In recent years, mobility has increased exponentially with new means of transport appearing in our cities and old ones revalued and improved. The growing pollution and congestion problems in neighbourhoods have forced local authorities to provide their citizens with alternative solutions to get around and between the cities, making optimal use of existing infrastructure.
That’s when and why the concept of smart mobility became so popular. It rethinks how people use the transportation infrastructure in their daily life and promises to bring a number of benefits both to citizens and to businesses. Smart mobility allows the flexibility to choose the best transport option and makes the travel efficient reducing the time dedicated to transfers. Consequently the flow of traffic and its environmental impact decrease while the liveability of the city improves.
However, most residents are still used to own cars and sometimes reject public transportation due to delays, lack of information and overcrowding. It can therefore be challenging to change their behaviour. So, what can cities do? The three lighthouse cities in MAtchUP are upgrading urban mobility infrastructure to make commuting and transfers quicker, cheaper, and more reliable.
One key solution is multimodality, which offers different means of transport in one single hub: thanks to multimodal hubs, travellers can easily switch from bus to bike to scooter and even recharge their e-vehicles.
TAnd to reduce congestion, accidents and pollution, MAtchUP cities have introduced traffic control systems and apps.
Monitoring equipment for electric and hybrid cars and buses is a further innovation to reduce traffic – especially when it comes to buses, which provide a great service by moving across the city at flexible hours – and which save emissions.
Shared transport powered by renewable energy is always a good idea – it allows people to save time and money in cities that are liveable and healthy. Sustainable mobility is to cities what a clean air is to our lungs.
Cover photo by Pixabay
