4/7/2016, Euractiv -- The European Commission is pushing local authorities to digitise cities and make them more efficient—one radical plan bubbling up could minimise the number of cars on city streets.

The EU executive has funded research projects and set up a working group to pin down strategies that will help boost so-called smart cities in Europe, a term used to describe the move towards digital city infrastructure.

The Commission is especially encouraging cities to use technology to make energy and transport services more efficient.

A project slated to start later this year in Finland could create an app that would help Helsinki residents to map out routes using multiple modes of transport, including walking, public transport, taxis and bicycle and car sharing programmes. The app will also sell flat-rate subscriptions so that people can travel in the city with whatever combination of transport means they choose—and only pay once.

Sampo Hietanen, CEO of the MaaS app, or mobility as a service, calls the idea a kind of Netflix for transport and says it “could give a true alternative to owning a car”.

Hietanen wants the app to eventually work in cities across Europe so people can use it when they travel. The next cities he’s eyeing to get on the app include Manchester, Berlin, Antwerp and Ghent.

Legislation set to go into effect next year to slash roaming charges for mobile phone users within the EU could help the app draw users as it expands.

“I think that was one of the best decisions the EU ever did. So now you can start planning new types of services,” Hietanen said of the roaming regulation.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.euractiv.com/section/innovation-industry/news/netflix-like-city-transport-app-could-mean-people-buy-less-cars/