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Rapid technological change in the transport sector is leading to a growing range of potential and actual ‘business models’ deployable for the movement of goods and people. Two key uncertainties arise from this proliferation: first, concerning which ones can be economically viable, and, second, whether they can be both simultaneously economically viable and contribute to the imperatives of more sustainable mobility. The present chapter reviews and appraises the emergence of these new business models, drawing on both literature review and empirical research with entrepreneurs involved in the new mobility sector. Specifically, the potential of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, n.d.) as a device to structure and frame the debate about what constitutes a valuable contribution to sustainable mobility is considered. A framework is developed which captures how mobility and transport have dependencies with the SDGs. From this analysis, key sustainability concepts are derived which have either a subsistence function (maintaining the basics of human life) or an enhancement function (enabling citizens to realise their potential whilst reducing impacts on the planet). Five different innovations involving mobility sector business entrepreneurship are then characterised using this framework to exemplify its ability to deconstruct and test claims that ‘smart mobility’ is also good for sustainability as well as good for business. It is concluded that the framework could contribute to a wider architecture of sustainability interrogation. It could promote discourse around a wide range of actors, posing questions and surfacing tensions and contingencies effectively, whilst providing a holistic, strategic assessment to inform more targeted, scientific evaluations of sustainability metrics.

The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) has reinvigorated the policy focus on sustainable transport. Automated and Connected Transport (ACT) has been featured as a promising technology-based option to aid in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite progress in certain areas of sustainability, there are still a lot of SDGs where limited progress has been observed since the 2015 Paris Agreement, particularly regarding the social pillar of sustainability which is reflected from the user perspective. This chapter will set the scene for this edited volume first by contrasting ACT potential with the SDGs and then by highlighting the requirement to focus more on addressing user needs through ACT. Remarkably, scholars have been increasingly sceptical about the transition to fully automated and connected vehicles, thus it is pertinent to highlight relevant opportunities and risks. Chapter recommendations foster the promotion of a Quadruple Helix approach to operationalise the inclusion of social concerns (e.g. gender balance and equity) in Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) across the world.

The urgency to act on sustainable transport reached new levels in July 2023 when the temperatures across the globe hit an all-time high, and the promises of Automated and Connected Transport (ACT) to support meeting both the Sustainable Development Goals and reduce the effects of the climate crisis are ever more required. This chapter concludes this volume which aims at the different contributions of ACT to sustainability. It brings together the main themes and perspectives, as well as the challenges highlighted in the previous chapters. The main issues revolve around the effectiveness of environmental sustainability goals for ACT, issues of equity and social sustainability, planning, regulation and enterprise. This work largely represents a collaboration from the Wider Impacts and Scenario Evaluation of Autonomous & Connected Transport (WISE-ACT) Action funded by the COST Programme between 2017 and 2022 which brought together around 200 experts from 42 countries to discuss issues related to Autonomous and Connected Transport implementation.

The massive investment in, and development of, automated and connected transport (ACT) technology development has triggered much debate about this breakthrough technology’s potential positive and negative impacts. Multiple studies have explored the potential direct implications for users in terms of road safety, ‘productive’ travel time, mobility of the elderly and physically less mobile persons, as well as indirect impacts such as reduced emissions and freed road space. Through a critical review of the literature on ACT deployment types and discussions with an expert working group on the wider impacts of ACT implementation, this chapter examines four distinct deployment types of ACT technology and their opportunities and threats in transitioning toward inclusive transport systems. Of the four types, we posit that ACT-based public transport has the greatest potential to contribute to a more inclusive mobility future. Examining the case of Singapore using policy documents, academic literature and interviews with representatives of public and private sectors and academia, the chapter draws policy recommendations for governance toward more inclusive ACT innovation and deployment.

By drawing on 18-month ethnographic fieldwork conducted among people who participate in state-regulated games of chance in Istanbul, during the recent Turkish economic crisis in 2021–2022, and engaging with scholarly work on the anthropology of Turkey, economic anthropology and local media and grey resources, this article illustrates the rise of cryptocurrency trading in Turkey. This article shows how my participants situated the cryptocurrency trading within their own techniques to ameliorate financial volatility and to compensate their mistrust in governmental financial institutions during times of economic turbulence. Cryptocurrency trading was viewed as an investment technique that assists in accumulating savings for ensuring the future amid fluctuating national currency and polarized political realities. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency trading was also identified as a game of chance that swings between hinging on luck or skill, and the research participants debated if cryptocurrency trading is permissible in Islam (Halal) or forbidden. Therefore, this article suggests that cryptocurrency trading, although on the rise, is still a contested topic in which the boundaries between perceptions and practices of investing and gambling are blurred within the Turkish context. The controversy of the cryptocurrency trading emerges from the polarized public attitudes and the dissonance between traditional ideals, that condemn easy money and emphasize the value of hard work, in contrast to the neoliberal realities of capitalistic modes of accumulation that encourages speculation over production.

Social/physical distancing rules that resulted in the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have caused restrictions on national and international transportation. Since tourism activities are an industry based on transportation and travel, they have been affected negatively because of COVID-19. It has become necessary to create a contactless environment by leveraging technology to mitigate these negative impacts. smart transportation system (STS) applications have played a crucial role in enabling contact-free travel in providing the continuation of tourism activities in a controlled manner by utilizing information and communication technologies. Therefore, in this study, it was tried to determine whether STS applications are functional in ensuring the contactless transportation required in COVID-19 and in the face of possible future outbreaks. In this study, COVID-19 and STS terms are tried to be defined, and the importance of these two concepts in terms of tourism activities has been discussed considering their cause–effect relationship in line with the purpose of the research. STS applications have been determined to be the most appropriate approach in terms of carrying out controlled tourism activities in accordance with the social/physical distancing rules arising from COVID-19. According to the findings of the research, STS provides an opportunity for people to use contactless payments and purchase tickets online with smart phones. Additively, by controlling passengers’ luggage through mobile applications and reducing the time spent waiting in the lobby, thereby minimizing prolonged interpersonal contact.