Consumer priorities in relation to urban mobility identified

A recently published report “Solving the Mobility Challenge in Megacities” investigated the mobility priorities of 2,000 people in cities around the world in order to learn what transport users want and need. The research was undertaken in 2019, well before the COVID19 crisis.

The report identified three main priorities for users:

1. Productivity and Multitasking. Consumers want to use their travel time for work and entertainment.
2. Independence. Travellers want mobility solutions that had flexible schedules, including on-demand mobility.
3. Sustainability. Respondents stress the importance of environmentally sustainable transport solutions.

Other factors, such as costs, easy to use transport services and comfort, were rated as being less important compared to these three main factors. Whilst respondents expressed a wish to own a car, this was less for personal reasons, such as emotional attachment or as a status symbol, than for more for practical reasons, such as travel time, flexibility, and necessity (as a result of a lack of alternatives). The study authors concluded that an effective transport system, which addressed these needs, could convince transport users to abandon private car use. It was noted that, while ride-hailing and micromobility solutions were on the rise, they still only answered to a fraction of transport users' needs.

The main conclusion was a call for there to be an impartial central agent in cities to coordinate diverse mobility operators to deliver mobility that is best suited to transport users' needs. Fundamental changes to cities’ transport systems are needed to build new partnerships between private and public actors, to set out clear ambitions, to bring together the necessary competences and consequently to develop and deliver a transport system that meets users’ needs.

The report was undertaken by the Boston Consulting Group and is available on the group’s website here.

Article published first at www.prnewswire.com on 26 October 2020.