eBRT2030 General Assembly: Reflecting on progress and planning what comes next
- Thamires Pecis
- 13 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Representing UEMI, Fernando Dobrusky and Edmund Teko joined partners of the eBRT2030 project in Istanbul for the annual General Assembly.
Hosted by IETT in collaboration with UITP, the two-day meeting brought together more than a hundred participants from across Europe and beyond, including project partners, demo leaders, and the advisory board,project partners, demo leaders, and the advisory board.
Collaboration that drives progress
The event opened with remarks from Mr. İrfan Demet, General Manager of IETT, who highlighted Istanbul’s commitment to safe, clean and inclusive mobility, including efforts to increase the number of female drivers and strengthen daily operations.
Partners then shared updates from demo cities such as Prague, Barcelona, Rimini, Athens, Amsterdam and Bogotá, presenting advances in predictive maintenance, energy efficiency and smart charging. The VUB team introduced the eBRT simulation platform, a tool designed to optimise energy use, costs and operations.
Coordination sessions also covered data management, financial updates and the addition of a new demo site in Nantes, expanding the project’s international reach. Fernando Dobrusky and Edmund Teko presented the next steps for the International Cluster, which includes demonstration activities in Curitiba, Kigali, Cape Town and Buenos Aires.
The first day concluded with a technical visit to Istanbul’s Metrobus, where participants explored the Operations Control Centre and maintenance facilities, gaining first-hand insights into one of the world’s largest BRT systems.
From Europe to the world
The second day focused on the project’s forward strategy. Partners shared updates on research, evaluation and communication activities, while Volvo presented results from its work on Narrow Navigation and Thermal Management.The Advisory Board session centred on the eBRT2030 Roadmap and the “Concept for All”, a framework ensuring that project outcomes remain scalable, inclusive and adaptable to different urban contexts.
For Fernando, who joined the General Assebmly with this project for the first time, the experience was both professional and personal, a chance to meet the people behind eBRT2030 and see the collaboration in action.
“It was really interesting to meet all these great people. I learned a lot about the project and about the latest technologies in electric mobility. We also had a presentation and a technical visit to the Istanbul Metrobus, the local BRT that connects Asia with Europe, serving an incredible city of more than 20 million habitants and 20 million tourists per year. We visited the operations center that monitors the service with more than 12k cameras in the vehicles and infrastructure, the depot and the maintenance workshops.”
Looking ahead
The Istanbul assembly reaffirmed the consortium’s shared vision for cleaner, smarter and more inclusive urban mobility.With renewed energy and collaboration, eBRT2030 continues to build a future where electric BRT systems connect cities, people and ideas across continents.
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