With the corona-virus outbreak, the amount of people taking public transport has dropped dramatically. One would think, that with a decline in public transport, the use of shared mobility such as bikes, e-scooters or taxi would increase since the traveler is less exposed to other people. However, companies providing such solutions have faced difficulties complying with rules and regulations imposed by governments. As an example, local governments in the UK are advising taxi-companies to clean all door handles and seat-belt clips with disinfecting spray after every trip.
Then, one can only imagine how Covid-19 has affected the shared-mobility industry. There is no way shared mobility operators can drive around and make sure the handles of scooters and bikes, and steering wheels of cars are disinfected after every ride. Station-based vehicles could offer self-cleaning hubs (like they do in supermarkets). Dockless vehicles, on the other hand, that are not returned to specific locations, would not be able to offer such solutions.
Thus, mobility providers have been forced to rethink their strategies and way of operation. For some companies, like the electric-bike style e-scooter company, Wheeles, the virus forced them to stop operations. To go back into business, they had to look at alternative solutions and scan the market for options. At the end of March this year, they announced that they partnered up with the company NanoSeptic who has developed a self-cleaning surface. Thus, the bikes of Wheeles have now been redesigned with a self-cleaning handle and break, making the vehicles less prone to spread corona amongst its users. Voi, a more established operator in the European market, has also jumped on the technology and claim they are able to “kill 99.98% of coronavirus on contact”.
If this technology works as it claims, it should not only be used to make shared mobility safer, but maybe the technology can also be used in other places such as public doorknobs, or on elevator buttons?
References:
CBS (n.d.). Retrieved 13.09.2020 form https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/dossier/coronavirus-crisis-cbs-figures/covid-19-impact-on-public-mobility
Preston city council (n.d.). Retrieved 13.09.2020 from https://www.preston.gov.uk/article/2481/Covid-19-Basic-guide-for-Taxi-drivers-and-operators
Toll, M. (27.03.2020). Electrec. Retrieved 13.09.2020 from https://electrek.co/2020/03/27/a-coronavirus-first-check-out-this-e-bike-shares-self-cleaning-handlebars/
Young, G. (04.09.2020). Birmingham Live. Retrieved 13.09.2020 from https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birminghams-e-scooter-revolution-when-18873821
This is a very interesting blog post! However, I do believe this affects every country differently as the regulations are different. For instance, in the Netherlands, Felix did not think about implementing a self-cleaning method as the regulations of the country did not oblige it to do so. Furthermore, I realized after my trip in Paris how much the shared-mobility operators evolved and how their numbers increased. Roads are being redesigned in order to leave space for other than cars, also allowing more biked to circulate. I do believe that in big cities even if Covid-19 is still around, the mobility sector will keep changing. People will start prioritizing individual transport over public transport due to its facility. This is why we should focus on making individual transport as sustainable as possible.
Hi Amandine! This is a very good point. Different countries have different regulations, thus operators are not obliged to change their business models. However, I do believe that measures against Covid-19 should be considered by businesses regardless of the local regulations. Every small bit helps, and if self-cleaning surfaces can reduce the spread of the disease, I definitely think companies should consider it even though they are not obliged to.
I really enjoyed reading this article given that you identified the wide applicability which the cleaning technology could have. I agree that it could definitely be applied to a wide range of situations. I believe there are some companies that focus on producing technology that disinfects your phone. These existed prior to Covid-19 but it is incredible how much media coverage they have been getting now due to the virus. It goes to show, just like you titled your post that sometimes difficult times force some of the most innovative ideas to come to life.