Article

 Cracking the RFI Codes: Strategies for Mobility Request-for-Information (RFI) Processes

By Lars Christian Grødem-Olsen, MD Movability

What is an RFI ?

An RFI (Request-For-Information) is a market dialogue process to gather market insights. The RFI guides a procurement, by showing procurers what’s on the market and at which terms. 

Highlights from our article

• We share two examples of cases where procurers would have been better off with an RFI or market dialogue process: 1) When tendering a new software solution a client of ours could have induced more competition on their desired specifications by issuing an RFI. 2) Three municipalities who significantly overestimated their bargaining power when regulating and charging Micromobility Operators for entering their markets, leading to failed regulations that could have been avoided through market dialogue and validations from a third-party.

• We share categories of RFI questions for different Mobility markets.

• We show how the RFI process can be used for match-making between parties and make sure a partnership or strategic direction is worth the procurer or suppliers time.

• Underlying context, facts and assumptions help gain a strategic advantage over competing suppliers and create healthy competition for procurers.

Click here to read the article.

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Mobility Research

Short-distance carpooling trips doubled in France in one year

Movability has published a report on short-distance carpooling in France, where the government introduced a carpooling plan with an annual budget of €150 million to support carpooling initiatives.

Currently, 400 cities are subsidizing carpooling. As a result, passengers pay an average of just €0.49 per trip for a 22-kilometer journey, while drivers earn an average of €2.17 over the same distance. Trips on platforms have doubled in one year.

Through consultations and interviews with two of France’s largest operators, we identified several best practices for regulations and tenders at both local and national levels.

Here is an excerpt from the report of best practices:

• Successful programs focus on community engagement, track key metrics to gauge success, and view operations and operators holistically to score bids

• Several operators interviewed stressed the importance of service quality, since some PTAs mistakenly think they are primarily procuring an app. One operator told us: “We are an operator, not primarily a platform”

• PTAs need to assess which types of services are needed, where, and at which stage in the launch:

  • Matching can cover the entire territory quickly at limited cost at the beginning

  • Lines can support high frequency public transport service, at lower cost to lower-density areas

Download our full report here for an in-depth look at our French case study and the rest of the best practices we’ve identified.

Super-apps can contribute to convert short taxi-rides to escooter-rides

The Institute of Transport Economics conducted an experiment with Bolt nudging users in their app from short ride-hail trips over to escooters across European cities in 2021. The test was conducted showing escooter as a cheaper option alongside taxi alternatives to getting to a specific location.

• In Oslo alone, an impressive 55% of nudged e-scooter trips replaced ride-hailing journeys.

• Moreover, users who received these nudges were more likely to continue choosing e-scooters later on—replacing significantly more car trips than the 5–10% recorded in previous studies.

• By simply offering in-app information, this approach effectively shifted travel behavior without adding costs, making it an appealing alternative to traditional measures like taxes or bans.

Read the report to get more insights here

News

Stories we loved this month

1. Donkey Republic is EBIT+

Donkey Republic reports that they were EBIT positive in 2024 with an EBIT result of 130K EUR.

We hear from an increasing amount of bike-share and escooter operators that are optimistic and that report of an increased willingness to invest in entering new markets.

Read full article here

2. Mayten acquires Micromobility Industries

Prabin Joel Jones, who has shed light on shared mobility profitability and hidden accounting numbers for a while with his company Mayten, recently acquired Micromobility Industries.

We congratulate both parties, and look forward to this years conference!

Read full article here

3. Citi Bike increases prices (again)

Following a recent summer hike, Lyft increases prices again. For us this shows the importance of a) create bike-share tenders where winners win partly on price and b) the need to understand profitability metrics on both sides to ensure a fair competition and that the operator is able to keep operating for several years.

Read full article here

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