Green mobility Taipei City : with the arrival of mobility-on-demand system with ultra small electric vehicles

Abstract

Urban form always transforms when new transportation technology is deployed. Urban form and transportation technologies always coevolve. Many new technologies have been developed to solve the problems of greenhouse gas emission, air pollution, energy efficiency, high gas prices, traffic congestion, etc. Electric vehicles (EVs) and Mobility-on-Demand systems are two of these technologies. With the advancement of battery technologies, EVs are become the next mainstream product for Automobile industry. Meanwhile, there are many new concepts about various alternative types of car ownership, such as Mobility-on-Demand (MoD) systems, a one-way rental car sharing systems, for which the Smart Cities group of MIT Media Lab is doing research. The regulation and infrastructure of current cities are mainly designed to accommodate gasoline-powered and private owned vehicles. This thesis addresses how will urban fabric and space transform with the arrivals of EVs and MoD systems and what kind of service and urban infrastructure can be integrated when individual vehicles become a node of mobility network. The thesis focuses on Taipei City as a case study city and develops varies scale design strategies, ranging from charging infrastructure, street, sidewalk, curb, parking infrastructure, to building type. The thesis also discusses the benefit of EVs and MoD system may bring to a city.