Year: 2022

The aim of the present article is to summarise the main findings of the second edition of the OCTO Connected Forum 2022, the main event on Smart Mobility in Italy and one of the most important globally. The Forum was held at the Tor Crescenza Castle under the patronage of Roma Capitale, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility (MIMS) and the Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition (MITD).

The second edition of the OCTO Connected Forum, broadcast on September 16, 2022, brought together the main stakeholders of the mobility ecosystem and representatives of the institutions, over 200 participants, more than 220,000 unique viewers from the live streaming and a very high appreciation level.

This event represented an opportunity to disseminate the results achieved by the development activities of “The Italian Way to Connected Mobility”, given by the progress of the pilot projects that have involved more than 12 stakeholders including public actors and private companies. Moreover, the Forum made it possible to gather various insights from the various key stakeholders of the Italian and international mobility ecosystem thanks to the participation of 47 speakers, 28 partners and sponsors, and 80 companies.

During the event, the second volume of the “Connected Mobility 2025” report was presented, which aims to outline the Smart Mobility scenario, take stock of the value ecosystems connected to it, and encourage the involvement and participation of the various players in connected mobility.

The morning hosted the OCTO Connected Circle, organised in two sessions. The first one was dedicated to the partner companies that are collaborating in the development of the “Italian way to connected mobility”. This session was attended by Alessandro Balboni (Senior IoT Developer, CubeCurve People), Valerio D’Angelo (CEO, Fiven), Francesca Toma (Co-Founder and Head of Business Intelligence Area, Wakala), Oreste Ciani (Public Cloud Sales Manager, IBM Italia), Giuseppe Costantino (Partner, BIP), Paolo Manfreddi (CEO, Leasys Rent-Drivalia; Head of European Markets & Business Development, FCA BANK) and Gabriele Ferrazzano (Head of Development Smart Mobility Services, Eni/Enjoy).

The second session of the morning was instead dedicated to the presentation of the first results related to the implementation of the 14 pilot projects identified by OCTO and The European House – Ambrosetti in 2021, which saw the involvement of 12 national stakeholders. The participants were Claudio Colucci (CEO, Tecno), Edoardo Esposito (Director of Transformation and Innovation, Arriva Italia), Ruggero Rossi De Mio (CFO, SASA), Cesare Paonessa (Director, Agenzia Mobilità Piemontese), Gabriella De Paolis (Quality & Training Manager, Nissan Italia), Massimiliano Mascoli (Head of Insurtech, Business Execution & International Business, Sara Assicurazioni), Davide Dell’Orto (CTO, Dell”Orto), Daniele Fulgenzi (Head of Environment & Climate Structure, ARIA) and Massimo Agostinelli (Public Use Sales manager, Enel X Way Italia).

In the afternoon, the OCTO Connected Forum took place, with the traditional opening of the proceedings by Nicola Veratelli and the presentation of the results of the Strategic Study by Valerio De Molli.

Following this, the Forum was structured into three sessions organised around the areas of strategic interest of the initiative “The Italian Way to Connected Mobility”:

• Connected Mobility as an enabler of the Super Smart Society: the enabling role of connected and smart mobility for the development of Smart Cities and, in a broader sense, of a new model of city living was discussed and explored;
• Mobility-as-a-Service: connected technologies for efficient, safe and sustainable mobility – this session dealt with aspects related to the role of digital and connected technologies in enabling a new paradigm of smart mobility aligned with OCTO”s Vision Zero (Zero Traffic, Zero Accidents, Zero Pollution);
• Ecosystems and Data Spaces: New Mobility Business Models – this session dealt with a key area, namely that of data, considered the enabling element for any future development of a connected and smart mobility and for the definition of new urban planning management paradigms.

A total of 28 panellists, including C-level, professors, and institutional representatives, contributed to the three sessions. From the discussions of these experts, three key messages were identified:

1. The spread of the smart mobility paradigm is to be considered the enabler of smart cities. The development of this new paradigm must be accompanied by the creation of a co-operative ecosystem of public and private stakeholders working together with a long-term vision;
2. Road mobility is one of the primary causes of the difficulty in achieving sustainability goals. Data sharing and utilisation can be used to improve sustainability levels, e.g., by improving the functioning of sharing platforms;
3. Alongside the spread of new technologies, it is necessary to create ad hoc policies and standards to facilitate the exchange and use of data at the European level. In this way, it will be possible to create the necessary preconditions for dealing with the different aspects of a “complex system” such as that of mobility and cities.

The achievement of the objectives and the development of the pilot projects of the “Italian way to connected mobility” will be an “accelerating factor” for the diffusion of a new paradigm of connected and smart mobility.

The work of OCTO, The European House – Ambrosetti and the stakeholders who are collaborating in the development of the pilot projects will continue in the coming months with the aim of concretising the development of the “Italian Way to Connected Mobility” to present its results at the OCTO Connected Forum 2023.

Author:

The European House – Ambrosetti

Eva Van Eenoo,  Koos Fransen and Kobe Boussauw, from the Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgiumpublished an article in EJTIR on march 2022, regarding car dependence and multimodality. The article provides an a-up to date review on this issue. Here are some of the key issues.

The private car remains the main mode of personal transport in the EU and despite the considerable benefits that come with reducing motorized traffic, car  ownership in the EU increases. In 2019, the European Union car fleet grew by 1.8% compared to  2018, with the number of cars on the road reaching 242.7 million. In addition, car  ownership has increased from 2015 to 2019 from 553 to 569 cars per one thousand inhabitants.

The figures  mentioned hide variations in travel patterns and mode use. Against this backdrop, multimodality is increasingly gaining attention. Multimodality is most commonly defined as the use of at least two modes during a specific time period. It is found that multimodality is more prevalent in  areas with higher population densities.

Car dependence of individuals may be composed of two elements: the absolute need for a car, and the perception of reliance on a car. In the case of ‘structural’ car dependence there is absolutely no reasonable alternative for the car available. In the case of ‘conscious’ dependence, alternative transport modes are present but are not actively considered. The study points out that this distinction as perceived versus actual car dependence.

However, it is not clear if multimodal travel patterns lead to a lower perceived car dependence. Using cluster analysis, the research aims to fill this gap and explore if and in what way multimodality correlates with perceived car dependence.

Study area

The geographical scope of the research are urbanized areas in the Flemish region in Belgium. On average, 69.6% of the trips in the Flemish region are carried out by car (as a driver or as a passenger), although the car accounts  for 82.3% of the Vehicle Kilometers Traveled (VKT). Overall, 12.4% and  11.4% of all trips are carried out respectively by bicycle and on foot. Only 4.5% of all trips are  undertaken with public transport.

In the selected areas, the authors carried out an online survey between October 2019 and February 2020,  specifically targeting individuals with at least one car in the household and in the possession of a driving license.

Car-dependent motorists long distance (CDML)

From the group of car-dependent motorists, 89.5% use a car daily. This is the highest  score of all clusters. Their perceived car  dependence is the highest of all clusters: 92.6% agree with the statement. However, this does not  imply that this group is unimodal, as 41.2% ride a bicycle at least weekly.

Car-dependent motorists short distance (CDMS)

Similar to the car-dependent motorists long distance, for respondents of the car-dependent  motorists short distance cluster, the car is the dominant mode of transport. In the same vein, their perceived car dependence is high, although slightly less than for the CDML. This group does not frequently travel by bicycle. Nevertheless, we could also consider this group as multimodal, as  they compensate for their low bicycle use by a higher share of trips by bus or tram.

Their perceived car dependence is high, and it is conceivable they expect difficulties in the case of forced relinquishment of their car. They are more inclined to take the bus or tram than to ride a bicycle.  This group is lower educated, has the lowest average income of the four clusters. Higher age groups are overrepresented.

Car-independent cyclists (CIC)

As the name suggests, for the car-independent cyclists (CIC), the dominant mode of transport is the bicycle, and this is the group with the lowest perceived car dependence. This group is more multimodal than both motorists groups. Respondents from this group have a significantly higher propensity to travel by train or bus, although the percentages remain rather low, and for a majority, public transport is excluded from their travel mode set.

Compared to the sample average, respondents in CIC are more likely to have only one car in the household. Females and younger age groups are overrepresented here, as are couples with children. As far as education is concerned, we notice that the CIC are on average highly educated. The CIC tend to use a car primarily for leisure. This is a highly educated group, of all four the most willing to abandon a car if costs would increase drastically.

Car-dependent cyclists (CDC)

Finally, we turn to the car-dependent cyclists (CDC). As for the former cluster, the bicycle is the dominant mode choice. Nevertheless, 86.2% of this group travels by car at least once a week. Their perceived car dependence is equal to that of the CDMS. Use of public transport is more of an exception than a rule. With respect to socio-economics, most of the features of the CDC are close to that of the sample average, with two exceptions: highly educated respondents are overrepresented and households with children are underrepresented.

To summarize, the CDC is characterized by weekly car use, daily bicycle use, but a high perceived car dependence. They do not stand out socio-economically, although their high education is remarkable. This is the group most willing to start car sharing.

Discussion and conclusion

Firstly, the authors found that all clusters are to some extent multimodal.  In general, the research can conclude that, for our selected study area, car ownership does not necessarily induce perceived car-dependence for people who can easily get around by bicycle. Nevertheless, even in an urban setting and when exhibiting multimodal travel patterns, people can perceive their car as indispensable. Perceived car dependence is not necessarily correlated with high VKT or high frequency of car use, neither can this investigation conclude that multimodality necessarily  leads to less VKT. In this urbanized study area, at least for trips in the proximity of the dwelling to for instance services, people are willing to consider other modes than a car.

The four clusters reflect well-established correlations between travel behavior and socio economic characteristics. As income rises, it becomes more likely people undertake social and leisure trips. As far as education is concerned, we notice  that both groups of cyclists are highly educated.

As households with children are overrepresented in the car-independent cyclists group, and underrepresented in the car-dependent cyclists group, the results also illustrate that perceived car dependence goes not necessarily hand in hand with the presence of children.

Despite the presence of multimodality, the attachment to the car is strong.

This confirms the asymmetry Dargay discovered: once the household budget allows the purchase of a car,  people become accustomed to using it. When income drops (or in our case: a larger share of the  household budget needs to be transferred to maintaining the car), this does not necessarily lead to relinquishing the car. In that sense, financial incentives to reduce car use or to abandon the car risk not being very successful.

The car-independent cyclists are less dependent on a car for daily trips, and this might explain why their perceived car dependence is lower. For them, a car is more for convenience or to carry out flexible leisure trips.

Furthermore, the researchers find it remarkable that the willingness to start car sharing is limited in this group, as this could combine the convenience of a car with reduced costs.

Policy implications

An issue to address is whether policy attention should mainly focus on the groups with the highest likelihood of mode switching, like the car-independent cyclists, or should reducing VKT, crucial in the light of continuous increase of greenhouse emissions, be on top of the agenda. Of course, both are needed. The effectiveness of policy actions depends on the level of governance. The authors consider the local level more suited to politically intervene in straightforward measures like improving bicycle infrastructure and land use policies that strengthen proximity.

The results confirm that multimodality already prevails in urban areas, and that car owners display aspects of multimodal behavior, even when they travel by car frequently and they cover substantial VKT. As such, they are already experienced with sustainable modes like the bicycle or public transport. A stronger focus on making these modes more accessible could further reduce car use. In urban areas, to a certain extent, the bicycle is capable of replacing car trips in the proximity of the dwelling. However, the study stresses that older people, lower incomes and lower educated groups, are less inclined to cycle.

The research indicates that older people and lower incomes have the highest  propensity of using the bus or train. They could strongly benefit from an expansion of the network and higher frequencies. As higher VKT leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions, the authors think the train can have an important role, especially for leisure, with increased service provision during weekends and nighttime hours.

Measures that favor the bicycle and public transport, have to be combined with car-restrictive measurements.The car-dependent motorists group, a lower educated group with a lower income, are probably the most vulnerable to car restrictive financial  measures. They probably already reduce VKT as much as possible as a cost-saving strategy. Car-reducing regulations that rely on financial incentives, tend to disproportionately hit this group, while higher incomes can easily ‘buy their way out’. Policy should take these concerns into account.

Finally, policy makers should not consider multimodality as a goal in itself, as multimodality not necessarily leads to less VKT or less car use. The main goal needs to be reducing car ownership and car use and the implementation measures to reach that goal, taking into account equity concerns.