By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP

I recently came across a document that illustrated how far we have come in the evolution of shared mobility resources and options. This map was created for the Silicon Valley Mobility as a Service project, where mobility aggregators integrate various services.

It maps out the ecosystem of shared mobility options using the following major categories:

• Enterprise Commute Trip Reduction (Examples: Luum, Ride Amigos, etc.).
• Mobility Aggregators (Examples: Moovit, Moovel, Urban Engines, etc.).
• Public Transit.
• Private Sector Transit (Examples: Bridj. Chariot, Go Carma, Via, etc.).
• Rideshare within 10 minutes (Examples: Lyft Carpool, UberPool, Ford Dynamic Social Shuttle, etc.).
• Rideshare within 24 hours (Examples: Carma, HOVee Carzac, etc.).
• Taxi-like services (Examples: Lyft, Uber, Juno, Sidecar, etc.).
• Carshare (Examples: Car2Go, Zipcar, Enterprise Car Share, etc.).
• P2P Carshare (Examples: Getaround, RelayRides, Ford Car Swap, etc.).
• Bikeshare (Examples: Motivate, DecoBike, Bcycle, NextBike, etc.).
• Personal Electric Transport (Examples: Enzo foldable ebike, GenZe electric bikes, Scoot (heavy scooter rental, etc.).
• Vanpooling (Examples: Enterprise, Vride, etc.).
• Commute Mode Detection Technologies (Examples: Strava, MapMyRide, Moves, etc.).
• Smartphone Transit Payment (Examples: Passport, GlobeSherpa, Masabi, etc.).
• Smartphone Parking (Examples: ParkMe, Parkmobile, Pay-by-Phone, etc.).
• Miscellaneous Apps (Examples: City Mapper, Transitscreen, Modeify – TDM Trip Planner, etc.).
• Commuter Benefits (Examples: Commuter Check Direct,Commuter Benefits, Wageworks, etc.).
• Robotaxi (Uber w Robot Driver).
• Personal Rapid Transit (Examples: 2getthere, Ultra Global, etc.).
• Niche ride match (Examples: Zimride, Otto, etc.).
• SOV Apps (Examples: WAZE social traffic, Twist for Rendezvous, etc.).
• Niche Transport (Examples: Boost by Benz, Shuddle, Hop/Skip/Drive, etc.).

As parking and TDM programs merge to offer more comprehensive tapestries of access management strategies, I found this document to be a helpful and informative resource that illustrates the scope, variety, and evolution of this emerging area of our industry that we call shared mobility.

Looking at this document from another perspective reveals another dimension. Beyond the specific practices, there are broader categories (mobile communications, data aggregation, commute mode detection, personal transport, active transportation, private sector transit, commuter benefits, etc.) that are driving the innovation of new approaches. In some cases, it is the intersections of these broader categories that are generating new synergistic applications and approaches that will have the potential to be both transformative and disruptive to our industry.

The promise and potential of these evolving products, applications, and strategies on our ability to improve access and mobility while simultaneously addressing other important issues such as congestion mitigation, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and the promotion of a more sustainable transportation network is incredibly exciting.

While most of us still have plenty to do in running our current programs, I encourage you to keep one eye on the evolution of this shared mobility ecosystem for opportunities to advance and evolve your programs and offer new options to your customers.

Dennis Burns, CAPP, is regional vice president of Kimley-Horn.