The ‘Present and Future of Mobility’ event organised by La Vanguardia in Madrid as part of the Dinero meetings gathered important representatives from the public and private sector to discuss existing challenges in urban and intercity mobility.

Josep Maria Martí, Chairman of Moventia, strongly underlined the urgency of this challenge by saying “we have to increase the public transport offer by at least 50% over the next five years, otherwise we won’t be able to address the mobility challenge”. Josep Maria said that mobility growth has been almost entirely absorbed by public transport, which has handled a level of demand that is 10% higher than it was in 2019. This increase has been even more noticeable in intercity services, with a 40% rise on the same year.

The first round table discussion at the event was moderated by Enric Sierra, Deputy Editor of La Vanguardia, and was attended by Ana Blanco, Deputy Assistant Director-General for Traffic of the DGT; Sonia Araujo, Director-General for Innovation, Sustainability and Digital Transformation of RENFE; and Josep Maria Martí himself.

The impact of artificial intelligence on transport management was another of the key topics. Josep Maria explained that “AI can help us process the vast amounts of data we have now when compared to five or ten years ago, because we have much more information about the entire customer journey”. In this regard, he defended the use of advanced algorithms to improve decision-making by saying that “this is where we need to be using algorithms, to organise the data, have it all displayed on proper dashboards and to let it help us make better decisions”.

He went on to emphasise the economic potential of this technological transformation by saying that, “just like in the re-industrialisation process, an enormous number of new jobs are going to be created with AI”.

The discussion also tackled the ability of bus companies to offer alternative services when isolated railway problems arise, such as those on Rodalies in Catalonia. The Chairman of Moventia said this was possible given that, when these problems arise, “the various companies in the sector reach an agreement and are able to collaborate and help solve this kind of situation”.

In terms of new technologies, he lowered expectations on the arrival of driverless vehicles by saying that “we are monitoring events in the sector and we do not believe we will see any of this on our streets within the next ten years”.

Finally, he highlighted the importance of decarbonisation and the need for ongoing financial support by saying that, “in order to be able to convert our fleet to electric, we need to be able to continue receiving climate funds, such as the Next Generation funds, so as to renew and expand carbon-free fleets”.