One of the key thrusts of the Smart Nation vision is Smart Mobility. What exactly is that? Smart Mobility represents the end result of technology integration to produce quicker and more efficient transportation systems. We recently reported on the NUS-MIT Singapore Autonomous Vehicle Initiative which represents one of the efforts targeting Smart Mobility.
The aim is that there is a day where you are not accounting traffic into your commute time, or you do not need to wait extra time to find a spot on the bus or train.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore sympathises with this vision and has taken action to improve Singapore’s research capacities in the area of Smart Mobility. LTA has teamed up with universities, expert organisations, and industry professionals to conduct mobility research.
This would include trials of policies, applications, and sustainable practices, relating to technology innovation in transport. 12 International and local academics have formed a LTA Research Advisory Panel to help guide the objectives and directions of the research being carried out. The aim is to drive innovation in areas such as active mobility, electro-mobility, self-driving vehicles, geotechnical engineering and condition-based maintenance.
“Even as Singapore continues developing into a liveable city with a high quality of life, it also means creating a well-connected people-centred land transport system that meets the diverse needs of commuters with less reliance on cars. To achieve this, we have to step up our capability and investment in the area of research, so that we are able to harness the latest technology and create smart transport choices,” stated Mr Chew Men Leong, Chief Executive, LTA.
Three universities have come on board with LTA’s Smart Mobility Research efforts: National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). Each have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signifying an agreement to the collaboration with LTA.
Dr Lee Der-Horng, Director of NUS-LTA Transport Research Centre, Professor from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUS Faculty of Engineering, emphasized that the centre will concentrate on ‘the design and development of a new community-based mobility system’.
As for NTU, Professor Lam Khin Yong, Chief of Staff and Vice-President (Research), their experience with commercial vehicle industry partners has contributed to their research capabilities in electromobility, self-driving vehicles and secure wireless communication technologies.
It is hoped that through these research partnerships, the Smart Nation key thrust for Smart Mobility will be addressed. Singapore’s landscape provides a prime test bed for smart mobility research initiatives as the nation has built some of the most efficient transport systems in the world. Yet, Singapore strives to be better and improve the commuting experience for all.
