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Fastned raises 7.7 million Euro to grow network

Fastned raises 7.7 million Euro to grow network

Fastned, the Dutch company that is rolling out a European network of fast charging stations where all electric cars can charge, has raised 7.7 million euro in just two weeks via a public issue of bonds. Initially, the issue was limited to 3.3 million euro, but due to the high demand the board of directors decided to extend the issue. In total 7.7 million euro worth of bonds were issued to more than 600 investors. The proceeds of this issue will be used to further expand the network of fast-charging stations in the Netherlands and in the rest of Europe.

Subscriptions to the issue was possible from Tuesday, May 23, 07:30hrs to Tuesday, June 6, 16:00hrs. The bonds pay out 6% interest per annum and have a maturity of 5 years. The interest is paid quarterly in arrears.

Bart Lubbers, co-founder of Fastned: “In every investment round, we see more and more people who invest bigger and bigger sums of money to support the sustainable mission of Fastned. These investors show true leadership in the required energy transition as set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. Together we build the green service stations of the future.”

Fastned is building a European network of fast charging stations and currently has 63 stations operational. Volume (kWhs) and revenues have grown at a pace of around 10% month-on-month for two years; significantly outpacing the market. The experience gained in the Netherlands provides a good basis for European expansion. Fastned recently won the tender for charging stations inLondon and has signed contracts for dozens of locations in Germany and Belgium.

  • Fastned raises 7.7 million euro to roll out its European network.
Ridecell powers new carsharing service by Volkswagen Group in Poland

Ridecell powers new carsharing service by Volkswagen Group in Poland

Ridecell Inc., the leading global carsharing and ridesharing platform provider, announces at TU-Automotive Detroit, its mobility platform will power a new carsharing program by ŠKODA Poland (part of Volkswagen Group Poland – VGP). Skoda Auto Mlada Boleslav (Part of VW AG) in the Czech Republic will drive the program, under the brand name Omni. Pol-Mot Auto, a Skoda dealership in Poland, will operate the service locally.

“With carsharing continuing to gain momentum as a means of convenient and affordable transportation, the Volkswagen Group Poland is looking to meet this demand with innovative mobility as a service offerings,” said Piotr Maj, ŠKODA Digitalization Manager of Volkswagen Group Poland. “With the Omni program, we were able to quickly go to market with a new Skoda-based carsharing service by using the Ridecell new mobility platform.”

The Omni service allows consumers to pick up and drop off Skoda vehicles at parking stations throughout the Warsaw metropolitan area. In addition, consumers can easily sign up for the Omni service with a simple app-based registration process that takes just minutes and then use the Omni app to instantly access all available vehicles in the service. Ridecell developed the Omni-branded application and powers the back-end operations of the service.

“We believe the Omni service will offer unmatched convenience for drivers who are looking for short term car usage and avoiding long waits at inconvenient car rental locations,” said Piotr Boguszewski of Pol-Mot Auto. “We’re excited to leverage our strengths as a car dealership for this new mobility offering, including our deep expertise in fleet management and vehicle maintenance.”

The Omni service will take full advantage of the Ridecell platform including end-to-end automation, instant driver verification, payment processing, demand/supply balancing and custom analytics. The Omni-branded app and all operational features are fully localized in Polish.

“At Ridecell, we’re excited to help the Volkswagen Group Poland define this new offering and introduce it to the market quickly. We believe the Omni program represents a smart transition from a traditional dealer business to a scalable service model,” said Aarjav Trivedi, founder and CEO of Ridecell. “With the Ridecell platform, automakers can leverage their established dealer networks to expand offerings, operate efficiently, grow revenues, and increase their value to today’s consumers. This introduction in Poland is a perfect indicator of what lies ahead in the smart automotive industry.”

  • Ridecell powers new carsharing service by Volkswagen Group in Poland
New Yorkers try a startling idea: Sharing Yellow Cabs

New Yorkers try a startling idea: Sharing Yellow Cabs

Fighting over a yellow cab is a long-enshrined tradition on the streets of New York City. Who hasn’t heard arguments erupt over who got there first or who needs the cab more? As words turn into shoving matches or even fistfights, the outcome is inevitably the same: The winner rides away in the back seat, leaving the loser seething at the curb. But instead of fighting, how about this jarring idea: sharing.

A new service gives passengers in thousands of yellow taxis the option of making space in the back seat for a stranger, in return for discounted fares. The shared rides are being offered through an unusual partnership between two competing ride-hailing apps: Via, which runs car pools in parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, and Curb, an alternative to sticking out an arm to hail a cab.

The service is the latest effort to help the city’s troubled yellow taxi industry, which has steadily lost ground to the extraordinary growth of black cars dispatched by Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing apps. It is intended to give New Yorkers another option for getting around at a time when the subway system has been overwhelmed by crowds and delays, and to create a more efficient transportation network with fewer cars driving around empty or clogging streets.

In doing so, it will also redirect passengers who have defected to the ride-hailing apps for convenience and cost back to the yellow cabs they left behind. Yellow cabs made an average of 332,075 trips per day in March 2017, down from 393,886 the year before, according to the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates the industry.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/nyregion/new-york-yellow-taxis-ride-sharing.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170607&nlid=31553297&tntemail0=y

  • Sharing instead of fighting over a yellow cab.
Car sharing market share to exceed $16.5bn by 2024

Car sharing market share to exceed $16.5bn by 2024

The technology research report “Car Sharing Market Size By Business Model (Round Trip, One Way), By Application (Business, Private), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Turkey, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 – 2024”, by Global Market Insights, Inc. says Car Sharing Market size is set to exceed USD 16.5 billion by 2024.

Stringent government regulations associated with the emission of harmful pollutants in the environment such as the EPA National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) are anticipated to drive the car sharing market. Various regulatory bodies from across the globe are supporting car sharing services. The German government has published a draft bill to accommodate car sharing in municipalities and cities to encourage the installation of the required infrastructure. The government sees this business model as a crucial element to make the transportation sector more environment-friendly. Additionally, it could reduce the need for owning a vehicle, particularly in urban areas.

The car sharing market aims at providing a cost-effective solution for vehicle owners to enhance their mobility and the daily commute. It helps users and authorities to efficiently manage the usage of parking space, improve travel choices, increase accessibility and reduce adverse environmental impact. Vehicle ownership comprises several fixed costs such as insurance, depreciation, and maintenance that adds significantly to the total cost of ownership. However, users of shared services pay only when they use a vehicle for time/distance based services.

A considerable percentage of U.S. consumers still consider personal cars as their preferred mode of transport, although preference is lower among younger consumers. However, the popularity of the car sharing market among the younger population is growing due to rising traffic congestion and high degree of convenience. Lack of proper transportation infrastructure in countries such as China, India, Turkey, Mexico, and Brazil is posing a challenge to the carsharing market.

One way car sharing market is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period due to the reduction in user inconvenience to return the vehicle at the starting point. One-way services are more flexible for the customers; however, they present more difficulties to operators. They are difficult to manage, as the freedom given to the users creates imbalances on the fleet distribution. To address the issue, the operator can move the vehicles from areas with surplus availability to areas with high demand.

Corporate applications accounted for majority of the car sharing market size and are expected to remain dominant over the forecast timespan. Vehicle parking space is a big problem for several businesses, which can be overcome by employing these services. U.S. car sharing market accounted for majority of the revenue in 2015 due to technology advancements. Increased funding activities from various organizations and authorities such as the Department of Transportation to promote these services is expected to propel the carsharing market demand.

  • Car sharing market growing sharply.
Robocars could add $7 trillion to the global economy

Robocars could add $7 trillion to the global economy

Mention autonomous vehicles, and people conjure two visions of the future. The rosy picture features a world in which cars zip around by themselves, allowing commuters to while away their time checking email as they benefit from technology expected to save 600,000 lives by 2045. The dystopian view holds that all those vehicles will put some 5 million truckers, cabbies, and other drivers out of work.

The truth, of course, lies somewhere between the two extremes. But however it shakes out, the global economy will see a big boost. Like, a $7 trillion, with a t, boost.  That’s the word from the data crunchers at Intel and the research company Strategy Analytics. The robocar sector could add as much as $2 trillion to the US economy alone by 2050.

Granted, much of that money will go to the GMs and Ubers and Googles of the world, and the auto industry could see a seismic shift in where it generates dough. “Over time, service, application and content revenue generated by mobility-as-a-service will supplant the value of vehicle sales as core sources of shareholder value creation,” the report states. Translation: These companies will make big bank moving you and your Amazon purchases around. So what’s the American worker to do? The report outlines adjacent boom industries that will benefit from the coming robocar revolution. Plan on sticking around through the 2030s and beyond? A few hot tips:

Become a Data Maven. All those cars will generate loads and loads of data about, well, just about everything. Who you are. Where you go. What you do. How often you do it. Coupled with data gleaned from your smartphone, credit cards, and, in a particularly creepy twist, maybe even biometrics, and anyone who wants to can get a highly detailed picture of you. That kind of data is worth a lot, and the consulting company McKinsey predicts the car data industry could be worth as much as $750 million by 2030. Storing, organizing, and analyzing that data will be a big job.

Stick With IT. The Intel report predicts businesses’ “IT intensity”—that is, how much money they spend on information technology—will almost double. Generally, IT intensity and labor intensity are inversely related: The more cloud services and predicative analytics do the work to store and use information about you and your self-driving vehicle, the fewer actual human workers a company needs. But someone need to tend to these data architecture beasts—not crunching the numbers themselves, but making sure the systems are humming along as they should.

Fix All the Cars. Robocars won’t need you, but they’ll still need mechanics. That’s true even if, as many analysts predict, fewer people are buying cars. Instead, they’ll rely on on-demand taxi services to ferry them about, which explains why the number of miles people and things travel in vehicles is expected to rise in the autonomous future. The more cars move around, the faster they’ll wear out. Those that aren’t replaced will be repaired, which means lots of jobs for mechanics and others who keep cars motoring along. “This area will require tech training as well as mechanical knowledge but should be a source of new jobs for displaced drivers,” the report notes.

Read more: https://www.wired.com/2017/06/impact-of-autonomous-vehicles/

  • Robocars could add $7 trillion to the global economy

 

Intel predicts autonomous cars will spawn a ‘passenger economy’

Intel predicts autonomous cars will spawn a ‘passenger economy’

Intel and market researcher Strategy Analytics have applied their collective brainpower to the impact of self-driving cars, and they’re predicting that we’ll see a “Passenger Economy” emerge from all of the services targeted at people while they are no longer driving their cars. By 2050, Intel and Strategy Analytics made the astounding prediction that the passenger economy will have a $7 trillion economic impact.

The companies estimated that the passenger economy (services to fill the idle time while you ride in a car) would be more than twice the size of the sharing economy (based on companies such as Uber or Lyft that share resources across many people) by 2050.

I have to remark how easy it is to ridicule this research. Economists have a hard enough time predicting economic change on a monthly basis. Intel paid Strategy Analytics to look at the economy 33 years from now, and it came up with a figure for the passenger economy being worth $7 trillion in 2050. Despite my light-hearted skepticism, Intel and the researchers are dead serious about the huge impact that self-driving will have.

Qualcomm recently looked into the same thing, starting with some very different assumptions. Qualcomm paid for a research paper created by David Teece, professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and market researcher IHS Markit to assess the impact of 5G mobile technology — which Qualcomm is playing a big hand in bringing about — on the economy. That report said 5G would create 22 million jobs and $12.3 trillion in impact on goods and services by 2035.

These predictions are surely going to be wildly off the mark, but I won’t be around to check — unless of course there are some real breakthroughs in biotechnology that will keep my brain intact. My prediction is that, thanks to Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the climate change accord, that the headquarters of both Intel and Qualcomm will be underwater by 2050.

Read more: https://venturebeat.com/2017/06/01/intel-predicts-autonomous-cars-will-spawn-a-passenger-economy/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=vbdaily&bt_ee=MZW0bN5YpWoObDQvNuCMgMuiz8xeEsGgnHGIq/cBmowMTvmE++GE6T52wg0IVAe6&bt_ts=1496416188107

  • Intel predicts a ‘passenger economy’.
UITP awards recognise ambitious and innovative mobility projects

UITP awards recognise ambitious and innovative mobility projects

Innovative ideas from across the globe that contribute to advancing public transport were rewarded in the closing ceremony of the UITP Global Public Transport Summit (15-17 May 2017) in Montréal.

Every two years, the UITP Awards acknowledge ambitious and innovative sustainable mobility projects contributing to the sector objective of doubling the public transport modal share worldwide by 2025. The 2017 UITP Awards highlight successful projects implemented around the world in the period 2015-2017 that place public transport at the heart of the urban and local mobility system. Successful projects should be ambitious, innovative and transferable to other cities and regions.

Winners were selected by an international panel of experts and announced at the closing ceremony of the UITP Global Public Transport Summit. “I’m very pleased to announce the winners of the UITP Awards 2017. We received more than 230 applications for the Awards and it just goes to demonstrate the commitment of the public transport sector towards the provision of innovative services to meet the ever growing demand for mobility in cities around the world,” said UITP Secretary General Alain Flausch.

Winners of the UITP Awards 2017:

Public transport strategy. Cape Town Transport and Urban Development Authority (South Africa) for the project, ‘Cape Town Transit Oriented Development Strategic Framework’ (TODSF). The TODSF represents a paradigm shift in the city’s approach to integrated land and public transport development and growth management. The approach and methodology could be replicated for use in for many other growing cities around the world. Effective implementation of the TODSF would result in a 20% improvement in public transport mode share by 2032 which in turn would result in significantly less carbon dioxide emissions for the transport sector in Cape Town.

Customer experience. City Government of Muntinlupa and the Lingkod Muntinlupa Foundation (Philippines), for the project, ‘Leading the e-Jeepney revolution in the Philippines’ – the e–Jeepney creatively re-defines the customer experience of a flexible public transport service that is a core feature of mobility in the Philippines. It utilises new technology to enable booking and payment, and an eco-friendly vehicle for service delivery, based on a customer-centred approach to service design. This is an exemplar project for redefining flexible mobility services that is transferable to many developing areas of the world.

Operational and technical excellence. Vasttrafik and Volvo Group (Sweden) for the project, ‘ElectriCity’ – multi-stakeholder electric bus demonstration project implemented in Gothenburg (Sweden) on public transport line 55, connecting two university campuses. This project successfully integrates all elements of modern bus-based mobility solutions and points to the future of bus services worldwide. Its innovative technology is deployed in real operation conditions and it is perfectly integrated in the public transport system.

Smart financing and business models. Addax Assesoria Economica e Financeira LTDA, Empresa Metropolitana de Transportes Urbanos de São Paolo S.A. (Brazil) for the project, ‘Public Private Partnership – Baixanda Santista – Bus and LRT integrate system’. Simultaneous award of a whole metropolitan region of public service transport to one single private partner concession company including both LRT and bus modes. Broad financing model, additional revenues possible and planned, integrated transport approach. An example of how to finance the new public transport systems needed to answer to the increasing mobility demand in growing economies.

Small cities and low density areas. Nordjyllands Trafikselskab (NT) – public transport authority of North Denmark for the project ‘Around your world’. This project offers an excellent, complete and integrated mobility solution for residents in low density regional settings, including: hourly services all day, an on demand responsive service and a travel planner. Strategy covering the entire region of North Denmark and all modes of transport (including carpooling, car sharing etc.)
Design. Atkins, Network Rail and MACE (UK) for the, ‘Birmingham Gateway Project’. The ‘Birmingham Gateway Project’ is the £750m landmark transformation of Birmingham New Street Station. The project significantly increased users’ space perception and passenger flows inside the building, with brighter, cleaner platforms and a better access. A contemporary station exterior which reflects the dynamism of this vcity. The project integrates new pedestrian links across the city centre, giving direct access and interchange with the planned Metro stop in Stephenson Street.
Y4PT young leadership. Ulrich Strötz, Software Team Lead in Door2Door, Germany, has been chosen as the 2017 UITP Young Leader. Ulrich Strötz is a straightforward example of natural leadership with both strong technical skills and the capacity to easily motivate and challenge his team. Education MSc Geographic Information Science & Cartography 2012–2014 BSc Forest Ecosystem Management 2008–2012.
UITP has also handed over today the following Special Recognitions to two overarching projects that demonstrate outstanding strategic commitment and ambition:

  • Société du Grand Paris for the “Grand Paris Express” Project.

The new automated ring metro encircling Paris will answer the expected public transport ridership increase and reinforce the public transport service in areas poorly served today. The project has started implementation and will imply a €28bn investment by 2030.

  • Moscow City Government, Mosgortrans and Moscow Metro for the successful implementation of Moscow’s ambitious an integrated urban transport strategy. In the last five years Moscow has gone through the upgrade of the land transport network, the extension and modernisation of the underground network and the renovation and further completion of the Moscow Central Circle.The creation of a unified parking space, the launching of a cycling infrastructure and the introduction of pedestrian zones are also part of Moscow’s achievements.

For more information: https://uitpsummit.org/awards/

  • UITP awards recognise ambitious and innovative mobility projects.
Uber is a transportation company, court adviser says

Uber is a transportation company, court adviser says

A senior adviser to the European Court of Justice said that Uber is a transportation company in an opinion on an ongoing case by Spanish taxi drivers. Classification as a transport company makes it easier for local, regional and national authorities to hit Uber with new regulations.

The Spanish taxi association that brought the case argues Uber should be regulated like a transportation company, but the ride-sharing service disagrees. The case has implications for a range of companies in the sharing economy including Airbnb or BlaBlaCar. “The service offered by Uber cannot be classified as an ‘information society service’,” said Advocate General Maciej Szpunar, according to a statement by the court. “The service offered by the Uber platform must be classified as a ‘service in the field of transport.”

The European Court of Justice will produce a final verdict in the coming months determining if Uber should be classified and therefore regulated as a passive internet intermediary, a transportation service or something in-between. ECJ judges follow the advice of the advocate general in the large majority of cases.

Read more: http://www.politico.eu/article/ecj-advocate-general-says-uber-is-a-transport-company/

Frost & Sullivan – Intelligent Mobility – 28-29 June – London

Frost & Sullivan – Intelligent Mobility – 28-29 June – London

Frost & Sullivan – Intelligent Mobility – 28-29 June – London

Intelligent Mobility
The pace of development and disruption within the automotive and transportation sectors continues to accelerate. Connectivity, urbanisation and social changes continue to have a profound impact on the future of personal and freight mobility, and on the car of the future. Delegates at Frost & Sullivan’s Intelligent Mobility workshop, held annually in London since 2009, have witnessed the realisation of mega trends on the future of mobility, spawning a new generation of products and services.

Did you miss it or were you there? Taxi & Mobility Update 2017!

Did you miss it or were you there? Taxi & Mobility Update 2017!

“A masterclass”, some participants called it. Others said “it was the quickest and deepest update on taxi and PHV-matters I’ve ever had.” Some enjoyed the look into the future quite a few speakers gave. Others liked the technical updates or the regulatory discussion with top-regulators from New York, San Francisco, London, Brussels and Finland. Or a bit of skirmishing with the Uber and MyTaxi-representatives in the audience. Whatever they took home from the conference, all 75 participants enjoyed networking with colleagues and other stakeholders at Taxi & Mobility Update 2017, the annual international event for all stakeholders in the industry. Make sure you’re with us in a year’s time at Taxi & Mobility Update 2018 – again in the Heart of Europe: Brussels.

Thursday, May 4

Surender: ‘A paradigm shift in vehicle usage’

Moderator Richard Harris, a leading expert and thought leader in the intelligent transport sector and member in the ITS World Hall of Fame since 2015, made sure the conference ran smoothly and presenters stuck to their 15-minute deadlines (to create more space for discussion). Once or twice he could be heard muttering “You have 20 slides and 9 minutes left” or he ‘helped’ speakers along with good-natured comments on their time keeping.

It worked and the programme sped along. Particularly after the breathtaking keynote speech by Frost & Sullivan’s Shwetha Surender, who drew a clear overview of all mobility sectors and their future(s). “Unsure who wins. Autonomous transport and electromobility are two trends, together with integrated mobility. But there are different stakeholders, investors, solutions and various types of collaboration.”

The city in charge

Then it was time for the city: Ivo Cré (POLIS Network) outlined how cities not only play different mobility roles at the same time, but also pursue different goals in mobility – as does the European Union with different EU-programmes – trying to recognize improving integrated mobility with sustainability goals. Prof. Dr. Cathy Macharis continued Cre’s line by campaigning for a human and smart city in which cars should be replaced by shared, electric and connected mobility provided by different stakeholders. Taking over the baton from Macharis, Serge Metz described the new business model for the taxi and PHV industry: app-use (with more features), segmented and dedicated business units, ditching of formerly core activities (call centre, fitting equipment), partnerships with newcomers and large networks plus the need for stronger brand-related marketing activities.

Who’s in the driving seat? MaaS or public transport? Both?

What’s at stake in the public transport world, Kaan Yildizgoz wondered. Connectivity, Electromobility, Big Data, Open Data, the lack of the door-to-door connection in traditional public transport. To put all the pieces of the urban transport puzzle in place, different capacities and suppliers are needed, plus an efficient form of ticketing. Most important: the car of the future needs to be shared. That’s where Mobility as a Service plays a part, according to Sampo Hietanen. Linking various transport modes in a monthly subscription model (as Whim does in Helsinki) will make all the difference. This year MaaS-roll outs are expected in the West-Midlands and Amsterdam. Interesting point in Helsinki: with car usage going down, the amount of taxi trips is going up. Alwin Bakker showed that some forms of autonomous driving could be here in a few years (say 2030), whilst complete autonomy might take as long as 2075.

Do we need a new business model? If so, which one?

Herwig Kollar defended the current German legal structure for transporting people as it protects the interests of the taxi consumers. If innovation is needed, this could easily being done within the current legal framework. Tarek Mallah, from a constituency where Uber has taken over most of the black car industry, showed how his company offered its clients a number of services and several new business areas – particularly in the field of healt care and care for the elderly. The link between public transport and the taxi and PHV sector was provided by Michel Pêtre, who showed how the subsidized and shared taxis of Collecto provided a useful nightly service, replacing night buses, and how Splyt makes sharing taxis cheaper for everyone.

Tomorrow’s Mobility: different systems, different regulation?

The expected regulatory fireworks arrived in the shape of Pascal Smet: his latest Brussels taxi plan aims at one single taxi licence (no more limos), a level playing field for taxis and Uber & Co, plus all licences in the hands of drivers. No wonder that caused much discussion. The presentation by Finland’s Olli-Pekka Rantala was equally earth-shattering: a well-nigh full deregulation of the transport sector in the new Transport Code with Finland on its way to the digital future. Equally surprising were Dirk Ritter’s plans for a sizeable tariff hike in Hamburg in order to improve the quality of the taxi service. Although at the last minute Dirk Ritter could’t attend, we still show his presentation. Kate Toran showed the challenges of regulation for a taxi sector (1.800 taxis) at the local level, whereas the TNC’s (45.000 vehicles) is regulated at the state level. The biggest casualty: accessible services in the taxi area.

Since the start of Uber & Co in the city, Meera Joshi’s TLC has kept both taxis, FHV and TNC’s to the same strict regulations. Uber nestled itself in the black car sector (FHV’s), but did not get any favourable treatment from the city. Like in New York the difference in numbers between PHV and taxis in London is enormous (85.000 vs 22.500). Simon Buggey explained how Transport for London is trying to improve the quality of drivers by making reading and writing tests compulsory – also for taxi drivers.

By that time many different discussions were being waged: the bus trip to the official residence of Pascal Smet and the drinks and nibbles there helped in continuing discussions and networking.

Friday, May 5

In a way, Olga Petrik’s presentation was the centre-piece of the whole conference: ITF had researched and simulated the question how in a (theoretically) carless city like Lisbon the existing metro and a fleet of shared taxi buses could take care of all mobility needs of the city’s inhabitants (and more), leaving space for other city functions. Karsan’s Levent Erdogan explained how his JEST EV-midibus (shown outside the conference) could easily fill the car-void, as it has been doing as shared taxi (‘dolmus’) in Istanbul.

Michael Galvin explained how Addison Lee, owned by investors Carlyle Group, keep extending their area and size (20 acquisitions in 3 years). The company provides integrated services in a full mobility system, aiming at four forces: electric, shared, connected and autonomous. Personal customer focus remains important with 50% of jobs ordered by phone. According to Sonila Metushi a revolution is taking place in passenger and road transport. In the public transport sector it is the first and last mile which is often still missing. IRU’s UpTop network aims at creating worldwide links between accredited apps and improving taxi and PHV quality.

Matt Daus explained how over the past years TNC’s have made a sizeable dent in the taxi industry and that “a race to the bottom” is taking place. Medallions are losing their value, yet Uber is still to make money on its services (before it changes drivers for autonomous vehicles). Mergers and acquisitions are continuing in the sector, yet there are also many separate niches to be served. Unfortunately people with mobility handicaps suffer from a lack of accessibile vehicles and services.

Dr. James Cooper, introducing the Roundtable discussion at the end of Taxi & Mobility Update, pointed out that often the service level in the taxi and PHV sectors leaves much to be desired. Add to that so-called international apps, which don’t provide international coverage. There is room for the taxi in the mobility mix. “But ask yourself what your customer wants and be prepared to be an innovator.”

Taxi & Mobility Update will be back next year. Follow www.mobilityintell.com

If you want to be kept up to date. If you have programme suggestions for next year or you would like to join us as sponsor, please contact us by mail: wim.faber@challans-faber.eu

See you next year!