Urban mobility is a global issue that affects quality of life for millions worldwide, from air pollution and congestion, urban road safety, zero emission logistics services and last mile deliveries for cars and ride-hailing services, to zero emissions logistics for deliveries made on schedules by trucks or ride-hailing services.
As part of this strategy, cities need to provide citizens with viable alternatives to private vehicles for daily commuting purposes.
Public transport
Urban mobility plays a central role in our societies. Cities are home to over 80 percent of humanity, providing social interaction and driving innovation while contributing to global energy consumption, air pollution, and traffic congestion.
Public transportation systems that offer safe, sustainable access to jobs and services are an integral component of urban mobility, providing safe access to jobs and services while simultaneously improving territorial access and social inclusion, particularly among lower-income households and women.
But public transport systems must compete with private vehicles in terms of cost and convenience, which means focusing on modal integration and people-centred traffic management systems, with last mile access as the priority. Internalizing externalities is also key in order to unlock mass mobility’s full societal benefits.
Walking
Walking is an integral component of urban mobility and can reduce reliance on automobiles. Walking provides access to markets, jobs, education services, health-care providers and leisure activities while simultaneously strengthening community ties and relieving stress caused by traffic jams.
Pedestrianism-oriented routes are an integral component of soft transportation systems in tourist destinations. In this research, hybrid multi-criteria decision making and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were employed to establish walking-oriented tourist routes in Shiraz’s historic district in Iran using SSA, TOPSIS, and AHP rankings of street segments as part of a walking tourism route planning method.
Subjective perceptions were captured using questionnaire surveys, with data going through structural equation modeling (SEM). Our findings indicate that facility condition, traffic condition and safety perception all play an important role in perceived walkability accessibility.
Cycling
Urban mobility plays a central role in our lives as individuals and communities alike, and drives economic success on multiple fronts at local, regional, and global levels. High-quality mobility infrastructure must offer people access to services reliably at reasonable rates while making efficient use of space and energy resources.
Most travel is completed using cars or public transit. But an increasing number of trips can now be taken using alternative forms of active transport such as bikes or other forms of active transportation. Such alternatives have the power to decrease congestion, pollution levels and road traffic accidents while improving health conditions while making cities more sustainable.
Municipalities should focus their efforts on improving cycling conditions on commuter routes and urban facilities, where cycling modal shifts can significantly lower transport energy spending. Full cycling scenarios have revealed this possibility to reduce transport energy spending significantly.
Parking
Intelligent parking solutions are at the core of urban mobility. They make finding parking more efficient by displaying real-time availability, thus alleviating traffic congestion. Furthermore, intelligent parking solutions regulate and control usage of scarce spaces such as garages – reducing undue spot occupation while increasing turnover for more availability of spots.
Integrating seamlessly with public transit systems, they also enable drivers to use one ticket for bus and train rides – increasing modal shift from cars towards other means of transport while decreasing fuel consumption and improving sustainability.
Technological innovation for parking is integral to creating healthy urban environments. By decreasing traffic congestion and vehicle emissions, technological innovations in parking make cities more appealing places to live in and increase productivity capacity.
Car sharing
Car sharing offers an efficient solution to access vehicles without owning one, enabling people to rent any type of car they need – from an electric van for moving your couch to a fuel efficient SUV for daily commutes.
Research suggests that car sharing also contributes to reduced car ownership: for every shared car added, 5-15 privately owned cars are taken off city streets – freeing up space on city streets while encouraging behavioural change towards sustainable transport modes such as walking and cycling.
Cities can implement car-sharing as part of a comprehensive urban mobility ecosystem, offering services such as ride hailing, charging, parking and multimodal transit planning. The key is simplifying mobility for users by providing low/mid priced vehicles that suit most consumer preferences.