Smart transport: A comparative analysis using the most used indicators in the literature juxtaposed with interventions in English metropolitan areas

Abstract The development of smart transport technologies, methods, strategies and infrastructures has drawn much attention in recent years, owing to the rise of smart cities paradigms and the rapid technological advancements in the transport sector. New transport technologies create opportunities and challenges for English cities to move towards a more sustainable and integrated future. Smart governance and interventions in the English metropolitan areas are reviewed to provide a background of the smart city and transport development in the UK. Despite the increasing commercial and political attention, there is still a lack of understanding and proposals for a robust framework to evaluate the smart transport system. It is challenging to build a toolbox that suits both academics and practitioners when developing transport interventions and investments. This paper proposes a comprehensive and up-to-date framework to assess smart transport development in cities. A systematic literature review is conducted to identify the most used indicators and important indices. New indicators that illustrate trending themes are added to the existing toolbox. In total, 49 indicators are listed in this study, including five new ones. We also show several aspects and the overall performance in the new evaluation framework by aggregating indicators into indices in the following groups: 1) private, public and emergency transport indices; 2) accessibility, sustainability and innovation indices; and 3) a composite index. The new evaluation framework is applied in eleven English metropolitan areas. The empirical results show that Greater London has the best development in smart transport, followed by West Midlands and West of England. The findings can provide useful insights for metropolitan authorities and their transport authorities when key devolution strategies are in place and substantial investment packages are considered.