GUEST BLOG: How tech is changing ground transportation

Technology has not only changed the way we communicate and the way we work, it has changed the way we travel. Less than five years ago, it was the norm to phone for a cab, hoping that it would turn up and the driver would be outside waiting for you, using the phone dispatcher on the phone as the sole point of contact.  No details of the driver would be given to the passenger and there would certainly be no live tracking of the journey. Now, apps like mytaxi enable passengers to receive the drivers name, phone number, unique taxi ID information as well as the all important image of the driver as standard. Putting passengers in control and giving travellers, family members and employers peace of mind.

Travel providers are constantly giving more choice to individuals, and this has changed the way we think about our travel options, tech companies have to work harder to ensure their services are top quality to make sure it is their app we download. We are moving towards an age of “access over ownership”, the need to own a car for example, is quickly diminishing.  This change in our culture has led to an evolution in ground transportation with more and more people turning to spending on taxi journeys over car ownership, particularly in cities.

This is also true for employers - with the realisation that you can get more from your staff if they can work while in transit and this has contributed to a move to multimodal transport. Gone is the need to own a fleet of vehicles or provide company cars, unless job dependent. Trains, buses and taxis get travellers from A to B while also giving them valuable time back to respond to emails, work on documents and presentations, or to just unwind after a hectic day of meetings, while travelling safely to their destination.

The move towards booking platforms has made travel managers jobs far easier too. Technology has enabled the development of solutions that allow for expense management tools to work alongside booking platforms. No longer do we need to scramble around for receipts or spend hours filing expenses, centralised reporting can be completed monthly, leading to greater accountability and productivity for business travellers.

This post was written by David Savage, UK General Manager at mytaxi who will be at stand B1300 at Business Travel Show next week - 20-21 February 2019 at Olympia London. Please register for a free visitor pass at www.businesstravelshow.com/register 

GUEST BLOG: Mobility-as-a-Service: Buzzword or Business Strategy?

Last February when we attended the Business Travel Show to reveal our new app – Mobilleo - we were constantly being asked to explain Mobility-as-a-Service. Industry knowledge about the term seemed restricted to “that’s about driverless cars” or questions like “is that to do with public transport?”. In less than 12 months, the landscape has changed and suddenly anyone worth their salt has latched onto the industry’s latest buzzword.

The image above shows how Google search volume for the phrase has radically increased in 2017 and is set to grow well into 2018. Since the start of the year we’ve seen major players such as KPMG, Deloitte and even the UK Government create content and initiatives to explore what they think Mobility-as-a-Service is.

However, whilst autonomous vehicles and smart cities remain popular topics of conversations, many in our industry still do not grasp the true nature of Mobility-as-a-Service.

MaaS isn’t exclusive to public sector projects on providing accessible transport, nor is it just a new shiny feature that car manufacturers can entice fleet managers with. True Mobility-as-a-Service is the complete offering of not just transport, but the entire journey.

At Mobilleo, we’re one of the very few true technology providers to have created our own intellectual property that does Mobility-as-a-Service for businesses. Our app does the usual flights, trains and taxis but it also recognises the micro-elements of a journey like parking, airport lounges, WiFi codes and places for a bite to eat.

The industry needs to stop equating Mobility-as-a-Service to just a few facets of travel. It goes far beyond that in that it also involves expense management, data analysis, employee morale and much more. Mobility-as-a-Service isn’t a buzzword – it’s a business strategy, and it’s one that companies need to be taking a much closer look at in 2018.

With this in mind here are some of our favourite terms and explanations for those looking for a ‘cheat-sheet’ on MaaS.

What is Mobility-as-a-Service?

According to Mobilleo CEO, Justin Whitston, Mobility-as-a-Service is the intersection of technology and all aspects of travel. Its specific objective is to facilitate convenience, cost and comfort of travel using technology. Tech allows users to not be reliant on owning a car when instead they can quickly access a local car club. It allows users to assess every transport option easily and make a decision based on cost, speed, comfort and even how environmentally friendly it is.

Who is Mobility-as-a-Service for?

At the moment it’s largely a conversation topic amongst fleet managers, financial directors and technologists but in reality, it’s for everyone. Employees benefit from Mobility-as-a-Service as an alternative way to book their travel – they don’t need to be told “this is the cheapest train ticket so you’re going on this train” when they can find cheaper alternatives for themselves. Personal assistants and travel managers benefit from a quicker and more efficient way of finding, booking and paying for travel. Financial directors benefit in that they no longer need to be reliant on company car fleets that can prove costly and tiring to manage.

Does that mean Mobility-as-a-Service will replace the car?

No. Mobility-as-a-Service is about offering the car (or company car) as one option of many to users. Businesses can look to reduce their fleet size by adopting usership models like car clubs, taxis or public transport but can still retain a fleet for those “I need it right now” moments.

MaaS apps like Mobilleo allow car owners to look at their journey and compare how much it would cost them to take their own car versus the train. It’s just a question of what’s most important for that individual journey – cost, comfort or convenience?

What is Total Cost of Mobility?

Another favourite phrase of the industry – total cost of mobility – is a term you can expect to see more and more in the coming months. TCM refers to data analysis that reveals the true cost of your mobility. Too often consumers and businesses only count the obvious travel costs like train tickets or fuel. In fact, travel is often made up on far more micro-transactions that get spent but never recorded. Parking tickets, WiFi access codes, a cup of tea at the station – all of these are expensed but usually never incorporated into the cost of the journey.

By analysing this data and working out the total cost of mobility businesses can identify areas of wastage and make better decisions regarding their travel policies.

How do I get Mobility-as-a-Service into my business?

MaaS isn’t something that you can turn on overnight, nor is it something that requires major changes to the way your business operates. The first step to adopting a true Mobility-as-a-Service approach is to understand what you’re already doing.

Analysis of data such as costs, time spent booking travel arrangements and frequency of travel can all help identify how close or far away your business is from achieving MaaS efficiency.

Every day they are new initiatives and partnerships emerging that encourage businesses and consumers to think differently about how they travel. Ultimately the starting point is education – once you know what you’re doing, you need to explain the process to staff and clearly identify the benefits Mobility-as-a-Service can bring to employees.

What are the benefits of Mobility-as-a-Service?

Benefits include:

·    A more productive workforce as staff no longer need stress and spend valuable time scouring multiple travel websites and companies

·    A more empowered employee – MaaS apps like Mobilleo places the control of business travel into the employee’s hand, but carefully regulated with customisable travel policy settings such as spend limits and ticket restrictions

·    Better business decisions – access to easy-to-digest data means that finance and fleet teams can assess the demand for their fleet and assets when thinking about expanding or shrinking their fleet

·    Cost effective journeys – access to more options will only create more price-effective travel and help your workforce truly think about the cost of their journey

Mobilleo is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show in February where you can meet them and find out even more about MaaS. Continue your registration now for a free ticket at www.businesstravelshow.com. 

In Conversation With… Deborah Short, Willis Towers Watson

Deborah Short is speaking at Business Travel Summit next month about 'Adding ground transportation to your programme and find new savings'

Tell us about your session in one sentence?  Ground transportation: why and how.

What is the single most important piece of advice/information buyers will take away from your talk?  
How to go about implementing ground transportation.

What’s the biggest challenge facing buyers now and why?   
A flux of new booking channels and the effect on a global programme.

What’s the biggest opportunity they should be taking advantage of and why?  
The ability to globalise data into a single source.

What does being traveller-centric mean to you? How does it benefit buyers? 
Putting the traveller first benefits buyers by expanding the traditional programme.

NDC - good or bad? 
Too soon to say but with BA passing on costs not so good.

Register for a free place at Business Travel Summit Amsterdam now at http://amsterdam.businesstravel-summit.com/ - the event runs from 26-27 September 2017.