Hamburg might see 10,000 autonomous vehicles by 2030

A new agreement between the Federal Government and Hamburg proposes using the Hanseatic City as an AI road traffic model for other regions

On Monday, Hamburg authorities made an announcement about committing the city towards a policy of future mobility. The decision came through a cooperation agreement between the German Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing and Hamburg’s Transport Senator Anjes Tjarks.

The agreement they signed is called Metropolitan Mobility Model Region (Metropol-Modellregion Mobilität) and it proposes using the cutting-edge mobility innovation in Hamburg as a testing ground. The Hanseatic City would then ‘export’ its know-how to other German cities.  

One of the first proposed commitments in the agreement involves bringing in systems and services that will operate 10,000 autonomous vehicles by 2030. These include freight, public transport, and taxi services, like MOIA, a local company offering AI-driven ride pooling to minimise empty car rides.

Opening the doors to new mobility

The Metropolitan Model Region Mobility is supposed to add a completely new layer to mobility options in the city, rather than compete with existing public transport and sustainable mobility initiatives. The primary focus of that development would be implementing digital practices.

According to a statement by local authorities, digitalisation in traffic has enormous potential. Digital control can prevent traffic jams, driverless trains can solve worker shortages, while autonomous freight trucks can move goods around the clock.

Essentially, the Metropolitan Model Region Mobility wants to accelerate the adoption of traffic innovation, first in Hamburg as a model city and move that to other regions. However, currently, the agreement features very few measures apart from the 10,000 autonomous vehicles by 2030 promise.  

Nevertheless, it does set a certain direction for efforts to expand autonomous services, especially with on-demand vehicles and the digital S-Bahn, making use of and improving upon existing infrastructure. Hamburg’s Senator Tjarks explained that it could still help to offer locals in the metropolitan region modern, sustainable and efficient mobility.