As cities and towns grow so do pressures on the local road networks and levels of pollution. To tackle this increasing problem the government, local authorities, and town planners are all considering alternative forms of transportation, whether that be in the form of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) or through persuading drivers to switch older models for more modern, cleaner vehicles.
Innovations and developments in vehicle and mobile technologies are presenting a huge opportunity to tackle road safety, congestion, emissions, affordability and other transport challenges.
Three key trends are driving this change:
- Our reliance on petrol and diesel vehicles is in decline as a new breed of electric and hydrogen vehicles promises to deliver a future of zero-emission motoring within a few decades.
- Improvements in digital infrastructure and the emergence of the ‘Internet of things’ are enabling better journeys and network management. People are using smartphone apps to plan, book and pay for different types of journey, while connected vehicles and infrastructure promise to deliver cleaner, safer and more efficient travel.
- A gradual shift from vehicle ownership to usership, particularly in urban areas, is creating a host of new shared or co-operative mobility options, including car sharing, bike sharing, ride-hailing, peer-to-peer (P2P) car rental and on-demand buses.
These changes will benefit society and create massive opportunities for BVRLA members, as well as challenges for policymakers. The government recognises this and launched a Future of mobility call for evidence, with a particular focus on developing its Future of urban mobility strategy.
The BVRLA response to this call for evidence is available to read online:
The BVRLA has three main campaign areas on this topic:
- Ensuring that members can play a key role within emerging Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platforms, ensuring that they deliver their promised societal benefits while preserving a fair and competitive mobility services market.
- Preserving the rental and leasing industry’s direct and unrestricted access to vehicle data and functions.
- Provide specific guidance for the vehicle rental, leasing and car club industry and support compliance with the new data protection regulation, GDPR.
