How smart cities are reinventing transport systems

Smart cities: A new vision for urban mobility

Population growth and increasing urbanisation are creating new challenges for metropolitan areas, which must continuously adapt.

Among these challenges, mobility plays a central role. Between active travel, congestion issues, and emerging transport solutions, optimising services and urban infrastructure has become essential to ensuring a high quality of life for residents. The objective is no longer simply to enable people to travel, but to make mobility smoother and more efficient.

In this context, cities have every reason to leverage existing technologies and data that help them understand mobility flows and travel behaviour in order to meet the evolving needs of their populations.

Smart cities: Intelligent transport for smoother and more sustainable travel

Connected public transport: Real-time monitoring and flow optimisation

In urban environments, connected public transport systems have become indispensable. First and foremost, they improve users’ daily journeys by providing timetable information, while also indicating passenger density and service disruptions through real-time data. For smart cities, this data enables services to be adapted according to situations and passenger needs.

Furthermore, thanks to algorithms, mobility stakeholders can anticipate different scenarios by adopting an intelligent, data-driven approach.

Connected vehicles: The key role of smart cities in intelligent mobility

Innovations linked to connected vehicles are transforming urban mobility. In smart cities, these vehicles can communicate not only with users, as previously mentioned, but also with:

Road infrastructure
Traffic lights
Urban management platforms
Other vehicles

This communication, known as V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything), allows traffic conditions to be adjusted in real time through sensors and geolocation systems, enabling proactive traffic management. Electric and autonomous vehicles also help optimise energy consumption and reduce pollutant emissions, contributing to more responsible and sustainable cities.

Micromobility and active travel: A pillar of sustainable smart cities

In large urban areas, micromobility, encompassing lightweight transport modes such as bicycles and e-scooters, is also essential in tackling congestion and pollution. The development of these transport options helps make travel more sustainable and fluid, directly addressing residents’ concerns and expectations.

The use of technology within these transport modes is crucial, with geolocation systems and applications directly connecting users to services by providing key information such as vehicle location, booking options, and service access through remote unlocking.

For mobility operators, this data is equally valuable for effective fleet management, enabling them to monitor:

Vehicle locations
Battery levels
Usage frequency
High-demand areas

This intelligent fleet management improves operational efficiency and ensures smoother service delivery.

However, one persistent challenge remains central to active mobility: safety. In London, 81% of the 3,707 people killed or seriously injured in traffic accidents in 2024 were pedestrians, cyclists, or motorcyclists, according to Transport for London annual report. Cities must therefore address this barrier by implementing infrastructure that improves safety and promotes safer road sharing among all users.

Data at the heart of smart cities: Managing mobility proactively

Urban mobility is a major challenge that can be effectively managed through intelligent use of technology. To power these systems, cities rely on data to adapt infrastructure planning while ensuring optimal user safety. Identifying high-risk areas and analysing user driving behaviour allows urban authorities to move from a reactive approach to a proactive one.

At MICHELIN Mobility Intelligence, we help mobility stakeholders better understand the territories in which they operate through our data and algorithms.

To discuss your challenges, contact us today to discover how our solutions can support your mobility projects.

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