Urban mobility is integral to both social and economic wellbeing of cities; yet it also represents one of the key sources of environmental impacts.

The widespread adoption of automobiles has disrupted urban travel patterns and residential locations, leading to reduced public transit ridership and leading to new trends in urban mobility that aim to address these challenges while improving efficiency, sustainability, and accessibility of transportation networks.

Transportation

Urban mobility refers to the safe, healthy and efficient movement of both people and goods within cities, most effectively achieved through sustainable transport options tailored to suit local residents’ needs and behaviors.

These movements include commuting, which is necessary for daily activities such as working, shopping or attending school; tourist movements contribute significantly to urban mobility as they involve interactions with landmarks, attractions and amenities at specific moments during the day such as major sports events; distribution movements are also vital as part of commercial activities and online transactions and may often involve private vehicles.

MaaS (mobility as a service) solutions provide innovative ways to optimize traffic flow and ease congestion, providing travellers with multiple modes of transit such as buses, trains, ferries and cars – all from within one app!

Congestion

Congestion is one of the main obstacles to urban mobility, leading to lost time that negatively impacts personal and economic productivity. The impact is even greater in densely populated cities with outdated infrastructure.

Traditional approaches to congestion have included expanding car-centric transport infrastructure, but this only compounds the issue and contributes to urban sprawl and increases car dependence. An alternative strategy would be embracing people-centred urban mobility plans which prioritize public transit and active transport options as ways out.

Sustainable mobility also improves city dweller health. Overcrowded and inefficient transportation systems contribute to physical and mental health problems such as high blood pressure, respiratory illness from air pollution and stress from long commutes hours. Traffic accidents also pose a significant threat, leading to over 7 million premature deaths annually – an indicator of urban mobility efficiency is its share of sustainable transport modes and level of road safety.

Safety

Urban mobility must take into account the safety of all users, from design, implementation and management of transport systems that minimize risks to social equity promotion. This involves designing systems to minimize risks to users while reducing environmental impacts and fostering social equality.

Intersections can be dangerous parts of city streets, but they can be made safer through smarter infrastructure. For instance, using lighting, sensors and data fusion to create adaptive crosswalks that alert pedestrians of approaching vehicles is one way to make intersections safer.

A 15-minute city is an urban setup in which residents can access all essential services within 15 minutes of travel time, requiring compact urban development that brings people and services closer together, along with multimodal mobility systems that maximize efficiency and sustainability.

Climate Change

Sustainable mobility requires an integrated approach, which encompasses demand management, transport infrastructure and modal mixes as well as encouraging walking and cycling. Furthermore, understanding its effects on climate and environment such as air quality, noise pollution and land use are of equal importance.

As global population forecasts indicate a doubling by 2050, transportation demands will also grow rapidly. To meet this challenge, we must create more cost-efficient and sustainable mobility systems which reduce carbon emissions as well as other harmful environmental impacts.

Cities need to radically reshape their current model and adopt innovative forms of urban mobility that offer people viable options without impacting our climate. Achieve this requires adopting an integrative vision which takes into account travel behaviour, transport engineering and traffic management practices as well as life cycle assessments of carbon emissions – an endeavor which requires collaboration across disciplines such as infrastructure engineers, traffic managers and psychologists.