Article

Mastering Public Affairs & Public Relations for New and Shared Mobility

By Julia Sandstø, Mobility Policy and PR Advisor at Movability

How should Public Affairs & Public Relations be handled in a Mobility Context?

Julia, Movability’s PA and PR expert, shares with us how Public Affairs (PA) and Public Relations (PR) involve collaborating with policymakers, communities, and the media to ensure fair policies and strengthened reputations.

Julia shows:

• How adopting a long-term PA & PR strategy prepares for sudden policy changes

• How transparent engagement with the media helps counter negative narratives

Case studies shared in the article:

• Ride-hailing

• E-scooter

• Food delivery

Click here to read the article

Need input for a project or a problem you’re working on? We’ve got the tools to get you moving.

Share your challenge with us by answering this e-mail and we’ll get in touch.

Mobility Research

Understanding Micromobility Operators and Regulations

Movability published a report on “understanding micromobility operators and regulations”, exploring how cities can solve stakeholder issues while keeping the shared micromobility market profitable.

Download the full report here for case studies, data and best-practices.

News

Stories we loved this month

Hopeless Ebike Regulation in Barcelona

Barcelona has just awarded 7 operators with 497 dockless ebikes each. Here’s why that is a bad idea.

1. It sucks for customers

When we were at Tomorrow Mobility in Barcelona we tried the scheme ourselves. Here are some of the highlights of how it sucked for us as users:

• No access to Bicing scheme for tourists

• Limited availability of dockless ebikes, meaning we always had to walk a long while to find a vehicle

• Needed to download 3 different apps to make sure we could find an ebike nearby

2. It sucks for operators

• Impractical for customers (see above) equals low demand

• Low amount of vehicles equals difficult to get the revenue per vehicle to cover the cost per vehicle, since fixed costs per vehicle become too high

3. It sucks for the city

Due to point 1 and 2 it’s only a matter of time before the operators pull out, meaning 7 operators will wilt down to the 2-4 operators who are profitable, and the ones that are unprofitable, but want Barcelona as a reference. Meanwhile they have to administrate 7 operators. I send the Barca city officials warm thoughts from Oslo. We may have minus degrees here, but I suspect the city - operator meetings will be quite chilly when the operators receive their first profit and loss reports.

Read full article about the award here

Hoppy, adds to the list of profitable tier-2 operators

Zag reported that now Hoppy, a Belgian tier-2 operator is also profitable on an EBIT level. Big congrats! For us, the real story here is busting the myth told by bigger operators a few years ago that smaller operators can’t compete.

Hoppy joins Ryde, JET, Swing, and others proving that profitability and market leadership isn’t just for the big operators. They all show some form of EBIT profitability for one or more years, and the ability to lead their markets.

The question on tier-1 operator lips as well as public officials is (or should be): Which factors drive profitability for smaller operators? Let me break it down for you.

Market-fit: Markets are not created equal. Tier-1 cities have better utilization and means an operator can divide fixed costs on more vehicles, meaning lower fixed costs per vehicle. Some tier-1 cities have too much regulation (Looking at you, Barcelona and London). The markets are then unprofitable any way you twist and turn your business case. Smaller operators have had to leave unprofitable markets if they wanted to survive.

Lean operations: Smaller operators have needed to master lean operations. Hiring their own employees can cut ops costs by 15-30% through removing admin layers and 3PL margins. Many smaller operators employ experienced ops managers who know how to balance peak and off-peak demand, reduce staff churn, and manage HR and market risk— a risk large operators have largely avoided by outsourcing to 3PLs.

Operating smaller markets profitably: Smaller operators have had to adapt operations to local tier-2 and tier-3 cities. They keep fixed costs down with smaller warehouses and operations managers who swap batteries themselves. Some have also learned from the bigger players: bid for tier-1 city tenders with best vehicles and send your older fleets to lower-competition tier-3 markets.

Less admin and tech development: Having many markets means more stakeholders to align with when making strategic decisions on tech, ops, tenders and more. Smaller operators don’t have the luxury of burning cash on bureaucracy, and have depended on being agile in targeting their core markets.

Read full article here

Do you have any additional feedback or specific requests for topics you'd like us to cover?

Reply to this mail or connect with us on LinkedIn!