The whole mobility sector is affected by several parallel technological changes that are currently emerging, e.g., electrification, digitalisation, and sharing systems. Electrifying the means of transport is an ongoing global process. It includes passenger cars, but also bicycles and other new light vehicles. This trend is expected not only to reduce CO2 emissions but also to improve air quality in the cities. Electrification in different countries is supported by car taxation, installing charging points and changing city buses to hybrids and full-electric vehicles. Also, autonomous vehicles, with different level of autonomy, are gradually arriving. Various parallel technology developments support this latter trend: increasing computational power, improved sensors, new software and data algorithms, and connected vehicles. However, there are still some issues in technology, standards and legislation that are not yet ready. User attitudes towards autonomous vehicles are also still quite suspicious.
A significant change will also happen as a result of digitalisation and open data in mobility. Innovations based on these trends will allow better multimodality, capacity management and development of new alternative services for the last mile. The purpose is to make the whole mobility user experience as smooth as possible so that people will shift their habit into using more sustainable transport instead of their private cars. For example, mobile payments as a part of the MaaS applications provide more flexibility and allow buying tickets or one ticket for the whole journey at best. Inside navigation, in turn, will ease the use of public transport and the multimodality by simplifying the exchanges between different modes of transport.
Another significant change will be the introduction of 5G networks for teleworking and autonomous connected vehicles. Faster transfer speeds enable teleworking everywhere, also during travelling. The lower latency also supports the development of autonomous vehicles and gives an opportunity to monitor and steer vehicles from a control room if needed.