Many transport undertakers, agencies who are responsible for transport, consultants and suppliers are focusing nowadays on the customer experience in transportation transport. Articles such as the recent McKinsey article on travel distribution show exemplary what the philosophies and proposed strategies behind this narrative are. 1. Harness advanced analytics to understand the customer better. 2. Adjust … Continue reading Why the focus on customer experience is shortsighted
Mobility Pricing – pros and cons
While many experts argue that mobility pricing would be the optimal solution to resolve the congestion problems in urban and sub-urban areas, it is often very difficult to find suitable places which would implement it without trials that display the effects. Trials on the other hand are often not carried out or postponed as there … Continue reading Mobility Pricing – pros and cons
Share of responsibility in railway operations
Today, the Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung published an Article on profitability of railway routes within Switzerland. The article was published in the environment of growing discussions if the Swiss intercity railway transport should be opened up to additional players (BLS and SOB). The main questions in the article was which railway lines are profitable and which … Continue reading Share of responsibility in railway operations
The role of architecture in urban planning
When we talk about urban transport systems and in its extent about urban planning, we usually discuss about utilities, pphpds, density, living spaces etc. However, one aspect we often neglect due to its nature is architecture. Architecture can, but not necessarily need to, play a crucial role in the success or failure of an urban … Continue reading The role of architecture in urban planning
Spacial limits of alternative transport systems in urban areas
CityMetric pointed in a recent article on Elon Musk's vision for autonomous driving towards an interesting point regarding spacial limits: Musk's vision that everybody will not be moving anymore with public transport but with autonomous cars that offer point-to-point travel is somewhat flawed. The limits are or geometrical nature due to the limit in capacity … Continue reading Spacial limits of alternative transport systems in urban areas
Developing transport in post-war regions
Over the holidays I read this article in German about the development in transition regions after conflicts. Three aspects are in my opinion critical about that: Urbanization, resource consumption and respective migrant movements will have a significant impact in the future way of living The potential to start and support social healing through common projects … Continue reading Developing transport in post-war regions
How to avoid obvious bottlenecks in transport chains
One of the most studied transport hubs is certainly the function of the airport. Within short time slots, large numbers of passengers are transferred from one plane to another plane or other modes of transport. Furthermore, the airport is only for few users an origin or destination, thus a hub. When planning new airport infrastructure … Continue reading How to avoid obvious bottlenecks in transport chains
Why small transport projects might be much more important than large infrastructure investment
In Switzerland, planners estimate that there will be a transport capacity shortage in the mid/long term. This is why, alternative modes of transport are analyzed such as the Cargo Sous Terrain (-> see project page). Today, the federal council announced in this article that they will adapt the regulation so that a project such as … Continue reading Why small transport projects might be much more important than large infrastructure investment
Major Chinese Interests in Railways in Africa
Over the last 10 years, we can observe a growing interest of Chinese railway companies in Africa. Given a potential shift in US policy, I would expect that even more opportunities can be tapped by Chinese exporters. Currently there are 3 fields they are interested in: Railway lines which facilitate access to resource deposits or … Continue reading Major Chinese Interests in Railways in Africa
Why the automated car will change the way we communicate on our daily basis
With the vast proliferation of the mobile phone, starting in the 2000s we have gained access to increasing access to communication tool for consumption of information as well as interactions. In 2015, the average American spent over 15’000 minutes per year in commute, mostly by car. With the autonomous vehicle, this time will experience a … Continue reading Why the automated car will change the way we communicate on our daily basis