Smart Mobility in Asia: Emerging Trends, Opportunities and Challenges

21—24 September | Bangkok, Thailand

To continue the deeper appreciation of the situation of each country when it comes to developing smart mobility, CALD in its Smart Mobility Workshop held in April had come up with a plan for a baseline study that would gather the best practices in Asia, as well as identify emerging mobility trends and issues in the region. It produced an outline for the study as well, and by late September, CALD was ready to get it going.

Adopting as theme “Smart Mobility In Asia: Emerging Trends, Opportunities, and Challenges,” CALD organized the Smart Mobility Writeshop in Bangkok, with the aim of drafting and finalizing preparations for the study. Participants included transportation experts as well as representatives of CALD member-parties and local governments who discussed smart-mobility updates in the region and shared best practices in terms of local government plans and actions in four target countries: Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Later, the participants were briefed by a Metropolitan Rapid Transit representative on the concept of the Mangkorn station and how the MRT operates in historic areas and reduces traffic, as well as traveled from Mangkorn to Isara Station so they could see firsthand how the MRT facilitates the flow of people.

During the two-day writeshop, local government officials and the designated writers presented the general transportation situation in key urban areas in the four countries, provided an overview of the national and local policies that promote smart-mobility solutions, and shared the challenges in implementing policies and smart-mobility interventions.

For instance, Chala Anusuriya, assistant to the deputy leader of the Democrat Party, said that Thailand has a 20-year national strategy called “Thailand 4.0,” which aims to transform the country into a high-income nation and improve the quality of life in urban centers. Smart mobility is emphasized in this plan together with smart governance, smart living, smart environment, among others. But the success of the implementation, Chala noted, depends on the leadership and political will of the head of the government and head of the planning agency.

Leadership, indeed, drives mobility ideas to fruition. In the case in Trenggalek City, Indonesia. Mayor Mochamad Nur Arifin explained that his motivation to create a smart city is based on the principles of Soekarno, the first President of Indonesia, who emphasized public welfare. The mayor said that while he oversees the implementation process, he values and follows a bottom-up approach to engage and empower communities and provide affordable and accessible public transport. The expansion of bike lanes, smart benches, and multiple wifi zones are some of the projects he has already implemented in Trenggalek to help it transform into a smart, green, and climate-neutral city.

AltMobility PH Director Ira Cruz, for his part, said that while Indonesia and Thailand have shown a vision in terms of smart-mobility plans and are enjoying the benefits of good governance and effective leadership, the same is hard to imagine for the Philippines. The sad reality in Metro Manila alone, he said, is that 80 percent of road space are occupied by private vehicles even as 88 percent of the metropolis’s residents do not even own private vehicles. Cruz added that while there are policies intended to address the challenges of transportation and congestion in the city, these are suggestive rather than prescriptive. Still, he said that the continuing discussion of stakeholders, as well as the active participation of civil society and progressive ideas of local governments, can help change mindsets in mobility development.

Over in Taiwan, the push for innovative urban development and efficient urban ecosystems has been happening for years. Yet it still suffers various mobility challenges such as unnecessary traffic lights and traffic mismanagement, said Ellie Kan, Sales Manager of the International Division of the Institute for Information Industry, Smart City Taiwan.

Kan brought up three examples to show how even in a dynamic and forward-thinking country like Taiwan, mobility systems can be uneven. Taipei, for example, operates an MRT that is very popular and accessible to most residents. It also has other high-quality public transportation options like buses and shareable bikes and scooters. Kaohsiung meanwhile is “blessed with as many transit resources, [and] has continued to make leaps and bounds in recent years with regard to its smart mobility options,” she said. The Kaohsiung City Government has also been actively promoting electric scooters and vehicles (EV), she continued, and starting July 2022, it would be implementing a law that requires every new building to provide a space for EV-charging stations.

CALD’s smart-mobility baseline study is envisioned to become a reference guide for local governments and smart-mobility advocates. Pointed out Thai MP and Democrat Party Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Kiat Sittheeamorn during the welcome dinner for the writeshop participants: “It must be said that the principles and goals of a smart city in general, and of smart mobility in particular, are very much in line with the values of CALD as a liberal and democratic network of political parties. As liberals and democrats, we are the most receptive to change brought about by technological developments.”

“We are doing this because we want a better quality of life for our people,” he also said. “After all, the people should be front and centre in all