What is Emerging Mobility?
“Emerging mobility” is a term used to describe new services and technology that are helping people or goods move from one place to another. Examples include:
- micromobility (e.g. electric scooters and electric bike rentals)
- robots/drones that deliver goods
- ride hailing (Uber, Lyft)
The transportation landscape will continue to change as new services and technologies are introduced. The MPO sees this as an opportunity to improve the transportation system to assist people with getting around the County.
Advances in communication and automation technology result in new mobility options, ranging from automated and connected transport, electric vehicles, ridesharing, and micro-mobility, to flying cars and space travel. These changes may be disruptive and transformational, with impacts to safety, vehicle ownership, travel capacity, vehicle miles traveled, land-use, transportation design, future investment demands, supply chain logistics, economy, and the workforce. Implementation of all seven goals of the Florida Transportation Plan can be furthered through both the transformation of major corridors and hubs and the expansion of transportation infrastructure to embrace and support the adoption of emerging mobility.
Martin MPO recognizes the important influence of emerging mobility on the multi-modal transportation system and includes related planning studies, collaboration efforts, research, or other activities in their Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP). One of the ways the Martin MPO will be addressing this is through an Emerging Mobility Readiness Study that will study the impacts of the advances in communication and automation technology that result in new mobility operations, ranging from connected and automated vehicles, electric vehicles, ridesharing, and micro-mobility. This study will also evaluate Martin County’s preparedness to adapt and adopt new technologies. Recommendations on how the County and local governments can better plan for the integration of emerging mobility will be addressed.
