Innovative cities: Berlin leader of city mobility in the world, Milan in the top 10

The top cities in the world for intelligent mobility - or more precisely for the mobility of the city, that is to say in urban movements, the availability of transport options and their economic accessibility - are Berlin, Auckland, and Moscow, but Milan conquers a good sixth place in front of metropolises like London (ninth) and Paris (tenth). I study Kantar's Mobility Futures studio, a data company, in-depth analysis and consulting.
 

What is intelligent mobility
Smart Mobility is a tool to achieve sustainable development of the city. The term embodies a series of elements: technology, mobility infrastructures (parking lots, recharging networks, signage, vehicles), mobility solutions (including new mobility models), the public transport network and people. The ultimate goal is to offer a seamless mobility experience, from the first to the last mile, that is flexible, integrated, secure, on-demand and affordable.
 

What is the Mobility Futures studio
The research analyzes challenges and opportunities in terms of mobility and transport in 31 cities around the world. To prepare it, around 20,000 removals were heard around the world and a comparative ranking was created on several factors related to mobility, affordability, traffic congestion and the availability of public transport. Everything was integrated with the information of the interviewees on their travel experience, their preferred modes of transport and their emotional and related impact. The results were shared and interpreted together with 53 mobility experts worldwide, highlighting the key results and the trend for the future.

Here are the 31 cities analyzed in the 5 continents:
• Europe: Berlin, London, Madrid, Moscow, Monaco, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Manchester, and Warsaw.
• North America: Chicago, LA, NYC, Phoenix, and Montreal.
• LATAM: Mexico City and Sao Paulo.
• Asia: Beijing, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Chengdu, Auckland, and Sydney.
• Africa: Johannesburg and Nairobi.
The study gives rise to three indexes of city evaluation: the City Mobility index, the Green Commuter Index and the Cycle Index.
Let's see them one by one to understand which cities in the world are at the head of each of the three rankings.

City Mobility index: Berlin, Auckland, and Moscow on the podium
What is the City Mobility index

This index evaluates how easy it is for people to participate in the life of the city thanks to the ability to move efficiently, both for availability and for the economic accessibility of transport options. The index considers income equality, transportation costs relative to income, the public transport network concerning population size, the availability of public transport or the rate of motorization.
The German capital Berlin is at the top of the City Mobility index thanks to its convenient transportation, accessibility to a wide range of public transport infrastructures and sharing services. On the contrary, due to limited public infrastructure, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, and Nairobi are now at the bottom of the ranking.
 

Focus on Milan: sixth in the world for smart mobility
Milan is sixth in the world, again according to the Kantar City Mobility Index, for the availability of options and economic accessibility of the available transport modes. Unfortunately, this does not always translate into positive emotional attitudes: Milan barely exceeds the global average in the Commuter Happiness Index which records the movers' emotions in dealing with commuting every day (see below).
In terms of Shared Mobility, it ranks eighth globally and third in Europe just behind the German leaders, but drops dramatically behind the French neighbors from Paris to Amsterdam to London, when assessing the integrated transport system from the environmental point of view, due to the high percentage of movers who choose to travel by car, alone (24.4%).
In any case, Mobility Futures shows that individuals are open to change, in the assessment of how to move in their city. The "lone motorists" are precisely those who seek alternatives and highlight a growing desire to move on foot, by bike, or by car as a passenger, instead of driving, to better exploit the time of travel.
Milan has adopted an Urban Sustainable Mobility Plan, PUMS, which aims to radically change the state of the city's mobility over the next 10 years. A series of sharing options are being promoted, including cars, bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, increase (and improvement) of the cycle path, and the construction of a Mobility as a Service System, MaaS, which includes the integration of the pricing of the public transport. The goal is to have a single transport "ticket" on the Mobility as a Service model that includes all transport models and services - including the sharing system.

Green Commuter Index: Tokyo is the most environmentally friendly
The Green Commuter Index of Kantar's Mobility Futures study evaluates the number of commuters most respectful of the environment based on the percentage of those who do not travel by car, motorcycle, scooter, taxi or in shared vehicles.
According to the analysis, Asian cities are introducing environmentally friendly means of transport, with Tokyo leading the ranking followed by Beijing and Singapore. In these cities, a very low number of drivers use their cars and, at the same time, a large percentage of citizens go to work on foot, by bicycle or simply using public transport.
In Europe, London ranks as the most environmentally friendly city, thanks to its vast railway and underground network
 

Cycle Index, the movers that travel by bicycle
Amsterdam and Copenhagen are the first cities in the world in several cyclists, respectively in the first and second place in Kantar's Cycle Index. Beijing completes the podium. The residents of Tokyo and Manchester are the greatest walkers in the world, with the percentage of workers who choose to walk to the office with 18% and 16% respectively.
 

City mobility: the car remains the queen of transport
From the Kantar study, a series of interesting facts about smart mobility in the cities emerge. The car remains the undisputed queen of transport: despite growing environmental concerns, commuters still prefer their cars. This happens for a comfort factor, for maintaining a status symbol or even more simply, by necessity. Globally, 39% of city commuters go to work alone, using the car more than any other means of transport. And since public transport provokes a negative emotional response, more than any other means of transport, it is not surprising that people prefer the ease and comfort of a private vehicle.
Southeast Asia is at the forefront of using travel apps. Residents of Mumbai and Jakarta use on average over five apps to get around the city. In mainland China, the average number of apps is lower than in the rest of the world, but this is because car and bike-sharing providers have already integrated with other more used apps, such as Baidu, to make their offers still more accessible.
"The big cities of the world are pleasant and lively places to live in, but with the increasing population and hectic pace of life, urban mobility is a growing challenge", commented Andrea Galimberti, Client Partner and Head of Kantar Mobility. "Our research" adds "reveals that one of the biggest challenges cities face in the world today is to move commuters away from the comfort of their cars and take them to more sustainable transport options. Understanding the critical areas for movers and their emotional response will be the key to driving the most significant behavioral changes. Commuters are more likely to use means of transport that can guarantee pleasant travel conditions, which allow them to move about easily every day: a simple way to move, but also a real lifestyle choice ”.

Network Digital 360 - 01/11/2019