Transport agencies around the world are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to improve services, optimize operations, and meet the growing demands of urban mobility. However, as Microsoft’s Katherine Flesh notes, the greatest opportunities from AI depend on three critical pillars: strong data foundations, workforce readiness, and responsible governance. Without these, even the most advanced AI solutions risk falling short of their potential.
Building Strong Data Foundations
Data is the lifeblood of any AI system. For transport operators, this means collecting, cleaning, and integrating data from a wide range of sources: traffic sensors, GPS devices, fare collection systems, weather feeds, and more. The city of Sunderland, for example, has been proactive in preparing its data infrastructure for AI adoption. Through a dedicated webinar series, Sunderland shares its journey of organizing data lakes, establishing interoperability standards, and ensuring data quality. These foundational steps are essential because AI models are only as good as the data they are trained on. Inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to flawed predictions and poor operational decisions.
Workforce Readiness: Training People for AI Integration
Technology alone cannot drive transformation. The workforce must be equipped with the skills to use AI tools effectively. This includes training for data scientists, but also for frontline staff such as dispatchers, maintenance crews, and customer service representatives. Transport agencies are investing in upskilling programs, partnerships with universities, and internal AI champions. The SmartCitiesWorld Summit 2026 highlighted that systems thinking and human-centered design are crucial when deploying AI. Employees need to understand not just how to use the tools, but how to interpret outputs and intervene when necessary.
Responsible Governance: Ethics and Oversight
As AI becomes more embedded in transport operations, governance frameworks must evolve. Responsible AI involves transparency, fairness, accountability, and privacy protection. For instance, biased algorithms could lead to inequitable service distribution or discriminatory enforcement. Microsoft’s Flesh emphasizes that transport agencies should establish ethics boards, conduct impact assessments, and engage with communities. The summit also featured discussions on how cities can create clear policies for data sharing, algorithm auditing, and public consent. Without governance, AI risk undermining public trust.
Digital Twins: Simulating the Urban Future
One of the most promising applications of AI in transport is the use of digital twins. These virtual replicas of physical infrastructure allow operators to simulate scenarios, test interventions, and predict outcomes without disrupting real-world services. An OnDemand Trend Report panel at the summit titled “Operating smarter: using digital twins and AI to reshape urban infrastructure management” explored how cities like Dublin are deploying digital twins for traffic reduction, urban planning, and economic growth. Dublin’s city profile details how its digital twin projects integrate real-time data from traffic lights, parking sensors, and public transport to create a holistic view of mobility. This enables better decision-making, from adjusting signal timings to planning new bike lanes.
Infrastructure Resilience Through AI and Data
Climate change poses increasing risks to transport infrastructure. Floods, heatwaves, and storms can disrupt service and damage assets. A risk-based approach to resilience moves beyond reactive fixes. Using historical data and predictive analytics, cities can prioritize investments where they are most needed. The SmartCitiesWorld Summit 2026 showcased how cities are moving towards strategic resilience planning. Sam Markey, founder of Recurve, argues that strategic procurement is one of cities’ most underused tools for building resilience. By specifying resilience criteria in contracts and partnering with innovative suppliers, cities can embed long-term climate impact into every purchase. This approach applies directly to transport assets such as roads, bridges, and transit stations.
City Profiles: Learning from Sunderland and Dublin
Two city profiles presented at the summit offer concrete examples. Sunderland is repositioning itself as a leading smart city using digital infrastructure and low-carbon innovation. Its transport strategy includes electric vehicle charging networks, smart parking, and integrated mobility apps. The city’s focus on data groundwork—cleaning and harmonizing datasets—has enabled AI pilots for route optimization and demand prediction. Dublin, meanwhile, is innovating to improve experiences and services for its communities. Beyond digital twins, the city is working on reducing traffic congestion through adaptive signal control and promoting active travel. Both cities show that a strong data strategy, combined with political will and community engagement, yields tangible benefits.
Strategic Procurement: An Underused Tool
Sam Markey’s insight about strategic procurement resonates beyond resilience. In transport, many procurements are still based on lowest cost rather than value-added services. By incorporating data-sharing requirements, interoperability standards, and performance metrics into contracts, cities can ensure that technology vendors contribute to broader city goals. For example, a contract for new traffic signals could mandate open data feeds and AI-ready interfaces. This reduces lock-in and fosters innovation. The summit panel emphasized that procurement should be seen as a strategic lever, not an administrative chore.
Energy Systems and Smarter Networks
Transport and energy are increasingly intertwined. Electric vehicles (EVs) demand new charging infrastructure, and smart grids can manage load to avoid blackouts. A dedicated panel at the summit discussed how local authorities can shape energy systems through renewables, flexibility, storage, and smarter networks. Transport operators can collaborate with energy providers to use bus depots as virtual power plants or schedule charging during off-peak hours. AI can optimize these interactions, balancing grid capacity with transport needs. This holistic view is essential for achieving net-zero goals.
Smart Lighting as an Enabler
Lighting networks are often overlooked, but they offer a ubiquitous infrastructure for smart city applications. The “Cities Thriving on Lighting” series explored how cities are turning streetlights into secure, interoperable, and future-proof platforms. Sensors embedded in lights can monitor traffic flow, air quality, and pedestrian counts. AI algorithms can dim lights when no one is around to save energy or brighten them in response to incidents. The final episode addressed related cybersecurity risks, a critical governance issue. Transport departments can leverage these existing assets for data collection and communication, reducing the need for separate sensor deployments.
Climate Finance and Coalitions
From climate finance to resilient infrastructure, the SmartCitiesWorld Summit 2026 demonstrated that the future of cities will be defined by the ability to connect people, data, infrastructure, and investment into coherent, place-based strategies. Transport cannot be solved in isolation; it requires partnerships across sectors. Ecomondo, a platform for sustainable innovation, noted that the summit offers valuable networking opportunities for sharing practical solutions. Public-private partnerships, green bonds, and blended finance are emerging as key mechanisms to fund AI and data projects in transport.
As cities move forward, the lessons from these discussions are clear: AI and data have the power to revolutionize transport operations and services, but success hinges on a solid foundation of data quality, a trained workforce, and robust governance. By learning from early adopters like Sunderland and Dublin, and by embracing tools like digital twins and strategic procurement, cities can build transport systems that are not only smarter but also more resilient, equitable, and sustainable. The journey is just beginning, and the opportunities are immense.
Source: Smart Cities World News