Urban mobility is described as the lifeblood of modern cities, a critical economic factor, and a facilitator of smart, sustainable development. Planning a smart city that delivers effective and equitable urban mobility solutions is one of the most pressing problems for cities throughout the world.
CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES IN SMART MOBILITY
Smart cities must deliver effective smart mobility solutions while encouraging innovation, facilitating a collaborative ecosystem, and meeting sustainability goals. These challenges are part of the rapidly changing landscape of urban mobility as seen through the lens of a smart city planner. Strategies to meet city mobility challenges and solve urban mobility problems are unique to each city and involve:
- Designing effective, equitable, safe and secure public transport systems, integrated with mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) and other platforms
- Adapting to vehicle innovation and adoption (autonomous, connected, electric, shared, dockless)
- Crafting policies and strategies to promote adherence to air quality standards and other quality-of-life measures
- Developing public-private partnerships (PPPs) and collaborating with knowledge institutions to address air quality, traffic congestion, and sustainability issues
- Building sustainable infrastructure — physical and digital — to support innovative mobility solutions from public and private sectors
Taking measures to reduce and control pollution, linking energy efficient infrastructure with innovative predictive and optimising IT solutions is a top priority.
GLI Solutions’ technological background offers solutions to these new challenges.
We aim to deliver innovative, real-time, location-based developments in response to changing circumstances. Our developments have a wide range of applications; from cloud-based mapping services to customized and bespoke geospatial developments, we offer a range of solutions to support mobility, smart infrastructure, real-time data processing and logistics processes.
The key in urban mobility development is to go multi-modal: not just cars, buses, rail, bicycles or walking, but a coordinated system of various modes of transportation. Clean multi-modal systems can provide safe, equitable, comfortable, convenient, accessible transportation, including mass transit, walking, biking, micro-mobility (such as electric scooters and bikes and shared bicycles) along with car use.
Ensuring efficient use of resources and minimizing environmental impact in our developments is a priority for us.
We are proud to be a partner in the development of the Danube Region Route Planner application, the main objective of which is to build a multi-modal cross-border travel information network for the Danube countries.
The Danube Region is lacking a fully multi-modal network (road, rail, water transport) and suffers from transport bottlenecks mainly in the area of road transport causing negative impact on citizens and nature. In addition, the high administrative fragmentation of the transport sector is a big obstacle in the realization of effective multi-modal networks. The integration of coordination mechanisms and better alignment of transport operators and travel information operators from different levels in a technical and organizational manner is in the heart of our project in order to develop a multi-modal cross-border travel information network. Particular focus is put to main railway corridors that are connected to regional and local networks, and to cycling routes and cycling-relevant travel information for better accessibility. This will allow multi-modal local trips as well as long-distance journeys with environmentally- friendly modes, including cycling and inland waterways. Such multi-modal chains are highly demanded by tourists, but also by commuters within and across the borders.
In addition to addressing the inequalities of car dependency, multi-modal transport can provide a suite of community health and livability benefits, including better air quality and reduced noise pollution, some of the largest environmental causes of health issues. And active modes of transportation can improve physical and mental health by helping more people exercise.
Well-designed multi-modal systems can provide safe, comfortable and sustainable transport for all.
SMART URBAN MOBILITY: VISIONS OF THE FUTURE
Judging from innovation trends and disruptive forces in urban mobility, it is realistic to envision a future scenario when smart city residents and visitors enjoy a wider range of affordable, multi-modal, on-demand mobility options; and conventional cars and ownership practices are replaced by shared electric and autonomous vehicles.
