Smart mobility is the use of technology to make the movement of goods and people easier and more efficient. It is at the forefront of modern transportation solutions, revolutionising how we move within our cities. Powered by advanced technologies and data-driven insights, smart mobility addresses the ever-growing challenges of congestion, accessibility, carbon emissions and road safety.
Many products and services fall under the ‘umbrella’ of smart mobility, such as Mobility as a Service products (MaaS), e.g. journey planning apps and ticketing services), smart infrastructure (adaptive traffic signals and Smart Motorways) and mobility sharing services (Lime bikes and Uber pool), to name a few.
In our latest CIHT Masterclass we looked at a variety of technologies for smart mobility which ranged from solutions for short local journeys to technology to make major road networks more efficient. We also heard how data is essential for all of this to work. 

We were privileged to hear from three speakers: 
•    Dr Stephen R. Pearson, CEO of Sm@rt Technology who were the CIHT 2023 Technology and Innovation award winners. Steve presented on 'Smart Thinking to create Smart Solutions for Mobility'. 
•    Tim Gammons, MCIHT, former Director, Intelligent Mobility at Arup who presented on 'Data Sharing for All'. 
•    Swati Mittal, MCIHT, Integrated Transport Programme Lead, Midlands Connect, who presented on 'A technology enabled solution towards transport planning problems – Midlands Connect demonstrator study for a corridor on the Major Road Network'. 

The key takeaways from the Masterclass are summarised below.

Smart mobility solutions can be used to overcome a multitude of problems on the major road network.

Road network performance can be improved by:
•    Making journey times more reliable with diversion route data sharing and improved floating vehicle-based journey time, as well as better flow data and better asset condition information collection and analysis; 
•    Managing travel demand with improved traffic demand modelling and planning tools;
•    Increasing traffic flow with improved real-time optimisation of traffic signals, smarter signalised pedestrian crossings and the use of green light optimisation and speed assist (GLOSA – a system that suggests speeds to vehicles so that they pass through traffic lights during green intervals). 

Improving road safety and reducing the number of collision hot spots can be achieved with:
•    Improved road safety data and analysis tools;
•    Detection and enforcement of moving traffic contraventions such as passing red signals, stopping in yellow boxes, making prohibited turns and travelling the wrong-way down a one-way street; 
•    Future cooperative awareness messaging (vehicle-to-vehicle communications). 

Support for freight traffic and logistics can be provided with:
•    Virtual freight parking services;
•    HGV priority lanes and signalling.

Active travel and public transport can be made easier and more accessible for several disability groups.

•    When it comes to crossing the road, people with low mobility, partial or no vision, Parkinson’s disease, learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s/Dementia and amputations/paralysis have a different experience of operating pedestrian signals to people who are not living with a disability. 
•    Technologies such as those developed by Sm@rt Technology link pedestrian crossing signals to an app on a user’s phone, or a button connected to their wheelchair/mobility scooter/walking aid to minimise the movement or effort needed to operate pedestrian signals.
•    Other apps have been created by Sm@rt Technology for people with partial or no vision that give audio announcements on bus timetables and when buses are approaching a bus stop. The same technology can also be applied to railways, and also include audio descriptions of public toilet layouts so that users can visualise the space they are entering. 

The types of data that will be key for developing smart mobility solutions are:

•    Boundary data
•    Floating vehicle-based journey time and flow data
•    Planning data and tools
•    Road safety data
•    Traffic violation data
•    Weather data
•    Asset data
•    Open bus data

Data sharing is key to connecting services, transport users and wider society. 

•    A person’s journey from A to B can use multiple transport networks (local roads and major roads) whilst using different modes of transport (personal car, train, bus, hire bike etc.).  
•    The cost and effort of creating a myriad of siloed platforms is wasteful. 
•    As an industry, by connecting and sharing data between existing transport operators and managers, we can make better use of what already exists and make it more accessible. 
•    Collaboration and communication between local authorities, the strategic road network, private highways and transport systems can ensure that local, regional and national policies are aligned, to overall provide a better transport system for the public. 

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