A global survey has found that more than 25% of mobility users in big cities are thinking of ditching their private cars in favour of shared mobility options—an emerging shift that presents cities with a host of logistical and regulatory challenges.
“In less than 15 years, shared mobility has gone from a novelty to a routine form of transportation for residents of cities around the world,” reports Smart Cities Dive, citing the ubiquity of ride-hailing platforms like Uber and the surging use of shared micromobility vehicles like bikes and e-scooters in the United States.
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In December, the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility surveyed more than 30,000 mobility users in 15 countries—Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
“Between 27% and 30% of respondents said they would use ride-hailing, micromobility, and car sharing more in the future, whereas just 7% to 14% said they would use those modes less,” Smart Cities writes.
More than a quarter of survey respondents living in urban centres said they were seriously contemplating giving up their private vehicles in favour of other means of transport.
The shift is a welcome opportunity for anyone interested in electrifying and democratizing urban transportation. But as they’re currently configured, the world’s cities—virtually all of which have adapted to the needs of private car ownership—will be challenged by the rise of shared mobility, said Kersten Heineke, co-leader of the McKinsey Center and lead author of the survey.
Some of these challenges will be logistical, like where and how to house vehicles whose upkeep would formerly have been left to individual owners.
“If we think about sizable fleets of shared vehicles in cities, we will need to either repurpose parking garages or create new spots, new spaces where these vehicles can be cleaned, maintained, and parked whenever they’re not in operation,” said Heineke.
Cities will also need to oversee the private companies bringing shared mobility services to market. Collaboration with public transit authorities will be key to ensuring their systems are not weakened by the shift to privately-run shared mobility.
In the survey, 27% of respondents expressed a willingness to use shared autonomous shuttles—like Amazon’s Zoox, which is being tested in the San Francisco Bay Area—rather than public transit. Any such shuttle system “would have to be designed in a way that it actually complements public transport, and that it replaces private vehicles,” Heineke said.
(See here for a detailed discussion of the equity concerns associated with shared autonomous vehicles.)
McKinsey cited new car sticker shock (the average price of a new car now sits at around US$48,000) and a distaste for traffic jams as key drivers behind the rising interest in shared mobility. The survey also suggested many people are now factoring in environmental impacts when they choose a mode of transport.
