Why Smart Mobility in Big Cities Is Necessary

Smart mobility solutions are increasingly necessary for cities that seek to avoid the problems that the population experiences when moving around them. Easy, convenient and contactless services that save people time and help them have safer commutes are becoming a necessity. 

According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Mexico City ranks fifth as the most populous city in the world, with a total of 21,581,000 inhabitants and 5,471,904 vehicles in circulation, all within a limited territorial space. This causes long waiting times in traffic and difficulty finding parking spaces, increases accidents and heightens stress in the population, to mention just a few related problems. 

Today, public transport is insufficient for citizens. In the busiest hours, the transport system is completely full, causing people to remain standing due to the lack of seats, risking serious accidents. In 30 percent of the time, long waiting times in traffic are typically caused by people looking for a parking space, and on average it takes a person about 10 minutes to find one. Due to the lack of space, 20 percent of these people park in prohibited areas, such as corners, crosswalks or in double rows. This has led governments to invest large sums of public resources in the development of construction projects that serve as alternate routes and reduce traffic times.

According to El Universal, a person who lives in Mexico City spends up to 45 days a year in traffic. Considering that life expectancy in Mexico is 75 years, a person loses about 12 percent of his life (nine years) in the middle of traffic. Mobility companies likeParkimovil are helping to address the issue. Since 2011, Parkimovil, a mobility company that stands out for its innovative DNA, has been changing the way parking meters, parking lots and access controls have traditionally worked.

Time is one of the most important values ​​for  human beings, which is also a fair value because we all have the same time. We all move to big cities to have more opportunities, accepting that our time is going to be taken away. Parkimovil’s goal is to be in all the spaces that take away people's time, seeking to give them back those little lost moments, so that they can invest them in what they love the most. 

Mobility Data 

The most popular opinion among consumers of smart mobility applications and technology is that they use it because it is easier, faster and avoids wasted time in the places they frequent, such as residential areas, parking lots and parking meters. This helps them get to their next destination in less time. Also, by facilitating e payments through apps, establishments reduce spending and pollution caused by the use of paper for parking tickets, printed payment receipts and more. 

It is estimated that by 2050, 60 percent of the world's population will live in cities. The need to convert conventional cities into smart cities is urgent; mobility must be fast, safe and efficient. 

To that end, the city council of Puebla, together with Parkimovil, began to implement a digital parking meter program in the city center, placing 4,638 parking spaces. The aim is to improve traffic in the capital, in addition to providing greater security, both for citizens and visitors, improving services and reactivating the economy of the capital. 

Today, the development of this project has not only served as an impetus to migrate to a more sustainable and equitable city, it has also made the city more technological and modernized, promoting the use of mobile phones not only as a communication channel, but also as a means for financial transactions, bringing technology closer to municipalities, reducing the environmental impact caused by the use of machines and the waste of paper  for tickets, avoiding the appropriation of public roads by informal commerce and keeping spaces cleaner. 

Without a doubt, this new program is having success, reducing roadway complaints by up to 81 percent. Currently, the money obtained after the collection from  parking meters in the downtown area of ​​the city will be used to plant trees and build safe pedestrian crossings, increasing the accessibility of the streets and improving pedestrian safety.

The quality of urban mobility has a direct impact on its inhabitants, and there is no doubt that citizens are willing to adapt to new solutions when they solve problems in their daily commutes. Additionally, concerns about the environment stir up the adoption of technology that reduces the use of paper and other resources. These considerations — among others — have created momentum for innovation and development of technology for the mobility of the future, to improve it and to  provide the best experience for users, transcending smart mobility. In this regard, mobility apps are just the beginning of smart cities, providing citizens with technology through the use of smartphones, reducing waiting times when moving around the city and offering different secure mobility solutions in a single device.