MOVE AMERICA finds optimism for the future of MaaS and Shared Mobility
On the opening day of the MOVE AMERICA Summit, INVERS, the inventor of automated vehicle sharing, gave its insights into the future of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and Shared Mobility as a guest on a panel of experts and as a host of a dedicated roundtable session.
INVERS was also present at the event, which took place digitally from September 1st – 3rd, with a virtual exhibition booth.
While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly hit the shared mobility sector, the future is generally looking positive. That was the conclusion of the panel discussion titled How can MaaS adapt and who will survive?, which took place on September 1st. Moderated by Alifya Curtin, Former General Council, car2go, the following expert speakers shared their perspectives around the future of MaaS:
- Elliot Kro, Founder and CTO, Getaround
- Johannes Gruenenberg, Head of Sales and Business Development, INVERS
- Nicholas Williams, Founder and CEO, Drive Sally
“What we’re currently seeing is that many shared mobility operators are back to pre-Covid utilization rates, which indicates a certain level of growth and maybe a return to normality even,” says Johannes Gruenenberg of INVERS. “We can also see that this growth was made possible because key players were able to respond to the pandemic very quickly. We can also see that some trends which started pre-COVID have also accelerated across this time and I think we can expect more consolidation and collaboration between shared mobility providers to meet customer requirements, and a growing visibility and uptake of shared mobility in cities alongside public transportation options. I’m rather positive that, whatever happens, the operators are quick to adapt to keep these various options alive for their customers.”
During another session on September 1st, INVERS chaired a lively roundtable discussion titled Shared and mixed: how OEMs can adapt for the future of mobility. The moderator Nico Marchant, Sales and Business Development Manager at INVERS was joined by:
- Enrico Howe, Sharing Research Lead, Unu
- Venkatesh Gopal, Business Development Manager, Movmi
- Janelle Wang, Co-Founder & CEO, Acton
The panellists explored the ways in which consumer behaviour and consumer demand is changing and the actions OEMs and mobility operators are taking to differentiate themselves and grow in this dynamic market. The crisis marks a good point to invest in R&D and innovate, with providers developing new technology and features to be more effective with resources.
Here too the panellists foresee greater collaboration between service providers down the line, partnerships with OEMs and mixed fleets adding to the overall mobility ecosystem of cities.
More details of INVERS’ presence at the event can be found here.
