Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), electric vehicle (EV) charging, and cashless parking payments are the three top trends we’ll see in transportation this year, according to Global Banking & Finance Review.
“The biggest challenge on all businesses into 2021 will be how they continue to adapt and react to the ever changing new normal we are all experiencing,” says the article published earlier this morning. It goes on to say the top three transportation trends will be:
- MaaS: With habit changes thanks to COVID lockdowns, better technology, and a desire for simpler planning, MaaS–the ability to plan a journey from start to finish in one place–has found its footing. The development of apps that let people plug in a start and a finish to get a list of transportation options and pay for them all in one place is a big boost.
- EV charging: More EVs are being sold than ever and forecasts say there will be 42 million charging points worldwide by 2030. Demand for charging plus faster, easier to pay for systems mean chargers are becoming a necessary part of infrastructure.
- Cashless payment for parking: “Drivers are more self-reliant and empowered than ever before, having adopted technologies that work to make their life increasingly efficient,” says the article–and COVID-19 accelerated a push for contactless on top of cashless. This trend will continue to grow.
Lime, once known for its huge fleet of ubiquitous green bikes, announced it will allow third-party transportation service providers to offer their services inside its app, growing from a bike and scooter booking service to a MaaS provider.
In what many believe is a step toward a greater role in mobility, automaker Ford this week acquired Journey Holding Corporation, which develops intelligent transportation software, and Quantum Signal AI, which develops robotics–notably a testing simulator for artificial intelligence (AI) systems; it develops systems for the U.S. military. Ford said the buys will help advance its Transportation as a Service (TaaS) platform.
The Los Angeles Metro has added bike-share options to its Transit Access Pass (TAP) card accounts and plans to branch out to scooter-share, transportation network company (TNC) options, and even reserving a parking space with the card in the not-too-distant future.