Enhancing mobility and transportation options bring many benefits to a city. Reduced traffic congestion, shorter trip times, improved public safety and less pollution are just a few. This collection of articles and resources spotlight trends and some of the smart solutions cities are deploying to enhance urban mobility. Scroll to the bottom of the page for financing ideas.
Articles
Road congestion: Can your city afford to do nothing?
Read about some innovative ideas – pop-up buses among them – that are helping cities worldwide in their battles against traffic congestion. MORE>
Drive-by transportation wisdom for smarter cities
See what a wide range of public and private experts -- from Qualcomm, MasterCard, Tesla, MBTA, CDOT, Getaround and more -- say about today’s mobility challenges and smart ways to overcome them. MORE>
Traffic management system routes smaller cities to lower-cost cloud
Creating a dedicated traffic control center to manage traffic jams and failing lights is often unrealistic for small and mid-size cities. That’s why a new cloud-based mobile solution may interest city traffic managers. MORE>
Battling traffic jams with smarter traffic signals
Learn how today’s traffic management systems are leveraging road-embedded sensors and software systems to more quickly adjust signal timing and, in the process, improve traffic flow. MORE>
Report: Yes, smart parking apps can reduce congestion, pollution and other city woes
Smart parking apps are still in their infancy, but there’s new evidence they can indeed reduce traffic congestion, driver frustration, fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. MORE>
Smart transportation 2025: Here's a sneak peek (see if your city's on track)
ABI Research explains why smart cities technologies -- and intelligent transportation services (ITS) in particular -- will become key policy areas for local governments. MORE>
Rail advances make it a better piece of a smart mobility package
Public officials tend to agree that piecemeal approaches won't solve transportation challenges; that there is no single solution. Learn why cities might consider rail as an option in their overall mobility package. MORE>
A remote control for cities? MasterCard and Cubic have a plan
Learn how a mobile digital payment solution promises to enhance urban transportation systems and, in the process, make public transportation more appealing to commuters than driving a car. MORE>
Cabbies vs. rideshare firms: Does your city have a game plan?
Rideshare companies such as Lyft and Uber provide an innovative alternative to moving people around cities. Read how some cities are dealing with the questions and controversy surrounding rideshare firms. MORE>
Ropits: a driverless car for short-distance transport
A self-driving car designed for use on pavement and footpaths is one of several approaches car makers have come up with to reduce accidents and ease traffic congestion. MORE>
How innovative e-mobility initiatives drive more sustainable cities
Learn how governments worldwide are promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs) for the environmental, economic and energy security benefits they provide. MORE>
Cars you want for your city: Mercedes moves EVs to the mainstream
Mercedes-Benz has found a way to put its ultra-low-emission electric drive and batteries into a "standard" vehicle that can be assembled on the same production line as internal combustion models. MORE>
Case studies
Improving Traffic Management Operations in Bilbao
Leaders wanted to make Bilbao in Northern Spain a better place to live by promoting public transport, more efficient urban freight improvement, deployment of smart mobility services and by making traffic and mobility data available to citizens. See how they did it. MORE>
White papers
Intelligent Connectivity for Seamless Urban Mobility
Enabling effective transport of citizens and goods is critical to a city's economic and social vitality, the well-being of its inhabitants and its consumption and emissions footprint. This paper examines the opportunities and challenges. MORE>
Videos
The Internet of Everything – the Last Traffic Jam
This brief video is the first installment in a new Cisco ad campaign showcasing how the Internet of Everything is ushering in many firsts, including the last traffic jam. MORE>
Transforming Public Transportation in Kathmandu
Find out in this Microsoft video how Prajwal Rimal and Team Yorbit, a winner of CityApp Kathmandu 2014, developed a vehicle-tracking device and app that are helping transform the public transportation system in Kathmandu. MORE>
Building Dulles: Behind the scenes with Bechtel
Go behind the scenes of the new world-class Silver Line, phase one of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail near Washington, D.C. The new rail line was built by Bechtel-led Dulles Transit Partners and opened in July 2014, connecting to the region’s existing metro system. MORE>
How Mobility Transforms Smart Cities Worldwide
Today's cities can take advantage of mobility to change the way they interact with people. In this video you'll see some of the smart cities that are using mobility to make the Internet of Everything a reality. MORE>
Smart Cities Council guides
Smart Cities Readiness Guide
The Transportation chapter of the Smart Cities Readiness Guide provides a comprehensive look at the benefits and dependencies of bringing smart transportation solutions to cities. MORE>
Financing resources
Finding the smart technologies that will make cities more livable, workable and sustainable is the easy part. Paying for them is typically more challenging. The resources linked below can help.
- Smart Cities Financing Guide
- Planning, Connecting & Financing Cities – Now
- Initiative helps cities shift thinking to find new sources of funding
- Why cities don't have to finance a more resilient future alone
- New standard aims to help cities develop climate action plans, attract financing
- Are bank loans better than bonds for financing smart city projects?