Why Does Urban Mobility Matter?

Author: Chapin Flynn, Senior Vice President, Urban Mobility, Mastercard

According to The World Bank around 4.4 billion people, that’s over 50 per cent of the world’s population, live in cities or urban areas today. And with expectations that the urban population will double in size by 2050, around 7 out of 10 people will live in cities. Flocking to the employment and education opportunities they provide.

Urban spaces are also hubs for tourism, where visitors gravitate to enjoy sport, art, and culture. Mastercard Economic Institute research highlights that after a couple of years of travel restrictions due to the global pandemic, there is now heightened demand for travel and people are choosing to spend what spare cash they have on experiences over individual items and goods.

?All these people, whether residents or visitors, need convenient ways to move around which is why city leaders and transit operators must consider how they evolve infrastructure and enhance offerings to support them. It’s not only vital for residents and visitors - businesses of all sizes also need to have easy access to their customers, suppliers, and partners. ?

Unfortunately, many people living in urban environments still struggle to find cost effective and efficient ways get to work, school, medical care, and other key destinations. And fulfilling their last mile need continues to be a challenge.

Operational efficiency is also high on the agenda. In some areas we still see a high percentage of a bus’s time spent collecting fares, with drivers tasked with selling and issuing tickets rather than focusing on their primary role and speeding travelers on their way.

The great news is that many cities are pioneering an evolution in urban mobility. Technologies that were virtually unthinkable 20 years ago are now being deployed to enhance a rider’s journey. As technologies such as mobile and contactless become the norm, and practices like EV charging, road user charging, in-vehicle payments and many more take root and grow, there is immense opportunity ahead and an increased focus on improving all urban mobility experience.

Realizing a frictionless future where multiple technologies, services and offerings work together to support all urban mobility needs is something Mastercard is passionate about. We have been partnering with transit operators to enable simple and convenient ways for people to get around, while addressing cost and elevating peak pressure for over a decade. From London to Las Vegas, Singapore to Sydney we’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with agency partners to understand specific geography, infrastructure, and customer needs to ensure that everyone within an urban environment – residents and visitors - have appropriate options available to get them where they need to go. ?

In addition, given mounting concern over climate change, it’s important to ensure that people have easy access to public mass transit and micro mobility options to help achieve broader sustainability and environmental targets.

?So, what is the future of urban mobility? For me it’s about a few things:

• Helping customers spend less time in line waiting to buy tickets and instead facilitating frictionless movement across urban spaces where people get to their destinations effortlessly. The ticketing process should not pose as barrier to use.
• Integrating private mobility services to enhance and support a transit agency or city offering. Whether taxi, bike or scooter, riders should be able to easily choose their preferred transit method based on whatever matters to them - whether simplest, quickest, eco-friendliest or most cost-efficient ways. That choice shouldn’t’ be made for them, people should have the option to pick the method that works best for what they want to do.
• Leveraging automotive technologies, from electric vehicles to in-vehicle payments, to ensure that it is quick, easy and safe for drivers to charge their vehicle, park, pay for tolls or road user charges, and more efficiently navigate urban environments.
• Ultimately a focus on people, on the customer and a deeper understanding of their needs will mean that the future of urban mobility is one where everyone’s needs are met. A future where technology is applied to meet those needs versus for implementations sake.

Urban mobility matters, because it’s the heart of a city, core to everyday lives and creates a pathway to essential needs. We have an opportunity to minimize friction and create inclusive and accessible solutions that help people get to their destination safer and faster, while truly shaping a sustainable future for urban mobility that’s ready to adapt to whatever lies ahead.

Mastercard is powering a frictionless future for urban mobility, partnering with transit operators, technology providers, private mobility players and financial institutions to realize a more accessible and sustainable future. To learn more, connect with Chapin on Linkedin or visit our urban mobility website.