IMSOMOT: Impact of mobile and social network applications on mobility and transport Editorial COLLA 2016 IARIA Conference

Individual mobility is often both necessity as well as expression of independence and autonomy. Within the last decades individual mobility and logistics more and more relied on cars. While costs associated to cars and trucks decreased, traffic congestion and pollution increased. Nowadays especially metropolitan areas suffer from crowded streets and air pollution, while people experience loss of time and are exposed to health risks. These issues have grown and a lot of research has been conducted to tackle them. Within the last decade knownapproaches, such as routing algorithms, have been transformed and adopted to be used online and on individual level. Furthermore, with rise of internet technologies a lot of new mobility services have been offered. This includes other modes of transport and introduces changes in people’s behavior. While the service market is experiencing huge growth, it is still in question, if these changes and services can also help to reduce congestion and pollution of the overall traffic network.