From subway systems and bus lines to taxi fleets, ride-hailing services and personal vehicles, cities offer lots of ways to get around. This abundance of choice must make life easier, right?
Unfortunately, that is not the case. And that is because each mode of transportation has been optimized to work as well as it possibly can on its own, but getting them all to work together has not been at the top of too many to-do lists. It would be, though, if more of us involved in the transportation system were focused on optimizing mobility for the people in our cities versus the technology itself.
Picture, for a moment, a couple in New York City who has purchased a large area rug and now has to figure out how to get it home. Dragging the rug behind them to a subway station or bus stop is impractical. Finding a taxi or ride-hailing service that can accommodate their purchase is unlikely. Even getting the item delivered to their apartment can be a challenge — they may not be able to be at home during the delivery window that inevitably gets extended when traffic prevents the driver from arriving on time. Or the delivery van may be unable to find easy parking on their busy street, leading to double parking that clogs up traffic even more.
Now, what if this couple had the ability to hail a ride that will fit their purchase? Or what if the store’s delivery service was able to assess real-time traffic issues to reach their home at the same time they arrive, having reserved and paid for curbside parking through wireless transactions — all while avoiding any negative impact on other road users and residents?
The way to tackle these challenges is to think of the multiple mobility elements in a city as part of a singular transportation network comprising several layers — the infrastructure, including roads and sidewalks; equipment, such as traffic lights; transportation modes, such as personal vehicles, mass transit and ride-sharing services; and finally, digital interfaces and processes. Individual solutions — electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, ride-sharing services — can all serve a purpose, but they need to act in the context of this system with all the other components, speaking a common language and working together.
So how do we create this smarter system, one that can offset inevitable increases in demand with intelligence and efficiency? Clearly, we cannot redesign our cities from scratch or make significant investments in new infrastructure that follows the same models. What we need to do is unleash our creativity to provide innovative solutions to our transportation systems that improve them for the good of everyone using our roadways.
At Ford, we’re developing solutions that can help synchronize this cacophony of services and functions to orchestrate a safer, more efficient city environment. Advancing our complex urban transportation systems to this level entails the large-scale connection of various, distinct bits of information. Our cities need a platform that can facilitate the flow of information and perform base processes — such as payment methods or identity verification — to support the entire ecosystem. Working with our partners at Autonomic, we are developing exactly that with the creation of the Transportation Mobility Cloud — an open, cloud-based platform for mobility services.
With this platform, transportation modes in cities can work together. For example, instead of double parking on an already crowded street, a delivery van could reserve and pay for curbside parking, and the city would be able to tell the next vehicle in line when that same space will be available. With the Transportation Mobility Cloud, residents and businesses could have the information and access necessary to make smarter choices for their schedules, for external factors such as weather, and for their wallets.
Optimising at this system level requires the components in the transportation ecosystem be able to communicate — to speak the same language. That is where technology like cellular vehicle-to-everything can play an important role. C-V2X capability, which Ford is working to validate with its partners at Qualcomm, enables various technologies and applications in a city — vehicles, stoplights, signs, cyclists and pedestrian devices — to speak to each other and share information.
Ford believes C-V2X will enable our cars and cities of the future to share fast, safe, and secure communications. Sharing mobility data amongst communities can help unclog streets and open up curb space, while communications between vehicles and city infrastructure can help optimize traffic flow.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. And that is because each mode of transportation has been optimized to work as well as it possibly can on its own, but getting them all to work together has not been at the top of too many to-do lists. It would be, though, if more of us involved in the transportation system were focused on optimizing mobility for the people in our cities versus the technology itself.
Picture, for a moment, a couple in New York City who has purchased a large area rug and now has to figure out how to get it home. Dragging the rug behind them to a subway station or bus stop is impractical. Finding a taxi or ride-hailing service that can accommodate their purchase is unlikely. Even getting the item delivered to their apartment can be a challenge — they may not be able to be at home during the delivery window that inevitably gets extended when traffic prevents the driver from arriving on time. Or the delivery van may be unable to find easy parking on their busy street, leading to double parking that clogs up traffic even more.
Now, what if this couple had the ability to hail a ride that will fit their purchase? Or what if the store’s delivery service was able to assess real-time traffic issues to reach their home at the same time they arrive, having reserved and paid for curbside parking through wireless transactions — all while avoiding any negative impact on other road users and residents?
The way to tackle these challenges is to think of the multiple mobility elements in a city as part of a singular transportation network comprising several layers — the infrastructure, including roads and sidewalks; equipment, such as traffic lights; transportation modes, such as personal vehicles, mass transit and ride-sharing services; and finally, digital interfaces and processes. Individual solutions — electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, ride-sharing services — can all serve a purpose, but they need to act in the context of this system with all the other components, speaking a common language and working together.
So how do we create this smarter system, one that can offset inevitable increases in demand with intelligence and efficiency? Clearly, we cannot redesign our cities from scratch or make significant investments in new infrastructure that follows the same models. What we need to do is unleash our creativity to provide innovative solutions to our transportation systems that improve them for the good of everyone using our roadways.
At Ford, we’re developing solutions that can help synchronize this cacophony of services and functions to orchestrate a safer, more efficient city environment. Advancing our complex urban transportation systems to this level entails the large-scale connection of various, distinct bits of information. Our cities need a platform that can facilitate the flow of information and perform base processes — such as payment methods or identity verification — to support the entire ecosystem. Working with our partners at Autonomic, we are developing exactly that with the creation of the Transportation Mobility Cloud — an open, cloud-based platform for mobility services.
With this platform, transportation modes in cities can work together. For example, instead of double parking on an already crowded street, a delivery van could reserve and pay for curbside parking, and the city would be able to tell the next vehicle in line when that same space will be available. With the Transportation Mobility Cloud, residents and businesses could have the information and access necessary to make smarter choices for their schedules, for external factors such as weather, and for their wallets.
Optimising at this system level requires the components in the transportation ecosystem be able to communicate — to speak the same language. That is where technology like cellular vehicle-to-everything can play an important role. C-V2X capability, which Ford is working to validate with its partners at Qualcomm, enables various technologies and applications in a city — vehicles, stoplights, signs, cyclists and pedestrian devices — to speak to each other and share information.
Ford believes C-V2X will enable our cars and cities of the future to share fast, safe, and secure communications. Sharing mobility data amongst communities can help unclog streets and open up curb space, while communications between vehicles and city infrastructure can help optimize traffic flow.
