A growing population means greater pressure on our transport systems. Everyone is aware of the huge challenges posed by overcrowded networks and air pollution, but there is also growing excitement and optimism about the potential for smart technologies to combat congestion by making the way we travel more efficient.
The concept of “intelligent mobility” is an increasingly popular way of understanding current trends and future possibilities. It refers to the various ways we can harness technology – whether through data sharing, smart ticketing systems or use of autonomous vehicles – to make the movement of people and goods as well-organised as possible.
Design, engineering, and project management consultancy, Atkins, recently hosted a summit where leading experts and players in the transport sector explored the promising opportunities intelligent mobility presents.
“The way people move around and the way people access transport is going to be fundamentally different in future,” says Philip Hoare, Atkins’ lead on intelligent mobility. “Transport is going to be more customer-focused, and we are going to have to put the flexibility customers want at the heart of how we think about their journeys.”
Our mobile phones have already revolutionised the way we book tickets and check travel times. But Hoare thinks better cooperation between public transport bodies, transport companies and start-ups could lead to greater gains. Finding ways to share travel data and synchronise real-time information across different services offers commuters the promise of a painless experience across the complete journey, regardless of the mode of travel.
“There are lots of impressive ideas and lots of interesting work going on,” Hoare explains. “But collaboration is essential if we’re going to connect transport services up more effectively. It’s why we have been very keen to bring people from industry, academia and government together to discuss where we go from here.”
One of the proposed approaches getting many transport experts excited is the concept of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). It’s a vision of travel as a tailor-made subscription service, one that gives customers the chance to choose a bundle of options, similar to the way we currently choose our mobile phone or cable TV services.
Professor Phil Blythe, chief scientific adviser at the Department for Transport, is excited by the idea. “It’s a way of treating transport almost like a telecoms package, allowing customers to combine a certain amount of Uber use or car sharing alongside a certain number of train or bus journeys they might need in a month,” he explains. “It’s moving away from the conventional idea of relying on one mode of transport, or being dependent on car ownership.”
Blythe believes the idea of Mobility-as-a-Service will really come into its own if car hiring and car sharing schemes. He predicts that use of self-driving cars will also encourage greater “on-demand” use of vehicles on the road, especially if they can be shown to conveniently connect up with public transport networks.
“There is a cultural shift towards accessing things exactly when we need them,” says Blythe. “Moving towards mobility as a service makes a lot of sense when you consider so many cars are still parked and left sitting in driveways 90% of the day, yet people are still paying massive ownership costs. I think we’re on the cusp on some very exciting changes in the way we approach our journeys. There’s a lot of potential to do transport better.”
There remain some big, fundamental parts of the puzzle to put in place. If the UK is to make intelligent mobility a reality, it will need to the right infrastructure. Andrew Wescott, head of policy and public affairs at the Institution of Civil Engineers, recently authored the National Needs Assessment (NNA), a document designed to act as a blueprint for the UK’s infrastructure policy.
Wescott points out that making transport more efficient and customer-centric will depend upon clever planning. An increase in electric vehicles, for example, means making sure we can meet the demand for extra electricity. And if we’re going to have smart ticketing systems using mobile and contactless technologies, there needs to be digital coverage right across the country.
“We need integrated planning,” he says. “There are good examples of it happening in cities like London and Manchester, where things connect up well and easy multi-modal transport is possible, but it’s not necessarily happening right across the UK at the moment.”
“Some new infrastructure projects will be necessary, but it’s not always about always building new things for more capacity,” Wescott explains. “It’s about optimising technology and making better use of the assets you already have to manage the capacity more effectively.”
Much of the frustration customers currently experience comes from a sense of powerlessness, a feeling of being stuck with one particular mode of transport. Intelligent mobility puts faith in the idea that given a greater sense of control, customers will choose to make their own journeys more cost-effective and efficient.
“I think transport systems could be very, very different in 20 years time because things are changing so quickly,” says Blythe. “I also think the UK has the potential to be a leader in this field. We can play a big part in the mobility revolution.”
This content is paid for and produced to a brief agreed with Atkins, sponsor of the transforming transport series
