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on demand transport

Why employers are noticing high-tech, on-demand public transit

  • min read
    • Although it offers significant carbon reductions on the private car as a means of transport, public transportation isn't famed for comfort. But what if your post-pandemic commute involved leather seats, air-conditioning and Wi-Fi? Kura is an emerging company that hopes to reinvent the office commute with tech-optimized corporate shuttle buses. Kura's software uses postcode analysis to calculate optimal pick-up points for employees at public transport stops or residential hubs. It's public in the sense they can convert these pick-ups into published timetable that could be shared with multiple employers. They've already had great success in the 'school run' market. Kura's Commuting to 2025 report highlights how the return to the office and fears of catching COVID-19 will likely lead to a spike in people using cars for commuting. Its survey of 2,000 UK workers found 42 percent plan to return to the office full-time or hybrid working (partly at home partly in the office) and half of those plan to commute by petrol or diesel car. 60 percent cite infection control and lack of social distancing on public transport as concerns. The Cambridge Globalism Project found similar results, with 23 percent of UK adults saying they planned to travel more by car post-pandemic. Before the pandemic, around 17 percent of UK workforce used public transport to commute, but the proportion was much higher in populous cities. Some urban areas have seen public transit use decline as much as 60 percent. Kura believes it addresses many passenger concerns with pre-booked spaces, distanced seating plans and regular vehicle sanitization. Considering carbon emissions and employee demand Kura chief executive Godfrey Ryan thinks the on-demand public transportation market needs to be built up. He says their research shows 63 percent of employees favor employers that offer commuting support. Still, only 30 percent of London businesses are considering doing this – an expectation gap between employees and employers. But he thinks there's a changing tide, as employers look to their employee benefit packages to compete for talent and pressure increases for businesses to reach net-zero emissions. "We're getting a lot of interest from UK employers re-focussing on carbon neutrality post-lockdown. Alternatives to single-occupancy car use, such as shared transport, helps meet net-zero targets and this sustainability effort increases their appeal to employees," he notes. Around one-fifth of businesses worldwide have made net-zero targets. Millenials and Gen Z especially are increasingly examining employers' environmental credentials as they decide where to share their talents. "In London, employers with a command-and-control approach have relied on their employees enduring the inconvenience and cost of the commute without impact on staff satisfaction and retention. This is changing." Employee shuttles aren't new. Silicon Valley tech giants including Google, Facebook and others are renowned for transport perks, with dedicated teams managing employee transport demand and encouraging greener commuting. Chief Policy Officer for Bay Area urban advocates SPUR, Nick Josefowitz, argues to avoid pre-pandemic traffic levels returing, "all larger employers (should) take more responsibility for getting their workers to work and back home...in a way that minimizes their impact on climate and air quality." A flexible spin on a familiar transport model Flexibility is an area where many emerging commuting tech businesses are innovating. Amiad Solomon, co-founder and CEO of corporate commuting app Hip, suggests flexibility is the future of commuting. Hip raised 12 million US dollars in capital in 2021. Google revealed in a webinar with the Mineta Transport Institution (MTI) that it's relaunching its on-demand shuttle when its employees move from remote to hybrid working in late 2021. It piloted the program in 2019 and 2020, adding to its scheduled services from San Francisco to its campuses. The new on-demand service lets employees living in neighboring communities request a shared minivan ride within two morning and evening periods, Monday to Friday. During its pilot, it gave more than 7,500 rides to nearly 900 Google employees. The most popular days are Tuesday to Thursday, which may mirror in-office days for many. They're working on how to cover more flexible hours and avoid empty return trips. MTI researchers evaluating the pilot say whether it takes off beyond Silicon Valley remains to be seen. On-demand transport needs employer and public sector support The growing on-demand public transport market is gaining traction all over the world. Australian-led startup The Routing Company is already running on-demand, fixed-rate, shared minivan rides in Scotland, Australia and the US. We must work with communities to unlock public transit's potential for users and the environment, says Routing Company's founder James Cox. Yet large investment needed upfront and beyond has given varied results for on-demand public transport in other markets. Its selling point was, "cheaper than a taxi but more flexible than a bus." PickMeUp attracted good passenger numbers but wasn't commercially sustainable. The pilot proved there is high demand for ride-sharing services, but we need extra funding to make it viable," a GoAhead spokesperson says. "Demand-responsive services need partnership with the public sector and/or local employers to make it work. The council contracts our North Lincolnshire scheme, so there we can build a customer base without revenue risk." Putting the onus on employers to lead in commuter transport Do employers have the captive audience, capital and motivation to transform commuting comfort, convenience and sustainability? Andy Taylor thinks so – he's senior director of global strategy at transport industry tech platform Cubic Transportation Systems. "There's a lot of potential in companies providing on-demand mobility as a job perk, instead of getting things like a company car," Taylor observes. Taylor notes stumbling blocks in making companies more aware and trust in private, on-demand shared transport – perhaps reasons trial take-up has been slow. Google invested heavily in an internal email marketing campaign for its on-demand shuttle. Customer experience is the main evaluation criteria. They measure to make sure riders are picked up within a maximum timeframe, as close as possible to home and have enough space on the journey. For companies who've chosen to make the most of the employee appeal of on-demand transport, "enjoying the ride" has become central to their employer brand. With transport making up 14 percent of global carbon emissions and the pandemic threatening the viability of some public transit systems, new ways to minimize travel's environmental impact are always welcome.
mightfly self driving aircraft

How electric autonomous planes could change the logistics industry

  • min read
    • Five years from now, the shoes or iPhone you just ordered online might be delivered to you in just a few hours. How is that possible? Hybrid-electric, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) autonomous aircraft – that's how. VTOLs are a type of drone about the size of an average car that takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter – no runway needed. An autonomous aircraft flies under the control of automatic systems and needs no intervention from a human pilot. Though at the moment, autonomous aircrafts are flying under the supervision of remote pilots. It's the vision of entrepreneur, aerospace engineer and pilot Manal Habib. In 2019 she co-founded MightyFly, a start-up hoping to disrupt logistics with new-generation VTOL air units called the MightyFly MF-100. Delivery by drone isn't a new idea. Amazon is working on its Prime Air service that autonomously flies packages to customers by delivery drones in 30 minutes or less. UPS's drone airline, Flight Forward, recently received a Federal Aviation Administration certification, removing limits on how frequently and widely the multinational logistics company can operate. Habib says the MightyFly MF-100 is unique because it automates loading and unloading as well as flight. "It can make many deliveries in the same flight. We'll keep the economies of scale and flexibility delivery vans give, but by automating the system and moving it to near-empty airspace, we'll see a cheaper, more efficient and faster service." Small but mighty The MightyFly MF-100 has a cargo capacity of 100 pounds (45 kg) – that's double the maximum checked bag weight on most airlines – cruises at 150 mph (240 kph) and has a range of 600 miles (nearly 965 km.) Habib designed the craft with MightyFly co-founder Scott Parker, a product manager and mechanical engineer. The pair met while working at drone delivery company Zipline. MF-100 uses nine electric motors to take off, then runs on gas once it transitions to fixed-wing flight. In future, the company will look at cleaner alternatives to gas like hydrogen fuel cells, and develop a craft capable of carrying five times the weight. MightyFly MF-100 taking off and in fixed-wing flight Habib says skies full of hybrid-electric autonomous planes is what the huge – worth an estimated 8 to 12 trillion US dollars globally – and "stagnant"  logistics industry needs. Changes in customer expectations and industry norms Will fleets of hybrid-electric ghost planes replace trucks as the delivery's dominant vehicle? Stan Caldwell, Carnegie Mellon University's Adjunct Associate Professor of Transportation and Public Policy, thinks it's feasible. "We're seeing rapid increase in serious consideration of drones for freight delivery, especially last-mile freight," he says. 'Last mile' is the part of a delivery process that reaches the consumer – normally from a distribution center. Some of the world's biggest retailers and logistics companies – like Google, UPS and DHL – are already experimenting with drone delivery. Caldwell thinks delivery systems are becoming less centralized through a few companies, aiding the drone logistics boom. There are many players on the market. "Distribution of systems is a trend in the freight industry. Walmart has delivery drones, and next, your local independent grocery store gets its own." Taking the good with the bad Having systems more spread out and drone-reliant comes with benefits. When electric vehicles replace those with internal combustion engines, you reduce carbon emissions and air pollution. In the US, trucks produce about 29 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions – the country's largest contributor. There's also less congestion. "Drones can't cause a bottleneck at the port," says Caldwell. But Caldwell also urges, before we foresee drone armadas fetching items at supersonic speed, we update (or revise) regulation. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates commercial air traffic in the US, but drones are a different beast. Drone delivery may need local regulation: Different laws in different cities. "In the same way you see signs saying "No trucks allowed on this road or business district," cities should be able to regulate drones," says Caldwell. In July 2021, there were 858 drone start-ups in the US alone. For Hunter Kosar, owner and president of US shipping and trucking company Twisted Nail Broker Services, the idea ventures like MightyFly might replace trucking is "a bit of a stretch." Kosar struggles to imagine businesses that need to rapidly send under 500 pounds of freight at 150 mph within a 300-mile radius. "VTOLs will make the 600-mile round trip in four hours, but a big rig 18-wheeler truck will do the same trip in 12 hours carrying 90 times the freight." Kosar sees a VTOL niche in transporting time-sensitive supplies like human organs between hospitals. "Organs are light, expensive and needed fast. Healthcare would pay a lot to receive a heart for transport in 90 minutes instead of 4 hours." He thinks to disrupt the traditional freight industry, the craft's loading capacity would need to increase by 75 times, and they'd need local and regional permits to operate in any area's airspace. It seems unlikely to him, at least in the near future. Autonomous aircraft and trucks sharing the load MightyFly's last round of funding raised 5.1 million US dollars in just two months. "We'll use this funding to hire people, scale up our fleet and build the infrastructure to support a global network of hubs," says Habib. But if VTOL units conquer the skies and dot the lands with small, scattered distribution centers, trucks may not be doomed to extinction. "It will need human-intensive management. Trucks could go out to certain neighborhoods, then drones take the goods from the trucks and deliver them to individual houses. We'll need people to manage that system," Caldwell says, although he thinks drones will also redefine those people's roles. The big question when it comes to lightweight, last-mile delivery is not whether the technology is too futuristic – it's already here. Experts stress we'll need tailor-made regulation to govern drone traffic area-by-area and ways for drones to interface with final destinations. Before galloping away with the latest technological sensation, business leaders might consider that technology usually outpaces law. Even simple things like where the drone will leave your package – the mailbox, under the porch, inside or outside? – haven't yet been sorted. "You can't imagine the amount of human judgment that goes into where the delivery person leaves packages," says Caldwell.
future travel tech

Advances in tech are brightening the future of public transit

  • min read
    • 1960s US children's cartoon The Jetsons, set around a family living in the year 2062, did amazingly well at predicting many technologies we have today. Its difficulty in seeing past the values of mainstream 1960s America is more amusing. The family revolves around a bread-winner patriarch, his ditzy wife, fashion-obsessed daughter and whiz-kid son. And they all get around in a private, although flying, car that belches smoky exhaust. But even The Jetsons didn't fantasize escaping roads would mean escaping congestion. Clogged, chaotic 'skyways' are now a mainstay of science-fiction dystopia. In the iconic '90s blockbuster, The Fifth Element, taxi driver Bruce Willis cuts a recognizable figure with his roadless road rage. Are we doomed to a future of inefficient, alienating and polluting transport? I don't believe so. I'll share a couple of exciting developments in sustainable public transportation. But first, why does it matter? The cost of laying down the red carpet for cars Today's urban planners agree the mid-to-late 20th-century trend for building cities around the idea everyone should have a private car was a mistake. And it was a downward spiral – as more people became reliant on their car, public transport became less efficient and affordable. While private cars are brilliant for disabled people, families with small children and people living in remote areas, when everyone relies on them, it's a problem. Conversely, where we see efficient, affordable public transport, we also see better health, greater social mobility (meaning people can more easily escape poverty) and reduced traffic accident-related injuries and deaths. A 2020 report by the US's Economic Development Research Group found investing in public transport gives a 5-to-1 return through, for example, job creation, productivity and tax revenue. That's before considering humanity's biggest threat: Climate change. Even when powered by fossil fuel, a trip by bus instead of a car means an over six times reduction in emissions. Moving people (or freight) by rail is even more energy-efficient. That's before converting bus and train fleets to run on electricity or hydrogen, as many cities are now doing. We must look at public transport, cycling and walking as priority means of transportation in the future, but it might not be a return of the transport options our grandparents knew. The future of public transport might evoke more utopian science fiction imaginings. Taking to the sky on a cable In recent years cities in Central and South America have chosen to build aerial tramways, also known as gondolas or cable cars, because of their advantages over options like light rail and buses. Among other things, they're fast to build, have an excellent safety record, and the terrain is no object. In Medellín, Columbia – once described as "the most dangerous city on earth" for its cartels and drug barons like Pablo Escobar – many credit cable cars with turning the city around. Lonely Planet says Medellín is now "one of the safest big cities in Latin America, with character, nightlife and public art that any urban area would envy." Locals put the success of their cable cars down to an intention to serve the residents of deprived neighborhoods rather than tourists or wealthy commuters. This is reflected not just in where the cable cars go, but in the ticket cost of less than 1 US dollar. Gondolas in Caracas, Venezuela, and Bogotá, Bolivia, may have succeeded for similar reasons. The most high-tech aerial tramways run on three cables – two for carrying and one for pulling. Without social distancing, some can take as many as 200 people in one cabin. New combined automation and safety software allows continued operation if sub-systems fail, aiming further to enhance the gondola's existing top-notch safety record. Many now have Wi-Fi for customer use and as a safety feature. Head of Kaspersky's Research Center for Europe, Marco Preuss, recommends caution with public Wi-Fi. "It's convenient to use local Wi-Fi in hotels, restaurants and public places, but think about who controls the network, what data you share and which websites you visit. The operator or cybercriminals may snoop on your traffic, collect sensitive data or even attack your device. Make sure work and personal devices are encrypted and use encrypted connections." While digitalization often brings safety improvements, it also means more ways for cybercriminals to attack. In recent years attacks on critical infrastructure have increased, and cyber experts predict they'll become even more common. Mass transit organizations should see themselves as a likely target, secure all potential attack points and plan how they'll respond to a cyber incident. Trains running on solar power What could better highlight the value of reducing our impact on the planet than traveling through restored coastal wetland and wooded areas on an almost-silent sun-powered heritage train? People have been able to do this in Byron Bay, near Brisbane, Australia, since 2018. "There'd been some resistance to an old diesel train operating," Byron Bay Train Development Director Jeremy Holmes told BBC World Service. "We talked about the reality of converting it to solar." The train's restorer Tim Elderton continues, "I said, "What?!" But then I did some calculations, and actually, with the technology today, I believe we can. With the batteries, solar panels and traction motor, we made it all come together." The train gets some of its power from photovoltaic cell panels on the train's roof, but most from panels on the station terminus roof. It uses only 27 percent of the electricity generated, so they sell the rest to the local grid. Although the team says the technology could power a trip 15 times its three-kilometer run, that's still far from what many railway journeys must achieve. But the Byron Bay Train is part of broader solar exploration in the rail sector. Riding Sunbeams is a UK-based social enterprise supplying electricity to the rail sector from solar farms owned by commuters and the local community. There are significant potential emissions reductions from renewable railway power. In the UK, rail is the country's single largest electricity consumer, and it's among the highest energy-consuming sectors in India. And most of the world's rail journeys are still powered by diesel. Changing lives and technology change transport COVID-19 laid bare the unpredictability of change in how we live our lives, and so, how we travel. Suddenly, the numbers working from home has leaped and is expected to stay far higher than pre-pandemic levels. Some areas have seen consequent falls in public transport users of up to 60 percent, putting networks at serious risk. While many authorities enforce social distancing and mask-wearing on public transport, some commuters make other transport choices if they can. It's not the first time tragic events have changed travel behavior. Terrorist bombings on Transport for London trains and buses in July 2005 led to a daily fall of up to 32 percent in numbers using the Underground and an increase in cycling. Ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft are often said to have radically changed the face of urban transport, including apparent decreases in the use of public transport in cities where they operate. Although they've started to add public transport schedules to their app in many cities, mixed statements about whether they're deliberately competing with public transport raise concerns. Marcus Enoch, Professor of Transport Strategy at Loughborough University, says steep rises in the cost of living in cities is likely to decrease public transport use by forcing its typical younger user group to live in smaller cities and towns. As a general rule, the smaller and less dense the city or town, the less likely it will have efficient public transport. He also predicts rising transport automation levels and increasingly intelligent, personalized apps could lead to one of four possible transport futures. His least dystopian and more socially connected visions require high-density urban living to succeed – something government policy can influence. New technology and social change bring challenges and opportunities to the hard problem of getting people around cities. In supporting sustainable, efficient transport options like public transport, cycling and walking, cities can ensure better health and economic well-being for their citizens. When transport projects aim to meet the needs of the most isolated and vulnerable people, examples like the cable cars in Medellín, Columbia, show the power of something as everyday as transport to create ripples of positive change across society.
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