There has been a lot of discussion on the concept of a smart city in all avenues of public debate. The most outstanding issue has been that one of infrastructure and how it affects the efficiency on the transportation mode that actually needs to be smart in one way or another. The most expected outcome out of the upcoming cities happens to be their development based on the enthusiasm that is highly expected.
Every city is expected to be on par with the utilities which are up-graded to the expected level. The administration of these cities should ensure that the utilities are met for the sake of public safety. It is basically the responsibility of policymakers to ensure that whatever decisions they reach, should be based on the kind of benefits the residents are supposed to gain out of the service provision. What actually matters is a scenario whereby the return on investment is felt. The most affluent answer to the many questions being asked is whether the infrastructure that affects transportation has a well-aligned strategy. The inclusion of Information Communications Technology (ICT) has offered a much-desired remedy to the question since it has brought about the element of competitiveness and challenge.
Enhanced Effectiveness in Infrastructure
For any smart city to be effective in terms of strategy, infrastructure is the keyword. Based on the assumptions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it pays more than three times to invest in infrastructure. Based on the same report, the population of the world depends on the cities with estimates of up to half the population. There are calculated estimates that by the year 2050, there will be a new set of infrastructure in place contrary to what exists today. When dealing with goods, smart transport is the way to go for growth and competitiveness to be achieved. The smartness of the transportation system is an impetus to urban population growth and how it can be managed. The most worrying trend is that, by the same year 2050, the emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) will have doubled on a global scale, no wonder there is a great concern about the green transport project. Smart transport will be one of the best contributors to green transport and sustainability. For this to be realized there will be a great deal of efficiencies, reduced congestion, and improved mobility. To most people, this is just but a rhetoric scenario in the quest to develop a smart city.
Connect People Globally
It is indeed the work of transportation to create a connection of people to the rest of the world. All the communities that are local will be linked and there will be the creation of markets and as such trade will be enhanced to the expectations of the concerned entities. For development to be realized, there ought to be effective transportation. This does not stop at that, but there will be a lot that will be expected in terms of future generations’ empowerment. This is very true because sustainability in the transportation sector, simply means that infrastructure and services will be provided in a manner that will ensure that people and goods will develop in an economic or social sense. The development is supposed to factor in important issues such as efficiency, accessibility, safety, resilience, and affordability, in a manner that the levels of carbon dioxide are minimized for a reduced effect on what impacts the environment.
Address Environmental Issues
Taking the path of ecology, despite the fact that transportation should be smart, comes with all the challenges. There is a great deal of environmental degradation, health implications, and global warming. The benefits of the smart transportation of goods should be felt on a larger scale. Road transportation is one of the greatest polluters of the environment and any necessary measures to curb it are most welcome. It is therefore imperative that the national government ensures that the level of greenhouse emissions is managed. The policymakers of most of the organizations are now more than ever concerned with checking the trend since they have actually come up with mechanisms to use green transport as discussed hereunder.
There are a number of eco-friendly methods that could be instituted. First, we can simply ride a bicycle instead of driving a car which involves the burning of fossil fuel. It is also a way of keeping fit as an individual. Secondly, we could use an electric bike which does not emit dangerous gases to the environment. Some people have resorted to the use of electric vehicles, green trains, electric motorcycles, multiple occupant vehicles, hybrid cars, service and freight vehicles, hybrid buses, and pedestrians. Green transport has many benefits some of which are safe-guarding the environment from pollution, sustainability of the economy, improvement of the status of health, and money-saving initiative. Very government, therefore, has a responsibility to set the right path for achieving the best fit for its smart transportation needs. There must be tangible goals, indicators and targets to be realized in the correct frame of time. The achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will heavily rely on transportation that is sustainable. The point of focus will be on ensuring that the government will achieve its resolve without emitting dangerous gases to the environment, in the name of providing transportation. Instead, there should be food security and proper health care, and achievement of properly set transportation goals.
