"Mobility Workshop in Ankara in 2040" Was Held

Within the scope of SMART Ankara Sustainable Urban Transport Plan (SKUp) Project supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey and implemented by Ankara Metropolitan Municipality General Directorate of EGO and coordinated by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, After the 1st Citizen Information Event on Ankara's sustainable transport policies, a meeting was held to evaluate the future transport scenarios of the capital and to introduce the project to stakeholders. After the Citizen Information Event, 2nd Stakeholder Workshop was organized with the title Ankara in 2040 in order to evaluate the future transportation scenarios of the capital and to introduce the project to the stakeholders.

The 2nd Stakeholder Workshop, the second of the Sustainable Urban Transportation Plan meetings, was attended by Esma DİLEK, Deputy Director General of Communications of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Dr. Akın KISA, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Reşit Serhat TAŞKINSU, Secretary General of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, Dr. Taylan ENGİN, Deputy General Manager of EGO, Yiğit KİPMAN, CEO of HOP Scooter, and Dr. Volkan Recai ÇETİN, Transportation Planner and Economist.

Esma DİLEK, Deputy Director General of Communication of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, who participated as a panelist in the "Mobility in 2040-Panel Discussion" section of the workshop and gave information about the key elements that will play a role in the transportation and mobility solutions of the future, pointed out that there has been a serious paradigm shift in transportation in the last decade and mentioned the concepts of "Smart City" and "Intelligent Transportation".

Referring to the projections on transportation and mobility and the work carried out and planned by the Ministry, Dilek shared the projections of the sectoral and academic community on transportation and mobility in the perspective of 2040 and beyond; the nine basic comparison criteria in a study conducted by Litman in 2013, taking into account today's conditions and the work carried out and planned by the Ministry.

Mentioning some critical challenges in achieving the set targets or implementing policies, Dilek said, "The plans and activities should include solutions to these challenges. As a result, the main issues to be focused on mobility and transportation in 2040 and beyond are; making cities suitable for human nature by providing better accessibility, disruptive and innovative technologies and legal regulations to increase sustainability by reducing negative impacts such as energy consumption, traffic congestion, traffic accidents and social inequalities, and creating more balanced, holistic and participatory urban transportation plans."

In his speech, Dilek touched upon the issues of "change in the definition of transportation", "transportation planning targets", "transportation modes considered", "widespread impact factors", "performance indicators", "consideration of transportation demand management (TDM)", "transportation improvement strategies", "impact on sustainability", "level of technology use", which stand out in future transportation and mobility studies among the trends in the sectoral and academic community.

Touching briefly on how technology will change our cities and even our perceptions of transportation in the next 10 years, Dilek;

• "Artificial intelligence and machine learning methods will play an important role in improving transportation systems and new mobility methods.
• Artificial intelligence and digitalization will become more prominent, and smart intersections, smart traffic management and connected mobility solutions will become widespread.
• Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs), MaaS solutions, Electrification and Clean Mobility methods, Big Data Analysis Tools and analytical planning processes will be important milestones. Mobility systems will diversify through the integration of autonomous vehicles and driverless technology.
• We will hear more about digital twin, virtual and augmented reality concepts in transportation solutions and applications. Augmented and virtual reality and digital twin technologies will be effective in smart city transformations.
• It will replace wireless communication technologies such as 5G and 6G in improving user/passenger experiences.
• New transportation methods such as drones, air taxi, hyperloop will start to enter our lives." explained.

Dilek mentioned that there are a number of critical challenges in achieving the goals set by public institutions and organizations on transportation and mobility or in implementing policies;

• "Conflicting objectives and policies
• Lack of awareness and consciousness of road users
• Interoperability issues
• Lack of infrastructure
• Limited data availability
• User/Public acceptance
• Privacy and security concerns
• Legislative gaps or implementation difficulties
• Lack of public financing".

He emphasized that plans and activities should include solutions to address these challenges.

SMART Ankara Project aims to expand the use of micromobility vehicles in Ankara, encourage the use of public transportation and prevent air pollution. In the event, 7 different scenarios out of 10 different sustainable transportation scenarios that are widely applied and leading in the world were discussed.