In late November, as 2025 begins to draw to a close, the Ultimo consortium gathered in Norway for an engaging multi day programme held in both Stavanger and Oslo. Partners from across Europe came together to discuss progress, exchange knowledge and insights, and experience firsthand how autonomous mobility services are being developed and deployed. The meetings and field visits reaffirmed the importance of collaboration, experimentation and shared learning as the project continues to evolve toward its final stage.
Stavanger: Learning From Real World Deployments
The programme opened in Stavanger, where Andreas Fehr welcomed participants. He revisited the core objectives of Ultimo and reminded the consortium of the ambition behind its three demonstration sites in Herford, Geneva and Oslo. This introduction provided a solid foundation for a day dedicated to understanding how autonomous mobility is taking shape in real operational settings.
Kolumbus, the local mobility provider, presented an in depth picture of mobility in the Nord Jaeren region, outlining the large scale bus rapid transit programme. Kolumbus emphasised that car commuting remains the primary challenge to public transport uptake, and autonomous buses could offer significant advantages in addressing this through increased flexibility, improved operating efficiency and additional service coverage.
Moreover, Kolumbus also shared their experience from Norway’s earliest autonomous vehicle pilots. The first tests took place between 2017 and 2018 at the closed circuit in Forus, during a period marked by long waits for regulatory approvals. Subsequent pilots have become steadily more complex, including the current deployment in mixed downtown Stavanger traffic which began in 2022. A large autonomous bus is also now operating in the city, with a related deployment recently launched in Gothenburg. These pilots have demonstrated that challenges are inevitable, but they have also shown the importance of partnerships, of safety drivers during early phases and of continuous improvements driven by real world user feedback.
The Stavanger programme concluded with a test ride of the autonomous shuttle and a close look at the surveillance and operations systems that support it. Experiencing the service firsthand gave consortium members valuable insight into the operational realities of AV services and the complexity of ensuring reliability, safety and customer acceptance.
Oslo Day One: Opening the General Assembly
The General Assembly formally opened the following day in Oslo, where Christian Willoch, Lars Abeler and Andreas Fehr welcomed partners while providing an overview of the programme.
Participants then entered a series of parallel workshops addressing central issues for the future of autonomous mobility. One of these sessions focused on the authority vacuum, which arises when a shared autonomous vehicle operates without a human driver or visible authority figure. This absence creates uncertainties about responsibility, behavioural norms and conflict resolution. The session also addressed sharing anxiety, a discomfort some passengers may feel when sharing a vehicle with strangers in an autonomous setting. Through group exercises, participants mapped these concerns and began identifying strategies that could enhance public trust.
Oslo Day 2: At Ruter
On Day 2, Ruter As hosted the partners at their facility in Oslo, showcasing their automated vehicles at their garage, as experiencing both the AV pilot and the Hent service firsthand offered a close and valuable look at how these services operate in practice.
During the day, the consortium members explored an extensive programme of sessions, workshops and hands on activities. The morning and afternoon were structured around three parallel workshop tracks that allowed participants to dive deeply into key themes. The Accessibility Awareness sessions examined how AV services can better meet the needs of passengers with reduced mobility. The End to End Incident Simulation sessions walked participants through operational and emergency scenarios under real conditions. Meanwhile, the Validating Pickup and Dropoff Points sessions focused on site selection, service readiness and customer usability. These structured tracks were complemented by field testing of the Hent service and OpenGeneva’s feedback loop and daily wrap up, which helped consolidate insights from the day’s work.
The day formally concluded with a closing session summarising key insights.
Oslo Day Three: Trends, Risks and Global Perspectives
The final day expanded the scope of discussion to consider broader technological and geopolitical trends. Partners reviewed the rapidly evolving vehicle landscape in Norway, noting that almost all new cars sold in the country are electric, that a substantial portion of newly registered vehicles in Oslo are EVs, and that a large share of new cars sold nationwide now come from Chinese manufacturers. These facts provided a backdrop for scenario based discussions on risks facing future transport systems.
One such discussion examined the possibility of traffic sabotage or threats of sabotage, particularly in light of the fact that the vast majority of data packages currently travel through China. The second discussion explored the idea of connected vehicles functioning as part of a rolling surveillance network, raising questions about privacy, data governance and system resilience. This dialogue highlighted the importance of trustworthiness, secure data flows and transparent governance mechanisms as AV systems become more integrated into everyday mobility.
Through esteemed guest speakers, participants also explored the rapid pace of AV deployment in China and the United States. These international developments underscored the need for Europe to maintain technological capacity, regulatory clarity and strong public sector leadership in the deployment of autonomous mobility.
Closing thoughts
Throughout the programme, Ruter served as generous and knowledgeable hosts, offering access to their automated mobility services and allowing partners to experience their autonomous vehicle pilot and Hent service in real operational settings. Their openness and collaborative spirit significantly enriched the assembly.
The days spent in Stavanger and Oslo reinforced the collective commitment of the Ultimo consortium to advancing autonomous mobility in Europe. The discussions and field visits highlighted the importance of public trust, social acceptance and safety, and the need for open dialogue as these technologies continue to evolve. The General Assembly closed with a renewed sense of purpose as partners look ahead to the next steps of the project and the continued advancement of autonomous mobility across the continent.
