Mobility as a Service Systems in Smart Cities

With the level of development of the smart city, there are more and more research sub-areas in which the latest material and technological solutions are used, enabling the proper management and functioning of these cities. On the one hand, the introduced materials and technologies are designed to facilitate the functioning of residents both in the urban space and at home; on the other hand, the implemented solutions strive to be consistent with the principles of sustainable development. As shown in this article, reports on new technical and technological solutions and their positive and negative effects are strongly emphasized in publications on the development of smart cities. The most highlighted materials research in the smart city area concerns smart materials and their characteristics and applications. A research gap in this area is in the presentation of material solutions, particularly materials intended for the load-bearing structures of vehicles (electric vehicles, flying vehicles) or infrastructure elements (buildings, shelters, etc.) designed to increase the durability of the structure while reducing its weight. This paper aims to comprehensively present the most important research areas related to the functioning of smart cities in light of previous research, with particular emphasis on new material solutions used for thin-walled load-bearing structures in smart cities made of AHSS (advanced high-strength steel). These solutions are very essential for smart cities because their use allows for the installation of additional devices, sensors, transmitters, antennas, etc., without increasing the total weight of the structure; they reduce the number of raw materials used for production (lighter and durable thin structures), ensure lower energy consumption (e.g., lighter vehicles), and also increase the passive safety of systems or increase their lifting capacity (e.g., the possibility of transporting more people using transports at the same time; the possibility of designing and arranging, e.g., green gardens on buildings; etc.). AHSS-welded joints are usually characterized by too-low strength in the base material or a tendency to crack. Thus, the research problem is producing a light and durable AHSS structure using welding processes. The research presented in this article concerns the possibility of producing welded joints using the Metal Active Gas (MAG) process. The test methods include the assessment of the quality of joints, such as through visual examination (VT); according to the requirements of PN-EN ISO 17638; magnetic particle testing (MT); according to PN-EN ISO 17638; and the assessment of the selected mechanical properties, such as tensile strength tests, bending tests, and fatigue strength checks. These methods enable the selection of the correct joints, without welding defects. The results have a practical implication; advanced production technology for obtaining AHSS joints can be used in the construction of the load-bearing elements of mobile vehicles or parts of point infrastructure (shelters, bus stops). The obtained joint is characterized by adequate strength for the production of the assumed structures. The originality of the manuscript is the presentation of a new, cheaper, and uncomplicated solution for obtaining an AHSS joint with good mechanical properties. The application of the presented solution also contributes to sustainable development (lower fuel and material consumption use by mobile vehicles) and may contribute to increasing the load capacity of mobile vehicles (the possibility of transporting more people). Full article

Based on cited literature, it can be observed that the bike road system is an important part of Smart Mobility. The amount of bicycle roads can be seen as one of the technical-infrastructure indicators used to measure the potential of the Smart Mobility system. Taking this into account the analysis of the development of bike roads in particular provinces of Poland, which is conducted in this paper is a contribution to the knowledge about Smart Cities in the area of Smart Mobility. This publication uses data on the operation of bicycle roads in Poland from 2012 to 2021 for analysis. It uses data collected by the Polish Central Statistical Office. The analysis covered the last 10 years. The latest data that is currently available in terms of complete statistics are from 2021, and it was decided to end the conducted analysis this year. The data for all Polish 16 provinces were analyzed in the paper. The main important finding of the paper is finding the correlation between the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the length of bicycle roads in Poland. Also, the very important finding of the paper is connected with the analysis of geographical patterns of bicycle roads in Poland. The analysis of the correlations between the variables allows us to conclude that more is invested in bicycle paths in the provinces located in northwestern Poland than would result from the wealth of the provinces as measured by GDP per capita. In particular, this is the case in Greater Poland, Pomerania, and Kuyavia-Pomerania. By contrast, in central and southwestern Poland, investments in bicycle paths in individual provinces are smaller than their wealth level would suggest. This situation is particularly the case in Opole Province, Lesser Poland, Lower Silesia, Subcarpatia, and Holy Cross. For these provinces in particular, it should be recommended to accelerate the construction of new bicycle roads, which will have a positive impact on the quality of life of residents in smart cities as well as ecology. Analysis of the functioning of bicycle roads as an element of a Smart City on the example of Poland Provinces. Full article

In recent years, mobility as a service (MaaS) (i.e., a system combining public transport, shared rides, short-term vehicle rentals, and taxis sourced via mobile applications) has become a solution that is increasingly available in smart cities. Along with the development of transport options, the range of vehicles offered as part of this type of service has expanded widely, from buses, taxis, bicycles, and cars to the innovation of electric scooters. The universality of MaaS services has led to a change in communication behavior and, at the same time, to a rapid increase in the number of people using the proposed solutions. Due to this increase, several researchers devoted their dissertations to issues of the management or optimization of websites; however, they ignored the many technical and health aspects. Recognizing a scientific niche area, the research conducted has been devoted to assessing the impact of the vibrations generated by electric scooters upon the user. Research on the vehicles used in MaaS systems has been conducted to learn and analyze the selected design solutions and their impact on the user who utilizes them. The scope of the research included vibroacoustic research and the mathematical modeling of the studied phenomena. Full article

Modern cities are associated with efficient transportation, including modern transportation solutions that reflect the trend towards sustainable development. These solutions, for example, are shared mobility services, which have gained popularity in recent years. The systems present in the markets, as well as each transport service, aimed at meeting the transport needs of the society, are also associated with the occurrence of many problems. Many of the problems can turn into transport barriers and have a real impact on the quality of transport services and the life of society in the city. To check whether transport problems occurring in shared mobility may translate into transport exclusion, the author’s own research was proposed. The aim of the study was to analyze the public negative opinions of the shared mobility services and to determine the existence of their connection with the main areas of the phenomenon of transport exclusion. The Desk Research method was used for the study, due to which 1500 opinions and complaints regarding 60 bike-, car-, and scooter-sharing applications operating in six European countries were analyzed. As a result of the research, it was shown that in all types of shared mobility, there are barriers that users complain about. These barriers are connected to the main transport social exclusion aspects indicated in the Church’s method framework. The leading areas of grievance are the system infrastructure and operational aspects. The mobile applications used to run the systems turned out to be the least problematic. Based on the results obtained, recommendations for the elimination of transportation social barriers were developed. The work supports municipalities and operators who wish to reduce the problems associated with shared mobility systems in cities. Full article

Due to the intensive development of urbanization and digitization, the number of smart cities in the world is growing. Along with their exposure, more and more challenges are facing the service providers of the various types of systems offered in their area. These types of services include shared mobility systems that, as an alternative to transport by own vehicle, are becoming one of the leading promoted forms of mobility. Because of the prioritization of shared mobility solutions, more and more operators appear on the smart city markets, which is associated with many challenges related to the increased competition among service providers. One of the challenges is the appropriate visibility of the brand and vehicles in urban transport systems. This aspect, despite its high applicability, constitutes a research gap among world studies. Aiming to fill this gap, this article was dedicated to the issues of perception of visual communication by operators of shared mobility services. As part of the research, an expert study was conducted among representatives of shared mobility services operating in Poland. The expert survey was conducted with the Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) technique. The results of the research show that visual communication is not used quite correctly by operators. Although operators use single visual communication practices, overall consistency is lacking, which would add value to the brand. This article supports operators looking to expand their shared mobility services. What is more, it is also a response to the research gap regarding visual communication and its perception from the point of view of smart cities. Full article

This concept paper presents our viewpoint regarding the exploitation of cutting-edge technologies for the delivery of smart tourism cultural tours. Specifically, the paper reports preliminary work on the design of a novel smart tourism solution tailored to a multiobjective optimization system based on factors such as the preferences and constraints of the tourist/visitor, the city’s accessibility and traffic, the weather conditions, and others. By optimizing cultural tours and delivering comfortable, easy-to-follow, green, acceptable visiting experiences, the proposed solution, namely, OptiTours, aims to become a leading actor in tourism industry transformation. Moreover, specific actions, applications, and methodologies target increasing touring acceptance while advancing the overall (smart) city impression. OptiTours aims to deliver a novel system to attract visitors and guide them to enjoy a city’s possible points of interest, achieving high visitor acceptance. Advanced technologies in semantic trajectories’ management and optimization in route planning will be exploited towards the discovery of optimal, smart, green, and comfortable routes/tours. A novel multiscale and multifactor optimization system aims to deliver not only optimal personalized routes but also alternative routes, ranked based on visitors’ preferences and constraints. In this concept paper, we contribute a detailed description of the OptiTours approach for ICT-based smart tourism, and a high-level architectural design of the solution that is planned to be implemented in the near future. Full article