The Amazon of mobility

The first all-in-one smart device for transport will be developed by an alliance of urban transport authorities and the automobile sector

In the not so distant future we will be able to use a single smart device to find the fastest way from A to B by any mode. The device will unlock a hire bike, be the key for an electric rental car and our ticket to ride public transport. Who is in charge of the ‘total mobility’ offer will become more important than who provides the individual services. They will be the Amazon of transport.

That future is not too far off now in countries like Germany and Austria. But it’s not here yet as making such a system pay is a challenge, and because the key players are still developing their strategies and jockeying for position. And there are a lot of players, including mobile phone companies, automobile manufacturers, public sector transport authorities, private sector public transport providers, power companies and perhaps even internet giants such as Google and Amazon. My hunch is that strategic alliances between the automobile sector and public sector urban transport authorities could be the most viable way of covering all the modes.

So, whatever you do, bear in mind that the long game is about providing total mobility packages. It is best these are rooted in where cities want to be in the 2020s rather than on the purely commercial objectives of some future would-be Amazon of mobility. Decisions now on ticketing, cycle hire schemes and contracts for public transport provision will echo down the years in terms of whether the retailing of the mobility is done at scale and driven more by civic and social objectives than pure commercial advantage.

Discuss this at LTT's Smarter Travel 2015 - 5-6 February 2015 at the ICC in Birmingham