In Delhi, as the Odd-Even traffic experiment to reduce pollution drew to a close, there was one big visible transformation — social commuting got going. There was carpooling, shared mobility, and matchmaking on the roads, with apps connecting those travelling in one direction.
With applications like Ola Share offering an option of matching commuters from their own social circles (let’s admit it — people are still wary of hitching a ride with strangers), mobility, as we know it, will surely be disrupted. And this is a worldwide trend that has implications for automakers.
A sign?
Perhaps it’s a sign of things to come that General Motors invested $500 million in ridesharing company Lyft. In the era of ridesharing, where the number of auto consumers is bound to come down, it makes sense for auto companies to partner with ridesharing firms.
The convergence of smartphones, social media, and transport apps is disrupting urban mobility like never before — so much so that getting from one point to another point in a city can well be through a social app now.
Some really interesting projects are driving urban mobility solutions. For instance, in Helsinki, apps are being developed that tie up cab services, buses, ferries and even cycles on rent — all of which can be paid through one universal payment gateway.
Then there are other apps that tell you which the best possible options to get from one place to another are, in terms of cost, speed and ‘green factor’. Xerox is developing one such app that over time, will learn a commuter’s preference and show those first.
Keeping pace
As cities open up their public transport to app developers thereby facilitating easier commutes, auto companies will need to keep pace. But many have been quick to get on to the Internet of Things bandwagon in a bid to drive ahead.
Take the way Volvo has developed car-to-car social networking to warn motorists about dangerous road conditions. A connected Volvo car will transmit the road conditions — slippery, bumpy and so on — to the Volvo cloud, from which it gets disseminated to other cars on the same route.
Even as social commuting picks up, auto companies are betting that people will still want personal mobility. But if you can have, that too in a connected environment, then it’s getting the best of both worlds.
Wherever these trends take us, it’s going to be quite a ride.