Advances in Smart Transportation Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Smart transportation systems refer to integrated and technology-enabled mobility ecosystems that leverage advanced sensing, communication, and data analytics to optimize the performance, safety, and sustainability of multimodal transportation networks. They support seamless coordination among diverse travel modes—including public transit, autonomous vehicles, shared mobility, and micromobility—while enabling real-time, user-responsive, and environmentally conscious transport services.

This Special Issue aims to explore cutting-edge research under the framework of smart transportation systems, especially new theories, innovative methodologies, and emerging application scenarios for smart multimodal transportation systems.

We welcome contributions that advance the State of the Art in autonomous driving, on-demand and responsive mobility, ride sharing and pooled mobility, and first- and last-mile solutions, particularly within the context of a connected multimodal ecosystem. Emphasis is placed on research that facilitates the seamless integration of diverse transport modes—including public transit, shared mobility, micromobility, and active transportation—enabled by technologies such as AI, IoT, edge computing, and digital twins.

To this end, we encourage papers that explore infrastructure intelligence, real-time mobility orchestration, data-driven and behavior-aware system design, and policy innovations aimed at supporting the equitable, efficient, and sustainable deployment of smart mobility solutions. By bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives and innovative approaches, this Special Issue serves as an open platform for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to exchange insights and push the boundaries of smart, user-centric, and environmentally conscious transportation systems.

Dr. Kai Huang
Dr. Yongxiang Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.