Mobility is one of the key factors that makes a city comfortable to live in and attractive to visit. This sector has been constantly changing thanks to new technologies that - if used the right way - can help to contribute to improving information exchange as well as the way mobility integrates itself into smart cities.
As a result, this new paradigm generates many interesting opportunities for startups.
We see how technology is increasingly contributing to the development of mobility in the real and virtual world. The advanced functionalities of machine vision and image processing on mobile devices keep on improving virtual interaction and connections. Nevertheless, we need to first be aware of what kind of challenges the industry is facing.
Challenges in the mobility industry
Mobility enables the movement of people and goods. It is fundamental to any city. But increased mobility has its cons: traffic congestion, air pollution, etc. The gravity of these issues will escalate over time as the share of the urban population in the world will rise to 70% by 2050.
Source: “MOBILITY NOW: How Autonomous Vehicles Can Help Pave the Way for Smarter Cities”, Aptive.com
Mobility experts, therefore, predict dramatic consequences:
- The time to go from A to B in a city will be multiplied by 3,
- The transportation cost for goods will be multiplied by 4,
- The quantity of car-related emissions of harmful substances thrown out into the atmosphere will be multiplied by 5.
However, autonomous transport technologies will also allow at the same time to reduce the number of cars on the roads of megacities by 30%, and the need for parking spaces, which is on the rise, will fall by 40%.
Autonomous vehicles are actively tested in the United States. For example, in Las Vegas, a fleet of 30 autonomous vehicles in cooperation with Lyft provides an on-demand car service just like taxis. Self-driving cars will also have a significant impact on road safety. The number of accidents due to the use of unmanned vehicles will be reduced by 87%.
Source: “MOBILITY NOW: How Autonomous Vehicles Can Help Pave the Way for Smarter Cities”, Aptive.com
That is why progressive cities plan to increase the use of connected technologies and technologies of self-driving cars, updating the road infrastructure, including vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies (data exchange between cars and other objects of transport infrastructure), smart traffic lights, etc. Over the next decade, urban population growth will increase sharply, so it is important now to develop innovative solutions and implement them to ensure road safety.
What can we change? Opportunities in the mobility sector
There are some challenges in the mobility industry that still need solutions:
- Rapid Urbanisation. Cities are getting overcrowded and the vast suburban areas around them are expanding. This is an opportunity to provide mobility solutions that will be smart, cost-effective, scalable and efficient.
- Cybersecurity. We live in a cybercriminal era in which data has become a coveted resource. As we are moving to cloud-based solutions, the need for scalable security solutions is more pressing than ever.
- Climate change. We can reduce carbon emissions by developing a connected, electric-powered and shared mobility system for the automotive industry.
- Industry 4.0. Smart factories, IoT, automation - these sectors are essential aspects of future business models. By harnessing Big Data, you can optimize production processes, reduce downtime and offer XaaS services for your clients.
Automotive trends that define new directions for the mobility sector:
- Driverless revolution. Autonomous driving technologies have already become a reality and the question is only when and how they will become more affordable and acceptable in the current legislation.
- Transmission system improvement. Electric engine-powered vehicles and fuel cells demonstrate higher energy efficiency and lower gas emissions.
- Use of light materials in production. More sustainable and lighter materials can reduce the average vehicle mass without affecting the safety of the passengers.
- The rapid spread of data exchange networks between cars. These days, some new models are equipped with data transfer technologies (like V2V) that help the car accurately determine the location of all the other cars in the traffic streams.
- User preferences change. More and more often, people prefer to rent a vehicle than to buy it.
To sum up, smart mobility is not only making life easier, but it also opens wider economic, environmental and social perspectives. Smart mobility is a crucial way for startups to offer innovative solutions.
Mobility entrepreneurs can receive funding for their projects thanks to the IMPACT Connected Car European initiative.
The initiative also includes an ICCar Online Community where you can easily get in touch with mobility startups and experts to know more about topics such as connected and self-driving cars as well as electric vehicles.