Stockholm is #1 on Deloitte’s Future of Mobility index

Future prosperity depends on proper mobility. But how do we get urban mobility right? Deloitte has some answers. Its most recent City Mobility Index (DCMI 2020) checks the health of selected mobility ecosystems and offers advice for the future. Some highlights.

Investigating the quality of urban mobility in 36 cities across the globe, DCMI 2020 offers rankings and comparisons based on a variety of criteria, bunched together in three areas: 

• Performance and resilience. Aspects like integrated mobility and modal diversity.
• Vision and leadership. Investment, innovation, regulations, etc.
• Service and inclusion. Affordability, accessibility and more.

Detailed overviews
DCMI 2020 has detailed overviews of 21 major cities, including LA and Sao Paulo in the Americas, London and Stockholm in Europe, and Dubai and Shanghai in Asia. For each criterium, they’re ranked, low to high, from ‘emerging’ over ‘aspiring’ to ‘contender’, ‘top performer’ and ‘global leader’. For example:

• Amsterdam is a ‘global leader’ in both Modal Diversity and Vision and Strategy, a ‘top performer’ when it comes to Congestion and Public Transport Density, but only an ‘aspiring’ city for Transport Affordability. 
• Each overview also comes with key mobility stats. While 30% of its journeys in the Dutch capital are done by bicycle and 19% by public transport, private cars still amount for the largest part (42%).
• Tokyo is a ‘global leader’ when it comes to Transport Safety, but only ‘aspiring’ when it comes to Congestion and Air Quality. 
• Tokyo’s citizens cycle less (17%) than those of Amsterdam but travel a lot more on public transport (47%) and a lot less by car (12%). Surprisingly, 24% of Tokyoites walk, versus only 4% of Amsterdammers.

Each city overview also provides in-depth analysis, lists key areas for improvement and predicts future developments. In Tokyo’s case, for example, the Olympic Games – now postponed until 2021 – are expected to be a game-changer in terms of mobility innovation.  

Comparison tool
DCMI 2020’s interactive comparison tool enables users to compare various aspects of individual cities or groups of cities. For example, select the ‘large’ and ‘very large’ cities of Asia and Europe, and see that:

• Singapore (‘top performer’) and Shanghai (‘contender’) are doing much better in terms of Congestion than London, Tokyo and Jakarta (all ‘aspiring’). 
• Public Transport Reliability is much greater in Singapore (‘top performer’) than in nearby Jakarta (‘aspiring’). 
• London and Singapore are ‘global leaders’ in terms of Investment, while Jakarta is merely a ‘contender’. 

Adding up all criteria, the tool also provides a Future of Mobility ranking. The Top 10:

1. Stockholm (pictured)
2. Singapore
3. Amsterdam
4. London
5. Barcelona
6. Los Angeles
7. Vancouver
8. Auckland
9. Dubai
10. Shanghai

At the bottom of the 21-city list are Riyadh, Jakarta, Sao Paulo, Rome and Lisbon.

COVID-19
Research for DCMI 2020 spanned the two years prior to March 2020, so mainly before the impact of COVID-19. Deloitte says it's too early to tell whether the effects of the pandemic on urban mobility will be temporary. So far, they see that:

• COVID-19 is accelerating some trends. For example, public space in city centres is being oriented more towards pedestrians and cyclists (in Milan, Berlin, Brussels and Manchester, among other cities).
• COVID-19 has introduced new elements. The concept of 'safety' with regard to mobility has been expanded to include hygiene. A Deloitte survey indicates up to 75% of people will limit their use of public transport in the coming months.

But these four trends were apparent before and are likely to drive excellence in urban mobility, Deloitte says:

1. Focus on the basics. It can be tempting to focus on the latest shiny new object, but it's more important to get the less glamorous basics of urban mobility right. Those are: reliable infrastructure, affordable transport, consistent rules. 
2. Restrict car usage. Modern cities were built for cars but are suffocated by them, both literally (air pollution) and figuratively (congestion). More and more cities are reclaiming their streets for other modes of transport. For example, about 100 cities around the world have completely free public transport. 
3. Get pro-active with regulation. Twice in the past decade, cities have been overtaken by new mobility modes: first ride-hailing, then e-scooters. They've had to play catch-up, working out rules to end the chaos and maximise the overall mobility benefit. 
4. Digital and data are essential. If cities want an efficient, user-friendly transport system, they'll need the digital capabilities to process increasing volumes of data. Only then can they make informed, dynamic decisions on optimal mobility choices. Key example: contactless ticketing, which is easier for users, and generates a lot of actionable data. That could help build fully-integrated Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) – a beast much discussed, but yet to be observed in the wild.

For more details and to play with the interactive tool yourself, go to DCMI 2020.