GM Publishes "Blue Paper" For Sustainable Urban Mobility
The Blue Paper addresses the growing challenges associated with rising urbanization and the greater demand for transportation with respect to energy, the environment, safety, traffic congestion, and land use. It envisions a new automobile DNA based on electrification and connectivity, and promises a cleaner, safer, and more convenient future for urban transportation.
The Blue Paper offers eight recommendations for overcoming the challenges associated with the rising demand for personal mobility and growing urbanization:
1. Accelerate and encourage the move to the electrification of the automobile, including the development of key vehicle components, a smart power grid, and a comprehensive urban recharging infrastructure.
2. Increase the diversity of energy sources, particularly the development of a broad array of renewable sources, to support low-emission pathways to electrification.
3. Leverage connectivity by ensuring a high-quality wireless communications infrastructure and encouraging the rapid development of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and related intelligent transportation technologies.
4. Develop a sophisticated, integrated, intelligent transportation system that dynamically manages large transportation flows using the latest communications and computer controls.
5. Integrate electrically powered, connected vehicles into a multi-modal transport system that incorporates sophisticated inter-city transport, comprehensive subway systems, traditional vehicle movement, and specialized smaller urban vehicles.
6. Align government tax, regulatory, and procurement policies to support the vision of connected electrically driven vehicles. Specific globally consistent codes and standards should be developed. Government organizations should also support funding to encourage continued electric vehicle research and development and consumer incentives to support the transition to new energy vehicles.
7. Begin to optimize the physical infrastructure to support new urban vehicles through active collaboration and cooperation among urban planning authorities, think tanks, academic institutions, automotive companies, and infrastructure companies.
8. Identify a series of "lighthouse" projects to rapidly demonstrate the viability and potential of connected electrically driven vehicles in a controlled environment such as an eco-city or small town.
Realizing the vision of sustainable mobility requires cooperation among government institutions, the automotive industry, infrastructure developers, and the academic community. Through its eight recommendations, GM is committed to working closely with stakeholders to drive the automotive industry to a sustainable future.