March 10, 2026 marked the official start of FMCI’s newest research project: CAMINO-2. Aimed at integrating reliable, affordable, and scalable autonomous transport networks, CAMINO-2 will provide a guiding framework to ease adoption of Shared Automated Vehicles (SAVs).
About the Project
Public transport across Europe is under pressure. Operational costs are rising, driver shortages are worsening, and service viability in rural and peri-urban areas is increasingly fragile. Shared Automated Vehicles (SAVs) offer a flexible, low-emission alternative, but adoption has been held back by fragmented regulation, outdated partnership models, and a lack of practical implementation guidance. That’s where CAMINO-2 steps in.
CAMINO-2 (Scaling Shared Automated Vehicles for Sustainable and Resilient Public Transport in North-West Europe) is a newly approved Interreg North-West Europe project, funded following approval by the Interreg NWE Monitoring Committee in November 2025. Running for 42 months, it counts ten partners spanning all seven NWE regions, including transport operators, municipalities, research institutions, and innovation bodies.
This project will accelerate SAV deployment by developing a SAV Blueprint Action Plan, transnational living labs, and a SAV implementation toolkit to give transport authorities the tools they need to act.
FMCI's Role
As Ireland’s leading facility for real-world testing and validation of advanced transport technologies, FMCI brings hands-on technical expertise to the consortium. FMCI’s contribution centres on the testing, simulation, and validation of SAV technologies and governance models. Our V2X systems and public-private partnership frameworks offer the perfect setting for the project’s Living Labs.
Building on the automotive data services previously funded under the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme, FMCI will design tailored operational simulations and test scenarios to evaluate how SAV solutions perform across different environments, from metropolitan corridors to rural routes. This work ensures that the frameworks developed are grounded in real-world evidence and scalable across diverse NWE contexts.
FMCI will also play a key role in the project’s Ambassador Programme, equipping seven regional organisations with simulation tools and tailored methodologies to support SAV uptake in their own areas.
On the road to advanced mobility
FMCI exists to bridge the gap between mobility innovation and real-world deployment, providing infrastructure, expertise, and collaborative frameworks to help new technologies reach the road. Participating in transnational projects of this scale extends that impact across borders, positioning Ireland as an active contributor to developing autonomous transport across Europe.
The practices and processes gleaned through CAMINO-2 will also reinforce our work at home. As Ireland advances its own autonomous vehicle testing legislation and builds out its mobility innovation ecosystem, the knowledge and validated methodologies developed through CAMINO-2 will directly strengthen what FMCI can offer partners domestically.
Learn more about the CAMINO-2 project here.
CAMINO-2 is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
FMCI’s Automotive Data Services are co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Southern, Eastern, & Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.
