As metropolises face worsening congestion and ambitious CO2 reduction targets, cities must reinvent their mobility. Rather than relying on major infrastructure projects, the future of public transport lies in technology and collaborative solutions. 

By Nicolas Manuelli, Associate Director at BCG, Benjamin Fassenot, Partner at BCG & Gilles Trantoul, Chief Marketing officer at Matawan, a digital platform that facilitates intermodal travel.

Between April 27 and May 27, 2024, Paris was the world’s most congested city of over 500,000 inhabitants, surpassing London, New York, and Mexico City-a record the French capital could certainly do without (1). Admittedly, the closures associated with preparations for the Olympic Games contributed to the endless traffic jams. Nevertheless, the city regularly ranks among the top five most congested metropolises in the world. Other European capitals don’t really have anything to learn from it. Although Berlin and Copenhagen have demonstrated their ability to drastically reduce CO2 emissions, overall progress in Europe remains modest.

In most major cities on the Old Continent, access to robust and reliable public transport systems remains uneven. Yet, since 2018, a European sustainable mobility project has been encouraging greener modes of transport. The aim: to reduce CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 for cars and 30% for commercial vehicles (2). To achieve this, the changes already underway will probably not be enough. The policy of the stick (ZFE, reduction in parking spaces, number of lanes reserved for cars…) frustrates citizens and proves effective only in the most densely populated areas.

Travelers are ready for change

However, budgetary issues should not be an obstacle to improving urban mobility. Not all solutions require large, costly and cumbersome projects. Rather than focusing solely on massive infrastructures, the key lies in a more subtle approach – taking advantage of new technologies and working in ecosystems. The context lends itself to this. Firstly, because travelers are ready for it. According to the European Investment Bank, 64% of Europeans say they would prefer public transport to the car if it met their needs (3). Secondly, because new modes of transport are becoming more democratic. One European household in five owns an electric bicycle. The French are 38% to consider using them more, and 32% to similarly consider scooters (4). Finally, the technologies are there: AI, data flows, cloud computing and APIs facilitating connectivity between systems can be combined to simplify new uses.

No less than four challenges need to be met simultaneously:

• Decarbonizing cities means providing transport that is accessible to all, easy to use and with pricing differentiated according to resources.  

• Service must be guaranteed, to create user confidence.  
• Supply to match demand.  
• Finally, networks must be interconnected, and switching from one mode of transport to another must be simple and intuitive.

Artificial intelligence and open systems

To meet these four imperatives, cities will benefit from much greater use of new technologies. Starting with artificial intelligence. Its analytical capabilities can be used to predict ridership by day of the year and by mode of transport. It can help optimize road layouts, vehicle fleet volumes or predict maintenance requirements. It keeps network maps up to date, helping users to anticipate delays and detour, or to choose the best combination of transport options to arrive at their destination as quickly as possible. Paris already uses it to anticipate passenger flows on public transport. The city of Lille to optimize the distribution of its self-service bicycle fleet. Dijon to centralize the management of its connected urban equipment.

Many metropolises will also have to review their IT systems, which are all too often closed – i.e. unable to interoperate with other digital networks without lengthy and costly developments. These days, it’s impossible to think that a single system can stand on its own: it has to be able to exchange with others thanks to APIs (application programming interfaces). For example, the bus/tram operations management system needs to be connected to the ticketing system, which in turn needs to be connected to the apps used by users. And all must be connected to the planning system.  

Solutions designed for user comfort

Interoperability is also enhanced by the use of cloud computing. In historical mobility solutions, intelligence resided in the equipment, which operated in closed loops. For example, you validated your ticket at a stand-alone terminal. This made it impossible to change the fare structure easily, and real-time data sharing was limited – not to mention expensive. By offloading its network intelligence to the cloud, the city of Barcelona has been able to considerably refine its data analysis and optimize its transport services – from coordination between different modes to management of roadworks (5)

Last but not least, these technologies need to be designed with user comfort in mind. The best example of this is undoubtedly the networks that enable users to pay for their journeys via their cell phone, or even directly with their credit card. The use of solutions designed around users makes their journeys more fluid and enables them to be tracked from end to end (anonymously), simplifying their transition from one infrastructure to another (from bus to streetcar, from train to bike…). It’s also a way of helping interfaces like Google Maps, or AI-based assistants, to provide reliable answers to travelers by collecting their data.

Optimizing existing systems with new technologies

Should we wipe the slate clean? On the contrary. Cities have every interest in leveraging existing investments, while coordinating an ecosystem of innovative suppliers. The key to facilitating the transition is to turn to technologies that know how to manage the past AND the future. This is the case, for example, with certain ticketing systems in the cloud, which can handle transport cards from the 2000s as well as dematerialized tickets.

By the same token, it’s best to favor standardized products and platforms, as bespoke projects, while perfectly meeting the needs of the authorities concerned, often prove difficult to maintain over time.

In this respect, the SaaS (software as a service) approach, which has been gaining ground over the past 20 years, enables community work: with it, publishers design software for all their customers, which can be reused and upgraded over time.

To accelerate the decarbonization of cities without placing a heavy burden on their finances, these same authorities can rely, in France as in Europe, on a rich ecosystem of publishers in the service of mobility, with world-renowned know-how. This is no longer a futuristic vision: today’s technologies are mature, proven and effective. It’s now up to public authorities to step out of the role of IT designer and fully assume that of orchestra conductor. Their mission: to mobilize these players and get them to work in unison to give rise to innovative, simple and sustainable solutions for users. The future of urban mobility depends on actions taken today. Public authorities must take the lead in bringing public transport  fully into the 21st century.