An overview of the MOVE2021 London event
MOVE 2021 happened last week in London, where we actively attended as one of the 250 StartUp Village participants. We excitedly accepted the invitation to be there and to connect with amazing people from all mobility sectors. Around 5000 attendees signed up for two days of panels, 788 speakers, 33 conference stages and interactive roundtables.
Time went by very fast, as it happens when you’re enjoying yourself, but we did get the chance to gather some learnings and insights that we’re now happy to share. So here are our thoughts on MOVE2021.
Micromobility is here to stay. It’s safe to say that micromobility has already become mainstream, as it is a strong option for people to use in the city. But is that enough? In order for this option to make a real difference in how people use mobility, the responsible authorities need to support this evolution towards sustainability through changes to infrastructure, parking allocation, and policy, just to name a few.
Mobility must become synonymous with sustainability. For too long, obvious environmental issues have been overlooked by the industry and the time to act is yesterday. Mobility has come a long way in proving that through innovation and real solutions, the game can be changed forever. But there’s still a lot more work to do. The operators need to identify and address potential issues faster, sustainable and in a scalable way, in a market where vehicle usability will prove to be critical.
Multimodality is the way forward. Different efficient modes of transportation can coexist in harmony, provided they have the right environment. While regulations are a must, city authorities need to gather more perspective and closely collaborate with mobility operators, in order to create the right environment for multimodality to properly develop.
Shared mobility needs to be financially sustainable. The number of investments in shared mobility has been increasing over the last decade, but most shared mobility businesses are still not profitable. With a significantly big gap between supply and demand (60%-70% of the market demand is not met), and overall operations that are rather reactive than proactive, tailor made products and solutions are the key in turning the industry profitable and therefore contribute to its financial stability.
The situation is definitely improving by the day and the industry has proven its resilience and power to adapt to less than ideal circumstances. But we need to act now. Overall, we identified a sense of urgency in terms of action and palpable solutions. Big steps and leaps of fate need to be taken, more work needs to be put in and both economically and ecologically sustainable and scalable solutions need to be implemented to make a real difference.
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