The question of how data and digital twins can improve urban mobility planning and management was at the heart of the conference Mobility & Digital Twins: Enabling the data-driven City of Tomorrow, held on September 25th at NOVA IMS. The initiative, organized by NOVA Cidade - Urban Analytics Lab, POLIS, and TML - Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa, focused the debate on the role of data, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Twins for more informed cities capable of responding to mobility challenges.
TML took the opportunity to share its experience in building an integrated vision of mobility and the supporting technological infrastructure in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This territory, encompassing 18 municipalities and approximately 3.3 million people, is characterized by daily commutes that cross administrative borders, driving the transition from a fragmented logic to a metropolitan vision.
Pedro Pinto de Jesus, TML Administrator, highlighted that the transformation began with the passenger, through the creation of a common and simpler intermodal fare system (navegante) and the structuring of bus operations by Carris Metropolitana into a single network and brand, integrating 15 municipalities and various operators.
Mobility integration extends to building a common system vision, where technology and data play a crucial role. TML manages the navegante ticketing system and a technological infrastructure that integrates information from various entities and transport modes. The GO platform, developed for Carris Metropolitana, supports service planning, management, and monitoring, processing over six million GPS positions daily.
Alexandre Domingues, TML's Director of Information Systems and Technologies, emphasized in the debate the importance of data consistency, interoperability, and reliability for decision-making, rather than just the quantity of data. Technology can accelerate processes and identify patterns, but its usefulness depends on the quality of the information.
TML stressed that before implementing a Digital Twin, it is essential to integrate systems and data. A Digital Twin can represent and simulate urban scenarios but requires a robust infrastructure. TML's experience shows that the digital transformation of mobility involves the ability to connect systems, people, entities, and information.
Artificial Intelligence was also discussed, with TML acknowledging its potential in analyzing large volumes of information, forecasting demand, and supporting operational management. However, AI must serve concrete objectives and be based on quality data, focusing on improving specific decisions and the daily experience of millions of users.
Technology should simplify the passenger's experience, transforming system complexity into a simpler, more informed, and accessible journey. For the passenger, the focus is the journey, not the various institutions or operators involved.
The conference also included thematic sessions on mobility data, adaptation to climate risks, and zero-emission logistics, as well as the parallel event Hack the City: Mobility Challenge. TML's participation reinforces its commitment to a metropolitan vision based on integration, innovation, and responsible data use for the city of the future.
