Page 32 - TT Magazine Aug-Sep 2018

INFRASTRUCTURE

Traffic jams, pollution,

road crashes: Can technology

end the woes of urban transport?

Dr Shomik Mehndiratta,
Practice Manager Transport-

Latin American and the
Caribbean, World Bank looks
at a few disruptive changes
in automotive technology

rbanization and rising to increase to 70% by 2050. At the If no action is taken, these cars
incomes have been driving same time, business-as-usual trends threaten literally to choke tomorrow’s
rapid motorization across suggest we could see an additional cities, bringing with them a host of
Asia, Africa, and Latin one billon cars by 2050, most of which negative consequences that would
UAmerica. While cities are will have to squeeze into the already seriously undermine the overall benefits
currently home to 50% of the global crowded streets of Indian, Chinese, and of urbanization. However, after a
population, that proportion is expected African cities. century of relatively small incremental
progress, disruptive changes in the
world of automotive technology could
have fundamental implications for
sustainability.
What are these megatrends, and how
can they reshape the future of urban
mobility?
Digital Technology is disrupting
transport, after century of relatively
slow change.
Over the last century, we have only
seen small incremental shifts in the
efficiency and infrastructure of our
transport systems. This, however,
is starting to change. Advances in
information and communications
technologies, connectivity, data
collection, and analytics are catalyzing
a technology revolution that will

32 August-September ’18 / TrafficInfraTech www.trafficinfratech-com-500653.hostingersite.com