The improvement of sensors, power train control as well as communication, make possible the automation of vehicle driving. Vehicle prototypes are currently capable of driving automatically, in road and urban environment. The automation is provided by systems in the vehicle and/or deployed on the road infrastructure, so that the process is named Vehicle and Road Automation.Partial or full automation of vehicles will improve traffic safety by reducing the number of incidents due to human errors, driver's distraction or reduced vigilance. Furthermore, Vehicle and Road Automation is likely to improve the traffic efficiency by smoothening the flow of vehicles as well as reducing congestions due to accidents. The resulting reduction of vehicle emissions and fuel consumption will have a positive impact on the environment.Research activities on Vehicle and Road Automation have significantly increased over the past few years especially in US and Japan. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the expert community share their expertise and reach common views on Vehicle and Road Automation. This objective will be achieved through networking and promotion activities.VRA is a Support Action for networking and international cooperation on Vehicle and Road Automation addressing in particular the deployment needs. VRA intends to address common issues and agree on solutions enabling good market conditions for a seamless and fast deployment.Therefore this support action for Vehicle and Road Automation is an initiative to share expertise and cooperate, at European and International level. It aims to:• Maintain an active European network of Vehicle and Road Automation experts and stakeholders,• Contribute to EU-US-Japan international collaboration on Vehicle and Road Automation,• Identify deployment needs for the different domains of Vehicle and Road Automation,• Promote the European Research on Vehicle and Road Automation through an innovative set of dissemination tools.VRA will address the identified deployment needs from different perspectives: the deployment scenarios, the legal and regulatory needs and finally the standardisation and certification requirements.VRA spins off from the iMobility Forum Automation WG discussions in order to build together an open network to support the deployment of Vehicle and Road Automation over Europe and beyond.