Symposium on Urban Mobility Challenges 2017
CARNET organized the third edition of the Symposium on Urban Mobility Challenges: Mobility-as-a-Service, which took place at the UPC on November 13 with speakers from all around Europe.
Predictions for the future of urban mobility show that the situation will not improve if we continue to implement traditional policy responses to the current transformation of cities, to deal with the increasing pressure on the livability of the urban space. Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a key solution that could relieve the urban traffic system.
This new edition of the Symposium on Urban Mobility Challenges 2017 has helped put alternatives on the table to deal with the new challenges. It aimed to show what MaaS could look like from the customer’s perspective, to determine which stakeholders are needed to deliver the product, and to identify the benefits MaaS could provide to different stakeholders.
CARNET brought together speakers from diverse backgrounds: academia, R&D and innovation, and industry. Partners from the public and private sector had the opportunity to network. The discussion was divided into three main areas: Opportunities and challenges from policy makers’ perspective, End user perspective and challenges and Changing mobility patterns held by the NFF – Automotive Research Centre Niedersachsen.
This new concept, MaaS, can attract private capital for public transport, as private mobility services can be offered combined with established public transport facilities. This concept is also expected to be considerably less expensive than traditional policies, which consist mainly of building more roads and expanding public transport.
Due to a closer link between supply and demand, efficiency in mass transport will increase. Diverting travellers to less crowded routes could reduce congestion during peak hours. There might even be very positive changes in the city, as less space will be needed for cars, so that the urban space can be made greener and pedestrian-friendly.
Despite the positive expectations for MaaS, there is still a lot of uncertainty in the development of the concept, as it could take many forms and be marketed to different types of customers. Some of its consequences are uncertain, such as a reduced need for car possession, an increasing number of journeys, or perhaps even a mode-shift away from public transport.
An Open Space for Doctorates in Future Mobility took place after the symposium. The goal of this event was to bring together researchers in the field of mobility. CARNET contacted PhD students who wished to present their work at the event.
At the following link, you can access the symposium’s programme and the presentations by speakers:
www.carnet.barcelona/symposium2017
