© The College of Liberal Arts, Temple University PA USA
Effective institutions with the necessary powers, skills and responsibilities are the most critical requirements for ensuring ‘best practice’ in managing urban mobility. Transport systems in many cities have grown complex and fragmented in their management and operation. When urban transport systems are left to market forces and the private sector, a city authority can have relatively little influence over the way they are run. Conversely, a city authority with the legislative power and adequate staffing to manage public transport, traffic management and control, and road infrastructure is able to formulate and implement policies in a planned and effective way. But for this to be truly effective, the city has to "listen" to its citizens and the staff responsible for each aspect of city mobility need to be working together, preferably "under one roof" (as in the case of London with TfL - Transport for London).
Innovative city mayors have demonstrated that it is possible to achieve change and maintain social stability even under the most challenging of situations. City leaders in Beijing, Bogota, Bordeaux, Copenhagen, Curitiba, London, Milan, Mexico City and Paris have all implemented comprehensive urban mobility measures. Such policies require a long-term vision as development and implementation usually exceeds the political time frame of city leaders.
Read more in the gTKP Urban Mobility Topic Information Sheet on Institutions and Management.