Transforming Urban Mobility - II

Click here for Part I

What is the issue?

For the transforming urban mobility need, countries need focus on not just E-vehicles but mass and shared transit capacity as well.

What differentiate advanced cities are not highways and flyovers, but rather quality side-walks and cycle ways.

Why are e-vehicles gaining importance?

• The regulations governing fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions were given increased push in the recent decades.
• Resultantly, a modern petrol or diesel car emits less than 5% of the harmful emissions of its predecessor from four decades ago.
• So now there are very less options to gain any further improvements from conventional engines.
• This has thus led to a wave of investment in Electric Vehicles (EVs), connected cars, autonomy and shared mobility.

What are the benefits?

• The focus of further improvements in EVs is in energy-density, power-density and cost of batteries.
• EVs have zero exhaust emissions and lower carbon emissions than conventional cars.
• So it is a suitable option for limiting the deterioration in urban air quality.
• They have fewer moving parts, potentially lowering cost of manufacture and extending useful life.

What are the larger concerns and solutions?

• Single occupant cars - Electric cars are alone not the panacea for urban mobility.
• In many cities a good fraction of rush-hour traffic comprises single occupant cars.
• This takes a toll on both space and energy, which could have otherwise been used by a larger number if shared.
• Cities like Singapore, New York and Tokyo seek to sustain high population densities and high economic activity per square km.
• They have therefore come to depend on mass transit and shared mobility and discourage use of private cars.

• Mobility solutions - The developments in digitised economy has facilitated many promising shared-mobility solutions.
• The new generation that is digital-friendly is growing comfortable with alternatives to car ownership.
• They increasingly employ varied mobility solutions and apps for motorisation.
• E.g. Uber and Ola have proven useful to many affluent urban commuters.
• Cities such as San Francisco and New York have extended this concept to vans, aggregating 10-12 passengers at a time.
• This results in further lowering of cost, energy use and carbon emissions per commuter.
• Inclusiveness - The wave of urbanisation in many countries has largely redesigned the cities as middle class spaces.
• Lower income groups have thus been forced to the peripheral suburbs.
• This has lowered their opportunities and increased the cost and time for commuting.
• The tenets that govern new mobility architectures must thus promote inclusive access to mobility.
• E.g. Mexico has defined mobility as a basic human right and this helps steer policies that are inclusive.
• Neglected modes ­- Many cities are also re-discovering neglected travel modes that are augmented with modern technology.
• Pedestrian zones and short passages are reappearing in cities like Seoul, Barcelona and New York.
• Bike-lanes and bike-sharing solutions are a growing trend in Amsterdam and Paris.
• There is a need for accelerating investments in these low cost and environment-friendly modes.

Source: BusinessLine