Cities are steel warehouses, but Swvl’s technology meets the challenge

Traditionally, bus lines are run like trams: they usually run at the same time every day and the route has a structure that is continuously repeated to provide security for users.

On-demand transport transforms this rigidity into a completely flexible system. The bus comes when and where you need it, using algorithms that connect passengers who share journeys.

When we see images like crowded motorways, we know there is still a lot to solve in terms of mobility. Digitized On-Demand Transport works to dematerialise mobility, using technology that eliminates the cliché of constant investment in infrastructure and solves the challenge of low-occupancy mobility that only works on the basis of subsidies.

The solution does not lie in adding extra lanes to motorways or creating unnecessary infrastructure that only serves to create induced demand. When we succeed in changing this outdated mobility model, traffic jams will be history. And, with the constant technological advances in on-demand systems, this could be possible in a matter of a decade or two.

Today, Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) is solving the problem of low occupancy buses in low population density areas found in the suburbs of cities, or in rural and isolated areas. DRT allows buses to reach many more users, as it is much more flexible and closer to the end user’s needs. In fact, on-demand technology can be applied to any type of vehicle. Buses are the obvious candidate, but it also works with vans or smaller vehicles. It can also be applied to taxis and, within the next few years, will be applied to autonomous vehicles.

Source: @circulareconomy https://twitter.com/circulareconomy/status/1026396732144447489

Mobility today is poorly optimized. With an average occupancy of just over one user per car (usually, the driver), and vehicles parked 95% of the time, cities are basically turned into steel warehouses. And this, in the end, is the big challenge to be solved: It seems normal for us to go out into the street and see all those parked cars. We also see traffic jams as something normal when we have to suffer them daily. Traffic congestion is a huge inefficiency that can now be solved with technology. It is now just a matter of implementing this technology little by little where it is most needed.

Swvl’s transformative mobility operating system enhances mass transit accessibility, efficiency, and convenience allowing users to rely on mass transit for their travel and daily commute, revolutionizing how people get around. Every month, millions of people use our technology all over the world, and entities of all sizes —from schools to large enterprises to governments— use Swvl's software to create efficient mass transportation, better passenger experience, and manage their operations online.