MOBILITY MATTERS EMBRACING THE MOBILITY REVOLUTION:
WHY WE MUST ENCOURAGE THE PUBLIC TO DITCH THEIR CARS
Transportation has seen significant change over the past century and is undergoing another revolution as we speak. While new technologies are playing a central role in this, concerns about the current state of our network are also driv- ing change.
The roads in many of our urban centres are already too congested and this will only worsen in future as the population continues to increase. On top of this, gov- ernments are under pressure to address rising air pollution, as well as reduce the carbon footprint of transport to better meet emissions targets.
We need transport that can move people and goods around more effectively and sustainably - through busy cities and in rural areas too. It’s not a case of simply putting more cars on our roads to fulfil these increased demands though. Private car ownership will soon become obsolete, replaced by a whole new mobility ecosys- tem - one that relies largely on shared travel.
HOW IT WILL LOOK INCENTIVES FOR CHANGE
The foundations for this shared infras- tructure are already being put in place today, with car-sharing platforms such as BlaBlaCar growing in popularity over the last ten years. Shared transportation such as this will make up the future of travel.
The convenience of an on-demand net- work will more than match the efficiency we enjoy today from jumping in our own cars. Trips will be personalised, offering choice depending on where you need to go and how quickly you need to get there. A single app will act as a one-stop shop for all your travel needs - by using the app, you’ll be able to search, book and pay for all legs of your journey.
Public transport is set to make up the backbone of this Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) ecosystem. People will use a mix- ture of modes to travel - bus, train, metro, taxi and hire car – and, looking further into the future, these services will all run autonomously. At the start or end of the journey, where we might be making short-
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This all sounds exciting on paper - but the question is, how are we going to get there in practice? We’ve some barriers to get over first in terms of attitude change and infrastructure improvements.
1. Mindset change
Firstly, we need to encourage a shift in travel behaviour among the public by highlighting the benefits that are there to be gained from taking the bus or train in future. Public transport services today are prone to error and unreliability – but in years to come they will be more affordable, with a choice between pay- as-you-go or monthly subscription options, and run much more efficiently than they do currently. Governments and local authorities need to highlight how this MaaS model will be beneficial for public transport, making it more responsive and adaptable to travel- ers’ needs. At the same time, those transport operators who are developing
er trips across town, on-demand services will be there to fulfil that last-mile need.
Similarly, this well-integrated network will offer businesses new, more efficient ways of getting goods into the hands of cus- tomers. For example, supermarkets should be able to use an on-demand taxi service to drop off shopping at someone’s door, rather than relying on their own fleet of delivery vans.
solutions for the future should always ensure they are putting travelers at the heart of these.
2. Physical change
We should also consider that physical changes are an essential part of the trans- port revolution. There will undoubtedly be practical challenges involved in linking up multiple modes of transport, so we need to ensure we have an infrastructure that is capable of dealing with these demands.
More electric charging points will be needed, for example, to meet the growing number of electric vehicles (EVs) on our roads. And a powerful 5G network will be required to ensure connectivity between sensors on vehicles and buildings, so that important information can be transferred and the network continues to flow seam- lessly.
3. Relationship change
Collaboration will also be key to success between public and private operators. The transport network needs to work more closely than it is doing currently to be able to build a shared infrastructure. For passengers to receive live updates and to keep the network running smooth- ly, we need to make sure operators are sharing data freely and communicating with one another regularly.
Forums such as the MaaS Alliance, which has been created by the European Union, are important in this respect in bringing key players from both the public and pri- vate sectors together and starting conversations.
No doubt there are some challenges to overcome while we’re building this future MaaS infrastructure, but the final out- come is an exciting one for us all, with easier journeys on the horizon.
Safa Alkateb Autocab CEO
www.autocab.com Sponsor of PHTMExpo
JANUARY 2020
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