DURHAM – Thought leaders at transportation app developer TransLoc, Uber and GoTriangle saw the future and helped play a role in creating it as demonstrated by the data of a new study focusing on what has come to be known as mobility-as-a-service.
A screen shot of TransLoc app
As early as January 2016, TransLoc was working to better integrate a service platform to help residents and citizens in urban areas better navigate and access public transit systems. At the time, the company had just announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with Uber, which Uber hailed as a “first” for transportation.
The company set out to address the first-mile/last-mile challenge, or, the difficulty in getting to a transit departure location or destination using only public transit. No more than a third of people in an average urban city live within a quarter mile walk to a bus or transit stop. The company built a strong partnership with GoTriangle, and leveraged the five-year working relationship to help ensure that the new app integrations allowed riders to incorporate different modes of travel into their end-to-end route planning.
Fast-forward to today:
A new Juniper Research study found that the adoption of mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platforms are expected to replace more than 2.3 billion urban private car trips each year by the year 2023. The research demonstrates a dramatic future shift, as there are only 17.6 million MaaS transit trips expected globally in 2018.
The study says that western Europe will be a leader in MaaS adoption, with the study projecting that the region will account for as much as 83 percent of all global MaaS trips by 2023.
According to the report, the major factors for growth in Europe as compared to the United States and other regions, are the success of public-private partnerships, the high quality of transport service provision and positive trial outcomes. Conversely, Juniper forecast that the growth of MaaS in the US will be slower, given the highly-fragmented nature of the state and federal system, coupled with lukewarm legislative support for regulations.
Helsinki, Austin are success stories
The firm ranked 15 world cities based on their readiness for large-scale MaaS service deployment. Metrics considered included the existing/planned stage of deployment, the cohesion of public transport services and infrastructure development. The top five ranked cities were: Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Vienna, Austria; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Austin, Texas.
“Helsinki has achieved its winning position in MaaS driven by collaboration between government and MaaS vendors,” said research study author Nick Maynard in a statement. “Stakeholder partnerships are fundamental to MaaS in order to develop a viable multi-modal system delivering significant cost- and time-savings to the user.”
The Juniper research study also forecasts that MaaS introduction will lead to annual time savings of over 500 million hours by 2023, with an average savings of 90 hours per year per regular user of services. The responsive, on-demand service, enabled by MaaS systems, like TransLoc’s solutions, will lead to the more efficient use of road and fleet vehicles. Consequently, peak traffic levels will be reduced, lowering both congestion and air pollution.
Ultimately, the study concludes, MaaS adoption will improve the quality of life for citizens and travelers in countries and cities that integrate services in their transit planning and systems. That’s aligns well with what TransLoc CEO Doug Kauffman predicted in 2016.
TransLoc’s legacy
TransLoc
TransLoc wasted little time in expanding beyond the original partnership it created – and drew a growing amount of attention over time.
“Our mission is to take public transit from last resort for some to first choice for all. The partnership with Uber will help advance us toward this goal,” Kaufman said at the time of the deal, “and make public transit a viable option for everyone, not just people who live close to a transit stop.”
Later that same year, the company announced that they had raised $8 million in funding from Durham-based social impact investor SJF Ventures and a mobility-focused fund founded by Ford Motor Co.’s Bill Ford, with participation from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s personal investment fund.
By the end of the year, TransLoc announced a partnership pilot program with Amtrak, allowing riders to view door-to-door plans to and from nine stations in North Carolina.
TransLoc quickly expanded partnerships with public and private transit organizations, including piloting work in Memphis, Tennessee, and Gainesville, Florida. By the end of 2017, the company had lined up more than 135 transit agencies across the United States as customers.
More big news came in January of of this year when TransLoc was acquired by Ford Smart Mobility.
And more big news could be coming if the Juniper study is any indicator.
