Transportation as a Service (TaaS), otherwise known as Mobility as a service, is an idea that more people will deviate from owning personal vehicles and move towards a more service-based transportation system.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra thinks that the entire motor industry will change completely in 50 years. The truth is it can happen even sooner than that. The one simple reason for the motor industry’s change is finance. Cars aren’t necessarily cheap, and in lots of countries, they are also regarded as luxury products. If there was an easily available, safer, and cheaper option to go for, people would definitely use it.
And in this case, it is TaaS. This could potentially save thousands of dollars for an individual and a family while making transportation more effective and available for the masses.
Here are 4 reasons why you should invest in transportation as an industry-
1. TaaS Is More Affordable and Available
We already mentioned that TaaS can save thousands of dollars, but let’s see how exactly it can do that.
For starters, cars are very expensive, and there is also an extra maintenance cost. An average car can cost about $9000 a year. And personal cars are also not used that much. In fact, they aren’t used at least 90% of the time.
But in the case of using transportation as a service, it can cost you up to $3,400, meaning this can potentially save you $5,600 annually.
Statistics by “Rethinking transportation 2020-2030” have estimated that, depending on the usage, TaaS can be two to ten times cheaper than using personal vehicles. No wonder the speculation TaaS better investment than 5G says StocksReviewed has been popping up all around the place.
The utilization of TaaS vehicles will also be up to 40%, whereas personal vehicles are used only about 5% of the time.
2. A More Eco-friendly Solution
Car emissions are one of the top reasons for pollution and global warming. One of the main reasons it has increased over the years is because of the significant increase in the number of vehicles.
Combustion engines have quickly become the fifth reason for air pollution in the United States due to their immense carbon dioxide pollution. To stop this, steps are being taken all around the world.
A lot of cities have banned the use of combustion-engine vehicles. Emissions can be greatly reduced by decreasing the number of vehicles. TaaS can make that happen. Working as ride-sharing services, the number of vehicles on the road can decrease significantly.
This can reduce traffic and can dramatically decrease the rate of pollution once we have reached the 3rd phase of transportation.
That brings us to our next point.
3. The Third Phase Of Transportation Revolution
Steadily, we are heading towards a future where everybody is going to drive electric cars. In order to reduce the amount of emission and head towards a more eco-friendly future, automotive industries around the globe are trying out new ideas with electric cars and a lot of these cars can even run without drivers.
The second phase of transportation and vehicles indicates the electrification of automobiles and automation to make cars smarter and more energy-efficient. The 3rd phase, however, aims to tackle all three problems at the same time, the three problems being pollution, accessibility, and the number of cars on the road.
Through TaaS, the numbers can be reduced. By using driverless, energy-efficient, public transportation, all the above problems can be taken care of.
As estimated by ITDP, if the numbers of cars continue to rise, then it can reach up to 2.1 billion, which can be catastrophic for our environment. But if TaaS is effectively used, then the numbers can be reduced to 250 million by 2050, which can solve a lot of dire problems.
4. Frees Up Spaces
In some of the cities situated in the United States, almost 40% of their city space is used for road and transportation. A large part of it is taken by parking lots that are not always even fully utilized.
Car parks take up about one-third of that space. If transportation as a service becomes prevalent and popular, then cars will be on the go and will be utilized more effectively.
This means that the number of required parking spots will reduce to a great extent. In this way, the city’s infrastructures can be freed up and used for other purposes.
Are There Any Risks Involved?
One of the main risks associated with the idea of TaaS is congestion. When the ride-sharing services like Uber came along, it was very much affordable and available for the customers.
But over time, as Uber became more popular, more people began using it. After a certain point, instead of reducing congestion, it rather increased it.
In order to prevent this from happening, TaaS will require a more developed long-term plan that has to be backed up by authorities. Municipalities have to create strategic plans to make transportation low cost and more available to the general people.
The end vision of TaaS is not just driverless Ubers all around the place; rather, it is a unified multi-modal transportation system that provides cars, public buses, and even utilizes tubes.
The idea of TaaS also revolves around the usage of technology and data obtained from customers. The more data available, the more the chance of reducing congestion. But there may also be a concern regarding privacy.
These things have to be implemented in their plan of action and resolved.
Final Thoughts
TaaS is most likely going to be a full-fledged industry within 50 years or less. Its potential is immense, and so is the return. Investing in the growth of TaaS can lead to more than just profit. It can solve real-time problems that are causing too many losses already. With proper investment, growth, and regulations, transportation as an industry or TaaS can be the answer to all these problems.