Governance of the Smart Mobility Transition – An Agenda for Researchers and Practitioners
Louise Reardon and Greg Marsden, editors of 'Governance of the Smart Mobility Transition', have looked at the real world impact of 'smart' technology in vehicles and how this could provide mobility solutions. With more recent advances in this technology, is the potential impact that these changes could bring being given enough focus?
Governance of the
Smart Mobility Transition – An Agenda for Researchers and Practitioners
Louise Reardon and Greg Marsden
Rapid changes are underway in mobility systems worldwide,
including the introduction of shared mobility solutions, Mobility as a Service
and the testing of automated vehicles. These changes are driven by the development and application of
‘smart’ technologies such as smart phone platforms and real-time data sensors
embedded in infrastructure. Transition to these technologies present
significant opportunities for countries, cities and rural areas alike, offering
the tempting prospect of economic benefit whilst resolving today’s safety,
congestion, and pollution problems.
Our new edited collection, published with Emerald Insight this month, explores the key
governance questions that the transition to these technologies pose; seeking to
understand the gaps, opportunities and ability to steer these transitions in
order to achieve positive social outcomes into the future. The book’s
contributions provide four key conclusions that we hope will set an agenda for
future research and policy consideration and action:
1. There will be Winners and Losers
Each of the chapters recognises, in its own way, that there
will be winners and losers both during and ‘after’ the smart mobility
‘transition’. We should not be surprised by this as the current system does not
provide an equitable distribution of mobility options or of benefits and
dis-benefits. Set against this backdrop, smart mobility could resolve some of
these long-standing issues. However, it may also perpetuate or exaggerate them.
The crux here is that the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, be these defined at the
individual, group, nation, or societal level, are yet to be clearly identified;
the distribution of the wins and losses is uncertain; and the winners and
losers are likely to change during the transition and within different contexts
where transitions occur. The contributions therefore highlight the unique role
the state has, and must play here, in ensuring that customers and citizens are
protected from the negative externalities of the transition.
2. We need politics
with a capital ‘P’
At present the framing of smart mobility is strongly
influenced by the smart mobility operators themselves who to a certain extent
are pushing at an open-door; with national governments keen to include in their
industrial strategies, ‘solutions’ to safety and accessibility which also
promise to stimulate economic growth and support climate change mitigation. As
a consequence other voices (and frames) remain largely out of the picture and
notably citizens’ are narrowly defined primarily as ‘adopters’.
The current positive framing place ‘smart mobility’ in a
largely technocratic box and indeed is rarely discussed and contested in any
meaningful way within the ‘transport’ context. If government (be this federal,
state or local) is to help protect the ‘losers’, ensure positive social
outcomes, and in turn inevitably provide the context for the ‘winners’ to
flourish it must therefore have a democratic basis on which to do this – there
needs to be a broader democratic debate, based on deliberation.
3. Steer or Be
Steered
The networks within which the governance of smart mobility
are occurring are growing ever more complex, with growing numbers of actors,
more ingrained interdependence, and increasingly intertwined modes of
delivery. This has the potential, as many of the contributions have noted, to
lead to growing power asymmetries; bolstering the power of private mobility
providers at the expense of the state.
The state has the power and tools to steer the course of the
transition should it decide to do so. This power may be embodied through the
state acting as a meta-governor – setting the context for governance to occur –
rather than through acting directly, but nevertheless, the
approach of government still appears likely to matter very significantly to how
system adoption will unfold, which in turn will have important implications for
industry and society.
4. Capacity to steer
will depend on Context
Smart transitions are not evolving onto a blank slate; the
histories, traditions, cultures and expectations of the individuals, towns,
cities, regions, and nations in which transitions are occurring will inevitably
shape the form they take and the power dynamics that result. Whilst today’s
conditions have been shown to matter, that context itself is not fixed and it
is necessary to consider where it might be heading as a result of changes far
beyond just the transport sector. We suggest that under a business as usual
scenario the resources for most state-funded institutions will diminish, as
will their technical capacity.
On providing these take home messages, we conclude that
governance is, and will, play a critical role in shaping the outcomes of smart mobility
transitions, and argue that at present there exists a critical window of
opportunity for researchers and practitioners to shape what these governance
mechanisms should look like, and that this opportunity must be seized upon
before it is too late.
Governance of the Smart Mobility Transition is edited by Greg Marsden and
Louise Reardon and is published with Emerald this month. To get a 30% discount
on purchase, use the code: EMERALD30
Greg is Professor of Transport Governance at the Institute for Transport Studies at the
University of Leeds. He has researched issues surrounding the design and
implementation of new policies for over 15 years covering a range of issues. He
is the Secretary General of the World Conference on Transport Research Society and the co-Chair of the Special Interest Group on
Governance and Decision-Making. He has served as an advisor to the House of
Commons Transport Select Committee and regularly advises national and
international governments.
Louise Reardon is a lecturer at the Instituteof Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham. Louise’s research
focuses on a range of governance and public policy issues and questions;
including dynamics of agenda setting, policy change, policy implementation,
multi-level governance, depoliticization, and on the politics and policy of well-being.
As co-chair of the WCTRS Special Interest Group on Governance and Decision-Making Processes, she is
keen to grow the community of scholars critically engaged in understanding and
challenging the status quo of transport policy making.
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great blog and valuable information Surya Informatics
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