Ahead of the curb

Transport in cities used to be simple. Everyone knew their place: There was delivery, private transport for individuals, and public transport to move the masses. Now, a rapidly expanding and diverse array of mobility players are moving in lots of directions, fast.

It’s all driven (pardon the pun) by a shift in population from rural to urban areas. Then different transport modes started to overlap or become cross-purpose when cities began publishing their APIs, creating a playground for anyone interested in meeting growing demand for new models and services.

Today, the sheer volume of interest and the lack of any centralized mobility systems have led to mobility providers hacking old models. And with the arrival of many new private players, our cities are overwhelmed.

For example, the streets of Paris have become so crowded and dangerous due to hundreds of electric scooters from Californian operators Lime and Bird competing with Chinese-run and city-operated dockless bicycle sharing schemes that the French government banned scooters in October.

Those who’ve historically worked in one transport mode are exploring other options. Delivery companies UPS, DHL and FedEx, for example, are building up fleets of electric cars on the ground, and transportation firms like Uber and Airbus are racing to pioneer flying cars.

Despite efforts to address the clutter and confusion, by late 2018 mobility in cities was still a fragmented ecosystem of private companies, individuals and government – often unregulated, universally unorganized.