#modular-mobility

#modular-mobility

"It's really exciting, because not only is it a big milestone for the project, but it's going to be a really visible milestone for all of our guests," Adams said of the testing.

Architecture can no longer be conceived as an isolated object, detached from the technical networks that sustain contemporary life. This condition calls for new readings and approaches.

"This project is symbolic of what we've done over the last 12 years, reshaping the streets and the city," Christophe Najovski, the city's deputy mayor in charge of green spaces, stated during the opening ceremony.

"We're looking at quite large new numbers of residents that will be in this part of town. And the decision was made that we need to connect those parts of town across the water to downtown, but that we need to do it in a way that won't increase congestion."

The event features approximately 40 vehicles alongside a conference program addressing topics such as autonomous driving, on-demand transport and operational concepts, including a Sustainable Bus session on intercity bus electrification.

Being named to the Washington State DES contract is a significant milestone for ENC and a testament to the strength of our product portfolio. This contract gives transit agencies across the region a streamlined path to American-made, Altoona-tested heavy-duty buses in every major propulsion category.

It's tempting to frame autonomous driving as a single leap. In public transport, adoption tends to be incremental - because the system is built for reliability, and new capabilities have to fit into daily operations without disrupting service. That is why a practical strategy is evolution, not revolution: introduce autonomy in a defined domain, learn safely in real operations, and expand capability step-by-step.

The event will take place alongside Transpotec Logitec, bringing together passenger and freight transport stakeholders within the same exhibition venue, enhancing collaboration and innovation in the transport sector.

For more than a decade, autonomous buses have been "almost ready." Demonstrations with safety drivers began around 2015, and ten years later, this is still largely what we see. The reason is not a lack of ambition - it is physics, safety, and economics. Autonomous buses on city streets are inherently difficult. They carry dozens of passengers, operate as heavy vehicles, and move through a chaotic urban environment.

The Estrel Berlin hotel hosted in 2025 around 1,500 participants, 150 speakers, and over 100 exhibitors, with more than 20 vehicles on display across 7,500 square meters of exhibition space. The event has grown from its origins as the "VDV Electric Bus Conference and Trade Fair ElekBu" into a hub where operators, manufacturers, service providers, public authorities, policymakers, and associations exchange ideas and explore the future of mobility.

Every city contains two transportation systems. One is the visible network of roads, rail lines, sidewalks, and bus routes mapped in planning documents. The other is the invisible geography of privilege and exclusion embedded within it: the neighborhoods that received highways instead of parks, the communities whose bus routes were cut, the sidewalks that abruptly end at the edge of a district.