Smart Mobility Fosters New Transportation Options

The new report Smart Mobility: Reducing Congestion and Fostering Faster, Greener, and Cheaper Transportation Options, by Deloitte University, evaluates new business models inspired by the sharing economy and disruptive technologies that are ushering in the era of "smart mobility." These include on-demand ride services like Uber and Lyft, real-time ridesharing services such as Carma and Zimride, carsharing programs such as Zipcar and car2go, bike sharing programs, and thousands of miles of new urban bike lanes that are changing how people get around. It explores how urban planners can support these technologies and services in order to help reduce congestion, traffic accidents, pollution emissions and parking facility costs.

It describes Helsinki's audacious goal: By 2025, the city plans to make it unnecessary for any city resident to own a private car. The goal is an on-demand mobility system that would allow customers to choose among public and private transport providers and assemble the fastest or cheapest way of getting anywhere they need to go at any time.

The report offers detailed policy recommendations for each mode that can help policymakers and city planners begin to reap the benefits of these alternative modes, with potential savings tables and maps that explore the potential of these strategies to reduce automobile travel in specific neighborhoods.