austrian start-up EYYES develops modular, scalable and intelligent safe artificial intelligence products that aim to increase safety in mobility and improve quality in manufacturing. The company’s applications use AI to recognise objects, enabling precise hazard assessments in complex situations. They can also detect and classify persons, objects and products, thus increasing safety in transport and mobility.

Detailed information on the comprehensive start-up presentations programme at IT-TRANS 2022 can be found at: https://www.it-trans.org/en/exhibition/exhibition-programme/

More information about IT-TRANS: www.it-trans.org, www.twitter.com/it_trans and https://www.facebook.com/ittrans.org/

IT-TRANS Insights: subscribe to the IT-TRANS newsletter here:

https://www.it-trans.org/en/about/news/newsletter-sign-up/

“MaaS is all about placing the user at the centre of transport services and offering them mobility solutions that are tailored to their individual needs”. This is how the European Mobility as a Service Alliance describes the MaaS approach. This is based on a combination of all available modes of transport, giving passengers a flexible, simple and seamless travel experience – all at the push of a button and without using their own vehicles. Users receive real-time information in an app, where they can also book and pay for the transport option that best suits them. At IT-TRANS 2022, which has been postponed to the new date from 10 to 12 May at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre, numerous companies will showcase their innovations and present their vision for mobility of the future.

Tailored, efficient and environmentally friendly mobility with Hacon and Siemens Mobility

Intermodal routing across various modes of transport enables tailored, efficient and environmentally friendly mobility. Whether as a native app or web app, the majority of the applications offered by IT-TRANS exhibitors Hacon and Siemens Mobility deliver much more than just the bus or train connections of a single provider or transport association. The Mobility Marketplace makes it possible to combine databases from multiple providers and deliver them via a single platform. This gives passengers a comprehensive and sustainable transport service that is the perfect alternative to driving their own cars. Different modes of transport are combined to form an intermodal door-to-door transport chain. This can include public transport, on-demand services, private transport, car/bike/scooter sharing providers, taxis, bicycles and even footpaths. As a result, users can easily create the combination that works best for them. All aspects of the journey are covered, from information and planning to ticketing, payment and the journey itself.

MENTZ GmbH to present the new MaaS app Gullivr

Technological innovations from the Munich-based IT firm MENTZ have long been a feature of IT-TRANS. This year, the family-run company will present the latest addition to its GENIOS product family. The tried-and-tested GENIOS programme integrates the latest research from artificial intelligence, evolutionary algorithms and graph theory. “Integrated optimisation with GENIOS enables perfect planning for electric buses, services and routes, as well as precise deployments and connection planning”, explains CEO Christoph Mentz.

MENTZ will also present the latest generation of its ticket shop for smart e-ticketing. The CiBo (check-in, be-out) ticketing system will make public transport more convenient and therefore more attractive to passengers. As a provider of MaaS solutions, MENTZ reliably connects the existing sharing services of external mobility providers via interfaces, before integrating them precisely into its customers’ apps. Real-time information from the MENTZ electronic timetable delivers a quick overview of shared mobility services or parking capacity at the destination. Christoph Mentz is especially looking forward to presenting the new MaaS app Gullivr. “We are setting new standards here in user experience and lean design. Gullivr covers every aspect of modern, multimodal mobility: MaaS, planning, booking and payment. The thing we are looking forward to most of all though is finally being able to meet in person again with our customers.”

The next webinar will take place on 1 February 2022 at 2 pm:

The Digital Hub Karlsruhe – Leading innovation in mobility

Register for free here:

www.it-trans.org/en/conference/conference-programme/webinar-series/

The webinar will give a taste of what’s to come at IT-TRANS, which will be held from 10 to 12 May 2022 at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre. It will also show why Karlsruhe is known around the world as a hub for future mobility technology and a centre of digital research and innovation. Leading figures and experts from the city will report on the latest innovations and developments, and will showcase the technologies that are revolutionising public transport in Germany and Europe.

They will include Tim Wörle from the Institute for Transport Studies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, whose presentation “Modelling the Effects of Mobility Hubs – the example regiomove” will explore the increasingly connected nature of various mobility services, the intermodal use of transport and the modelling of locations for mobility stations. Taking the “regiomove” project in Karlsruhe as an example, he will explain how mobility can become more sustainable and efficient.

Other speakers and presentations include:

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Anke Karmann-Woessner
  Head of Planning Department
  City of Karlsruhe

• Dr Frank Pagel
  Manager Multimodal Transportation
  Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund
  Topic: regiomove – Connecting multimodal mobility with infrastructure and beyond

• Dominic Ziegler
  Software developer
  INIT GmbH
  Topic: Project KARL – Artificial intelligence supports dispatchers in public transport

Register as an exhibitor now and meet your future partners and customers

Trade fairs and conferences like IT-TRANS thrive on in-person discussions and networking. Over 270 exhibitors are already looking forward to the conference and exhibition, which will once again welcome industry players from around the world to the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre from 10 to 12 May. Companies have until 19 April to secure their stand at IT-TRANS. This is an unmissable opportunity to meet future partners and customers, and present your products and solutions to the key decision-makers in all areas of public transport.

Find out more and register here: www.it-trans.org/de/fachmesse/informationen-fuer-aussteller/

More information about IT-TRANS: www.it-trans.org, www.twitter.com/it_trans and https://www.facebook.com/ittrans.org/

IT-TRANS, the International Conference and Exhibition on Intelligent Urban Transport Systems, has been rescheduled and will now take place at Messe Karlsruhe from May 10-12, 2022.

Exhibitions and conferences like IT-TRANS are based on personal exchange and networking. The current Corona Ordinance of the German state of Baden-Württemberg dated December 20, 2021, prohibits the organisation of exhibitions and conferences during alert level II, in which Baden-Württemberg has been since December 4, 2021, and whose regulations will be prolonged until further notice. In addition, the rapid spread of the Omicron variant is causing social uncertainty. The organisers of IT-TRANS, Messe Karlsruhe UITP – International Association of Public Transport – have therefore decided to postpone the exhibition and the accompanying three-day conference to May.

The new date has been set for 10 - 12 May 2022 at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre.

Britta Wirtz, Managing Director of Messe Karlsruhe, emphasizes the necessity of rescheduling. „We would have liked to continue our successful exhibition restart from last fall," she explains. "By rescheduling, we would like to offer all involved in the exhibition and the conference the possibility of reliable planning and hope to return to normality in trade fair operations, in what we hope will be an endemic situation by then."

UITP plan to bring both their Executive and Policy Boards to Karlsruhe during IT-TRANS in May, which adds real value for exhibitors and visitors.

All tickets purchased for IT-TRANS remain valid.

Major industry players looking forward to in-person discussions

IT-TRANS 2022 is also the place to be for the around 270 industry exhibitors from 35 countries: “IT-TRANS has been an important date in the calendar for us for over 13 years”, says Michael Frankenberg, CEO of Hacon, one of Europe’s leading software providers for digital mobility. “That is why we cannot wait to see our colleagues and customers, along with other important decision-makers from our sector in person again at last. We are looking forward to some interesting discussions and shaping the future of mobility together.” A globally leading company, Hacon will exhibit at IT-TRANS together with Siemens Mobility and the technology firm eos.uptrade, which offers innovative sales and ticketing solutions. Other big names looking forward to the event include ATRON, init and Trapeze. These companies and many more have already secured their stands on the 28,000 square metres of exhibition space.

IT-TRANS to offer hybrid formats

The event will also have plenty to offer those who cannot attend in person. Following positive feedback after the virtual event in 2020, next year’s IT-TRANS will be based on a hybrid format. “We are committed to offering all participants the opportunity to get involved in IT-TRANS”, says project manager Jochen Georg. “That is why we have created countless digital activities and features to ensure a unique conference experience both in person and online. The hybrid formats include our webinars that will start in November, along with live streams of individual presentations from the conference and exhibition.” This will allow online participants to get involved in discussions between global experts.

IT-TRANS Insights – subscribe to the new IT-TRANS newsletter now!

How will public transport look in future? How will urban mobility develop? What effect is the pandemic having on our transport habits, and how can transport companies successfully overcome the current challenges? Answers to these questions and many more can be found in the new IT-TRANS newsletter “IT-TRANS Insights”. ´From the latest industry news and fascinating insights into IT-TRANS to exciting interviews with the major players and ongoing mobility projects in Karlsruhe, each issue of IT-TRANS Insights will highlight the issues that are shaping the future of urban transport.

Subscribe here: https://www.it-trans.org/en/about/news/newsletter-sign-up/

More information about IT-TRANS: https://www.it-trans.org/en/, www.twitter.com/it_trans and https://www.facebook.com/ittrans.org/

Smart solutions for new challenges

The challenges and developments resulting from the pandemic will play a central role at IT-TRANS 2022. “Our industry will continue to feel the effects of the pandemic for many years to come”, explains Dr Alexander Pischon, Managing Director of the Karlsruhe Transport Authority (KVV). “We are working on flexible and needs-based solutions for our passengers that reflect the changes in the way we work, for example, such as more frequent working from home.” These include alternative mobility systems like mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) that respond to passenger needs for comfort and flexibility. As customers increasingly require more information, intelligent software can provide a solution.

One of the main requirements is real-time information on vehicle occupancy. Public transport companies are faced with the challenge of preventing overcrowding on buses and trains, even after the pandemic. With its MOBILEguide passenger information system, IT-TRANS exhibitor INIT delivers a staged system that lets transport companies forecast vehicle occupancy levels. This information can then be integrated into passenger display systems and used for operational management. In the first stage, the occupancy information is based on empirical values. In the expansion stage, MOBILEguide takes real-time passenger numbers into account, along with historical data on typical embarking and alighting behaviour. This allows transport companies to precisely show passengers how much space is available through an app, for example. As a result, passengers can practice social distancing or look for a suitable alternative connection.

The international trade fair, together with the accompanying three-day conference, will also focus on other key topics related to the increasingly diverse and digitalised world of urban mobility. These will include contactless ticketing, 5G and telecommunications, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and on-demand mobility services, along with data storage and management. The call for papers will be issued at the end of August 2021.

Nico Hess, Operational Sales Director Europe, Luminator Technology Group:

“We are all very happy with how IT-TRANS went. We had a huge number of industry visitors at our stand. I think you could tell at the event that everyone was delighted to finally speak face to face, shake hands and talk to customers in person again.”

https://luminator.com/

Prof. Ingo Dittrich, Offenburg University:

“Our farm shop tram project focuses on the issue of cargo trams, which is attracting greater attention in more and more cities. We attracted plenty of visitors to our stand and received very positive feedback. We loved the international flair at the trade fair, with guests from everywhere from Spain and Lithuania to Egypt and West Africa. IT-TRANS helped us a lot and we were able to make lots of new contacts.”

https://www.hs-offenburg.de/

Peter Möhl, Vice President Central & Eastern Europe, PTV Group:

“We are so happy to see IT-TRANS take place as an in-person event again. Maintaining personal contacts is so important. We value being able to both present our company and listen to our partners and customers. The organisation was also excellent.”

https://company.ptvgroup.com/

Annette Weisser, Head of Corporate Communications, IVU Traffic Technologies AG:

“Both we as an exhibitor and our customers are happy that the first in-person IT-TRANS since the pandemic was a success. We will definitely be back next time and the time after that!”

https://www.ivu.de/

Alexander Szlezak, CEO, Unwired Networks:

"This year’s IT-TRANS really surprised me. The visitors were of a very high quality, especially on the first day. I think that everyone was ready to meet in person again after the pandemic. We also had the perfect spot for our stand in hall 1.”

https://unwirednetworks.com/