Alleviating China’s energy poverty: does smart transportation matter?

In the era of the digital economy, smart transportation has achieved leapfrog development, affecting all aspects of life, but few scholars have paid attention to whether it has affected the goal of alleviating energy poverty (EP). Accordingly, our study uses data from 30 Chinese provinces, 10 years (2010–2019), to assess the correlation between smart transportation and EP by using the Instrumental variables generalized method of moments (IV-GMM) model. The findings indicate that: (i) a significant inverse relationship exists between smart transportation and EP, and smart transportation can significantly alleviate EP; (ii) the impact of smart transportation on EP under different quantiles is significant, and the higher the level of EP, the less obvious the role of smart transportation. Furthermore, (iii) aside from its indirect role in reducing emissions, smart transportation still contributes to EP reduction by influencing green technology innovation. In light of the aforementioned results, this study puts forward relevant policy recommendations to provide important policy insights for reducing EP through smart transportation. This study assesses China’s measure of smart transportation.We analyse how smart transportation affects energy poverty (EP).The growth of smart transportation helps to lower EP.Technology innovation plays a mediating role.