Why Mobility Hubs are the key to sustainable Smart City growth
In 1800, only 3% of the world’s population lived in cities, a figure that rose to 47% by the end of the twentieth century. In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations exceeding one million…
Today, there are more than 31 “megacities” — cities with more than ten million people living in them, and by 2030, 3 out of 5 people will be living in an urban area.
Naturally, one of the biggest challenges in urban areas is air quality and traffic congestion. For that to be solved, something needs to be changed. But how?
I was recently a part of a few roundtable discussions in different cities, where some of the major mobility experts and municipality representatives met. All of them agreed: “Something needs to be done”, but it was the HOW it needs to be done, that was the problem. Listening to the different opinions and challenges all stakeholders are experiencing, I got the confirmation I was looking to get. We at TransferHero are on the right track.
We believe the right way to influence change is by enabling all travellers to be able to use, book and pre-book every single green mean of getting to and from mobility hubs (such as airports, train stations and bus stations). Why? Because mobility hubs are the perfect place for travellers to not only adopt new mobility solutions, but also include the “higher cause” aspect.
A pain point like not being able to find parking in front of your building is a really big one. So a solution might be either to create more parking spaces or adopt one of the sharing economies (car, bike). Here is where the difference of opinion comes into play. The car-sharing company also needs parking space, so the municipality has to arrange more parking places. You, as one of the people living in this building, might find it really convenient to use car-sharing, but your neighbours might not necessarily have the same view. Therefore, the municipality is not sure what is the right way to go.
Only when a “higher cause”, such as air quality, is asserted as a priority, will the municipality be able to influence change, without being sufficiently challenged on the means of getting it done.
That is why Mobility Hubs, where most travellers within a city go through every day, have the most important role. Not just because of the ability to implement new mobility solutions, but also, because through them the importance of why it needs to be done is strongly communicated.
