Public Affairs: Strengthen government partnerships (6/6)
Experience has shown that operators working hand-in-hand with national and local authorities is the most effective way to integrate their services with existing transport infrastructure, and to best adapt to cities’ individual needs. This kind of cooperation is a clear path to building sustainable services.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought this home, as citizens and companies alike were reminded of just how much power rests in the hands of governments; they used their authority to determine whether or not shared mobility services would be considered essential during the period of lockdown. Cultivating strong relationships with the public sector is therefore more crucial than ever.
The current crisis also reshuffled the cards of shared-mobility financing, as many venture capital firms (previously the main source of funding in the sector) froze their investments during this period of market uncertainty. Money could potentially now come from a new partner: cities themselves. Local authorities had already been keen to include shared mobility services in their transportation offers, and will now need them more than ever in order to compensate for the decreased ridership permitted on public transit.
Shifting from imposing fees to subsidising free-floating operators (public-private partnership) is a natural next step for authorities, following the introduction of RFPs to regulate the market. With dock-based bike-shares, cities are able to impose SLAs and monitor their operation to ensure quality and fairness of use. Implementing this model more broadly would also ensure that both industry and government are working together in the longer term to offer the best service possible for users. Public transit, from trains to bike-shares, is already largely subsidized, so why not extend this to free-floating transportation?
By Alexandre Gauquelin (Shared Micromobility) and Julien Chamussy (fluctuo)