Mobility systems explore the movement of people, things, and ideas. This book is intended to delve into the first two. In many cases, they are referred to as the transportation systems. They are complicated issues nowadays primarily due to the drastic increase in human population and the related consequences. The differences in geographical locations, culture, socioeconomic backgrounds, politics, and many other factors make mobility systems far more complex.

1.1 Overview of Mobility Systems

The scope of mobility systems in this book covers, but not limited to, individual mobility (could be as simple as walking), private transports such as cars and bicycles, mass transportation of people and goods, and the related infrastructures. In complex social systems of today, the needs to getting around are significant. Adults commute daily to workplaces, markets, and for various social reasons. Youngsters need to get to schools on a daily basis. Furthermore, people also travel to hospitals, government offices, religious and community places, and for leisure. Beyond personal needs, there are also transportation requirements such as transportation of commodities, delivery of household goods, mail delivery, and a long list of delivery of services.

1.2 Associated Issues

When the modern transportation systems were introduced during the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, it brought in sudden goodness to the society. The prominent ones were the waterways, railroads, and roads, which involved various forms of vehicles intended primarily for relatively faster and more efficient transport of raw materials and finished products. As a result, the use of animal and human for transportation was reduced tremendously. Not only has this made travel faster, but also the transportation systems have been safer since the period of the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution had also resulted in a huge improvement in human health, leading to a tremendous increase in the human population. Consequently, the need for transportation systems also has, since then, increased. The number of motor vehicles nowadays is very high. There were more than 1.3 billion of them reported in 2016 [1]. The sustainability of the present-day transportation systems is a great debate, as it involves issues such as environment, energy, and the society.

In dealing with mobility systems, the associated social aspects and environmental impacts are equally important, particularly in present days when the world’s population has already exceeded 7.7 billion [2]. Easily, this implies highly complex mobility situations, which consequently require well-managed and sustainable mobility systems. One of the recent trends nowadays is to have a working-living environment whereby people can minimize traveling since all their needs are designed to be within the same place [3]. While the luxury of this concept may be nice, they are mostly applicable for new developments, and hence other established populated areas or townships [4] will have to deal with the present-day issues related to mobility system.

From the point of view of the governments, it would be ideal for them if their citizens have access to different places for various purposes ranging from work to leisure. There are many factors that must be considered in satisfying the needs of the citizens. They include, for example, status of income, distance, geographical conditions, emissions, etc. For cities, it is usual to have a range of choice of public transportations. On the other hand, rural areas, depending on the government, are sometimes left out, leaving the community to have to figure out their modes of transportation. This would be worse, particularly for the low-income citizens. In Malaysia, there are still areas where public transportation is not accessible to people in certain rural areas.

For developed countries, short-distance transportation for rural areas relies on the heavy taxes imposed on the income of the citizens. Figure 1.1 shows a single-coach train observed in Austria, which was intended to cater for short-distance travel for people in rural areas. The decision for single-coach might have been made in view of the low volume passengers for that area. At the same time, the train operator may probably have to bear some hefty cost due to the low number of passengers. In addition, there is also a need for the operator to coordinate the train traffic in order to accommodate for this small local train network which is sharing the tracks of a bigger train rail network.

Fig. 1.1
figure 1

A single-coach train in Europe serving rural area for short-distance travel

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While the railway systems are just an example, the mobility systems involve also personal vehicles such as cars, motorcycles, bicycles and many others. These are basically individual machines that can be purchased in the free market in most countries. Since anyone can buy or rent them, their numbers can be uncontrollable, leading to problems such as traffic jams, poor mobility, and high emissions. Those are daily problems that people in the cities are facing. Occasionally, such as during big festivals, like in Malaysia, mass traffic jams at inter-city highways have always been anticipated [5]. This is because during such festivals, people in the cities, especially Kuala Lumpur, would concurrently return to hometown for the celebrations. In this circumstance, it would be common that traffic is almost at a standstill sometimes for more than 10 km on the highway. The neighboring country, Indonesia, had even worse experience when coming to festival seasons. In 2016, it was reported that 12 people died of dehydration and exhaustion while sitting in heavy traffic, which filled up three lanes for several days on the island of Java [6].

In controlling the ownership of individual vehicles, the government of Singapore has a quota system, through the Certificates of Entitlement [7], for which citizens must bid for in order to legally own a vehicle. Such a system, along with various other charges, is imposed because the country is small and has an extremely high population density. Consequently, number of vehicles in the country can be controlled and can be matched with the desired traffic.

Equally important are the pedestrian systems. They are vital in promoting the habit of walking within a community area. There so many benefits of good pedestrian systems. They can be helpful in easing road traffic. More importantly, they could reduce emission and conserve fuel that is resulted from the use of motored vehicles. At the same time, they can be instrumental in promoting a healthy lifestyle. An exemplary pedestrian system in Malaysia is the Canopy Walk at Bandar Sunway [8].

While pedestrian systems are usually intended for relatively short-distance travel, bicycles have greater capability in term of distance and speed. Like pedestrians, bicycles do not consume fuel. The power source and engine for bicycle is the human body. As a matter of fact, cycling is more efficient than any other methods of travel, including walking. In some cities, there are more bicycles than any other vehicles. The trend is due to various promoting factors, usually due to the influence of the government. It is common nowadays to see bicycle paths in many countries; they are mainly intended for recreational use such as the one shown in Fig. 1.2.

Fig. 1.2
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Typical recreational bicycle paths in Malaysia

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When the number of bicycles is high, the associated arising issue would be in managing the traffic in ensuring safety and smoothness of the journey. On safety, it is not just about the cyclists, but also for others such as pedestrians and other road users. The initiatives taken in some developed countries in promoting the use of bicycles are applaudable. Belgium, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have, for example, developed freeways dedicated to bicycles, which connect cities [9]. Here, the freeways are intended for long-distance traffic, just for bicycles. The bicycle freeway network in Belgium spans for over 1500 km. In Denmark, it is reported that its investment in a total network of 45 routes of cycle superhighways has resulted in a socioeconomic surplus of €765 million, partly due to improved health, fewer days of sick leave and less time wasted in traffic jams [10].

1.3 The Importance of Energy Efficient Systems

At present days, the ambition of countries in providing reliable, affordable and clean energy, while growing their economies, has been expressed in the Paris Agreement [11]. This agreement has a goal of limiting global increase in temperature to below 2 °C. The temperature change, which is very well known as global warming, is a long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system, due to various effects. A main contributor to the climate change is the build-up of greenhouse gases, which are trapped in the atmosphere. The highest share of greenhouse gases is water vapor. The second main contributor to greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide emissions, which is more related to human activities. Primarily derived from the combustion of fossil fuels, carbon dioxide emissions have risen dramatically since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Most of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from top world economies, primarily China, the United States, and the European Union; the per capita greenhouse gas emissions are highest in the United States and Russia [12].

The transportation sector contributes 27% of global carbon dioxide emissions [13]. In addition, diesel vehicles emit short-lived black carbon, which is also known as soot, a consequence of incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. While soot is also a contributor to global warming, it is also a major component of particulate matter, the air pollutant most closely associated with increased air-pollution related mortality and morbidity.

In reducing emission from transportation, one of the biggest potential is through the avoidance of the use of carbon fuel through electrification of vehicles. Even if the electric power plants are still using fossil fuel, this could be advantageous in the sense that the emission is concentrated at limited places and therefore can be treated more effectively. This is still better than having widespread vehicles releasing emissions in cities or at any places they travel through. Further improvements can be achieved when the sources of fuel for power generation are shifted to renewable energy. Presently, as shown in Table 1.1, several countries have already pledged to phase out conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, in favor of electric vehicle. Although there have been critics on the achievability of such plan, most of the countries are serious and highly committed in their plans. It is clear that internal combustion engine vehicles will be phased slowly out in many countries.

Table 1.1 Countries that are banning conventional vehicles with internal combustion engines
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In relation to mobility systems, energy efficiency would be regarded as a high priority. Energy-efficient mobility systems envision transportation future that is safe, affordable, efficient, and accessible. In achieving this, research and development (R&D) will be required in various aspects, namely on the vehicle, traveler, infrastructure, and technology solutions that would lead to increase in mobility energy productivity for individuals and businesses. In relation to this, at present, futurists are in favor of electric (battery) vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. Also, not to forget, the flying cars are presently at their inception. It may be a matter of time before they overcome their barriers. Companies like Uber are looking forward to utilizing them in the near future [27].

Strong supports from the stakeholders are vital in research and development that studies the significance of disruptive forces such as automated, connected, electric and shared vehicles on energy consumption in transportation. At a glance, reduction in energy consumption could be attained through straightforward approaches such as ride-sharing, smooth driving (instead of sudden acceleration), small-sizing of vehicles, and shortening of travel distance. In addition, joint efforts with researchers and different stakeholders are very important in order to understand better how to make use of disrupted technologies in achieving energy-efficient mobility systems.

1.4 Summary

Today’s mobility systems are very complex as it serves communities of various backgrounds and needs. The trends of mobility systems keep changing over time due to increased challenges related to the increase in human population and growth in technologies and economies. At the same time, the world is facing problems mainly in terms of energy and environment. Global warming is well acknowledged by the society but the appropriate mitigation actions are still lacking. In a bigger picture, the sustainability of systems in the society needs constant improvement. Hence, from the point of view of mobility systems, continuous research and development is required in order to ensure that they are able to cope with the challenges of the future.