Networked, multimodal cities for 2050 – Google, Apple or Dell business models ?

AD Little publie un rapport sur la mobilité urbaine, identifiant les verrous et les pistes possibles en s'appuyant sur les modèles d'affaire de Google, Apple ou Dell (Google Mobility service voir ICI)… Les propositions sont bien dans l'air du temps : fournisseur de mobilité, penser intégré, réduire l'individuel, penser système synchronisé, définir des indicateurs de performances des systèmes de mobilité pour tirer vers le haut et améliorer la gouvernance (voir le rapport plus bas).

There are clearly sufficient available solutions to meet todays’ challenges of urban mobility. Arthur D. Little identified 39 key technologies and 36 potential urban mobility business models. However, these solutions are not being applied comprehensively.

Why has the innovation potential not been unleashed? There is one key reason: The management of urban mobility operates globally in an environment which is hostile to innovation. Our urban management systems are overregulated, they do not allow market players to compete and they do not establish business models that bring demand and supply into a natural balance.

To meet the urban mobility challenge, cities need to implement one of the following three strategies dependent on their location and maturity: 

• Network the System: For high performing cities the next step must be to fully integrate the travel value chain, increasing convenience by aggressively extending public transport, implementing advanced traffic management systems and further reducing individual transport through greater taxation and road tolls.
• Rethink the System: Cities in mature countries with a high proportion of motorized individual transport need to fundamentally redesign their mobility systems so that they become more public and sustainability orientated. This group contains the majority of cities in North America along with those in South-Western Europe.
• Establish Sustainable Core: For cities in emerging countries the aim must be to establish a sustainable mobility core that can satisfy short term demand at a reasonable cost without creating motorized systems that need to be redesigned later. With access to new and emerging transport infrastructure and technologies these cities have the opportunity to become the testbed and breeding ground for tomorrow’s urban mobility systems.

Arthur D. Little has identified three long term sustainable business models for the evolving urban mobility ecosystem.

• The Google of urban mobility: Built on a core asset of a user friendly customer interface, it provides a single point of access for multimodal mobility and supplementary services to end consumers on a large scale to drive uptake.
• The Apple of urban mobility: At the core of this business model are integrated mobility services and solutions to the end consumer or cities. Integrated mobility services for end consumers provide a seamless, multimodal journey experience such as public transport interlinked with car and bike-sharing. Suppliers that target cities provide integrated, multimodal mobility solutions on a turnkey basis.
• The Dell of urban mobility: This is a basic offering such as cars or bike sharing, without integration or networking. It can also include disruptive technological solutions such as transponders that make the Google and Apple models feasible.