Dr. Muhammad Zudhy Irawan, a Civil Engineering lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), was inaugurated as a professor of transportation on Thursday (October 26).
During the inauguration ceremony, Professor Irawan delivered a lecture entitled “Building Fair and Adaptive Transportation in the Era of Disruptive Technology.”
According to him, disruptive technology will continue to advance in the future, where transportation systems will be fully integrated with human life’s technology.
Humans will utilize artificial intelligence attached to them to order taxis, check schedules, and determine the position of public transport they plan to use.
Hence, establishing an adaptive urban transportation system in the era of disruptive technology is a necessity and a significant challenge that a systematic, measurable, and sustainable approach must guide.
In the context of major cities in Indonesia today, he said that leveraging technology-based transportation services needs to be seen as an opportunity to improve the available public transportation services in the era of disruptive technology.
The integration of both is expected not only to fill gaps that cannot be served by public transport but also to address issues beyond the control of public transport operators, such as urban area expansion, which always occurs more rapidly than the development of public transport-based areas or transit-oriented development.
“The primary goal is to create mobility as a service, which is not only user-friendly but also environmentally friendly, reducing dependency on private vehicles,” Professor Irawa said.
This integration involves cooperation and connections between transportation services, supported by an integrated payment and tariff system. It enables travelers to use various modes of transportation efficiently.
In today’s digital era, Professor Irawa mentioned that technology-based transportation services are rapidly growing as an innovative option alongside conventional transport modes such as taxis, motorcycles, and rickshaws.
In the future, more advanced technology, such as autonomous vehicles, micro-mobility, and urban air mobility, such as air taxis and delivery drones, will replace existing technology-based transportation services.
However, each type of transportation service in its time has opened up new economic opportunities for many people who previously did not have access to jobs.
For technology-based transportation services, many small and micro-businesses have also reaped the benefits of these services. Therefore, a comprehensive and multidimensional approach is required to balance technological innovation in transportation with job requirements.
“The presence of technological innovation in the transportation sector should not stop at reducing labor, which subsequently causes resistance and social problems, but it should also support the transition of workers in the sector to new technological innovations,” he explained.
“Just and fair transportation also encompasses responsibility for the environment.”
Technology needs to be encouraged in the transportation sector to create a more environmentally friendly transportation system focusing on reducing emissions and improving society’s quality of life.
One major challenge in achieving equitable urban transportation is harmonizing policies that view transportation as part of a larger system, where mobility, job requirements, energy efficiency, and technological innovation must be interrelated and supportive.
“The regulatory framework should be clear and consistent to provide certainty for stakeholders in the sector,” he expressed.
The complexity of services provided by technology-based transportation companies also involves the engagement of various ministries in terms of formulating and adjusting regulations, policy coordination, technological standardization, supervision responsibility, and law enforcement.
Therefore, a centralized mechanism is needed to facilitate communication and coordination among ministries and related institutions.
This mechanism also acts as a joint forum to develop strategies, set priority scales, identify collaboration areas, and ensure that all parties have aligned perceptions in realizing fair and adaptive transportation in the era of disruptive technology.
Local governments’ roles in creating regulations for technology-based transportation services in their regions should also be considered in this joint forum concerning the complex jurisdictional issues, as no one-size-fits-all regulation can be applied in various situations and conditions.
Therefore, to ensure effective and targeted supervision and regulation, it is necessary to enhance the capacity and abilities of regulators and stakeholders to understand complex technology and the dynamic transformation in disruptive technology industries.
“Regulatory innovation in technology is expected to strengthen Indonesia’s position in the global competition and significantly contribute to achieving sustainable development goals,” he said.
Author: Gusti Grehenson
Photographer: Donnie