On travel trends and opportunities for public transport

Every week,?we try to help giving?a better perspective?on what is going on in the mobility world. Trying to anticipate which will be the?NEXT STOP?

We do this by mixing things we wrote, valuable things we read, contents?that we feel willing to share. Wishing you may enjoy it!

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Feedbacks, ideas, proposals and suggestions?are welcome at: [email protected] week,?we try to help giving?a better perspective?on what is going on in the mobility world. Trying to anticipate which will be the?NEXT STOP?

We do this by mixing things we wrote, valuable things we read, contents?that we feel willing to share. Wishing you may enjoy it!

Sign up?HERE?if you'd rather receive it directly in your inbox

Feedbacks, ideas, proposals and suggestions?are welcome at: [email protected]

Get to the point ????

As the weather begins to warm up and spring is on its way, people are starting to plan their next vacations. With the promise of sunny days and warmer temperatures, many are eagerly anticipating the chance to travel and explore new destinations. As travel restrictions continue to ease in many parts of the world, more and more people are feeling confident about booking trips and exploring new places.

According to a?recent survey by Booking.com [ Booking.com ],?2023 is going to be the year of the ‘savvy traveler’.?Global economic uncertainty is leading to high attention on?budgets. However, “nearly seven in ten (68%) travelers will continue to prioritize their vacations, but will be seeking more bang for their buck, with more than half (53%) planning to be even thriftier than in the past on their travels”. Around half of the surveyed people claim “that climate change will impact the way they plan their vacations”.

Another trend concerns the ‘experience’ side of vacation.? Forbes wrote in December 2022, quoting a GetYourGuide study, that “90% of respondents want to experience a destination “like a local” and two-thirds of millennial respondents specifically worry about whether it’s an authentic experience”.

Environmentally sustainable travel is also on a rise, driven by climate change awareness.

Both these three trends (travel on a budget / travels like locals / travel responsibly) could be?driving forces for the use of public transport modes on vacation. What can give a greater sense of experiencing a context from the point of view of locals than using public transportation?

But there’s a barrier: clarity in fares. This was underlined in a?recent survey by PwC Germany ( PwC Deutschland - 普华永道 )

The study found that 54% of respondents said that it was not or rather not recognisable to them which ticket they needed for their planned journey by public transport.

And the figure is worse for new customers who are using public transport in a certain region for the first time – this includes tourists, for example: 60% of those surveyed said that new customers have?difficulties finding their way around the fare structures. Up to 40% of the people surveyed would use public transport more often if the range of tickets were much clearer.

For Gabriel Flore , Manager Advisory, Infrastructure & Mobility at PwC Germany, the conclusions are that “The?fare systems are too strongly provider-oriented. What is needed is an innovative system that is tailored to the mobility needs of a modern society. And this must be flexible, easy to understand and affordable – also for new customers and occasional users”.

?? Things we enjoyed reading

• Selling tickets could help keep public transport going - Politicians have increasingly pointed to the need to abolish free public transport during coalition talks. Officials and carriers say that ticket revenue is so modest it would hardly yield major saving, while it could be enough to keep public transport going. Keep reading on ERR.ee
• Women and girls’ safety on public transport - Women and girls are being forced to adapt their own behaviour and change their travel habits in order to feel safe on public transport, according to research commissioned by Transport Scotland . Keep reading on Transport Scotland website
• How long do you need to walk to reap the health benefits? - New research from the 英国剑桥大学 suggests that an 11-minute brisk walk every day could prevent 10% of early deaths… Whether it’s a power walk to the station on your way to work, a lunchtime stroll for food or a brief stretch of the legs mid-afternoon, we love a walk. Keep reading on Stylist [ Stylist Magazine ]

?? Time for a quote

As a traveller, I prefer a diesel bus in a dedicated lane than an electric bus stuck is traffic. Also, electrifying cars will not reduce traffic congestion, or improve road safety or make mobility more accessible to people. First, we need more public transport in dedicated infrastructure (not to forget rail!) and then better if it's zero emission indeed. Second, we need less cars

Mohamed Mezghani , Secretary General, UITP

?? From the academy

Valuation of Urban Public Bus Electrification with Open Data and Physics-Informed Machine Learning - This research provides a novel framework to estimate the economic, environmental, and social values of electrifying public transit buses, for cities across the world, based on open-source data. Electric buses are a compelling candidate to replace diesel buses for their environmental and social benefits. Keep reading on The Journal of Advanced Transportation

?? What about a chart?

Source:?McKinsey,?Future mobility 2022: Hype transitions into reality