Technology Is Changing Transportation, and Cities Should Adapt

Officials who hope to maximize the benefits of advanced mobility might think about several core strategies.

One is how to tailor new mobility approaches to a city or region’s specific context and challenges. For example, it is likely that densely populated cities in developing economies, such as Delhi, Istanbul, and Mumbai, will gain from expanding their public transit systems and complementing them with ride-hailing services that rely on electric vehicles. Our analysis suggests that a developing, dense, average-size city could realize $600 million in annual societal benefits from mobility advances by 2030. Four-fifths of these benefits would stem from reductions in traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities — a great benefit for the people of these striving, fast-growing areas.