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CONFERENCE CONFERENCE INTELLIGENT MOBILITY 3.0: LINES The Contract Transport Congress dealt with the woes and the opportunities in the social transportation area. ner in the transportation sector. Besides that, the cut-throat competition for contract work must end and the price for these services must be the right one – not just the lowest one. FRAGILITY The city of Rotterdam hired consultant Jeroen Veenendaal to do the kickoff to an revamped integrated social transport contract. He seeks a different approach, different from contracts ‘just’ awarded on the basis of winning the tender. He is looking forward to a dialogue with the market, with the transport companies. This will require ‘Market Meetings’ with a dialogue on trade and competitive issues between taxi companies. His big question: does the organization and coordination of this work add something to these types of transport? Far too often things are made more complicated than necessary. Importantly, the fragility of the transported clients means that small mistakes can have major consequences. Therefore the customer should always be centre stage and the service must be punctual taking into account the client’s vulnerability. Yes, this is a completely different taxi market compared to many other countries. ORGANIZE THEMSELVES Marcel Slotema from consultants Forseti, concluded with the story of the transportation centre Flevoland. Not a unique thought by this consultancy, but a practice borrowed from the Nordic countries. It seems the flavour of the month, but so far no such centre has shown it actually operates more efficiently and saves money. The story hinges on how the municipalities in this model are willing to work together and how reliable firewalls can be built between operations and dispatching. wf BETWEEN MOBILITY PROVIDERS BLURRING Not a day passes without speculation about the future of passenger transport. And when taxis will be replaced by autonomous ones. Carlos Ghosn, the big boss of Renault-Nissan, sees taxis disappear within 20 years. Often the taxi driver is completely overlooked – he or she apparently provides no added value, for example for people with reduced mobility or caredependent elderly people. Yet profound social changes are on the way, concluded the annual conference Intelligent Mobility 3.0, organized in London by consultants Frost & Sullivan. About 300 specialists heard how connectivity (everyone is connected to everyone and everything Sarwant Singh (Frost & Sullivan) each year presents the new Mega trends. PHOTOS: Wim Faber PHOTOS: Wim Faber What mobility provider does not have to deal with the new developments? The panels were full of high-level specialists. is connected to everything else, the Internet of Things) and urbanization are some of the megatrends which will shape the agenda for the next years. MEGATREND URBANIZATION The megatrends, including urbanization -the increasing migration of the world’s population to urban areas – are both opportunities and threats to public transport and taxis. These trends have their effects on both. With the advent of the autonomous car both sectors will increasingly be intertwined. Transportation professionals will have to tackle new challenges and opportunities. Sarwant Singh (Senior Partner Frost & Sullivan): “Megatrends such as urbanization, connectivity and e-commerce means creating new opportunities, such as smart parking management, new approaches for automobile manufacturers and home delivery logistics companies.“ Last year Singh in his book ‘New Megatrends - Implications for our Future’ took the participants on a journey through the megatrends that shape today‘s horizon and change the face of tomorrow‘s mobility. Also for the taxi industry. Singh identified 11 megatrends which affect mobility at the micro level. This year, he elaborated on these themes. SMART INFRASTRUCTURE This world’s resources are tight. Financial, physical and social resources. The manufacturers who are clever in the design and manufacture of mobility solutions will be the ones who benefit. ‚Smart‘ is green and efficient, and the seamless response to the networked society. In today‘s increasingly urbanized cities ‚smart‘ is also a prerequisite for success. Smart urban infrastructure and planning mean that physical and e-mobility will play an increasingly important role. Today the demand for mobility is more and more based on the prevention of congestion and pollution by easy mobility solutions. Another megatrend is the greater emphasis on good value for money. And in this society where people are generally getting older, wellness and wellbeing will be top of the agenda. ‘SHIFTS‘ Singh gave some ‚shifts‘ too, away from traditional models, such as new business models based on car sharing, peer-to-peer sharing and corporate sharing - more integrated mobility. There will also new ridesharing models, like BlaBlaCar (sharing the costs, not profit). Uber will develop more into a logistics company in some markets. The integration of mobility in turn means the development of integrated platforms in which the customer can order the mobi- Hailed as a leading example of ultimate mobility platform: Marcus Spickermann of Daimler’s Moovel. lity he needs. These platforms also provide space for innovative taxi companies, like London’s One Transport has for years combined various forms of taxi, coach and other mobility features. Cities themselves will also become customers for all sorts of integrated mobility, including taxi-mobility. This especially to meet the needs of the ageing population, which in some cases will not just need a door-to-door approach, but also a bed-to-bed solution. »Business and leisure mobility are increasingly happening at the same time« Another shift: business and leisure mobility are increasingly happening at the same time. The number of women drivers will increase and women are more likely to prefer Uber over taxis. Aggregators will increasingly combine various modes of transport in their apps. The framework Singh had described, was then coloured in by a series of specialist speakers. More and more companies turn to ridesharing, while others are hesitant for safety and security reasons. A huge challenge for reservation systems like Amadeus and specialist business travel agencies like Carlsson-Wagonlit. Amadeus is working on a special department that is purely concerned with new forms of shared and integrated mobility. The question is what the commercial side of the business will look like. As ridesharing doesn’t always fit well in reservation systems. But in future business travellers may well go to Uber and AirBnb for lack of alternative. In the future divisions between B2B, B2C and P2P are disappearing, just like the lines between modes of mobility are blurring. Providers of mobility products are moving closer together. wf TAXI OCTOBER / 2015 15
