Connected technologies have revolutionized modern life in countless ways, and they are now starting to change the way cities work. The “smart city” movement is gaining traction worldwide, and it’s opened up a new world of possibilities to forward-thinking municipal planners. Transportation demand management (TDM) is a key part in the emergence of smart city strategy and smart mobility around the world. The role of technology is expected to increase as ICTs continue to be integrated in cities in novel ways. With the rise of the sharing economy, new modes, and a variety of app-based mobility services, people have more choices for getting around than ever before. The challenge for planners and large employers is to optimize efficiency, and help commuters make sense of and use these new choices in safe, sustainable ways. While smart mobility often relies on technology, it is critical to develop and implement thoughtful programs and policy to support it. With those factors in mind, let’s explore a few emerging concepts around smart mobility and smart transportation. Smart Mobility at the Policy Level Smart cities are born at the municipal planning level, when city officials make a financial and philosophical commitment to building one. Specific to TDM, some examples of high-impact smart transportation policies include concepts like congestion pricing, demand-based parking fees, low-emission zones, and toll lanes on roads and highways. Congestion pricing is a strategy that sees drivers and public transit users pay a premium to access roads and services at peak times. In theory, it provides a strong disincentive for joining the traffic fray during high-volume periods, which in turn reduces congestion and crowding while facilitating the smoother flow of traffic. Similarly, demand-based parking fees are designed to maximize both space usage and availability. Low-emission zones are becoming popular in European cities. They are designed to restrict or prevent the entry of high-pollution vehicles to low-emission urban areas, thus cutting pollution and improving local air quality. In North America and elsewhere, toll lanes are appearing with greater frequency. Several different toll models are used, with one of the most common requiring drivers to pay to use express highway lanes. Vehicles carrying a certain minimum number of passengers can be exempted from the fee, providing a financial motivation for carpooling. There are many other examples of such policies. For instance, some cities use license plate restrictions to limit vehicle use on certain days, while others use entry regulations to cut vehicle volumes and traffic congestion. The Connected Vehicle Connected sensors, known as the Internet of Things (IoT) can provide valuable data to city planners. Supported by smart programs, data from IoT can be used to further improve traffic flow and service performance. Connected devices in the IoT include the smart phones and other personal devices many of u...

The global e-sports market is set to reach new heights, according to a recent study. Total revenue for the global e-sports market will hit $1.1 billion in 2019, representing a 26.7% year-over-year growth rate compared to the $897.2 million it generated in 2018, says a new study from gaming researcher NewZoo. If e-sports can reach that level, it’ll be the first time the industry has posted earnings of $1 billion in a single year. According to NewZoo, the lion’s share of the proceeds—$456.7 million—will come byway of sponsorships that see companies paying players and venues to promote their brands. Media rights will hit $251.3 million this year, followed by advertising income of $189.2 million. Merchandise and tickets and game publisher fees will round out the spending with $103.7 million and $95.2 million in earnings, respectively. The data clearly shows what many industry watchers have known for quite some time: e-sports have officially become big business. In competitions around the globe, video game players compete in e-sports tournaments in teams or individually. They compete in a variety of games, including Madden NFL, Fortnite, Dota 2, and others. Along the way, players can make a nice living just by being among the top video game players in the world. The revenue growth is due in no small part to the industry’s rapid audience growth. In 2017, there were 335 million people interested in e-sports around the world, according to NewZoo. That figure will grow to 454 million this year and could reach 645 million in 2022. That year, total earnings is expected to hit $1.8 billion, but if the industry continues to boost its monetization opportunities, it could hit a height of $3.2 billion in 2022, NewZoo said.

China produced 794,000 new energy vehicles in 2017, a substantial rise of 53.8% from a year earlier, including 478,000 battery-electric passenger vehicles, an upsurge of 81.7% year on year, and 114,000 plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles, up 40.3% year on year, 188,000 battery-electric commercial vehicles, rising by 22.2% year on year, and 14,000 plug-in hybrid commercial vehicles, decreasing by 24.9% year on year. In 2017, new energy vehicles made up 2.7% of China’s total production and sales of automobiles (output: 29.015 million units, sales: 28.879 million units), an increase of 0.9 percentage points over the previous year. New energy vehicle ownership approximated 1.53 million units in China in 2017, basically attaining the phased target of the Planning for the Development of New Energy Vehicle during 2012-2020. It is expected that EV sales will reach 2.11 million units in 2020 with EV ownership exceeding 5 million units. Driven by rapid development of new energy vehicles, the supporting facilities like charging station and charging pile also flourish. Charging station ownership in China soared from 76 in 2010 to 6,900 in 2017 at a CAGR of 190%. The number of public charging piles skyrocketed from 1,122 to 230,000 at a CAGR of 213.9% during the same period. In addition to public charging piles, private charging pile ownership reached around 245,000 units in 2017, thus bringing the country’s total number of charging piles up to nearly 630,000. The construction of charging piles in major cities that promote new energy vehicles in China is as follows: 1. By the end of 2017, Beijing had built approximately 115,000 charging piles. There were about 80,800 charging piles for private use, around 18,800 charging piles for public use (in 2,070 open sites), and 13,000 charging piles in more than 1,500 charging/battery swap stations built for special purpose and in the public places owned by enterprises and institutions. 2. By the end of 2017, 129,986 charging/battery swap facilities had been connected to the municipal platform in Shanghai, including 25,707 pubic charging piles, 21,332 dedicated charging piles, and 82,947 private charging piles. Shanghai had a total of 161,748 new energy vehicles on a car-to-pile ratio of 1:0.81. 3. By the end of 2017, Guangdong had built 690 charging stations and 60,000 charging piles, including 38 intercity quick-charge stations and 120 intercity quick-charge piles at expressway service areas. As to industrial policies, China introduced a series of documents, such as the Circular on Issues Related to the Policy on Price of Electricity Used by EVs, the Circular on Rewarding the Construction of New Energy Vehicle Charging Facilities, and the Circular on Incentive Policies on New Energy Vehicle Charging Facilities and Strengthening the Popularization and Application of New Energy Vehicles during the 13th Five-year Plan Period (Draft for Comment), encouraging the construction of charging piles and allocating central fiscal ...