Hot Off the Press: “The Next Generation of Mobility” by Non-Resident Fellow, Henry Kelly

The New Mobility Service

ISE Non-Resident Senior Fellow Henry Kelly’s recent publication explores the nations’ surface transportation system, which is on the brink of a dramatic transformation driven by three revolutions (UC Davis, Institute for Transportation Studies, 2016):

• New mobility services and new traffic management systems enabled by a nearly ubiquitous high-speed communication system, new analytics and optimization techniques, and powerful smart phones.
• The shift from fuel powered to electric vehicles driven by both economic and environmental incentives.
• The possibility that automated, connected vehicles could eliminate the need for drivers in both passenger and freight vehicles.

These innovations could change US mobility options as powerfully as the introduction of the automobile.  They could cut travel time and travel costs, provide mobility to people unable to drive or unable to afford conventional car ownership, improve safety, and cut vehicle emissions – including greenhouse gas emissions.  But they could also go dramatically wrong if they encourage sprawl, clog roads with empty vehicles, or allow income inequality to translate into greater inequality in access to mobility services.  One clear feature of these changes is that data and information technology have become as important to future mobility systems as vehicles and physical infrastructure.