Woods Bagot’s James Berry Principal and Global Transport Sector Leader reflects on how changing behaviour, technology and customer expectations will change our urban transport systems, and cities, for good.
Urban transport spaces are on the threshold of transformative change. Set to evolve rapidly over the next decade, these once-predictable nexuses for workers commuting in and out of the city on a rigid schedule, urban mobility systems will be redesigned to reflect changing behaviour, technology and customer expectations – considering how people want to live in the future instead of how they’ve been expected to work in the past.
Our cities are changing. With remote working here to stay, Central Business Districts (CBDs) are moving away from a long-standing dependence on offices to become versatile, mixed-use destinations.
This diversification has seen cities incorporate enhanced layers of amenity – enmeshing recreational, cultural, educational and residential offerings into the urban fabric, and adding variation to existing office, retail and hospitality precincts. In fact, many cities are actively encouraging the adaptive reuse of office buildings for more relevant purposes – indicating a permanent change of use for our urban cores as office vacancy rates settle on lower figures.
As our urban centres evolve, our relationships with them do too. While predictions of the ‘death of the commute’ have proven to be somewhat exaggerated, an increased focus and subsequent upsurge in leisure travel to events and attractions in urban centres indicates a potential for our relationship with urban centres to become more centred on lifestyle rather than work.
By 2030, the ongoing reinvention of the CBD will be more obvious. If opportunities for transformation are embraced now, we will see city centres transformed into the hubs of experience and activity that initiatives like NYC’s ‘City of Yes’, the City of London’s ‘City Plan 2040’ and Melbourne’s ‘Plan Melbourne’, envision. In response, public transport will evolve to be more dynamic and interconnected, enhancing efficiency and accessibility while fostering community engagement and making urban travel more enriching.
As cities and city-goers find new rhythms, mobility is entering a new age of innovation. Though private cars are still the most popular mobility mode[iii], transport – like the city itself – is diversifying. Over the next decade, new technology in the sector is predicted to see a rise in the use of autonomous vehicles, air taxis, and EVs (electric vehicles) like electric cars, e-bikes and e-scooters – changing the nature of public transport as we know it.
These changes will yield a more intelligent, seamless and environmentally friendly transport ecosystem. With 46% of travellers planning to replace their private vehicles with other modes of transport in the next decade, further advancements in technology like robot shuttles and urban air taxis look set to tip the balance in favour of public transport being more popular than private – making micromobility, ridesharing and ride-hailing the predicted preferred modes of future travel.
Sustainability, health and wellness are key drivers for the rise in new transport technology and micro-mobility. As it is today, the sector is responsible for a large proportion of the world’s air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – and alarming fact when considered alongside the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) estimation that 4.2 million premature deaths are attributed to ambient (outdoor) air pollution.
In the pursuit of a healthier environment as well as healthier selves – WHO also estimates that up to 5 million deaths a year could be averted if the global population was more active – 49% of consumers worldwide are avoiding private car use in favour of healthier options like cycling or walking, or more sustainable ones like shared transport.
The promotion of healthier, greener transport has also made its way into regional and national regulations. Over 150 cities have implemented efforts to reduce the use of private-vehicles long term through actions like limiting the number of private cars in cities, penalising non-compliant vehicles, or providing financial incentives to use more environmentally friendly mobility modes.
Transport’s incoming age of innovation is not solely driven by the rise in micro-mobility but also bygrowing passenger expectations. For public and shared transport to work in the long term, it must respond to customer demand by offering the same level of personalization, safety, reliability, and accessibility as private transport. Additionally, it must operate in spaces that allow for seamless interchange between different transport modes.
Passenger needs have not fundamentally changed—they still expect to get from point A to point B as easily and safely as possible. However, today’s passengers expect a personalized journey that they feel in control of. This requires a range of solutions, from clear wayfinding to contactless payment and real-time communication.
To successfully deliver such a future, the transport sector must digitize. This process is already underway, with Paris’s Île-de-France Mobilités app and Copenhagen’s DOT facilitating seamless trip planning, multimodal top-ups, and real-time updates on transportation options—covering everything from biking to carpooling and car-sharing. Delhi Metro has even leveraged the popular WhatsApp platform to allow passengers to purchase tickets by simply sending ‘hi’ to the metro’s mobile number and following a set of prompts.
As part of the Sydney Metro, Sydney Central and Crows Nest stations are both fully accessible environments that embody the network’s ‘just turn up and go’ motto. Fares can be paid with either a credit, debit or Opal card, while real-time travel information and live electronic maps keep passengers updated along their journey.
The seamless, technology-forward nature of these stations demonstrates how the act of prioritising accessibility, reliability and easy navigation will ultimately make public transportation a viable, people-centric option for users wanting a personalised experience.
The combination of shifting behaviours, diversification of transport modes, and growing passenger expectations is driving the development of innovative transport buildings and urban spaces. As cities adapt to new ways of living and moving, transportation hubs are no longer just functional spaces but integral parts of urban life, designed to meet the needs of a diverse and dynamic population.
This evolution is leading to a reprioritization—where living takes precedence over working, integration over isolation, and personalization over broad predictions. Transport buildings will merge with civic spaces, becoming destinations in their own right, where people gather, shop, and connect.
These factors position urban transport spaces to not only facilitate movement but to become places of civic pride and community expression, enriching the urban fabric.
