We asked David Coleman, Director, Automotive Strategy & Business Design at Deloitte, to share his predictions for mobility in 2022.

“While 2021 has been remarkable for mobility and smart cities, 2022 promises to accelerate the industry’s transformation. Throughout the past year, leading smart cities pushed for safe and efficient alternative forms of transportation via expanded low emission zones, bike lanes, pedestrian-only areas, EV charging, and other initiatives.”

“Meanwhile, consumers returned to mobility services in force, with ride hailing passenger-trips at levels exceeding 2019 peaks in many cities.  However, the rebound in demand continues to meet with a shortage of drivers, hindering the experience with longer waits, steep peak fares, and frequent cancellations – and leading customers to search for transportation alternatives.”  

“Other mobility options continue to proliferate, helped in part by the crisis.  When established e-scooter players suspended service during lockdown, new e-scooter firms seized the opportunity to blanket cities with their scooters just as lockdowns eased.  Today, more mobility options exist in many large cities than before the pandemic.” 

“In 2022 and beyond, mobility companies, smart cities, OEMs, and tech players will collaborate to extract value from the vast data generated by vehicles and consumers.  Data privacy and governance are a critical first step, as partners develop guidelines for data usage, sharing and sale.  Then, collaborations can marry the hardware expertise of OEMs with the algorithms of software and tech players – the result could generate cost and design efficiencies, as well as new, and monetizable, benefits to the customer.”

“Finally, sustainability and climate change will progressively fuel tighter government regulations in the coming years, driven by growing awareness and prioritization by consumers.  Our research indicates 71% of consumers believe climate change is an emergency, and 67% want their government to do more to combat climate change.  Mobility players, smart cities, and OEMs are leading stakeholders in the effort to reduce our carbon footprint in the coming years and beyond.”

You can explore more predictions from 24 global thought leaders and visionaries who are shaping the future of mobility, liveable cities and sustainable Transport, in our Global Thought Leaders Predictions for Mobility 2022 report.