Internet of Things: A Key Driver of Urban Mobility
Published on : Friday 27-03-2020
The internet of things (IoT) is one of the most crucial driving forces of digital transformation. The advancement and proliferation of the technology have started rolling out the digital revolution across industries. It is not only transforming businesses, but also delivering greater automation, endless connectivity and enhanced sustainability in the modern digital age.
At present, as cities continue growing and making big strides towards becoming smarter, the demand for efficient mass transit continues to increase. Already, the world’s more than half of the population lives in cities, and according to the United Nations, the number is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. So, as more people will shift to cities, the more imperative it is to make the travel seamless from one place to another.
Opportunities
Many countries in the world are testifying a unique period of rapid growth in demographics, economic, and urbanization. In this way, the smart mobility system is a vital foundation for making transport more connected, more efficient, and more flexible. This can help drive growth in today’s urban environments, and can consist of everything from mass transit and car and bike-sharing services to private cars and commercial vehicles. This is where IoT comes in, playing a vital role in making effective collaboration in a way where players in the private and public sectors come together to make urban mobility smarter. This can also assist in the emergence of new businesses in this field.
Since the world population and economic concentration are growing in urban cities, transport policies are now convincing governments to look for and leverage innovative IoT technology in order to shape the cities' existing transportation systems and make them achievable and effective for the future. However, this transformation requires to overcome congestion, collision, and scarce infrastructure of the growing number of vehicles on the road.
For instance, developed countries like Singapore have an excellent transportation system. Despite this, the country faces a grave challenge in being able to maintain a seamless and sustainable mobility. Land Transport Authority, a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of Government of Singapore, and SMRT, a multi-modal transport operator, are under colossal pressure to deal with the frequent train breakdowns that have surged by 50 percent since 2016. However, SMRT Corporation has attributed these vast disruptions or longest breakdowns due to flawed train, signaling faults, growth in ridership, ageing infrastructure, and supervision system. To ease the crisis, the authorities in the country have been taking essential actions.
Moreover, security is a major issue as IoT and actuators connected by networks to computing systems. The advent of Big Data here is helping traffic control systems to respond more quickly to accidents and backups. This is significant because transportation data needs to be provided in an open format, up to the minute, and readily accessible to anyone who needs it. So, cities can become the locus of a great deal of innovation and experimentation with IoT technology, driving effective and efficient urban mobility.
In a crux, I believe IoT will shift the paradigm of how we work and how we interact with the physical world, erasing the bluring lines between virtual and physical.