Here is an india-focused example hosted by Japanese broadcasters- do you know any other broadcaaters who are helping
citiznens to understand the choices they need to be informed on if next decade is to be ebst of times and not the worst
From
India Economics summit oct 3-4
MAAS= Mobility As A Service : cities can now offer mobility without
the need to own cars-https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2047048/?
Discussion between
director of uber india, Pradeep Parameswaran
Amish Shah director Mahindra ,
founder of barefoot college : Maegan Fallone
nhkworld
anchor Minori Takao
Video opens with nhk anchor: Minori Takao driving
through new Delhi in India- a country with 1.3 billion to challenges include : maintaining order, pollution.
president of conglomerate Mahindra I am concerned with perils
of winner take all model
barefoof college can a mobility revolution be the ultimate tool in unlocking
social mobility
Takao Ley concept of MAAS involves integrating
various ways to make access to mobility easier for a consumer – is this really a revolution that will benefit all or
not?
Anish Shah Mahindra head of strategy conglomerate in 22 industries- we feel maas is here to
stay
Revolutionise transportation in many ways great because it allows us to get ahead of things-
and define industries so from car standpoint our industry is going to change-looking at a major transformation that is going
to happen – for us this is an exciting time
Meagan Fallone:
Founder Barefoot College Intl (India based entrepreneur active 96 countries education vocational skills):
It’s
the concept with a platform like MAAS that is workable for everybody – you completely unlock peoples ability to attain
their own aspirations to move from here to there because that is where the job is that they want, or that’s where
the family member is they want to support or that’s where a child needs to go to school – ultimate tool unlocking
social and economic mobility for those who are currently disproportionately disadvantaged by not having access to good transportation
Pradeep Parameswaran Uber India
We had chance
to spend time with principal scientific adviser to the gov of India- - he said entrance exams to most coveted engineering
institutes in India substantially underrepresent women -because women don’t just show up to coaching classes the way
men do - eg most of the classes are in the evening and in most cities families don’t want to let young
women out because they don’t trust trap sortation systems are safe enough. he was making social mobility point –
here’s a prime commercial location in India- less that 1 in 5 people here is a woman -this sort of divide is increasing
in developing world and transport has a very very important role to drive inclusivity in our society
What is MAAS?
Combines different means of transport that don’t
involve privately owned vehicles-
Trains, buses together with car and bicycle sharing
services will be used to help reduce congestion and air pollution – take out your smart phone input your destination
and car will come and pick up or if there’s congestion you might choose a kick scooter instead- self driving minibuses
may also add mobility for elders- apps for easy payment – eg this Finland phone app gives you multiple options
and immediate payment solution
So is mobility really sustainable and inclusive for all members of
society?
Anash coming from car manufacture we would look at different modules
1
tech enabling this
2 ride sharing -can be 4 wheelers with other modes for last mile
3
electric- technically maas could be done without this but if cities are to go cleaner we need it
4
ergonomics
- We can debate timeframes , and who will
have to adjust
Takao: Megane, coming from ngo world how do you
define sustainable mobility?
-
It’s not just how we get around – message sending to people about
how important their aspirations are and how we are going to enable their aspiration
- So
mobility is concern to me because conversation on mobility is about equality/inequality – whether that is digital divide
or education and opportunity divide
-
Pradeeep (Uber) Frankly cities are dying – I would argue maas is a social requirement – of course
its a business opportunity – uber conceived out of idea of creating mobility as a service- frankly society needs to
solve challenge to make cities livable – these are the statistics
30 million passenger vehicles
in India – on average with 1.1 passenger in it
And eg average speed in bangalore has gone
from 14 km/hour (not great) to 9 km/hour
I have 2 kids 10 and 7 both asthmatic growing up in New
Delhi- I am sure we all agree need to play big part to change that for next generations
MAAS without private cars?
New Delhi ranks among top 5 cities
in world for worst traffic congestion and air pollution
Huge influx of peoples into urban
UN estimates 70% population will be urban in 2050-if more urban residents own cars then congestion becomes
worse paralyzing important city services and uinfsrtructure
Anchor
Minoro Takao: what do we mean in saying that replacing personal cars can lead to a better service?
Pradeep Uber: to be a better service/experience
Its easy to say we want to
replace private ownership but frankly with what. I suggest 3 criteria
1 its reliable – its
available when you want it – all the time for every citizen
2 it needs to be affordable-it’s
a social good its no different from each of food, electricity housing-transport is a basic social need
3
it’s got to be sustainable – ie it must play its part in reducing pollution and decongesting cities
-all
of these 3 things have to be provided- which means Its not only one mode of transport. and public transit will need to be
a big part of whatever you think about -last mile connectivity is a big part of the solution
So
if you pull these things together you can probably design an ecosystem which is affordable reliable and sustainable
Takao -but doesn’t uber rely on cars and personal devices?
Pradeep this is an important question
We are starting to integrate public transport
into our system – Denver is one our test cities for this like the Finland app you showed us
India
is a great example- our fastest growing service is 2-wheelers and 3-wheellers most of which is last mile connectivity
Pretty much every electric vehicle which is viable in India today is already on our platform on a test
basis – so we are investing to learn how to make this work- so for us uber is not only a car service but it is a transportation
service
Takao to Anish : coming from a car company maas seems
to contradict with personal car ownership – for a car manufacturer how does this play?
We look at where this industry will be in terms of objects of mobility and objects (of I would say people
that want something that is beyond their regular mobility) of “desire”
Those objects
will continue over time – question how do you supply both- how do you get into different forms of the maas system –
because the exciting part is while all the challenges exist the demand is here today
Its about
figuring out the supply – the question is who’s going to be a winner in that space isn’t know yet-
uber has great lead on it today but eg google might overtake-uber in a future- eg today I look at google
map in some cities (eg NY) to see my journey so they may start integrating transpiration in maps- -there are going to be multiple
players and the ecosystem will be upended
-and if you consider eg look at electric cars , components
requited are fraction of what’s been needed previously -the entire component industry will change
Takao-
do you think other companies relying on oil driven vehicles see the revolution in the way of you have just described
Anish I would say everyone does- if you look at auto companies round the world they are investigating
different components of maas and consolidation/alliances are takin g pace – so auto industry is shaping up for
it
Takao to Meagan : if what we have talked about is a shared view
that could be positive sign but what do you see as the challenges and mindsets of people who use the transportation
I think we have an utterly different issue ahead of us and its urgent
Its issue
of aspiration
The places in the world where we most need to address the mobility issue are the spaces
in the world where owing a car is still an aspiration -and it is seen as sign of success financially and in other ways –
largely because its been linked to mobility – until we start to shift our aspirational mentality to one that is aligned
with one that the planet can support -we are going to continue to circle around this problem
The
cities that i see such as Nairobi Dar-es-Salam Cape Town Johannesburg Lagos Jakarta – if you spend one day in these
cities you will see are running out of time
Second issue – about the tech- you just showed
a beautiful app- but if you cant read and write you cannot use this app- in the cities I have mentioned a third of the people
can’t read and write-so this is a networked and connected problem that touches on many different things so we have to
come together to co-design from point of beneficiary users so we will need to take a systems change approach to a system and
network problem – I dont think we are approaching this issue in the right way unless we can go beyond the view that
one company/one platform can develop a one size solution that fits all
Uber
Yes it’s a system problem too large for any one company- on aspirational issue I am optimistic – millennials
have moved on from needing to own an asset
Amish – let me
share millennials ad – video man offers lady a ring /hook up for 12 months – she looks displeased – he responses
for 6 months she gives him huge hug: caption – afraid of commitment get contract to zoom cars for 6 months
Takao -is there a risk of creating future divides among people-
obviously maas is framed around urban challenges, what about the rural area?
Meagan – yes coming from rural framework which I work on – it never works to take an urban
solution and plonk in rural area – the needs are different – also rural people often don’t want to migrate
to city – rural people would stay in rural areas if the way of life was enabled, if villages were strong and self-sufficient
– if we reinvented in rural areas to the extent we do in cities – eg in some ways I can see electric being adopted
faster in rural areas- rural people really resonate with environment and with efficiency, cost not spending on things they
don’t need to spend on
Takao—how’s this different
for women
Meagan-clearly women have a huge challenge in public transport in dev world (security,
culture) we have amazing org in Delhi called women on wheels- it trains women drivers who then drive only women and families
which has opened up opportunity of mobility - there’s also issue of inclusion of systems with physically challenged
is another opportunity – we have chance to send a message about ways of building infrastructure
Anish-inclusiveness
is very important aspect – that’s where integration with public transport is core as is ensuring the last mile
integration with rickshaws etc
Uber these possibilities have only emerged in last few years of scaling
– we have launched an uber motor bike service- one in 4 users are women – many say is safer because a motor bike
unlike a car is open –
Then there’s a company coming in usa – digitally empowered
school transport, its not an uber company but it uses the uber algorithm platform
WHO WILL LEAD MASS PLATFORMS
https://whimapp.com
Example Finland’s whim app makes going to places easier than ever
Commentator – competition to
develop platforms is intenseThose making inroads into maas are business including us software developers like uber google
and china’s didiAutomakers joijng race aswell
In japan Toyota motor and softbank have
established joint venture by integrating auto and ai tech they aim to develop a next gen glopal mobility platform
Elsewhere govs taking lead include -finland leader upgrading city transport- public sector takes charge
of urban planning while the private sector leads the mobility services
Pradeep
uber – not clear to us that govs are best operators of systems- this that’s a stance across multiple industries
not just transport- gov of india is saying we dont want to be the operator- priate sector has tole to play within a regulatory
framework
Anish – when it comes to smart cities – how do you see i? ’I see this
a s collaborative partnership among multiple ;private players-look at maas -today its a collection of various things that
exist in some form when eg someone goes to a train station – maas is about simplifying easier – I don t see someone
coming over to takeover the entire space- infrastructure is important - private company cant do all od that , difficult for
gov to run the tech that is where private is coning
Takao what’s the balance in collaboration
with gov whether national or regional?
Meagan we work in comprehensive model with gov- landscape
changed lot in last 5 years – gov has a lot in terms of data , tech ways of communicating getting people to comply-
I see gov much more willing to apply in partnerships - - we all need to be advocates to push for that -it never works to go
somewhere without gov
Uber gov has a very positive role: in policy making – know we are in
such early stage in transformation of this multi trillion dollar sector that is used by every human on earth- transport is
a service like that – be very careful to create enough of regulatory sandbox to allow tech and innovators to play out-the
biggest risk is stifling innovation often well intentioned but without understanding second and 3rd order effects-of
those decisions – as long as it protects interests of consumer and is for good of society I think these governing principles
need to be in place but must give enough space to innovate
Nav-
there are 3 important things for gov to focus on
1 standards – especially large space and
number of players – electric charging standards are an example-if you ate going to have different players putting in
different tech it wont work
2 addressing perils of winner takes all model – not just affordability
but also economic sustainability problem- winner takes all sometimes has companies subsidising today to reap profits
in future- gov needs to ensure that affordability is maintained at sustainable level not changed when monopoly is in place
3 data privacy- this model has peril of data potentially being misused
Uber – I want to develop idea of data – take london transport for example -It allows data
publicly used- there are 8000 developers that use the data for various sources of public good-public transport planning, urban
planning where do you build roads, bridges.. it’s a big deal to see how data used in many countries because infrastructure
is expensive and data must not be flowing just one way – how do you do it for anyone to innovate with enough rules
Takao when is it safe to share data?
Commentator
– london case: from 2007 london made data available- companies can access customer data on passenger cards
and hook up to live images of traffic cameras- for growth hungry companies this kind of big data is a treasure trove the risk
is movements of individuals could be leaked to third parties.
In
china it rapidly become part of everyday life- security cameras everywhere – gov controls personal movement data on
grounds of maintaining security – is there a way to protect our privacy when data is collected to improve our mobility
Takao- I know there are safety issues – for the end
user we need to feel safe when we uses these systems
Uber – I think you will see language
from companies that hold the data for gov to play more active role- need safeguards – this is a topic expect tremendous
movement in near future
Example we have something called uber movement – a data platform where
data is aggregated- forms are shared with gov agencies specifically to improve urban planning – I would argue that any
entity sitting on that high value data should be used for as much public good as you can
Nav - ,london
great example it is aggregate data that is shared –
Meagan I think its clear gov needs to
rethink its role into this new tech enabled and AI-enabled world- it might have been as a provider and as an operator –
clearly that is not now the right space for gov to be operating in -the entire tech revolution has accelerated the need for
innovation I a fluid and an ongoing way – so it is clear that gov cant move at that rate- are they prepared to
truly make that kind of step so they begin to act as a ;policy framework and protection framework- it’s the gov’s
responsibility to protect citizens and their rights- well that gets a little dicey when gov is using AI and using our data
for their own needs and wants -this is where the community needs to say you dint have the right to use my data that way-I
am happy to have a service enabled but I am not happy to have my behavior predicted and suddenly the gov determining what
I can and cannot have as an access- which is where we could go if AI starts to predict our movements then we will not have
access to the kinds of moblity we want because the gov will tell us we don’t need that – this is very difficult
space – the only way it is resolved if each of the partners in mobility stands strong with the end users welfare
MOBILITY REV FOR ALL
Takao how can we help
people want green solution
Anish we have to make solutions simpler -eg if you have a brand new metro
in delhi that is quicker people will take it provided you also think what happens at last mile at each end
So
far we have only talked about passenger transport but we need to think about goods transport too-we have large number of trucks
that go from point to point but come back empty- to go greener we address that problem of goods mobility
Meagan: I am a pessimist – I think until we have carbon tax -until it hits bottom line, until
cities are not able to borrow money at concessional rates for building of infrastructure without moving to a more sustainable
mobility system, I think we are just not going to get the speed or the uptake
I deeply believe the
market innovates- I think we need to set the bar higher- about putting out there where we want to be by 2030, or 2040 and
saying we innovate to that goal- the problem we continue to set the bar too low and then we don’t get very far –
Anish I am an optimist -electric rickshaws are taking over -starting to see affordability for fleets
Uber the consumer adoption we have seen to consumer adaptation to sharing makes me quite optimistic
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g,lobal insights from japan broadcasting
