Dear Colleagues,

Smart mobility encompasses a wide range of recent or likely changes in the fields of passenger transportation and daily people’s mobility behavior linked to the increasing penetration of digital technologies, and especially the smartphone.

Varied typologies of smart mobility have been proposed. They include, on the one hand, technological innovations such as autonomous vehicles, shared mobility services (bike and e-scooter sharing systems, ride-sourcing services, carsharing clubs, etc.), personalized travel planners, and mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) systems, which are mainly implemented by new private actors experimenting new business models. On the other hand, smart mobility also refers to people’s increasing ability to get real-time information on transport systems and mobility options, manage their own travel behavior, and produce useful information for other travelers, mobility service providers, and urban planners. Finally, smart mobility also constitutes a new framework for national and local transport authorities, which raises important policy and governance issues.

Smart mobility is often regarded as an efficient way to shift current travel behavior, which is very dependent on private cars, to low carbon mobility: multimodal trips, shared mobility, active transport modes, etc. However, this assumption is very disputed in the literature, since some aspects of smart mobility, such as autonomous vehicles or personalized route planners, could conversely increase car attractiveness and use, especially in suburban and rural areas. Moreover, shared mobility services are sometimes accused of competing with public transport in urban areas.

This Special Issue aims to gather contributions analyzing whether and how smart mobility could contribute to a decisive transition to low carbon mobility and what the specific challenges are in urban, suburban, and rural areas, both in industrialized and developing countries. Authors(s) can consider one or several dimensions (technological, economical, behavioral, and political) of the smart mobility concept described above.

Literature reviews and empirical contributions (such as case studies and comparisons) are both welcome. Moreover, reflections on the possible impacts of current health crisis on smart mobility and its impacts on low carbon travel behaviors are warmly encouraged.

Dr. Anne Aguilera
Guest Editor

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• smart mobility
• low carbon mobility
• transitions
• public policies
• governance
• urban, suburban, and rural areas
• industrialized and developing countries