AI and the Mobility of the Future: Autonomous Driving and Smart Cities
Intelligent mobility and smart cities: how AI transforms urban transport, autonomous driving, and traffic systems. The future is already here.
Artificial Intelligence Redesigns Urban Mobility
In our cities, the very concept of mobility is changing. It is no longer just a matter of vehicles moving, but of an interconnected system where data, algorithms, and smart infrastructure collaborate to make travel safer, more efficient, and more sustainable.
Artificial intelligence is the silent engine of this revolution. An engine that is transforming not only how we move, but how we conceive of urban space itself. From the traffic light that adapts to traffic in real-time to the self-driving vehicle, AI is redefining the rules of the mobility game.
How Smart Cities Work
In 2025, the Italian smart city market reached 1.05 billion euros, with a 5% growth compared to the previous year. According to the Politecnico di Milano's Smart City Observatory, the main investment areas are public lighting (240 million euros) and smart mobility (215 million euros).
In Singapore, artificial intelligence regulates traffic lights in real-time to reduce congestion. In Barcelona, sensors and digital platforms coordinate public transport, parking, and environmental management. Milan, with the "Sharing Cities" project, is experimenting with solutions for sustainable mobility by integrating AI and urban data.
These are not futuristic visions: they are concrete examples of smart cities using AI to improve daily life. In Brescia, since 2024, the creation of a city digital twin with a one-million-euro investment is underway, which will allow for observing traffic, green areas, and mapping climate risk zones. As we saw in our article on floating cities and AI, the urban planning of the future must respond to climate change with innovation.
Here, mobility is not just a logistical problem, but a matter of urban justice, sustainability, and inclusion.
Artificial Intelligence Transforms Autonomous Driving
Autonomous driving represents one of the most visible applications of AI in mobility. Autonomous vehicles collect and process an immense amount of data – from environmental sensors to road signals – to make decisions in real-time, without human intervention.
According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), there are six levels of autonomy ranging from 0 (no automation) to 5 (full automation). Currently, most progress is concentrated on level 3, while level 5 – fully autonomous driving – remains a distant goal at least a decade away.
Tesla, Waymo, and numerous European startups are testing and refining these systems. Hyundai Motor Group has launched NUMA (Next Urban Mobility Alliance), a public-private initiative that combines artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and inclusive mobility solutions for smart cities. As explored in our article on algorithmic marriages, AI is now making decisions even in the most personal choices of our lives.
But it's not just about technology: there is an issue of trust, responsibility, and safety that directly involves our cities, our data, and our freedom of movement.
Concrete examples of smart mobility
In 2023, Bologna launched the "MaaS4Italy" project, a Mobility-as-a-Service platform that allows citizens to plan, book, and pay for any urban journey from a single app. The project involves Trenitalia, TPER, and other operators, representing a decisive step towards integrated mobility.
Between 2023 and 2025, Milan significantly expanded its fleet of ATM electric buses, aiming for completely zero-emission public transport by 2030. In addition to the new vehicles, dedicated infrastructure has been created, such as the fully electrified San Donato depot.
At the IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich, Volkswagen presented world premieres ranging from electric and hybrid vehicles to AI-supported autonomous driving systems. The stated goal is to make the best automotive technologies accessible to everyone in the short term.
In the United States, companies like Waymo and Baidu have launched robotaxi services in selected cities, while in Europe, regulations are making significant progress, although member states still need to adapt their laws to EU directives. As discussed in our article on AI and 6G, future connectivity will be crucial for these developments.
Opportunities and risks of algorithmic mobility
Well-designed algorithmic mobility can reduce accidents, cut emissions, and optimize travel. According to the national connected car market, a value of 2.9 billion euros was reached in 2023, with 31% of future trials focused on autonomous driving.
But AI can also reinforce surveillance systems, discriminate in access models, and concentrate control in few hands. What data is collected as we move around? Who decides the priorities in smart traffic systems? And who has a say in the algorithmic decisions that regulate daily mobility?
Ethical questions intertwine with technical ones. As highlighted in our in-depth look at predictive surveillance, AI's ability to predict behavior raises fundamental questions about privacy and social control.
The risk of algorithmic discrimination is real: algorithms could favor some urban areas over others, creating new forms of inequality in mobility. As we analyzed in our article on algorithmic bias, invisible discrimination can perpetuate itself through intelligent systems.
Key Points to Remember
- The Italian smart cities market is worth 1.05 billion euros in 2025 with smart mobility accounting for 20% of total investments
- Autonomous driving requires smart infrastructure such as intelligent roads and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication systems
- MaaS integrates all transport into a single platform allowing for unified planning, booking, and payment
- Ethical risks include surveillance and discrimination requiring transparent and participatory regulations
Frequently Asked Questions
When will we truly have fully autonomous cars? Level 5 full automation is considered achievable in a decade or more, due to the need for smart infrastructure, adequate regulations, and social acceptance.
What does Mobility as a Service (MaaS) mean? It is a concept that integrates all public and private transport into a single platform, allowing users to plan, book, and pay for multimodal journeys through one app.
Are smart cities really safer? AI algorithms can improve safety through intelligent traffic management and accident prevention, but they also create new risks related to cybersecurity and surveillance.
How is privacy protected in smart mobility? Europe is currently developing specific regulations, but greater transparency is needed on what data is collected and how it is used by mobility algorithms.
Towards Ethical and Inclusive Mobility
The European Union is trying to respond with regulatory proposals on the use of AI in transport. The challenge will be to build transparent, participatory, and robust systems. We need ethical artificial intelligence that does not reduce mobility to a matter of efficiency, but considers it a right and a public good.
Precisely for this reason, local initiatives such as civic algorithm monitoring or urban open data projects become crucial tools for rebalancing decision-making power. As highlighted in our article on AI ethics, an approach that places humanity at the center of technological development is needed.
Artificial intelligence is drawing new maps of human movement. If we want these maps to be inclusive and fair, we must actively participate in their design. The mobility of the future is not just a more comfortable journey: it is a new way of inhabiting the world, where technology and humanity must find the right balance.