Since Hans needs to borrow your heavy duty floor sander, your best bet for getting there is a carshare vehicle. You book it on your cell phone as you saunter along the tree-lined, traffic-calmed street to the "Mobil Point" at the local church yard. That’s where the carshare cars are parked. You wave your electronic smart card over the reader to get in, swing by home to pick up the sander, and off you go, headed for a similar Mobil Point near the café.

To get home Hans has the sander now, so you don’t need the car anymore. You head back to the Mobil Point, where cabs, bike parking, and frequent transit service are all waiting, and real-time traveller information tells you a tram is coming in three minutes that will deliver you practically to your doorstep.

This is "New Mobility", the future of urban transportation. Seamless, convenient connections between sustainable transportation options are good for the economic vitality of urban regions, and good for the planet too.