ABSTRACT

Mobility, a characteristic of our society and a vital need for our economic system, has become a symbol for our quality of life. Transport volume, and especially road transport, keeps growing with the increasing individual freedom and expanding economic activities, and we have reached a situation where limitations of mobility become critical. The automobile industry in Europe takes on the challenge to contribute to socially acceptable solutions for mobility. With the research programme PROMETHEUS, founded in 1986, the automobile industry complements the traditional research on vehicles with research on transportation and traffic. The primary concern of PROMETHEUS is safer, more efficient and cleaner road transport. Technologies for communication and information exchange in the vehicle and its environment will improve the cooperation between driver and vehicle, between individual road users, and between road users and traffic management.