Steering Smart Mobility Services: Governance and Accountability Challenges for English Local Authorities

Abstract

There are different narratives surrounding smart mobility, which can sometimes even appear as opposing (Lyons, 2018). Its fiercest proponents are promising versions of a revolutionised future, where users have on-demand access to multiple mobility options and are freed from car ownership, while transport systems become carbon neutral and congestion is a problem of a bygone age (Sherman, 2019). At the same time, the plausibility of such visions of the future has been questioned, with critics warning against the potentially negative impacts of the widespread adoption of privately provided services and stressing the need for state intervention to avoid exacerbating ‘classic’ transport issues such as congestion and unequal access to services, as well as creating new challenges such as uncontrolled market monopolies (Docherty, Marsden, & Anable, 2018). Drawing from these narratives, this chapter explores how officials from English transport authorities see state intervention evolve in the future, and what accountability arrangements are necessary to achieve the level of steering they envisage. Based on interviews with local authority officials, this chapter shows that the officials’ views generally align more closely with the narrative of providers than with that of critics. Although different local authorities envisage varying levels of control and steering of smart mobility, they all expect new services to improve the local transport provision. This chapter also discusses the barriers local authorities face in shaping local accountability arrangements.

Citation

Moscholidou, I. (2020), "Steering Smart Mobility Services: Governance and Accountability Challenges for English Local Authorities", Paulsson, A. and Sørensen, C.H. (Ed.) Shaping Smart Mobility Futures: Governance and Policy Instruments in times of Sustainability Transitions, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 19-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-650-420201002