Background and Objective: Smart intra-city transportation, with an emphasis on urban resilience as a key pillar of infrastructure management and sustainable development, is inextricably linked to the capacity of communication networks to withstand, adapt to, and maintain optimal performance in the face of external shocks and environmental stresses. Meanwhile, the specific challenges of the Ahvaz metropolis, such as harsh climatic conditions, the destructive phenomenon of dust storms, and concentrated traffic nodes, impose distinct structural and functional vulnerabilities on the transportation network, necessitating an approach beyond traditional traffic management. The present study was conducted with the aim of prioritizing the indicators and criteria of smart intra-city transportation to enhance the capability of the Ahvaz metropolis to confront the multidimensional aspects of these challenges and to analyze the resilience capacities of its communication infrastructures
Methodology: The current research was conducted utilizing a mixed-methods (qualitative-quantitative) approach. In the qualitative section, initial indicators were identified through interviews with experts and specialists in the fields of urban planning, smart transportation, and crisis management in the Ahvaz metropolis. In the quantitative section, the ‘SIWES’ method, a multi-criterion weighting technique, was employed to weight and prioritize the identified indicators based on expert opinions. The statistical population of this study included experts, university professors, managers, and active professionals in the fields of urban management, traffic engineering, smart city technologies, and urban resilience in the city of Ahvaz. The statistical sample was selected purposively in the qualitative section and through a judgmental sampling method in the quantitative section.”
Results and Findings: The research findings indicated that based on the prioritization of smart transportation indicators in Ahvaz, the criteria of “Management and Operations” and “Infrastructure and Physical Structure” hold the highest strategic importance as the front line of crisis response. Subsequently, the economic, environmental, and technological components act as the supporting pillars of the system, ensuring its long-term sustainability against shocks. Furthermore, the low ranking of “Social Resilience” reflects a sequential (precedence-oriented) approach; meaning that the effectiveness of public education and citizen participation is entirely contingent upon the stabilization and preparation of hardware infrastructures. Ultimately, the transition from a reactive model to proactive resilience will solely depend on establishing a sustainable balance between the development of physical-managerial capacities and the enhancement of digital literacy and public participation.