Ceit to spearhead MITHOS, the new European project that will transform multimodal transport management

The initiative will be developing a smart platform in the cloud to optimise the interconnection of different transport hubs.

Four real pilot projects in Bilbao, Hamburg, Thessaloniki and Vienna/Linz will enable the system’s impact to be validated, with the goal of reducing average transport time by 30% and operational costs by 20%.

Multimodal transport, defined as referring to the efficient combination of different means of transport such as train, bus, bicycle and electric vehicles within a single journey, has become a key aspect in the advances being made towards safer, more sustainable and more accessible mobility. Its implementation enables traffic to become decongested, dependence on fossil fuels reduced and fairer access to public transport guaranteed. However, this implementation continues to come up against major barriers such as infrastructures that are not well connected, limited planning tools and management of fragmented data that makes decision-making difficult.

MITHOS came into being with the aim of overcoming these challenges. It is an ambitious European project coordinated by the Ceit Technology Centre that will be developing a smart platform in the cloud that is able to centralise analytical information and tools in order to design more efficient and resilient multimodal systems. Unlike current existing solutions, the platform will enable criteria to be assessed such as safety, emissions, energy consumption, operational costs and accessibility, thus providing a holistic view with which to deal with mobility via a data-based approach.

The platform will be connected to the European Mobility Data Spaces (EMDSs), which will enable the interoperability and secure exchange of information to be assured between public and private agents. Additionally, it will integrate functional features with a view to designing public transport networks, planning last-mile logistics, creating cycle lanes, optimising charging points for electric vehicles and predicting infrastructure maintenance. All these tools will be modular and adaptable to any territorial context.

Four real pilot projects

The system will be validated in four representative pilot projects spread out around Europe: Bilbao (Spain), Hamburg (Germany), Thessaloniki (Greece) and Vienna/Linz (Austria). Each one is facing specific challenges in terms of coordinating infrastructures and transport hubs, which will ensure a complete assessment of the platform and favour of the transferability of outcomes to other territories.

Ceit to coordinate the project and spearhead the Bilbao pilot project

Ceit is responsible for general coordination of the project and plays a key role in defining functional requirements, designing the technological architecture and validation in real environments. Additionally, it will be spearheading development of the pilot project in Bilbao by providing its expertise in monitoring and predictive maintenance of infrastructures, as well as in the application of artificial intelligence for predictive modelling and autonomous systems.

A direct impact on time, costs and emissions

Among the benefits envisaged, it is hoped that average transport time will be reduced by 30% for both passengers and goods, operational costs reduced by 20% for operators, the resilience of infrastructures enhanced via a 30% reduction in terms of fault probability, and up to a 30% cut assured in polluting emissions in demo environments between now and 2030.

Apart from Ceit, the project, which is funded by the EU HORIZON programme, enjoys the support of DLR, CERTH, Emisia, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, PATRIC Research Center, IFP Energies nouvelles, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Keita Mobility Factory, Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, Freie and Hansestadt Hamburg, City Hall of Bilbao, OSE Thessaloniki and the Basque Country Mobility and Logistics Cluster.