Urban Transport Infrastructure November 2018 Urban Transport Infra November 2018 | Page 64

Industry Events
InnoTrans 2018: Lessons from the International
Railways Event InnoTrans 2018, Berlin, Germany
InnoTrans 2018 is over for another two years, but this year’s edition of the enormous transport trade fair
again provided an excellent window into the technology that is changing the transport industry.
Here, Intelligent Transport recaps a fascinating event and highlights its top five lessons.
- Intelligent Transport | www.intelligenttransport.com
1. A sustainable future is essential
Sustainability was one of the key
themes of this year’s InnoTrans.
From the vehicles to the services
being
offered
upon
them,
manufacturers and operators alike are
investing in developing transport
solutions that are sustainable both in
terms of environmental factors and in
business terms.
2. Innovation is rife
InnoTrans yet again proved that
technological advancement is at the
forefront of the rail and public
transport industries. As the world’s
transport networks continue to
evolve, and their importance in
building smarter cities becomes ever
more
evident,
the
industry’s
development cycle is becoming
tighter to keep up with demand. At
the heart of this is the industry’s
desire to digitalise as many of its
services as possible, from keeping up
to date with bus arrivals to fully-
fledged
MaaS
implementations.
Digitalisation is the tool that will
enable the on-demand, multimodal
future, and the progress being made is
quite staggering.
WWW.URBANTRANSPORTNEWS.COM
3. Commuter experience is king
From entire new vehicles to arm
rests and seats, 2018’s InnoTrans
exhibitors showed that the passenger
experience is still one of the top
concerns for transport operators around
the world. Travellers increasingly
expect the same quality of life and
comfort that they would experience in
their own homes wherever they are,
and especially on transport. The
interiors,
infotainment
services,
network technology and accessibility
solutions on display at InnoTrans was a
demonstration that the transport
industry is meeting the challenge in
improving passenger experience, while
showing that innovation cannot stand
still regardless of progress.
4. Multimodality is key to the future of
transport
In her welcome address to the
gathered delegates in Messe Berlin’s
Palais am Funkturm, European
Commissioner for Transport reinforced
the message that 2018 is the year of
multimodality – and the days that
followed only served to emphasise that
point. Multimodality is the only way to
fulfill the first- and last-mile transport
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needs of passengers across the world’s
urban transit networks, whether that’s
bike-to-train-to bike or any other
combination of modes. The fact of the
matter is that transport is becoming
gradually more attractive to investors,
enabling more modes of personal
transport, like electric bikes or scooters,
available for public use throughout our
cities. Links to stations, and from
there, rail links to city hubs, can only
improve in the next few years.
5. Mass rapid transit must remain the
backbone of future mobility
For all the industry’s talk of
technologies like flying taxis and
hyperloop, traditional mass rapid
transit remains one of the most potent
weapons in a city’s arsenal for reducing
congestion, improving air quality and
increasing mobility. The electrification
of mass transit and the introduction of
alternative fuels is making cities
greener, but has a potential knock-on
effect on availability; combining this
trend with a drive to get cars off the
roads, it will be interesting to see how
the capacity of transport networks in
the world’s cities holds up.
Urban Transport Infrastructure | November 2018