Sustainable mobility: what technologies are changing the way we transport ourselves?

Take the helmet, check the battery, press ON, put both feet up and start traveling. No noise, no smoke, quiet street, very light on an exclusive road, at a safe speed. That could be traveling on a scooter or electric bike in Lima, but the sustainable mobility It’s still something far away.

What does it consist of? A few days ago in some countries this practice was remembered with the use of public transport, bicycles, or simply walking: any activity that leads us to not contaminate the environment, and in this technology has achieved a certain prominence.

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Luis Quispe Candia, president of Luz Ambar, tells us that this practice translates into “favor first the pedestrian, then the cyclist, mass transportation in buses and trains, freight transportation, and finally private transportation”in order to avoid environmental pollution.

How can sustainable mobility be applied in Peru?

On the one hand, the specialist was clear in pointing out that this practice that seeks to protect the environment, at least in Lima, would not work if order is not first established.

In other developed countries, they organize the city first, from the moment the streets, the urbanizations, the industrial zones, the commercial zones are generated, and only then the population begins to occupy them; But in our case not: what the emigrant population from the interior of the country has done is take over the periphery of the city and they themselves have designed their streets.”tells us.

For specialists, one of the main problems in having sustainable mobility is the lack of transportation organization. (Photo: El Comercio Archive)

Social inclusion is another factor to have transportation that does not pollute the environment. (Photo: Andina)

According to details, countries such as Japan, Holland, Norway, China and the United States have been fulfilling the ideal of sustainable mobility, despite the fact that the last two are the ones that generate the most pollution.

Another important factor is inclusion. And, as Professor Jeremy Robert tells us, sustainable mobility aims to reduce air pollution, but it goes hand in hand with another challenge, which is greater social inclusion. says the professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).

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In a city like Lima, trips become longer, walks are not safe, more than two forms of transportation are used, etc. For this reason, he points out that several strategies are being studied that involve trying to reduce the number of trips, changing travel modes and improving vehicle occupancy rates, or energy efficiency itself.

Technological changes

What role does technology play in caring for the environment? Although specialists have already pointed out that the city must first be organized, technology in the world has been providing alternatives through devices that do not emit CO2 or that change the energy source.

From electric vehicles, where vehicles evolve towards better performance, to charging systems, trip planning applications and fleet management systems”tells us Hernán Malpartida, director of corporate affairs at InRetail pharma.

Tesla is the brand leading the change towards electric cars. (Photo: pixabay.com)

On the side of electric vehicles, in recent years there have been more countries and companies (Tesla, BYD, BMW, Nissan, etc.) that are betting on this technology, which is divided into three types: hybrids, plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles. The latter is the most interesting alternative because it only uses electricity and does not emit gases that cause global warming.

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However, it has a big problem: its costs. Quispe Candia tells us that the electric battery alone costs between 35% and 40% of the total cost of the vehicle: “The problem is the cost. .

In this way, access to these vehicles is only limited to a few, which is complicated by the lack of infrastructure in Peru. But today not only electric cars are a trend, the use of renewable energy and hydrogen is also being investigated, which is even applied in trains, ships and airplanes.

Chile is one of the countries in the region that has made the most progress in using electric buses for public transportation. (Photo: gob.cl)

Even so, researcher Jeremy Robert goes further and points to public transport, for which it must be optimized “the efficiency of the system, improving vehicle occupancy rates or energy efficiency itself, that is, for example,

This happens in Chile, where there are already 2,000 electric buses operating in Santiago, and by August 10 double-decker electric buses manufactured by BYD were incorporated. Colombia is another country in the region that also implements electric buses, and in Peru, only San Isidro has a fleet of these vehicles.

Micromobility: alternative for work

When talking about sustainable mobility there is also another aspect: micromobility. That is, the use of personal mobility vehicles such as bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, with the characteristic that they even use electricity and are rechargeable.

Electric bicycles and scooters have become work tools: they travel further distance without polluting. (Photo: Diffusion)

These teams have found a space not only in private mobility. Inkafarma has been implementing a delivery service with these teams that, according to Hernán Malpartida, “They have been used to a large extent in the express service, which are deliveries between 45 and 30 minutes”. The types of vehicles used are scooters, cargobikes and electric bicycles. These circulate through Miraflores, San Isidro, Surco, among other districts.

However, in a city like Lima, its use is somewhat limited. Although one of the goals that Malpartida sets for us is that by 2024 50% of deliveries will be achieved with this modality, how would it work in places where there are no cycle lanes or exclusive lanes?

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For Jeremy Robert, coexistence with these micromobility vehicles is difficult due to the lack of infrastructure. On the one hand, they are dangerous for slower cyclists, even pedestrians, and are also exposed where there is no bike lane infrastructure.

It highlights other ways of using technology to manage mobility in a city, the use of travel information, traffic control and the use of smart traffic lights. says Robert. And not only that, another way to use technology is through mobile applications that help find the best routes.

That is, sustainable mobility does not end with the change of vehicles. The possibility of having environmentally friendly transportation depends on the change in technology and the inclusion of all people. Will we see it in Peru?

Source: Elcomercio