ICT'S change transport and mobility: mind the policy gap!

Future Transportation, 2022

Having been widely acknowledged as enabling access to education, employment, leisure and social activities, transport choices are also the cause of many challenges cities face. Recognising that change is needed, planners and policymakers are considering alternative methods of planning and delivering transport. Mobility as a Service (or MaaS) is one such idea that has gained traction with academics and professionals alike. Hailed as the answer to integrating complex transport systems, MaaS has yet to be implemented at scale in urban transport systems due in part to the lack of an agreed conceptual definition, the top-down approach to implementing what is meant to be a more personalised method of accessing transport, and the lack of local promoters (in comparison to global corporations and lobbyists). This article reflects on the current barriers to defining MaaS, considers how a novel public engagement approach could be used to create local definitions that support citizen engagement...

2006

Springer eBooks, 2023

Digital transport ecosystems worldwide provide great advantages to many but also carry a risk of excluding population groups that struggle with accessing or using digital products and services. The DIGNITY project (DIGital traNsport In and for socieTY) delves into the development of such ecosystems to deepen the understanding of the full range of factors that lead to disparities in the uptake of digital transport solutions in Europe. A starting point for developing digitally inclusive transport systems is to obtain state-of-the-art knowledge and understanding of where local transport ecosystems are in relation to the digital gap and digital mobility gap in terms of their policies, transport products and services, and population digital literacy. This chapter presents the methodology developed in the DIGNITY project to frame this digital gap, incorporating a self-assessment framework that may be used by public authorities to identify potential gaps in the development of local digital transport ecosystems. This framework is informed by results from customer journey mapping exercises that provide insights into the daily activities and trips of users, and larger scale surveys on digital technology access, use, attitudes and competence in the area. In the DIGNITY approach as a whole, the results from the framing phase are then used to inform subsequent work on bridging the digital gap through the co-creation of more inclusive policies, products and services. The chapter provides concrete results from the framing exercise in four DIGNITY pilot areas: Barcelona, Tilburg, Flanders and Ancona. The results clearly show that a digital transport gap exists in these areas, and that this is manifested in different ways in different local situations, requiring tailored approaches to address the gap. 2 Framing the Digital Gap Design of the inclusive mobility ecosystem requires an integral approach that brings together needs, attitudes and requirements of the transport stakeholders on micro, meso and macro levels:

Electronics, 2022

One of the main problems that local authorities of large cities have to face is the regulation of urban mobility. They need to provide the means to allow for the efficient movement of people and distribution of goods. However, the provisioning of transportation services needs to take into account general global objectives, like reducing emissions and having more healthy living environments, which may not always be aligned with individual interests. Urban mobility is usually provided through a transport infrastructure that includes all the elements that support mobility. On many occasions, the capacity of the elements of this infrastructure is lower than the actual demand and thus different transportation activities compete for their use. In this paper, we argue that scarce transport infrastructure elements should be assigned dynamically and in a prioritised manner to transport activities that have a higher utility from the point of view of society; for example, activities that produ...

In this paper, we seek to highlight the importance of understanding the social impacts and consequences, as well as the distributional effects, of transport decision-making. Based on an extensive review of the contemporary literature, we aim to clarify key concepts and definitions around the notion of social impacts, and to give them an identity distinct from economic and environmental impacts and from existing notions of 'distributional issues'. We primarily focus on five short-term or 'immediate' categories of social impact, namely accessibility, movement and activities, health-related, financial related and community-related impacts. We then consider the spatial, temporal and socio-demographic distributional effects of transport at every level of planning, policy and systems delivery. We also briefly discuss some of the longer-term social consequences of these social impacts in terms of health, individual and community wellbeing and social equity and justice. The paper is designed as an introduction to a wider discussion of these themes in this Special Issue Social Impacts and Equity Issues in Transport. Our overall aim for the paper is to demonstrate that, by overlooking the social impacts and social equity implications of transport decision-making at every level of the decision-making process, we are fundamentally undermining quality of life and social well-being in our towns, cities and rural settlements. Conversely, we believe that integration and consideration of the social impacts of transport planning and delivery can significantly increase the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of a number of other important areas of economic and social policy, including employment, health, education and economic development.

Przegląd Europejski, 2023

Transport accessibility, or rather the lack of it, increasingly referred to as transport exclusion or poverty, can lead to social exclusion and a range of negative social consequences. The aim of this article is to identify how accessibility and inclusiveness are treated in EU transport policies, in order to determine to what extent those policies are inclusive. The content analysis of EU transport policy documents issued between the years 2000 and 2022 will be conducted in this research. References to access and accessibility in the analysed documents consistently address mainly two issues: access for peripheral areas to the European transport system and ensuring accessibility of public transport. The second approach is relevant for ensuring the inclusiveness of the transport system.

Technological Forecasting and Social Change - TECHNOL FORECAST SOC CHANGE, 2010

This paper examines the main development characteristics within the transport system as we are approaching the ubiquitous phase of the information society. Particularly the challenges in designing transport policies on a rapidly evolving technological frontier are emphasised. The theoretical background of the paper stems from policy assessment as well as futures studies, especially from technology roadmapping. The paper presents a socio-technical roadmapping method as a tool to integrate the technology developments better with societal developments and transport policy design. The method is tested with a Finnish case study, which provides three thematic, complementary roadmaps of the potential transport system technology services of the future. The roadmaps illustrate what kind of technologies, services, actors and related policy relevant knowledge is needed in satisfying the demands of transport policy development in the future's ubiquitous society. The case study reveals several changes in the transport system: pluralised number of actor roles and actor networks in the system, emergence of a new kind of business and service layer because of the new dynamic inter-linkages between the actors, and further, possibility to capture the service layer with the concept of “technology service”. The changes require also re-conceptualisation of knowledge production to support transport policies. In conclusion, the socio-technical roadmapping holds great potentials as a tool for aligning technology development with transport policy development.

This paper follows up on a white paper authored in late 2013 titled "Implications to Public Transportation of Autonomous or Connected Vehicles." This paper updates thinking based on activities to date and specifically delves into how the public transportation industry might be impacted and could respond to this issue. The ideas and positions offered are those of the author and do not represent policy positions of the industry or any associated entities. Context Over the past two or three years, the emergence of new technologies impacting all travel modes including public transportation has garnered significant attention across the spectrum of interests, from the research and technology communities to the transportation planning and policy communities to the public, media, and political communities. This awareness and interest is evidenced by extensive media coverage and growing speculation on the implications on everything from roadway safety to the fate of traditional auto manufacturers to the consequences for mobility, the environment, land use patterns, and the economy. Included in the list of potential consequences is the issue of the future of public transportation. Numerous authors have speculated on these consequences, with perspectives ranging from the demise of public transit as we know it, as automated on-demand vehicles replace traditional fixed-route services in all but the highest-volume corridors, to a resurgence of public transportation as technology renders personal auto ownership obsolete and public transportation complements the "mobility as a service" vision foreseen by some. Several of these perspectives are referenced in the bibliography. This paper explores the issue by speculating on possible consequences associated with movement toward greater technology being integrated into vehicles and transportation systems. These observations draw from emerging discussions and reflect the perceptions and observations of the author. They are intended to seed discussion as they integrate knowledge of public transportation with various perceptions and expectations of how new technologies, including autonomous or connected vehicles, might become a significant component of personal mobility. Some basic tenants of the technology induced changes in transportation are becoming increasingly clear:  A spectrum of technologies is involved. The core technologies that enable meaningful changes in transportation include global satellite positioning, wireless communications, high-speed portable computer processing, sophisticated affordable sensing, battery power storage, and associated technologies and software, including machine learning, all of which are collectively influencing a multitude of aspects of transportation.  Technologies are impacting all modes of transportation. The various technologies are influencing all modes of travel in ways that will impact their future competitiveness as their

2018

Transport and Equity Analysis COST Action – TU1209 dedicated a special attention to the mobility challenges related with the social and technical dimensions of transport. The three theoretical and practical results of TEA COST dealing with mobility issues are:<br> 1. Proposing a shift from a time-saving based appraisal paradigm to a new composite variable able to jointly consider personal characteristics, spatial accessibility, and trips attributes (i.e. needs of people).<br> 2. Changing the approach for analyzing users' mobility choice from a utility-based approach to a needs-based approach.<br> 3. Opening transport planning to the real participation of users through adapted mobility survey, meetings for proposing and creating consensus around transport planning measures, and innovative governance tools.

Journal of Transport Geography, 2012

Revista Tecnologia e Sociedade, 2023

Contemporary urban societies present gaps in the right to the city achievement and sociospatial inequalities. This article links the right to the city as ethical political foundation to equal accessibility as an expression of transport-related social exclusion (TRSE), and the potentialities of digital-based mobility platforms to contribute to social inclusion. The article relates TRSE characteristics to MaaS prerogatives to understand how MaaS could contribute to accessibility capabilities towards equal access to urban opportunities. The results of this relation among TRSE and MaaS enables an analysis of the association of characteristics and prerogatives that could be strategic to empower MaaS as an equal accessibility instrument.

European Transport Research Review