Written by Daniel Callas
So you’ve probably heard of Uber. You’ve probably heard of its competitor, Lyft. Maybe you’ve even heard of Sidecar, Zimride, Zipcar, Car2Go and others. If you haven’t yet, you will. The transportation sector is rich with innovation right now, and if you blink, you might miss the next latest and greatest thing.
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| Source: Uber |
Uber, Sidecar and Lyft are all variations on the taxi
concept, yet they’re causing commotion among the cab community and outside it.
The three “ridesharing” companies (more on the term ridesharing later), have
taken advantage of the widespread availability and use of mobile devices to
reinvigorate and reinvent a technologically-lagging industry.
Under these new models, drivers use their own smartphones to
connect with customers in search of a ride and, without any exchange of physical
money, can provide rides in their own vehicles. They then get paid via the
company app.
Riders can make pickup arrangements without leaving their
seat at the restaurant or theater. The app tells them what they need to know:
how much they’ll be charged, who will be picking them up and in what vehicle.
But innovation and disruption come at a cost.
These companies have drawn
the ire of many taxi commissions, associations and government authorities across
the globe for a myriad of reasons. From background checks and insurance
issues to medallion investments and questions of legality, Uber, Lyft and the
like are operating in a new (and yet to be regulated) realm, creating concern
among various groups.
Among those groups
are more traditional ridesharing organizations. These groups have pushed
for Uber, Lyft and similar services to be categorized as “Transportation
Network Companies” to distinguish non-profit ridesharing from their more
taxi-like product. The terminology may seem trivial on the user level, but on a
public policy level it has real
implications when it comes to federal funding. Not to be outdone (by pesky
nomenclature or each other’s advancements), Lyft and Uber have both
recently announced true carpool services.
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| Source: TIME |
Some cab agencies have responded by partnering with tech
startups to offer their own mobile apps. Companies like Flywheel in San
Francisco, and Curb and Hailo in other markets, have been working to get riders
into taxis already on the road. In New York City, City Council member Ben
Kallos admits that the city’s taxis have been disrupted and may need their own app
to stay competitive.
Uber, however, may be positioning itself to be the “last man
standing” in the app-driven ride provider ring. The company just
hired former Obama campaign advisor David Plouffe to lead their push for
acceptance in the 170 cities they call home around the world. Uber also
recently engaged in a public spat with competitor Lyft after both companies
accused each other of ordering and canceling rides on their app. Uber even
suggested that Lyft was positioning itself to be bought out by Uber, which
received a $17 billion valuation earlier this year. More
on their back-and-forth here.
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| Source: The Wall Street Journal |
And yet, other business models have emerged. BlaBlaCar, a
French company, has
begun offering similar ride sharing services, with one key difference:
their drivers can’t turn it into a job. They keep tabs on fuel costs, insurance
rates and taxes to make sure drivers are not reimbursed for more than the cost
of the ride. By doing so, it avoids conflict with the seemingly threatened cab
industry. ZimRide is another option that
has found a niche market in the US, particularly on college campuses for
carpooling home during breaks and as an option to get travelers to and from
concerts or other events.
But it doesn’t stop with cars.
In Boston, on-demand busing
is primed for takeoff, thanks to Bridj.
The Cambridge-based startup is shaking up mass transit by using an algorithm
based on GPS data, census figures and social media to deliver effective bus
routes that can be adjusted in real-time to meet demand.
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| Is plane-pooling on the horizon? |
Not to be outdone, AirPooler
is looking to match pilots to flyers, though that concept was dealt a
significant setback earlier this month, when the FAA
essentially deemed flight-sharing illegal.
Sure there are plenty of new apps and companies to address
the tech shortfall within the transportation sector, but some older players in
the game aren’t waiting to be replaced. Celebrating its centennial this year, Greyhound
has spread
the availability of free WiFi on their updated fleet, and introduced a
number of booking apps to increase efficiency and appeal to younger generations
of travelers.
Mobile apps seem to be the name of the game. And that’s no
different among the carsharing crowd, which relies heavily on the reduced
emphasis on ownership seen among the younger millennial generation. ZipCar,
Car2Go and others have entered the market but not
without their own concerns.
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| Volvo Trucks successfully tests their road train. |
The point is, we’ve seen an unbelievable amount of
innovation and advancement in the transportation sector, but we’re far from the finish line. Driverless
cars, Volvo’s
car trains and magnetic
levitation (maglev) trains are all projects that have made it out of the
concept stage and are now being tested or even implemented in various regions
of the world. The real benefit however, is the increased mobility and
accessibility these technologies offer, and the challenge comes not in
developing the tools, but in serving the populations that need them most.
