Skip to main content

New mobility services could benefit city dwellers and make public transport more affordable

New mobility services integrated into mass transit systems could improve the lives of all urban inhabitants and make public transport more affordable, accessible and sustainable, according to research from the Coalition for Urban Transitions (CfUT). It also presents the first global survey of new mobility services, and identifies emerging trends and opportunities for decision-makers in both the public and private sectors.
November 3, 2017 Read time: 3 mins
New mobility services integrated into mass transit systems could improve the lives of all urban inhabitants and make public transport more affordable, accessible and sustainable, according to research from the Coalition for Urban Transitions (CfUT). It also presents the first global survey of new mobility services, and identifies emerging trends and opportunities for decision-makers in both the public and private sectors.


Called Connected Urban Growth: Public-Private Collaborations for Transforming Urban Mobility, the findings are based on applying three types of mobility services – electric, on-demand minibuses, subsidized rides, and trip-planning and ticketing apps to London, Mexico City and San Francisco.

The report shows that these applications could bring economic and environmental benefits. Dynamic trip-planning and ticketing systems and on-demand minibus services would each require up-front investments that could be paid back within two years by reductions in operating costs. In addition, subsidising the use of ride-sharing services for first- and last-mile trips to and from transit hubs could boost mass-transit ridership and create more farebox revenues with no initial capital outlay.

Further modelling indicates that dynamic trip-planning and ticketing apps could cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 500,000 tonnes per year in 2020 across the three cities, as more people use public transportation, with Mexico City benefiting most. The total emissions from transportation across the three cities could be reduced by up to 6%. Replacing fixed-route diesel buses with on-demand electric minibuses could bring improvements: in Greater London, GHG and fine-particulate emissions could be cut by more than 80% and nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 95% per bus route. San Francisco could see even more significant reductions. Deploying ride-sharing services for first- and last-mile trips to and from public transportation stops, which enables more people to use mass transit instead of their cars, could reduce per journey emissions of GHGs and local air pollutants by 55-80%.

The CfUT is encouraging cities to consider how new services can enhance public transit systems, and calling on urban policymakers to share more data, invest in mass transit infrastructure, and incentivize pilots and partnerships, among other recommendations.  

Other findings showed over 70 cities are already partnering with new private mobility services and addressing challenges public transit systems face, but only a handful are in the Global South.

More than half of new mobility start-ups fall into the shared mobility category (e.g. mass transit and bicycle sharing) with 63% of those based in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Additionally, local companies in every region of the world are now developing shared mobility apps.

In the US, more than half the product innovation companies (e.g. electric and autonomous vehicles) surveyed are based in The States. Over 500 transit agencies are providing open access to their transit data, helping consumers plan their trips more easily, but only 17 also allow users to purchase tickets using mobile apps.

A full copy of the report is available on the %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external website false http://newclimateeconomy.report/workingpapers/workingpaper/connected-urban-growth-public-private-collaborations-for-transforming-urban-mobility/ false false%>.

Related Content

  • Smart Insights: ‘TEE will increasingly displace other security solutions’
    October 28, 2014
    Software- or hardware-only mobile security solutions will increasingly be displaced by TEE (Trusted Execution Environment), according to new research. TEE is essentially a secure area that resides in a mobile device baseband processor and provides security against software attacks.
  • ITS America announces call for participation for 23rd annual meeting & exposition in Nashville
    September 20, 2012
    The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) has issued its call for papers and presentations for consideration for its 23rd Annual Meeting & Exposition, to be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee from April 22-24, 2013. ITS America is looking for high quality contributions to the technical program; content selected will further the discussion about state-of-the-art transportation technologies or offer a fresh outlook on the policy, financial,
  • Registration for new Highways UK conference now open
    October 27, 2015
    Taking place on 25- 26 November at ExCeL London, Highways UK is a major new event bringing together those responsible for planning, developing, managing and maintaining the UK's road network. The free to attend exhibition includes many organisations in the sector including Highways England, Mott MacDonald, BAM Nuttall, Colas, Thales, Clearview Traffic Group, Kier Services, Costain, Tarmac and Atkins. Keynote speakers include Mike Brown, who was recently confirmed as TfL’s Transport Commissioner, Andrew Jone
  • Benefits of SMART Signal system
    October 17, 2012
    Developed by researchers led by civil engineering associate professor Henry Liu at the University of Minnesota, the SMART Signal (Systematic Monitoring of Arterial Road Traffic Signals) system is said to be reducing congestion on roads controlled by traffic lights. The system automatically collects and processes data from traffic signal controllers at multiple intersections. It then creates performance measures, including information on the times and locations congestion occurs on a given road. Traffic eng