Regulating data infrastructures for new mobility markets

Giuseppe Bellantuono (Università degli studi di Trento)

Abstract

Global negative externalities in the transportation sector are higher than in any other sector. In the last few decades, progress on reducing them has been scant. Three mobility revolutions promise to drastically cut these externalities: decarbonization, digitalization and automation. So far, none of them made much progress. Most importantly, synergies among them struggle to materialize. This paper argues that those synergies directly depend on the regulation of the mobility data layer. The latter can be understood as the new data infrastructure controlling the traditional physical infrastructures. The paper adopts a Law and Economics approach to identify the incentive effects stemming from the interplay of horizontal and sector-specific legal regimes for mobility data. Three issues are investigated: first, how interoperability and data sharing can be regulated; second, how to avoid dominant positions in new mobility markets; third, how to match new mobility services with strong data protection. For each issue, proposals are made on how to reshape the traditional competences of transportation authorities and foster synergies among the three revolutions.

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