5 Major Urban Mobility Trends of the Future
The five things that everyone is talking about in mobility—or should be!
Mobility is in the midst of its most transformational period since inception, and the needle keeps moving. The world is moving towards a future of sustainability, and that sustainability begins with mobility. While there are as many differing views on the future of mobility as there are new modes and methods to transport us to where we are going the necessary outcome of our transformation efforts is clear: mobility needs to become more diverse, smarter, more shared, and greener. How we get from place to place is an essential piece of the overall sustainability landscape, and these are the five major mobility trends that are set to have the greatest direct impact on a sustainable future.
1Less driving. According to the EPA, a “short trip” is a car trip of under a mile. If Americans were to cut half of the short trips that they are currently making by car, we would remove about 2 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year—the equivalent of 400,000 cars from the road. Consider walking to the store or the gym!
2Biking. Thanks to new federal funding, experts expect a huge jump in biking with the installation of new and improved bike paths and bicycle parking garages. With these improvements will come incentives from workplaces to bike to work, creating a win-win for health and the environment.
3Shared mobility. Whether sharing cars, bicycles, public transportation, shuttle buses, e-bikes, e-scooters, or one of the many other advents to come, the convenience of not having to worry about storage or ongoing maintenance costs will make shared mobility an increasingly appealing option.
4Electric Vehicles and Autonomous Driving. We can talk about them separately, but when coupled they have the greatest impact. As we are currently experiencing, the biggest challenge to success will be the charging infrastructure. But as the growing pains are resolved, people can look forward to a time when their commute can be used for relaxation while their fully electric car does all the work.
5The Internet of Things (IoT). As data becomes more regularly collected, analyzed, and applied in decision making, a future in which billions of devices—from smartphones to vehicles to apps that control pretty much everything—are interconnected and are working in harmony to get us from point A to B in the most ideal manner is within the realm of possibility.
stock.adobe.com / Kevin Drew Davis, ~ Bitter ~, pushkaash, makstorm, rrice
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