Intelligent mobility is…

…moving from A to B using resources efficiently (e.g. energy, vehicles, infrastructure)

…moving with few side effects and many positive health benefits

…moving that is data-driven, predictable, collaborative and seamless

Things to think about in solution development

Mobility is changing in many ways. In cities, the profile of the areas determines the mobility, and more and more often people are moving about using a combination of different modes of transport. The conditions for smart mobility vary depending on whether you are in the city centre, in an area with a concentration of workplaces or in a residential area.

There is currently a mismatch between mobility and its services, i.e. services are provided where they are not most needed. Co-creation provides tools to optimise supply and demand.

In regional development, it is essential to aim for solutions that facilitate easy, smart and sustainable mobility. When service providers work together and offer services in a common mobile app, for example, it makes services more efficient and accessible to users.

The ease of getting around by car is at odds with resource efficiency. In the future, the transport system should be considered from the perspectives of resource efficiency and low emissions.

Identifying needs and actors

Needs and current state mapping

Setting objectives

Identifying opportunities for action

Project planning

Period of use and lifecycle

Identification of needs

• The city’s carbon neutrality target & increasing the proportion sustainable transport modes account for

• Pressures for densification and more efficient mobility solutions

• Pressures on public transport profitability, including impacts of fuel prices and the pandemic

Objectives​

1. Regional carbon neutrality target & increasing the proportion sustainable transport modes account for

2. Sub-targets relating to factors such as
• Quality of the environment
• Quality and quantity of cycle parking
• Maintenance
• Improving parking efficiency
• Development of the station area
Binding/contractual verification

Planning and implementation

• Service and transport network plan
• Networks / development companies / alliances for the implementation of service solutions
• Binding/contractual verification
• A goal-oriented monitoring model & collection of monitoring data
• Pilots and experiments

Identification of needs

Identify and define changes needed and key drivers

There are many legitimate reasons for co-creation of transport systems, i.e. the so-called change needs and drivers. The starting point for regional development is to define the key changes or drivers that co-creation aims to address. These factors should be kept in mind when setting objectives and indicators. Drivers can include, for example:

• A national, urban or municipal carbon neutrality objective, reflected in the development of the transport system, including the objective of increasing the proportion sustainable transport modes and shared mobility account for
• Pressures from urbanisation to densify areas and find more efficient mobility solutions in both new and older areas
• Increasing social sustainability, promoting equality and strengthening inclusion
• Pressures on public transport profitability, including impacts of fuel prices and the pandemic
• Changes in the transport system, service network or housing

Identifying the change needs and key drivers is best done in cooperation with regional actors in workshops, interviews or group discussions, for example, but it can also be done internally by the city’s own experts. It is essential to critically assess and identify key transport system development needs and risks.

Identify and bring together the key actors

Once the need for development has been identified, the next step is to bring together the key actors involved in the transport system in the region. They can also consider an appropriate way of organising themselves in a preliminary way.

The key actors in the development of the transport system are the residents, the city’s various sectors, companies providing mobility and transport services, companies providing maintenance and repair services, land and property owners and other commercial operators.

A joint kick-off event can be organised with the actors identified to review the regional need for change and to start a dialogue between the actors.

Typological specificities/remarks concerning the area:
• The public transport system and its stops provide the structure for sustainable mobility in the urban area. Differences in public transport accessibility and solutions will guide the identification of needs and appropriate means.
• The density of the area and the planned changes are the trigger for the pursuit of systemic sustainability in terms of mobility.

Needs and current state mapping

Identify the current mobility patterns of residents, commuters and visitors, as well as the current service provision in the area, areas for development and opportunities to promote sustainable mobility.

The actual development work requires a clear picture of mobility needs and transport system development targets. This overall picture will be developed by collecting and analysing mobility and transport data, conducting surveys with residents and other stakeholders, interviews, observations, etc.

It is worthwhile identifying areas for development (in the existing area) and opportunities to contribute to sustainable mobility together with the actors involved.

Identify the key needs and benefits for each actor

In addition to the residents’ needs, it is important to find out about the needs of other actors identified and what they have to contribute to co-creation. This can be done, for example, in group discussions, interviews or workshops.

It is essential to identify the benefits that different actors seek/can obtain from co-creation and to understand the business realities, especially for commercial actors, to ensure their commitment to this process. If the previous phase identified a need for change, such as finding new space for infill development by improving parking efficiency, the needs assessment should examine, among other things, the needs of housing associations and the interest and financial constraints of project operators.

Typological specificities/remarks concerning the area:
• In completely undeveloped areas, where there are no residents, residents’ views can be collected through peer groups, for example.

Setting objectives

Create a vision for the region’s transport system and set regional carbon neutrality targets and other key objectives

Objectives for the development of the region’s transport system should be set as early as possible in cooperation with the actors identified, for example, through the use of goal and vision workshops. Set objectives for the forms of mobility services and the roles of service providers, proportion accounted for by sustainable transport (or other equivalent indicator), and sub-targets to achieve the objective, including

• Quality of the environment (comfort, safety, quality of the infrastructure)
• Quality and quantity of cycle parking
• Maintenance
• Public transport service level
• Improving parking efficiency
• Conversion possibility

Note!

This phase should be carried out at the same time as other development in the area. First, it is worthwhile creating an overall vision for the development of the area. This can be used as a basis for setting specific objectives for the transport system.

Identify the measures needed to achieve the objectives and form the necessary cooperation groups/networks (e.g. identifying opportunities for sharing, circular economy and data services).

In an already built-up area, it is often not possible or necessary to solve all mobility issues (at least not at once). When you are setting objectives, you can identify, for example, the need to find a more efficient parking solution in the area to free up land for infill development, to improve the quality of the environment to make it more attractive for walking and cycling, and to develop park-and-ride systems. The measures must provide solutions to the objectives identified. The vision can be used as the basis for a preliminary action plan, using backcasting in cooperation with the various stakeholders. In addition to this, future path or scenario work can be used.

Once the objectives and development issues have been identified, it is a good idea to set up the necessary cooperation groups/networks/forums for development. If the objective is to develop centralised alternating parking facilities, for example, the network should include housing associations, the city, commercial operators, the project company/developer and the necessary parking operators (e.g. digital services). Together with the network, find a suitable organisational model for development and take into account, for example, the business needs identified.

Identify the things that need to be agreed on or committed to

The objectives may lead to the need for commitments or preliminary agreements.

Typological specificities/remarks concerning the area:
• In completely undeveloped areas, where there are no residents, residents’ views can be collected through peer groups, for example.
• In an already built-up area, the objective phase should take into account issues such as the prioritisation of different modes of transport and the redistribution of space.

What are the development aspects for co-creation of the transport system?

Maintenance

Maintenance has a significant impact on the attractiveness of walking and cycling. Traditionally, this consideration in the planning phase is limited and, for example, the planning of winter maintenance and the snow facilities it requires are not included sufficiently in planning. By involving maintenance stakeholders at the planning stage, you can address maintenance space needs, but also start defining maintenance quality targets together. Agreed quality level targets will bind operators and monitoring can be done by involving users, for example through ‘maintenance agents’. Collecting and responding to feedback should also be included in the agreements.

Parking and related services

Cooperation of several actors is required in the construction of structured parking facilities, space-efficient alternating parking and the implementation of other mobility services related to parking facilities to find a win-win solution.

Station areas

Station areas are important transport hubs, usually offering a wide range of services in addition to different modes of transport. There are many operators and taking all perspectives into account requires cooperation. In addition to network-based cooperation, station areas can also be developed using a project company or alliance model, for example, where both risks and benefits are shared with the actors.

The distribution transport model

Increased online sales and food delivery services have increased distribution traffic in urban areas. This must be taken into account in regional development in order to achieve sustainability objectives in distribution traffic.

Identifying opportunities

Developing the service and transport network together

The transport system is based on a service and transport network. In an already built-up area, changes related to the network should be jointly identified, taking into account the decisions taken in the objective phase on the prioritisation of different modes of transport and the redistribution of space. In undeveloped areas, we suggest development of the main service and transport network together before developing individual service solutions. The service and transport network is increasingly linked to a variety of platforms and mobile applications that ensure the data transmission and service accessibility.

Developing service solutions in networks

The development of service solutions will mainly take place in the networks created. You can use user groups consisting of residents to test the functionality of the solutions developed, or networks can have resident members to offer their perspectives on the development work. Methods suitable for co-creation at this stage include benchmarking and brainstorming workshops.

Coordinate solutions with different networks

Solutions developed in different networks should be coordinated as early as possible. During the development process, you should identify and take into account the need for coordination between centralised parking solutions for blocks/areas, urban environmental quality and maintenance, for example.

Also note conversion possibilities in the solutions development and coordination. The conversion of solutions and overall conversion possibilities will be assessed together with different actors and planning authorities.

Plan pilots and experiments

We recommend testing solutions as early as possible. One way to test residents’ attitudes is through short surveys or prototypes. The city can also encourage operators to carry out pilots and experiments.

Typological specificities/remarks concerning the area:
• In undeveloped areas, consider specific solutions for mobility services during the construction phase
• In sparsely populated areas, the most used mode of transport is a car, and access to sustainable mobility services is correspondingly lower than in dense areas. The potential demand for different services is lower, but the need is great in terms of meeting sustainability objectives.

Preparation of a transport system draft

Create a draft (+ a visualization model if necessary), collect feedback and develop the solution in networks

A draft of the overall system is drawn up and visualized using appropriate means. You can create a visualization model of the plan, for example, to help with stakeholder interaction. Feedback should be collected from all relevant stakeholders.

Set up a suitable monitoring model based on the objectives set

To support monitoring, create a monitoring model based on the objectives set in cooperation with the participating actors, and set indicators for monitoring the objectives. Monitoring can be linked to operator-specific obligations and reporting responsibilities, e.g. on maintenance quality or data collection and reporting on mobility. Plan the channels for resident/user feedback and the way feedback is taken into account as part of the monitoring model. Regular feedback should be collected from residents during use, including satisfaction surveys and questionnaires about impacts on their mobility choices.

Plan the implementation schedule and progress together and finalise the agreements

The preliminary agreements drawn up during the objective phase can now be amended as necessary and finalised. For example, maintenance, street modifications, business views for service solutions.

Send the necessary prompts to the land use planning and permit departments

Land use planning should be involved in the discussions from the moment the objectives are set and opportunities are identified. This dialogue helps to streamline processes.

Typological specificities/remarks concerning the area:
• In completely undeveloped areas, where there are no residents, residents’ views can be collected through peer groups, for example

Implementation

Carry out pilots and experiments and update the overall solution based on the results in cooperation with networks.

Conduct continuous impact assessment and collect feedback (e.g. crowdsourced evaluation/feedback, evaluation surveys).

The quality of maintenance can be monitored and controlled, for example, by involving residents as maintenance agents (see Case Oulu). Offering rewards in connection with customer satisfaction can have a significant impact on quality levels.

Share lessons learned on co-creation, methods used and solutions developed within the municipality and nationally.

Identify the needs for change and start the process from the beginning, if necessary.

A unified notification and information channel for modifications to the transport and street network, open to all parties, will allow for more rational scheduling of modifications and construction work, so that more work can be carried out with a single street opening.

Typological specificities/remarks concerning the area:
• In completely undeveloped areas, where there are no residents, residents’ views can be collected through peer groups, for example