Editors Page February – March 2019

A number of innovative forces are coming together to define the future of mobility; right from electrification of vehicles, superfast transportation- both ground and underground- flying cars, to autonomous & connected cars or robocars. Frost and Sullivan forecasts eight million semi- and highly automated vehicles to enter the market within the next 10 years. Fully automated cars are expected to be commercialised by 2030, representing an annual revenue opportunity of $60 billion. Smart cities & future mobility go handin- hand and companies & town planners are investing aggressively in mobility innovations.

McKinsey research finds that approximately two in five customers are willing to switch car brands for better connectivity features. Developments and improvements will soon shift the connectivity experience from reactive to predictive, says the report. Occupants will be afforded personalized infotainment through voice and hand gestures — in effect, a dialogue with the vehicle to receive proactive recommendations on services and functions. By the early 2020s, connectivity systems will become a ‘virtual chauffeur,’ in which cognitive artificial intelligence (AI) can anticipate and fulfil riders’ needs. Experts say that the logistics industry will be the first sector to fully embrace autonomous vehicles. Taxi’s and people movers will be the other big area.

The concept of future mobility is also influenced by social trends along with technological trends. In India too, we are moving towards last mile connectivity solutions like car/ride/bike sharing and automated parking.

This issue of TrafficInfraTech magazine looks at how technology is changing the way we look at video security. More than just capturing the images, the cameras are serving as optimized eye and are becoming a vital part of traffic infrastructure and management. We are also bringing to the readers the interesting discussion on Public Transport in terms of buses that was held during the Smart Mobility Expo held in Mumbai last year.