Cities must drive autonomous and connected strategies

6 October 2018

The SmartCitiesWorld news team promotes a report which highlights that Amsterdam has successfully introduced MaaS while San Francisco and Singapore are putting CAV at the heart of their mass transit future.

Singapore and San Francisco have put connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) at the heart of their mass transit future while Paris and Hong Kong view it as an enhanced transport solution. These are among the findings of a new report by global design and consultancy firm, Arcadis, that looks at the mobility needs in 14 global cities and to what extent connected and autonomous vehicles can be used to meet transportation goals.

Citizens in Motion  finds that while CAV has the potential to vastly improve urban mobility, it can possibly make congestion worse, or threaten the viability of vital public transport services.

The fundamental commonality among all the 14 cities evaluated in the report is an aim to have urban mobility functions that are healthy and safe, citizen-centric, green and sustainable, accessible and smart.

The report says that the future with driverless cars is fast approaching, and how cities around the world respond depends greatly on a variety of factors such as their unique cultural heritage and types of infrastructure. A "one size fits all" approach is to be avoided as it would not deliver the full extent of the opportunities available, and may not ensure that the special character of a city is protected.