Municipal mobility transition

Strategies for the mobility of tomorrow

Mobility in urban and rural environments is undergoing a paradigm shift. During planning of the mobility transition, local authorities are faced with the challenge of considering new providers and solutions and being mindful of different mobility needs. This all takes place against a backdrop of ever-mounting time pressure due to the climate crisis and limited human resources for planning and roll-out of the corresponding measures.

Decisive role of the municipalities

Theme Municipal Mobility Transition | polisMOBILITY

Local authorities play a key role in the mobility transition and in managing measures of alternative mobility, because they determine the rules on the ground to a large extent. In the process, they face the challenge of redistributing areas of public space and creating a complex infrastructure for connected mobility: bicycle paths, parking spaces for electric scooters, cargo bikes and cars require space just as much as road users with limited mobility, local public transport and shuttle and delivery services do.

Local authorities can’t manage this on their own – they must assume their role in an ethos of collaboration with businesses and service providers. And, in the context of funding or competency issues, they must also collaborate on the state or federal level. But above all, it is vital that they involve citizens in change processes from an early stage and provide them with detailed information about concepts of alternative mobility offerings.

Chance for smart transformation

This is precisely where an enormous opportunity lies. Innovations such as smart charging, intelligent street lights, smart traffic lights and parking and traffic control systems can be implemented locally – and they will ultimately decide whether the transport transition will be pursued locally or not. Using digital twins or AI-supported mobility systems, for example, technology-agnostic municipalities can exploit the full potential of digitalisation in this connection.

Logistics of the last mile: strategies for implementation are required

However, the municipal scope of action does not end with personal mobility. Logistics are constantly increasing in importance and pose major challenges for municipalities – although the solutions for a future-proof last mile are largely already available. Regional and inner-city micro-distribution centres from which delivery vehicles with alternative drive systems are dispatched for the last mile – increasingly also autonomously – will shape the future. 

The challenges lie in operative and complete realisation. Last-mile solutions must be formulated jointly by all stakeholders – local authorities, service providers, operators and logistics specialists. And finally, we must clarify which operating models make sense in the private sector and where municipalities must take the helm.

polisMOBILITY provides the platform for considering these themes holistically and entering into an exchange with participating actors.