Switching between apps and digital devices is as easy as breathing. Sometimes this continuity extends into the physical world as well.

One tap to book a shared car. Another to pay for it. If you are lucky, your vehicle is instantly ready for pickup.

…Or you get a reality check: no available cars in your area, heavy congestion, and exorbitant parking costs no one warned you about.

Is it possible to transfer the seamless digital experiences of mobility solutions into the physical realm?

Yes. That’s what smart mobility platforms intend to do.

What is smart mobility?

Smart mobility is an umbrella term for physical and IT infrastructure that enables better transportation experiences. It includes optimized public transit networks, carsharing, ride-hailing, micromobility, and intelligent transportation systems for freight and logistics.

Some also count in future mobility nodes such as urban aerial vehicles, logistics drones, and (semi)-autonomous vehicles into the growing ecosystem of smart mobility as a service (MaaS) solutions.

Mobility service-centric ecosystems

Source: McKinsey — Defining and seizing the mobility ecosystem opportunity

In other words, smart city mobility is a sprawling ecosystem of digital and physical assets:

• Physical elements: Connected private, shared, and commercial vehicles with robust data exchange capabilities; connected road infrastructure — smart traffic lights, connected CCTV cameras, connected toll gates, road sensors, etc.
• Digital elements: Cloud-based systems and supporting infrastructure for enabling connectivity and management of physical assets including MaaS apps, traffic management systems, and EV fleet management software.

In both cases, the focus of smart mobility solutions is connectivity.

Decoding the value of connectivity in smart mobility

Already, almost 50% of all new vehicles sold globally are connected, meaning they can communicate with other systems over networks (4G/5G, V2X, wireless, GPS) and/or via sensors (Bluetooth, NFC, RFID).

By 2030, 95% of newly sold vehicles will include communication services — and 45% will have intermediate or advanced levels of connectivity.

How use case potential differs by vehicle connectivity level

Source: McKinsey — Unlocking the full life-cycle value from connected-car data

What are the perks of packing so much technology into a car? Computing and connectivity technologies enable a daisy chain of controls for including physical road actors (drivers, bike riders, passengers, and pedestrians) into the wider ecosystem of connected mobility services.

____

Find out more and read the full article here.