For centuries, innovation has driven the quality of life that we enjoy today. It is to innovation that we owe our comfort level, improvements in communications or in job security, more inclusive cities, or longer life expectancy.
For yet another year, we find ourselves at the doors of South Summit, which will be held in Madrid from October 3 to 5, and which is the culmination of the search for the most innovative startups, those that bring society the next revolution in sectors like energy, sustainability, fintech, health, or mobility, an area in which Ferrovial stands out this year as the mobility partner with the presence of Zity or Wondo.
Does mobility in cities need innovation?
The evolution of mobility has been a common factor in our history that has contributed to improving quality of life – think about the Roman roads – or increasing the speed at which we can get around.
If there is currently a critical challenge for cities and for society, it is improving mobility. We find ourselves in a context marked by high urbanization, a decline in air quality, and highly available technology and information. This is making it possible for different mobility options that are revitalizing our economy to emerge. Years ago, one could choose between buying a car or taking public transit. Today, we can choose from an enormous range of possibilities from what has come to be called Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
There are several types of mobility services grouped under this concept, with various objectives focused on improving quality of life:
- Reducing travel times, transforming cities into smart cities
- Reducing emissions with a fleet of electric cars. Our health depends on it
- Improving services, connecting vehicles
- Making cities of the future more livable and friendlier, promoting autonomous mobility
There is so much room for improvement and innovation with regards to mobility. Ferrovial is participating in South Summit 2018 this year as mobility partner with Zity and Wondo, two mobility startups. Come to South Summit 2018 with us using these two options!
Zity, the electric carsharing alternative
If you live in Madrid, it is very likely that you know Zity, a carsharing mobility service that uses a fleet of Renault ZOE vehicles that are 100% electric. It is easy to spot them because, in addition to the signs, the green that symbolizes good energy usage makes them stand out in traffic.
Carsharing mobility is easy to understand, even for those who have not used it before, and it entails a key innovation for cities. Using it is simple: a fleet of vehicles spread out across the city are ready to be driven by users on the platform.
Picking up one of these vehicles is as simple as signing up on the app (iOS/Android) and, once your profile is approved, searching for the vehicle that best suits your needs. You reserve a car, start it, and drive it to your destination.
The vehicle chosen by Zity has 300 km of true fuel range and five seats available, so it satisfies practically any day-to-day mobility need. The idea is to change mobility from a model based on ownership to one aimed at services.
WONDO, the platform that gets you to events
WONDO is a platform that puts city mobility in your hands, guiding you or taking you wherever you want to go in the most comfortable way possible; it, in turn, works with several transportation services geared toward ridesharing. Yes, all this innovation brings a lot of new terms in, but they are easy to learn.
Ridesharing refers to a type of collaborative, shared transportation that connects passengers with vehicle drivers. That is, as users we can share transportation with people who are going to our same destination. And WONDO is very much aimed at getting us to events like concerts, fairs, etc.
This means that WONDO makes agreements with shared transportation providers, such as the buses and taxis that we will use for South Summit. We will lead by example, and by using an innovative startup, we will get you to a fair about innovation. You can download the apps for iOS and Android now and enter what time you expect to be at the event. From there, we will take care of the rest.
Additionally, this startup works as a transportation finder in the city, so carsharing, which we mentioned previously, and motosharing, which is also becoming popular in cities, can be found through just one app.
It is very important to foster innovation through the entrepreneurial ecosystem
At Ferrovial, we are very committed to innovation, and that is why we continue to look for new, future–oriented mobility solutions. Ferrovial is promoting two mobility programs that seek to encourage collaboration with startups: Smart Open Lisboa with the Beta-i accelerator, and Intelligent Mobility Accelerator in the United Kingdom with Wayra UK (Telefónica) and Transport Catapult.
In both programs, Ferrovial has presented a series of mobility challenges that it wants to solve. Because innovation arises from the ability to listen and the will to make things tomorrow better than today.
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