MMD#71 - Check out the loneliest bus in the world, EVs signalling the death-knell of petrol cars, and research on the benefits and barriers for e-scooters
Mobility Matters Daily #71
On the loneliest bus route in the world, reliability is critical
The UK has a lot of rural bus routes. But imagine taking a bus from London to Edinburgh and only seeing houses for 24 people along the way. That’s the Dalton Highway Express in Alaska. What struck me in a BBC article about this bus route is the important of reliability.
Its arguably more important in rural areas. A bus not turning up is an uncertain and lonely experience in a rural area, and there is evidence that rural passengers value time travelling by buses differently compared to their urban counterparts. This can be overcome partly through real time information, and improving services to value people’s time spent on board services.
The worlds loneliest bus route | A classic study on the perceptions of values of different aspects of journey time for rural buses
Electric vehicles may reach price parity with fossil fuel cars sooner than we think
New research by BloombergNEF confirms a long running trend, where the production costs of electric vehicles is expected to reach parity with fossil fuel cars by 2027. With running costs of electric vehicles already ahead of that of fossil fuel cars, very soon if you are purchasing new then it will make more economic sense to go electric.
For some time, the primary technology cost - the battery - has been falling. But what hasn’t happened is achieving cost savings through scale. Changing a production line from one vehicle type to another means a shutdown of at least 2 days. Plus minor body changes to cater for a lack of an engine adds up. It just seems now that the cost benefits of scale are being realised in the automotive market. The time of electric vehicles is here.
Reporting on the BloombergNEF report | A literature review of the technology costs of electric vehicles | Analysis from McKinsey on improving electric vehicle economics
New research on e-scooters points to a mixed picture for users and non-users
Its been quiet on the e-scooter front for a few weeks. But a recent Open Access journal paper contained interesting research from Arizona on who is likely to try e-scooters, and the potential transport impacts. In summary, trips displaced from walking and cycling, African-American and non-white Hispanic populations are more likely to try e-scooters, and women are more concerned about their impacts on transport safety.
It is a technology finding its niche in an established active travel marketplace. Short trips by car need to be transferred, even though short trips are not necessarily profitable for operators. That in turn relies on infrastructure changes and changes in urban planning to support this modal transfer. Same solutions, new technology.
Open Access article on the benefits and barriers to using e-scooters