Solutions on BABLE are expert-curated proposals for efficiently implementable Smart City projects. Each Solution contains a list of benefits and a list of functions needed to achieve these benefits, as well as information on the business model, driving factors, relevant legal regulations, advices from experts and links to relevant use-cases and products.
Solutions
Solution

Vehicle Sharing System
Vehicle sharing systems allow customers to use various vehicles without the need to own each vehicle. There are different types of vehicle sharing systems on the market. Differences can include the type of vehicle shared, like car sharing, bike sharing, scooter sharing or electric vehicle sharing. In addition to the type of the vehicle, one main difference between vehicle sharing systems is the vehicle holder. Most commonly, the operator owns the vehicles that are then shared with the users. Another opportunity is peer-to-peer vehicle sharing, in which the citizens share their own vehicles. For each vehicle sharing system, it is necessary to ensure the accessibility of the vehicles and to manage the location and operation of the vehicles.
Solution

Smart Parking
A Smart Parking System makes use of sensors or other technologies to determine the availability of parking lots in cities. This information can be shared with drivers, reducing the time spent on looking for parking, and thus reducing traffic congestion. Additionally, municipalities can get precise and updated information about the traffic situation, allowing them to align parking tariffs with transportation goals. The system can also let the customer pay and reserve a parking lot, guiding them to free spots, and even park the customer's car for them.
Solution

Electrification of fleets
In order to reduce fossil energy consumption, electric mobility is a key component of creating sustainable transportation. Not only is the transport sector responsible for 30% of total EU CO 2 emissions (72% of which are from road transport), but the rate of emission reductions has also slowed down. Other sectors, such as energy, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and housing, have significantly reduced their CO 2 emissions since 1990, while in the transport sector's CO 2 emissions are higher today than in 1990 due to the ever-increasing role of mobility in our lives (European Parliament, 2019). One solution to reduce transport-related CO 2 emissions is electric mobility. Due to their longer lifespan and lower operational costs, electric vehicles can be financially beneficial. Fleet solutions facilitate the diffusion of electric vehicles rapidly and successfully into the market. Additionally, facilities to charge the electric vehicles are mandatory (Proff, Fojcik 2016, p. 128). The main goal is to diffuse electric mobility for environmental reasons. The overall vehicle population can be reduced by building up electric fleets. Plus, using electric fleets provides opportunities for companies and cities to create an innovative image and to test new technologies. The limited range of electrically driven vehicles is often less of an issue for company- and city-operated vehicles, as shorter distances are primarily covered. Fleet applications offer excellent opportunities for fast and successful diffusion of electric vehicles into the market, paticularyl since e.g. around 60 % of annual new car registrations in Germany are accounted for by companies and the self-employed. After their first commercial use, the vehicles are usually transferred to the used car market after a few years. Electric fleets for companies are thus a catalyst for the wider potential market diffusion of electric vehicles.
Solution

Intermodal Mobility Hubs
Rapid urbanization, aging infrastructures, population growth and climate change continue to challenge the world’s cities. Cities that take efforts to advance and diversify their urban mobility systems and evolve their transit hubs will gain a competitive edge. Mobility Hubs provide a focal point in the transportation network that seamlessly integrates different modes of transportation. They are places of connectivity where different modes of transportation – from walking to rapid transit – come together seamlessly and where there is an intensive concentration of working, living, shopping or playing. Collectively, this integrated suite of mobility services is intended to meet first-last mile needs of transit users. The most beneficial intermodal mobility hubs are mainly implemented close to existing mobility junctions such as train stations.
Solution

Bike Sharing System
A bike sharing system intends to make a community share a fleet of bikes. Therefore, users do not have to own a bike, but everyone can use the fleet flexibly. Most existing bike sharing systems operate as economy-to-peer sharing, but there are also peer-to-peer bike sharing systems. In an economy-to peer sharing system, the operator owns the vehicles which he shares with his customers. Within the peer-to-peer bike sharing, users share their vehicles. For each bike sharing system, it is necessary to ensure the accessibility of the bikes and to manage the location and operation of the bikes. Extensions of the bike sharing system, such as to include electric bikes and thus charging stations are possible. .
Solution

Electric Bus System
Electric busses are not only economically beneficial, as they do not have any local emission, but due to their longer lifespan and lower operational costs, they can also be financially beneficial. The electric bus system is a public transportation system that is operated by electric buses only. As every public transportation system, it can include ticketing, information of customers and a monitoring system. Additionally, facilities to charge the electric buses are mandatory. Due to the charging process, a management system for operation and planning of range as well as route optimisation is even more important than it is with conventional bus systems. (see also SCIS )
Solution

Public Charging System for Electric...
The current EU regulation on emissions for cars is the strictest worldwide. Along with further restrictions the thresholds cannot be meet with conventional cars only anymore. One alternative technology, reducing the local emissions, are electric vehicles. For a successful market penetration, a functioning infrastructure is necessary. Therefore, public charging systems for electric vehicles support the electrification of urban mobility systems by providing chargers. These chargers can be of different power ranges and charging technologies. In addition, they can be smartly integrated into the local grid and provide information about the system for customers, operator and other stakeholders. For the user experience, it is recommended to include a payment and authentication system, which facilitates the access and enhances the transparency of the charging process.
Solution

Drone Delivery System
Delivery trucks for parcels are a noticeable part of urban traffic that can be reduced by implementing a drone delivery system. As the market for deliveries is significantly and steadily growing, especially due to the increasing options in online shopping, this becomes even more relevant. Likewise, the delivery market slowly transforms from a mainly B2B market to a B2C market. These developments lead to the increasing importance of the so called ‘last mile’ – the delivery from the closest transportation hub to the final destination. One opportunity to improve the last mile delivery are drones. Autonomous drones can significantly accelerate delivery times and reduce the human costs associated with the delivery.
Solution

Last Mile Delivery
Due to the growing share of on-line shopping nowadays, an additional sales channel for companies came up. Internet sales has become an essential part of the retailing business in the past years. Consequently, the volume of traffic caused by delivery services has increased rapidly with the success of e-commerce. Likewise, the delivery market slowly transforms from a mainly B2B market to a B2C one (e.g. Drone delivery). The final track of the supply chain – home delivery to a customer – is called “Last Mile”. The “Last-Mile” of a delivery poses significant logisticalcal challenges, especially regarding the increasing customer expectations, such as "same day delivery" or "exact time delivery" which leads to the decreasing time available for planning. Furthermore, the “Last mile” has a huge effect in traffic of commercial vehicles in cities. The Last Mile Delivery (LMD) accounts for a major part of the costs involved in a delivery. A research of Capgemini Research Institute showed that the costs of LMD account 41 % of the overall supply chain costs ( Jacobs, Warner et al., p. 20 ). Figure 1 - Distribution of overall supply chain costs ( Jacobs, Warner et al., p. 20 ) In the reality of LMD, challenges like a small or single order compared to deliveries to stores, many constantly changing geographically dispersed locations (compare deliveries to stores) etc. must be faced. The goal is to improve the efficiency of LMD, to minimize costs incurred, improve safety to minimize the impact on traffic as well as minimize the environmental impact. To improve the quality of life in the affected areas, the LMD should become environmentally friendly and emission-free (noise and emissions), the volume of traffic should be reduced to prevent illegal parking, collisions and stressful congestions. Congestion, air quality, collisions and illegal parking are all ills affecting the quality of life of citizens. The accessibility of inner-city locations is becoming more and more limited for cars and trucks in contrast delivery services are growing especially in these dense inner-city areas. There are several solutions to solve these problems that reduce pollutant emissions, lower the impact on traffic, improve safety and make LMD more efficient.