Mobility as a Service is transforming the way individuals and cities organise movement, fostering greater integration between modes of transport and related services. Within this evolving landscape, Transportation Design plays a key role in shaping mobility experiences that are more efficient, sustainable, and user‑centred.
Editorial
Sustainability
Transportation Design in the Era of Mobility as a Service
Date
28 February 2026
For a long time, mobility was primarily associated with the ownership of a means of transport. Today, this perspective is giving way to a more articulated approach in which movement is conceived as a combination of services, digital infrastructures, and interconnected solutions.
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) represents one of the most significant transformations within this shift: through integrated platforms and digital systems, it enables the combination of different modes of transport within a single experience, simplifying both the planning and management of travel.
In this context, Transportation Design is no longer concerned solely with the form and performance of the vehicle; the design process now extends to the user’s overall experience, the relationship with the urban environment, and the development of mobility systems capable of addressing contemporary environmental and social challenges.
The evolution of smart mobility and sustainable mobility is therefore redefining the role of design, requiring new competencies and an increasingly broad vision of design processes.
From Vehicle Design to the Design of Mobility Systems
Transportation Design has undergone a profound evolution in recent years, as designing mobility today requires simultaneously considering vehicles, digital interfaces, services, infrastructures, access points, and connections between different modes of transport to make the overall experience more fluid and efficient.
This transformation is closely linked to the rise of models based on service usage rather than vehicle ownership: car sharing, bike sharing, digital public transport, and on‑demand services are reshaping the relationship between people and mobility, making the concept of access increasingly central.
Within this scenario, the role of the Transportation and Car Designer is also expanding. Beyond vehicle design, this professional is increasingly involved in defining user experiences, integrating technologies and services, and developing solutions capable of responding to contemporary social and environmental changes. This new approach requires a systemic vision in which design, technology, infrastructures, and human behaviours interact to shape new models of mobility.”
Smart Mobility and Urban Mobility: How Cities Are Changing
Cities are facing increasingly complex challenges linked to urban population growth, traffic congestion, and the need to reduce the environmental impact of mobility. To address these issues, many urban contexts are experimenting with new mobility models that integrate public transport, shared services, and digital technologies.
Within this framework, smart mobility is emerging as an approach that leverages data and intelligent infrastructures to make travel more efficient and accessible. Route‑planning applications, real‑time mobility information systems, and platforms that integrate different transport modes allow users to organise their journeys in a simpler and more flexible way.
The spread of electric mobility is also contributing to the transformation of the urban landscape, introducing low‑emission vehicles, charging networks, and connected systems that generate new design requirements and reshape the relationship between transport modes and public space.
Transportation Design plays a key role in shaping increasingly integrated mobility experiences, where transitions between different services must feel intuitive and coherent. The goal is not only to improve the performance of transport systems but also to make people’s daily movements simpler and more enjoyable.
Multimodality, Intermodal Transport, and New Travel Behaviours
The growing availability of mobility services has led to the emergence of new travel behaviours. Increasingly, users combine different modes of transport within a single journey, selecting each time the solution that best fits their needs.
Two concepts are particularly relevant here:
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Multimodality — the possibility of using different modes of transport within the same trip,
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Intermodal transport — the integration of these modes and the ability to move from one to another in a fluid and efficient way.
The spread of shared mobility and micromobility has further expanded the available options. Shared bicycles, electric scooters, sharing services, and public transport contribute to creating increasingly articulated and flexible mobility networks.
Such a complex ecosystem requires careful design of signage, digital interfaces, information systems, and access points, so that transitions between different services and modes feel simple and intuitive. Design therefore plays a central role in making complex systems legible, improving accessibility, and shaping mobility experiences that are more fluid and coherent.
Human‑Centered Design, Accessibility, and Design Responsibility
The transformation of contemporary mobility requires a design approach capable of placing people and their needs at the centre. In this sense, human‑centred design represents a key reference for developing more inclusive and effective mobility services and systems.
The goal is not merely to introduce new technologies, but to create solutions that are accessible, intuitive, and able to concretely enhance the user experience. Elements such as safety, comfort, information legibility, and ease of use become central to the design process: every design decision can influence how people access services, move through urban spaces, and participate in collective life.
This approach is directly connected to the principles of sustainable mobility, where design responsibility concerns not only the reduction of environmental impacts but also the ability to build systems that are equitable, inclusive, and accessible to diverse categories of users.
The skills required to design the mobility of the future
The evolution of transport systems is also reshaping the skills required of professionals in the field. Today, Transportation Design demands a preparation that integrates design culture, technological awareness, research capabilities, and an understanding of social change.
In particular, the following competencies are becoming increasingly relevant:
- design of integrated mobility systems and connected services,
- analysis of user behaviour and experience,
- knowledge of digital technologies and intelligent infrastructures,
- principles of environmental sustainability and design responsibility,
- ability to develop scenarios and strategies for the mobility of the future.
The growing complexity of transport systems makes a transdisciplinary approach indispensable, bringing together design, innovation, sustainability, service design, and behavioural research. This ability to connect different perspectives enables professionals to address complex problems and envision more effective solutions.
Within the broader debate on mobility design and the future of mobility, the need to develop competencies oriented toward the construction of integrated systems—rather than the design of individual products—has become increasingly evident. Consequently, beyond the acquisition of technical‑operational skills, education in this field must cultivate critical thinking, design responsibility, and the capacity to imagine complex scenarios.
It is along these lines that Transportation Design continues to evolve, contributing to the definition of new forms of interaction between people, technologies, and mobility systems.
Explore the IED programmes in Transportation Design and Mobility to develop the design skills needed to interpret the transformations of contemporary mobility.
Deepen your knowledge through dedicated pathways in Transportation Design, Mobility Design, and 3D Automotive Design, and build your professional trajectory within the mobility sector of the future.
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