Skip to main content

‘Intelligent transportation key technology enabler of smart cities’

New research by ABI indicates that by 2025, penetration of ITS technologies in smart cities will range from 20 per cent (autonomous vehicles) to 98 per cent (traffic management). With more than two-thirds of the global population expected to live in urban contexts by 2050, the deployment of smart cities technologies and intelligent transportation services in particular, will become key policy areas for local governments. While numerous smart city projects are currently testing or deploying multimodal tr
March 13, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
New research by ABI indicates that by 2025, penetration of ITS technologies in smart cities will range from 20 per cent (autonomous vehicles) to 98 per cent (traffic management). With more than two-thirds of the global population expected to live in urban contexts by 2050, the deployment of smart cities technologies and intelligent transportation services in particular, will become key policy areas for local governments.

While numerous smart city projects are currently testing or deploying multimodal transportation, traffic management, adaptive traffic signalling, transit ticketing and smart parking payment solutions, the focus will shift to urban tolling and freight systems to address rampant congestion and pollution issues, especially in developing regions. However, more structural approaches based on eMobility, cooperative ITS and V2I, autonomous vehicles, and widespread adoption of car sharing and on-demand taxis will be needed by the start of the next decade to cope with the unstoppable urbanisation trend,” says VP and practice director, Dominique Bonte.

Meanwhile, inter-vertical technologies such as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) will be required to realize the synergies offered by an urban IoT strategy. In this respect, it is essential city governments and technology providers adopt holistic approaches maximizing the combined effect of technologies within and across the energy, transportation, communication, education, retail, construction, public services, and healthcare verticals in order to unlock the full potential of smart cities in terms of sustainability, quality of life, efficiency, and economic growth.

Unfortunately, many smart city projects remain fragmented and/or hijacked for gaining political capital on the back of public funding, especially in Europe. Other issues include complexity, high costs, lack of standards, reluctance to share data, and privacy concerns. For the smart cities conundrum to emerge as a viable concept, it will have to emancipate and leave its old heritage behind.

Related Content

  • November 9, 2023
    A revisited framework for ITS in Europe
    Following the newly-adopted European Directive on ITS, Joost Vantomme of Ertico – ITS Europe, shares his insights on the legislation and its opportunities for the entire industry
  • June 11, 2015
    Bigger role for data protection and privacy policies in transportation
    Dr Caitlin Cottrill, lecturer at the University of Aberdeen’s School of Geosciences, examines the impact of privacy legislation on the transportation sector. Growing reliance on big data, underscored by the increasing ubiquity of smart infrastructure and the ‘Internet of Things’, has profoundly impacted the regulatory environment experienced by transportation professionals. This is particularly the case in relation to the privacy of personally identifying information (PII). There has been increased attenti
  • November 27, 2020
    Global mobility study: world on the move
    ERF reviews impact of new mobility on road infrastructure in 20 countries pre-Covid
  • June 13, 2018
    Singapore plans changes to transit system
    Singapore has the third-highest population density in the world and the numbers are continuing to grow. The government knows that transit is vital: David Crawford investigates the city state’s Smart Nation strategy. Transport is the most important of the five domains identified as the pillars of Singapore's far-reaching Smart Nation strategy, launched in November 2014 by prime minister Lee Hsien Loong with the aim of reaching fulfilment by 2024. Roads account for 12% of the island republic's 719km2 land ar