Smart transport

Smart transportation isn't our future - it is already our present,"declares Lisa Jerram, senior analyst at Pike Research, "it is simply intended to ensure acceptable ease of travel as cities become more populous and face budget constraints that might keep them from building major new infrastructure as is the case in Europe, North America and Japan." Jerram places advanced transport management as a critical driver on which the whole smart city idea depends: it propels the integration of technology and communication into a strategic approach that's innately qualified as sustainable, citizen-orientated, and supportive of economic development. She adds: "The personalisation element of smart city transport is a good starting point for understanding what will make it work. People who live there have got to feel that the 'smart' concept is working for them as much as they are working for the smart urban environment."