Hi! The latest digest from MISTO is with you again. Today we are talking about urban mobility, which is undergoing a significant transformation under the pressure of global challenges, crises and increasing transport flows.

How the Smart Mobility concept comes to life in practical solutions and why 5G technology can reboot the vision of public transport is covered in the sixth issue of the Resilient City Digest. 

Smart City Innovations

The Role of 5G in the Future of Urban Mobility

The deployment of 5G is the foundation for a new transport ecosystem. Within the European project Mobilities for EU, where Dresden has become a testing ground, 27 innovative systems are being implemented: autonomous shuttles, robotic EV charging, intelligent e-buses and sensor networks for traffic management.

5G technology enables:

• real-time processing of video and sensor data (edge processing);
• remote control of autonomous transport with latency under 10 milliseconds;
• large-scale IoT networks that monitor traffic, environmental conditions and incident rates.

The EU aims to reduce transport-related emissions by 90 percent by 2050, and 5G is an essential tool for smart public transport and next-generation urban infrastructure. Even today, 5G networks are integrating Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology and demonstrating real reductions in peak load and CO₂ emissions.

5G is moving from a standard technological upgrade to a defining factor in urban mobility. Cities that are implementing 5G now gain a strategic advantage: precise movement analytics, a stable energy grid, efficient transport systems and sustainable development.

The “15-Minute City” Concept and Its Impact on Urban Mobility

Smart Mobility has a significant impact on changes in the transport sector. Thanks to innovative solutions, the urban mobility landscape is evolving, and moving around the city becomes more efficient, more inclusive and closer to citizens.

For example, the widely known urban model of the 15 minute city has long moved from theory to a practical approach to sustainable urban planning. Its core idea is that all essential services such as education, healthcare, retail and public transport are accessible to residents on foot or by bicycle within 15 minutes.

This contributes to:

1. Reducing long trips and lowering CO₂ emissions due to decreased dependence on private cars. 
2. Strengthening the local economy, as people are more likely to visit areas with high accessibility to education and retail.
3. Improving residents’ health and safety through reduced CO₂ emissions and less time spent commuting.

These conclusions were confirmed by mobility research in Barcelona, where the city’s so called superblocks have demonstrated how spatial planning can reduce congestion and encourage active mobility.

Research spotlight

Europe’s Smart Mobility Index: What the Numbers Reveal

European cities are actively transitioning to Smart Mobility, where transport, data and urban infrastructure operate as a single system. To assess how prepared different cities are for the new era of mobility, PwC conducted a large scale study of 25 European cities.

The results showed that digitalisation and investment in smart solutions are shaping a new standard of quality of life and strengthening the competitiveness of cities. Here are the key insights from the study:

• The main trend is bicycle mobility. The fastest development of cycling infrastructure is seen in Lviv, Warsaw and Krakow.
• The level of process digitalisation has a direct impact on reducing congestion and operational costs.
• Some regions, such as several Czech cities including Brno, Ostrava and Prague, as well as Tallinn, stand out for their accessibility and high share of public transport use, reaching 69 percent of daily trips. Thanks to fleet modernisation and various incentive programs, city authorities motivate citizens to choose public transport.

The PwC study clearly shows that systematic pilot programs, cross sector cooperation and active citizen engagement form the foundation of successful mobility and accelerate the transition to truly smart and resilient cities.

How Copenhagen Advances Low-Carbon Urban Mobility

The capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, is an example of a systemic approach to integrating different areas of urban life to achieve a single goal: reducing carbon emissions. The city has already cut its CO₂ emissions by 75 percent compared to 2005 levels.

Here is how Copenhagen has achieved these results:

• 45 percent of all trips are made by bicycle. Every year the city invests €10 million in expanding the cycling network and continues to increase funding as demand keeps growing.
• Copenhagen is actively electrifying its public transport. By the end of 2025 the entire bus fleet is expected to become electric, which significantly reduces noise levels and emissions.
• In parallel, the city is expanding green spaces and improving sustainable waste management. Copenhagen has one of the most efficient sorting systems in Europe with ten types of containers, minimises food waste in schools and adopts innovative models of energy recovery.
  

At first glance, it may seem that greening or waste processing are separate fields unrelated to mobility. In reality, green corridors help reduce temperatures in the city, making walking and cycling more comfortable and safer, while sustainable waste management reduces the number of collection trips and lowers the load on road infrastructure.

The unique strength of Copenhagen’s approach lies in treating mobility not as an isolated system but as part of a broader sustainable city ecosystem, where transport, energy, green planning, waste management and climate policy operate as a single mechanism. This integrated approach is what delivers the city’s impressive environmental results.

New in MISTO: Transport Movement

The MISTO mobile app now includes the Transport Movement feature, which provides real-time monitoring of routes, arrival times, delays and available public transport alternatives.

• The feature is available in the City Services section of the app. To use it, open Services and go to Transport Movement.
• On the Stops page you can see how many minutes remain until the needed vehicle arrives.
• In the Routes tab you can view the direction of the selected route and the list of its stops.

Every update of our service reflects the current needs of the community and is based on user analytics. This functionality helps residents plan their trips around the city more efficiently, save time and improve the overall performance of the urban transport system.

Smart Mobility is the future for cities that strive for sustainable development by integrating technology, ecology and data into a single coordinated system. It represents a shift from chaotic urbanisation to thoughtful mobility, where the city evolves in harmony with people and space.

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