Abstract
The environmental concerns together with social inclusion issues and the need to promote economic equity in the society have profound implications regarding the sustainable mobility concept. This allied to a technological (r)evolution leads to the path of the internet of mobility (IoM). On the other hand, we are witnessing the prosperity of mobility associated with services, mobility as a service (MaaS), which also aims at the integration of different transport modes. Linking together IoM and MaaS, the internet of mobility as a service (IoMaaS) concept is introduced, which can learn from the end user experiences and behaviors, enabling the reduction of ease of use and sustainable mobility, while supporting a much-needed cultural shift regarding mobility habits.
TopIntroduction
The beginning of the XXI century brought us an overwhelming variety of challenges, most of which are related to the dynamic context of markets and of their social and economic consequences. Others are related with the global climate movement, the focus on green alternatives and the search for sustainability practices. More recently, new challenges have arisen related with the digitization of society and its broad implications within our way of living. These issues have had an evident preponderance in the collective effort to develop new solutions and approaches which might properly address the future development.
Since the dawn of globalization, the mobility of people and goods has played a major role in the economic dynamics of countries and their overall functioning. Hence, there is a need to shift and redefine mobility, the concept and expenses of owning a car, and the scarce use of public and shared transport modes, along with a global strategy to integrate all the different means of transportation among countries. Thus, it is inevitable to drive cars with cleaner energy consumption (Travelspirit Foundation, 2019a) as well as to prepare cities/regions for the vital transformations and societal changes to ensure the cultural changes necessary for the adoption of new mobility practices (Travelspirit Foundation, 2019b). In recent years, the technological boom has been considered to be one of the main triggers of society’s digitization. It has produced unprecedented options and features for citizens’ mobility, with an impact on the wellbeing and the quality of life of the population. This means that Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), which continue to be improved at every minute and hour of every day, are becoming fundamental to ensure that this new paradigm of mobility is achieved and that new mobility systems are developed. Thus, emerging technologies – automated vehicles, peer-to-peer sharing applications and the Internet of Things (IoT) – are transforming and revolutionizing how individuals and society in general face the mobility evolvement (Docherty, Marsden & Anable, 2018). Hence, in this era of digitalization, mobility issues need to be properly addressed ensuring a social levelling mechanism – in order to guarantee a universal access to all citizens, especially those who suffer from any type of impairment, as well as children and elderly people.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Internet of Mobility (IoM): An open and secure network connected to promote mobility, meeting users’ needs and optimizing public transit, together with a more inclusive access to the mobility system.
Smart Mobility: A mobility system/services supported by the use of technology, smartphones and data, creating connections between people, places and goods with all transport modes and learning about the users’ habits.
Mobility as a Service (MaaS): A mobility management and distribution system which aims to integrate all transport modes (public and private) in a single platform, allowing users to seamlessly plan and pay for their mobility.
Internet of Mobility as a Service (IoMaaS): The combination of IoM and MaaS, bringing together the benefits of both – creating a mobility service using internet connections (ubiquitous) and providing also other additional and complementary services.
Future Mobility: An integrated and multimodal mobility, using technology and data to learn about and suggest mobility solutions/services in a friendly and universal environment, thereby contributing to a superior user experience and also to a sustainable and inclusive mobility.
Integrated Mobility: A connection between all transport modes, allowing the user to shift between modes and create new routes according to his/her habits and preferences.
Internet of Things (IoT): A system connecting any device to the Internet, with the seamless ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.