London has been ranked second in a global list of major mobility-friendly cities, narrowly missing out to Singapore for first place.

A study by Oliver Wyman Consulting and the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkley, examined 56 metrics, including regulation, infrastructure, social impact, and the ability to adapt future technologies.

London came second with a score of 74.0, just 0.1 behind Singapore. Stockholm, Hong Kong and Amsterdam completed the top five.

“Many cities around the world were at a tipping point, even before COVID and while we won’t know the true impact on cities yet, the cities that ranked high are in a better position to meet future challenges,” said Guillaume Thibault, an Oliver Wyman partner and one of the creators of the index.

The analysts said that, with six major airports, London, leads in international connectivity and that the city also has a wealth of leading universities which allows for innovation to flourish. They say Singapore remains number one partly because of its focus on forward looking traffic management, which includes road user charges with adaptive pricing, the first automated rail system as well as roadways that accommodate self-driving vehicles.

Half of the top ten cities – London, London, Helsinki, Berlin and Paris — are in Europe.  The report commented that most rely on mass transit, are easily walkable, and prioritise clean mobility as well as safety.  They also work with local academic institutions and are well-connected regionally and internationally with dense air and rail networks

“European cities have a great balance across all the dimensions of the index with the top cities scoring high across most of the categories,” explained Professor Alexandre Bayen, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.  “These cities have a richer portfolio of mobility options and infrastructure systems making them more resilient in the face of crisis.”