The Week in Mobility — 21 January 2021

MaaS is really tricky

Netflix is a movies-as-a-service platform. In exchange for a subscription fee, one can enjoy unlimited access to view rather than own films and series, rendering old VHS and DVDs as unwanted charity shop fodder.

Turns out transforming mobility into a service is not so easy to master. If watching films was not a choice but a fundamental right, or if the films you watched determined which jobs you could do, or if watching certain films meant you had to watch them whilst sat next to someone who made you feel unsafe, Netflix would not have unfolded with such apparent ease.

Mobility as a service’s aim is to reduce the fragmentation of the user experience in getting from A to B, normally via usership over ownership models and aided by digital platforms. This mission is complicated by also needing to meet overarching societal, economic and environmental goals of its many many many stakeholders.

Whilst there are competitors of Netflix, the formula is pretty similar — in large part because there are only a handful of different types of screen a film or series can be viewed on. For mobility the breadth of types of MaaS is akin to movies-as-a-service also covering cinemas, live theatre, conferences and busking. Mobility as a service takes more than an aggregating app to make it work. (see MaaS monetization matrix here)

According to Emergen Research, MaaS is projected to be worth over $520 billion by 2027 and yet no one has quite cracked it as a holistic solution. Uber has nailed the convenience conundrum, but it pisses off cities, doesn’t integrate with other modes of transport and is blamed for increasing car ownership. If an Uber equivalent existed for trains, buses and bikes we’d still experience the same fragmentation of transportation modes just with more apps to clog up home screens.

The trouble is, convenience is an easily monetizable value proposition that is frequently at odds with governments’ obligation to provide access to sustainable and equitable transportation services. Today Uber is the on-demand Marvel franchise, whilst bus services are forced to be the linear TV, channel 5 low budget production of Tracy Beaker the Musical. Making both equally desirable, sustainable, valuable, seamless and equitable is a task of epic proportions.

Part of the trouble is governments and mobility companies are motivated by different metrics. Companies need profit to inspire competition and innovation. Governments (technically) need to behave in the interest of their tax payers in a way that does not foster greater socio-economic disparity. Perhaps both parties need to acknowledge their differences and both strive to draw links between monetary value and social value, in doing so creating new metrics for success of MaaS services. Altruistic? Yes. Too optimistic? Almost certainly. But in a world hurtling towards climate catastrophe whilst the coronavirus pandemic generates a bigger gulf between the wealthy and poor, maybe the only solution is to do away with our cynicism.

Biden and Buses

The world breathed a collective sigh of relief as it watched America welcome in its new president this week. For those in the EV industry, Biden’s Climate Plan represents an astonishing opportunity to effect change on an ambitious timeline; including electrifying America’s 500,000 school buses by 2030. Thomas and IC Bus will be playing catch up with BlueBird and Lion as well as contending with school districts’ battle between long term TCO savings and huge upfront capital of making the switch.

Elsewhere in the Industry

• London on-demand Grocery Delivery company, Weezy, raises £20 million — CityAM
• StoreDot has manufactured batteries that can be charged in 5 minutes — The Guardian
• Autonomous road sweeper approved for use in Singapore — PR NewsWire
• Fiat Chrysler and Peugout are now Stellantis — Car and Driver
• The Federal Aviation Administration has released new and looser rules for flying drones over highly populated areas — Axios
• Ford ceases production in South America — Ford Newsroom
• Germany is a mobility powerhouse, home to — Lilium Omio Flixbus dance.co tier wingcopter finn auto
• Enel and Nissan team up for Juice Pass App offering free charging and reduced rates to customers — electrive
• VW announces Trinity — its new flagship EV -AutoExpress
• Nissan reveal e-vivaro winter camper concept — InsideEVs
• Siemens launch new high power 300kW and dynamic power sharing charging station — electrive
• Lion Electric Company will open a manufacturing plant in North America to make school buses — School Transportation News

Miscellaneous

Rent a man to do nothing — A man in Japan is renting himself to people to do nothing. At times he will participate in a gaming session to make up numbers, turn up to send off people who are moving away, accompany those filing for divorce, or listen to health care workers who have become mentally unwell due to their exhausting work. He’s been showered with gratitude and says “I’m not a friend or an acquaintance. I’m free of the bothersome things that accompany relationships, but can ease people’s sense of loneliness.”