The need for governments and private enterprises to design regulations and work in tandem to make public spaces less cluttered in a shared mobility universe
As our lives become more connected in a shared technological world, the next advancement that would make our lives easier as a shared species would be in the space of urban planning. The growing desire to have well-planned public spaces that would take into consideration not only the needs of people but also make the planet sustainable for future generations is the need of the hour. As the planet ages, it is of paramount importance that public and private partnerships go hand-in-hand in fulfilling these goals.
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is the next big societal innovation in the planning of urban spaces, wherein the public gets a seamless integration of different modes of transportation in their end-to-end mobility requirements. These transportation networks would not only be cost-effective but would also play a vital role in providing new employment opportunities and adding value to the growth of the overall economy, be it in the sphere of goods delivery or in connecting the beginning and end beneficiary of various businesses and government services.
The micro-mobility companies, like Yulu, are at the forefront of all these enterprises, as not only would they help people become more accustomed to using shared transportation systems for their day-to-day mobility, but along with this they would help in advancing the technological innovativeness of urban planning, and provide us with significant data to efficiently streamline public commute and economy.
Some of the pointers that nations can keep in mind to make this possible are:
- Design of extended pavements and providing dedicated parking spaces for micro-mobility vehicles near areas of high population density and public transportation systems
- Making laws for integrating micro-mobility solutions within the public and private transportation systems of governments and industries
- Helping companies in building a charging infrastructure to these electric vehicles by giving sops like tax breaks, business incentives and providing strategic locations
- Promoting the building and regulation of NMT (Non-Motorized Transport) lanes in public spaces with dedicated staff and technologies
- Having a data-exchange mechanism and putting in place data security regulations for seamless transfer of knowledge between various organizations for effective transportation and communication
- Reworking of the labor laws and taking measures to include the gig economy workers as a mainstream employment opportunity
As governments look for solutions to make roads less congested, and further their efforts to reduce the effects of climate change and pollution, Mobility as a Service would play a necessary role in these initiatives. Indian government programs like the Gati Shakti National Master Plan that looks into the need for an integrated planning of multi-modal connectivity and last-mile linking of the nation, and the development of policies for steering in the Electric Vehicles infrastructure in the country would go a long way in making these challenges a possibility. The growth of small distance mobility services can only flourish with the help of regulating nations.
Governments, when they plan urban spaces, one of the key things they keep in mind is how can people have easy and available access to essential services. The micro-mobility solution can see to it that people are connected from their home to their destinations in an end-to-end solution and usher in an accessible and affordable Mobility as a Service (MaaS) revolution in the country.
Yulu began its services in Bengaluru in 2017 and has now expanded into other major urban centres, including Mumbai and Delhi. And the company is leading the change to make travel sustainable and comfortable for the public, with its easy-to-ride bikes that are suitable for all adult drivers, along with its data-driven nature of planning and integration of technologies.
Yulu believes that every major evolution in the planning of public spaces has been a result of private industries and regulatory authorities working in tandem. While today we are largely dependent on personal vehicles to go seamlessly from Point A to Point B, the future is not far where micro-mobility companies like Yulu could act as a way of making end-to-end travel in public transportation an easier affair.
Yulu works closely with different government bodies in creating an ecosystem of safe and reliable vehicles and parking zones. These would not only help in connecting people in their daily travel needs but would also facilitate the continuous integration of the global supply chain and gig economy into a sustainable whole.