www.smart-mobilitymanagement.com
#1 International Integrated Corporate Mobility Solutions
I Smart Mobility Management live
MMM Business Media International – Smart Mobility Management n°1 – Quarterly periodic newsletter – Deposit office Luxembourg-Gare
I Towards total Corporate Mobility
privileged partners :
edito Total Corporate Mobility (TCM)
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uring the past years, hard-pressed by the economical crisis, companies have invested time and energy in cutting costs or optimizing spendings in all possible areas. Company cars, light commercial vehicles, travel and hotel expenses have been part of this optimization process and comprehensively revisited. But many opinion leaders believe the full potential has not been reached yet. Why? Linked in one way or another to mobility management, all these categories have until now only been managed in a fragmented or isolated way. “Decisions have been taken per category without fully assessing the impact on the others” as Steve Gellatly states in his KONE case study interview on integrated mobility management. And he is right! All decision makers at international level (purchasing, finance and HR) and managers in charge of fleet, travel or meeting pursue at least three identical objectives: optimise costs, increase employee efficiency and lower the environmental impact.
Caroline THONNON cthonnon@mmm.be
Smart Mobility Management should be seen as a long term, holistic and integrated approach linking inter-related activities to fulfil business requirements and objectives through sustainable means. Designing and implementing a true integrated mobility management strategy leads to a convergence of different categories (facilities, travel, car fleet, technology, logistics...) where cross-functional, cross-border and now also cross-category teams join forces to collaborate more closely. The challenge is to move from a classic disjointed way of working to a more integrated approach leading to a decision-making process combining cost, work-life balance and planet-friendly expectations. Only through this integrated strategy can corporations move to the next level which we can call “Total Corporate Mobility” (TCM). Caroline THONNON Business Development Director
DISCOVER ALSO: > Podcast launch event Brussels, November 19th
A new website This magazine comes with a brand new website
www.smart-mobilitymanagement.com > Register Register yourself and you will have access to the e-magazine and receive the next newsletters and magazines
> Podcast Privileged Partners’ Presentation > Podcast Panel discussion on Integrated Mobility Management
> News, best practises and tools The website provides you with up-to-date information on corporate mobility and industry players, best practices and comprehensive articles on international policies and processes > Corporate Integrated Mobility Expertise Center Join the Smart Mobility Management community and exchange ideas and best practices.
> Smart Mobility Management on LinkedIn > Digital magazine to forward to your peers or colleagues > Smart Phone app Smart Mobility Management
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Content 06
18
40
44
strategy
best practices
industry
policy & processes
06 Our project
18 Kone
33 E-mobility
Smart Mobility Management: International Integrated Corporate Mobility Solutions
Steve Gellatly Mobility to deliver Service Excellence
Futuristic environment-friendly electric vehicles
44 Mobility Manager
34 News
08 Our partners
22 Coca Cola Hellenic Janos Kis Combined but not yet integrated
Experts in fleet, travel and meeting join forces in a unique project
09 Privileged partners Peugeot, Athlon Mobility Solutions, Europcar, Thalys and Alphabet
14 Launch event Report and podcast
News from the industry suppliers
38 Interparking Group
26 Ingersoll Rand
The car park as integrator
Pascal Struyve Integration soon a reality
40 Rail Connections
30 Mobistar Karel Boussu 3 essential environments
16 Mobility Integrators Who will be your partners tomorrow
Dedicated training towards a true mobility strategy
46 Multimodal Mobility Budget From TCO to TCM
49 Homeworking’s efficiency? 7 tips
A European overview
42 Car2go Concept From business to individual mobility solutions
43 LeasePlan MobilityMixx Already 100 million ‘alternatively travelled’ kilometres
issue n°2 The second issue of Smart Mobility Management will be published in April 2011.
Editorial Team
PRODUCTION
Editorial Director: Caroline Thonnon (cthonnon@mmm.be) Final editor: Stijn Phlix - Assistant: Romina De Gregorio - Team: Tim Harrup
Head: Sonia Counet
editor
Sales & Marketing Team Sales Director: Marleen Neukermans - Account Manager: David Baudeweyns Assistant: Patricia Lavergne and Marketing Manager: Kathleen Hubert
Business Development Director: Caroline Thonnon - Manager: Annick Nemetz and Consultant: Filip Van Mullem and Melchior Wathelet
Managing Director: Thierry Degives Publication Director: Jean-Marie Becker Reproduction rights (texts, advertisements, pictures) reserved for all countries. Received documents will not be returned. By submitting them, the author implicitly authorizes their publication.
MMM Business Media International 28, Gruuss-Strooss LU 9991 Weiswampach Tel.: 00 352 26 95 85 Fax: 00 352 26 31 02 82
info@mmml.lu
www.mmm-businessmedia.com
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strategy
Smart Mobility Management
International Integrated Corporate Mobility Solutions Smart Mobility Management is the new media platform helping international corporations evolve to Mobility Management integrating all transport modes, mobility solutions and alternatives, and optimising overall mobility costs and efficiency for employees.
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he new media platform aims to shape the future Corporate International Integrated Mobility Management Approach. Smart Mobility Management’s objective is to make integration KEY. Integration of different sectors and industries, integration within the company’s organisation and integration of the available mobility solutions and tools.
From Fleet Management to Mobility Management
From Travel Management to Mobility Management
AREAS
AREAS
Car Manufacturers
Air
Fleet Management
Rail
Leasing
Travel Management Car Rental
From Meeting Management to Mobility Management AREAS Business Centers Hotels Conference Centers
New and existing players to develop new alternatives AREAS Mobility Management Parking Car Sharing Public transport Route optimisation Visual and mobile communication
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Triple objective Since most European companies have already explored how to save costs and how to benefit from an international approach (service level agreements, pan-European deals, policy harmonisation...) in different areas (fleet, travel, meetings, technology), the next step should logically lead to convergence of the needs in these areas.
Knowledge Center Smart Mobility Management will provide international decision makers (Board Members, Purchasing, Finance, HR and Fleet, Travel and Meeting managers) with up-to-date information on the market environment, trends, best practices and case studies, industry news and comprehensive articles on international policies and processes.
Smart Mobility Management stands for: > Cost optimisation > Employee efficiency > Environmental commitment.
The Smart Mobility Management platform will allow decision makers to exchange best practices and provide easy access to Innovative Mobility Tools.
Our editorial line is therefore focussed on these key words.
Expertise Center Besides the Knowledge Center, Smart Mobility Management is creating an Expertise Center where experts, privileged partners, opinion leaders and trendsetters can exchange their expertise and share knowledge and best practices.
When to move or not? Smart Mobility Management is first about when to travel for business or not. If business related movement is required, how to optimise overall mobility costs for the company whilst maximizing efficiency for employees.
Caroline THONNON
If movement is not mandatory, what are the alternatives? OTHER: 5,4%
In our approach, we aspire to help international decision makers develop a Smart Mobility Strategy and implement a Smart Mobility Policy. In our approach, we will present you with numerous case studies giving concrete examples of initiatives that companies have been taking. Our goal is to provide you with many do’s and don’ts. Our platform will bring answers to challenges such as how to choose the optimal transport mode, how to select and manage suppliers, how to involve local teams and how to educate employees. On top of this, we will also focus on the utilisation of Smart Technology to communicate and the training of employees to adopt new communication skills. With Smart Mobility Management, companies will share experiences about selecting the right tools to measure KPIs and develop efficient reporting.
UK: 19,2%
USA: 1,8% FI: 2,4% DK: 2,4% PT: 2,4% CZ: 2,7% PL: 3,9% CH: 4,4% BE: 4,5%
DE: 14,6%
SW: 5,1%
NL: 6,6%
FR: 10,8% ES: 7,1%
IT: 6,6%
The readership Smart Mobility Management is targeting high level decision makers in internationally operating companies in Europe. The magazine is distributed in 15 countries with an audience at headquarters level (46%) and at local level (54%).
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Expertise Center
Fleet Europe is the first European Fleet Magazine for top decision-makers and enables European and international fleet managers to take the decisions in order to optimise their vehicle fleets. Fleet Europe Magazine was launched in 1997 and is distributed in 11 European countries and the US with a circulation of 15,000 copies. Fleet Europe has grown to the leading international fleet platform where international fleet decision makers can exchange best practices and be informed. >w ww.fleeteurope.com: daily news coverage on international fleet business, best practices and tools available for our readers. > Fleet Europe Awards & Forum: an annual exclusive event to acquire the essentials of fleet market intelligence, the expertise of international fleet management and the necessary contacts network. > IFMI: The International Fleet Managers Institute is a unique training for international fleet managers with 2 annual sessions with the collaboration of Fleet Europe, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LeasePlan, ALD Automotive, Arval and Athlon Car Lease International.
NBTA Europe is the first buyer-led, pan-European network of business travel professionals with over two thousand members and six thousand subscribers comprising of buyers (60%) and suppliers (40%) of travel and meetings services. The network is built on partnerships with European business travel associations across fourteen countries and was launched in January 2010. > NBTA Europe’s goal is to provide the first pan-european, buyer-led centre for knowledge and networks in the business travel and meetings sector. The organisation seeks to provide benchmarking, research, case studies and education & training for the buyer and supplier communities. > The network understands that businesses should look at business travel, conferences and events as part of its strategy to grow and improve a business. In light of the rise of CSR, such a perspective must also include considerations to people, planet and profit. A complete vision on the best interaction and collaboration methods will see companies managing mobility effectively for the first time on a wide scale. Smart Mobility Management is the first publication in Europe to truly embrace this opportunity.
www.nbtaeurope.org
With the collaboration of
I Smart Business Strategies B2B magazine of the Corelio group with the main objective of guiding decision makers on technological choices within their companies.
I Mobilitas Neutral consultancy agency focussing on the company car from a mobility viewpoint including fiscal and social optimisation, car policy and employee benefits.
I CIEM The Inter-University Mobility Study Centre is a platform which brings together teachers and researchers in Belgium, in order to benefit from the high level transversal knowledge necessary for tackling the problem of personal mobility, from an integrated, prospective and innovative angle.
I TRAJECT Traject is a consulting office specialised in mobility management, based in Brussels and Ghent. Traject offers services in various areas of mobility management: mobility plans for specific destinations and target groups, change management in transport and mobility, development of tailor made transport solutions; parking studies, targeted communication strategies in mobility and transportation; signposting plans and coordination and management of mobility centres.
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Smart Mobility Management on LinkedIn Join our community of international decision makers in mobility management in corporations and international mobility experts. This platform is linked to the Smart Mobility Management media platform and expertise centre. Exchange ideas and best practices with your peers.
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Partner to optimise mobility costs and solutions Why is 2011 a significant year for Peugeot and smart ecological mobility management? Mobility Management is an ever present priority for Peugeot, and this is demonstrated by Peugeot’s new model launch and services strategy for 2011. Every new model demonstrates an innovative approach to smart mobility, with each having direct applications for B2B use.
How do Peugeot’s new model launches relate to smart mobility management? Dirk-Marco Adams Peugeot Professional Director Europe “Peugeot can help reduce current fleet mobility costs, as well as providing optimum mobility solutions going forward.”
Peugeot will go into 2011 on a real high with the first deliveries of its 100% all electric car, the Peugeot iOn, which has zero ‘in-use’ emissions, as well as a range of 150km in a world where the average journey is less than 60km. In 2011, Peugeot will then launch the brand new 508 which features e-HDI stop start technology to decrease CO2, which will also feature on 308 later in 2011. And towards the end of the year, 3008 HYbrid4 will be on sale, featuring an all electric mode, drive to all four wheels, and 200 hp of diesel and electric power! This clearly demonstrates a smart approach to Mobility, allowing customers to choose from a range and depth of product that is leading edge, and exactly right for their needs.
The product side of Peugeot looks strong - is that supported by services for mobility? Peugeot has taken a very close look at providing the right Mobility services, and for iOn the result is particularly interesting. One element of the services available for the all-electric Peugeot iOn includes the use of new technology. All cars are equipped with a black box to provide first of all an emergency or assist call, and also send information about the charging status of the battery. The customer has access to this information via www.my-peugeot.com, and in due course via Smartphone. There is also the option of insurance and electric vehicle driver training, to ensure a comprehensive approach for this new Peugeot product. In addition, the iOn has a quick charging capability of 80% in only 30 minutes - a further plus in terms of practicality. With regard to other services, Peugeot Eco Consulting offers a real call to all B2B fleet operators. - Peugeot are ensuring B2B customers can reduce their current operating costs via Peugeot Eco Consulting which is an all-encompassing three phase tool. - CO2 footprint measurement, CO2 reduction via eco driver training, and measurement of progress via Peugeot Connect Fleet. This way Peugeot can help reduce current fleet costs of mobility, as well as providing optimum mobility solutions going forward. Peugeot are also launching ‘Mu’ by Peugeot to B2B customers in 2011. The offer Mu by Peugeot is already available to B2C customers, and is simply the ultimate mobility solution, where you can buy points to rent a vehicle, scooter, bike or accessory when you want! The next step for Peugeot Professional will be a customer Mobility Audit that will include the proposal of new solutions to reduce Total costs of Mobility. We will present more details of this initiative in the next issue of Smart Mobility Management.
The iOn services package
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From Cars to Total Mobility Recent developments in and around the marketplace have changed the needs of market participants. The requirements and expectations of customers have been newly shaped. More and more, they have realized a new and increased need for mobility solutions. Athlon has recognized this need early on and is offering its customers and prospects customized mobility solutions.
New trends and needs Mr Hans Blink Athlon’s President “The success of such a large-scale program that introduces a new company goal mostly depends on the acceptance and support within the organization itself,” says Hans Blink. “It requires a mind shift from us all.”
Trends such as renewable energy and electric cars have attracted and received growing attention in the media and public eye. Governments worldwide have responded to this new matter of public interest by implementing new rules and regulations such as congestions charges, road pricing and emission targets for car manufacturers. This enforced a change of mindset also in the automotive industry, and products and services offered to the market have been adapted accordingly. Consumers, on the other hand, have experienced a similar change in mindset. The increased concern for costs has encouraged customers to look at alternative travelling options.
Enabling sustainable mobility Athlon has recognized the new need of customers for mobility solutions very early on. Today, their position as a frontrunner in mobility solutions is also strongly embedded in Athlon’s vision. “Our vision is to enable sustainable mobility for our customers. Therefore we are continuously improving and extending the services and products that we can offer to prospects and clients”, explains Athlon’s president Hans Blink.
From vision to reality One of the many things that Athlon has developed to satisfy customer’s mobility needs is the 5-step Sustainable Mobility Plan. The 5-step Sustainable Mobility Plan tackles the two issues that companies have identified to be of major concern to them and influence on their choice in mobility solutions: Environmental sustainability and cost efficiency. In 5 steps, it offers companies sustainable mobility solutions to choose from and thus allows them to reduce their CO2 footprint as well as to lower costs.
Flexibility and Efficiency through MoMas Broadening the spectrum of mobility management further and aiming at increasing the flexibility as well as efficiency of its customers, Athlon has introduced its mobility management system MoMaS to the European Market through Fleet Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Athlon, in 2009. “MoMaS manages the mobility package of each employee in the most effective way. It is a tailor-made mobility management system that meets our customers’ special needs with a focus on cost and workflow management”, explains Johan Serrien, General Manager of Fleet Solutions.
On the forefront of mobility Despite its advanced position in the mobility market, Athlon is continuously evolving and developing its products, services and collaborations with other service providers. “We expect that customers will increasingly focus on mobility options. Therefore, we need to continuously adapt further, stay on top of our customers’ needs and move even closer towards becoming a total mobility provider”, explains Hans Blink. Being considered one of the frontrunners in mobility solutions, Athlon has also agreed support the mobility domain in its umbrella function of the i-mobility management platform and share their insights and experience with all users in the course in the upcoming months.
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Thalys is offering 5 new mobility services With the success of its high speed connections to the Netherlands and Germany well established, Thalys is offering new services to its European clients, in line with this high speed.
Jean-Pierre Martin
One year on, and it can be said that the challenge has been met, because Thalys has succeeded in putting Cologne and Amsterdam at less than two hours from Brussels (1 hr. 47 and 1 hr. 53 respectively). With its desire to constantly innovate, Thalys is launching five new services to make the journey go even more smoothly.
Head of Sales Thalys International. “One year after speeding up, we are proud that Thalys is now offering 5 new services to make the journey go even more smoothly.”
1. With 10 return trips to the Netherlands each day, Thalys is simplifying the trip by offering its clients much easier mobility options.
2. On sale since November 5th, ‘Le Salon’ offers clients a private on-board area with four seats, enabling confidential business meetings while benefiting from the services of Comfort 1, ideal for working or relaxing.
3. Having gone on-line on November 10th, the www.carpooling-thalys.com website offers carsharing solutions to facilitate the ‘first and last mile’, while encouraging the development of inter-modality and its sustainable advantages.
4. With ThePass, Thalys offers its frequent travellers new mobility solutions: ThePass Weekend for the leisure clientele, and ThePass Premium or Business for business travellers, solutions which combine flexibility and reduced prices.
5. Thalys is reaching the conclusion of the programme to which it committed five years ago with Ticketless, by launching Mobile Ticketing. What is involved is sending the electronic tickets directly to the clients’ mobile phones, which are used to identify them. With testing set to start in January – following a recruitment programme instigated on November 17th via www.thalys.com, – and the service set to be operational at the end of the first half of 2011, Thalys will be amongst the first rail operators in Europe to offer totally virtual tickets.
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Mobility Services Division Alphabet BMW Group Financial Services decided to build up a separate department responsible for Mobility Services for fleet customers. Due to the synergies and the strategic importance of innovative Mobility Services for the further development of our fleet management business this responsibility now reports to the CEO of Alphabet International.
1. What are the objectives of this new division? Chris Steiner Head of Mobility Services “Mobility Services is a big term and includes a wide range of feasible new services”
Our objective is twofold. First of all we have the strategic, visionary and conceptual responsibility for the new subject Mobility Services within Alphabet. Secondly the function includes the operational responsibility for BMW Rent in Germany. This is a service offering for the provision of interim vehicles to our business customers via long-term rentals. Our aim is to develop new and innovative Mobility Services, which are providing new valuable Benefits to our fleet customers. To quickly implement these new services in our markets around the world is key and among the main tasks for the newly established department.
2. What is the responsibility of the Mobility Services for business customers within Alphabet? Mobility Services is a big term and includes a wide range of feasible new services. Nobody can tell at this point in time which of the new Mobility Services will prevail in the future. However, the competences already existing within the area of Fleet management today are closest to those, which are likely needed to shape the Mobility Services of the future. Therefore Alphabet serves as a very good home base to develop a comprehensive product offering for Mobility Services for our business customers.
3. What are the first achievements of the division? From an international point of view we are already running a successful project in France. In cooperation with Accenture in Paris, we offer an innovative car-sharing solution named ‘AlphaCity’ to meet the needs of urban mobility. This solution can be provided to all employees of a company, not only company car eligible ones. In the Netherlands we currently introduce a product including both Public Transport and Parking. The administration of those services is fully outsourced to Alphabet, thus reduces the customer’s handling complexity. This product enlarges the current service portfolio for Alphabet’s company car drivers in the Netherlands.
4. What will the next achievements be? We have more Pilot Projects in our pipeline. Through their implementations we will be able to provide new interesting business customer’s benefits. Via these we will also build up new competences for additional Mobility Services offerings. Talking about mobility is not limited to individual use of cars but the overall service package provided to our business customer.
5. What is your vision for the future of ‘Mobility Management’ in general, and within Alphabet in particular? My vision for Mobility Management of the future has very much to do with the thinking in Intermodal Chains of Transportation. Providing completely integrated convenient solutions on how to get from A to B the most economic, ecological and fastest way, with all necessary services included and offered by one source may sound like science fiction today, but will become reality tomorrow. For Alphabet my vision is that our business customers perceive our services related to mobility as most innovative and therefore indispensible for optimizing their own corporate needs. For us, fleet Managers will be Mobility Managers in the future.
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strategy
Launch
Smart Mobility Management live For the official launch of the new ‘Smart Mobility’ concept, MMM Business Media organised a panel discussion in Brussels in November. Attended by both sponsors (who first outlined their own companies’ actions in this area) and clients, the event was unique in that, in keeping with its theme, it took place both ‘live’ and as a webcast.
< From left to right: Jacq van Roij (Athlon Mobility Solutions), Corrado Simontacchi (Huntsman), Jean-Pierre Martin (Thalys), Norbert van den Eijnden (Alphabet)
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Ludovic Musy: “The more you know how a driver is using the car, the easier it is to make a contract adjustment with the leasing company”.
Paul Tilstone: “There are clearly some travel managers who understand that putting all of this together makes perfect sense for every business.”
Ludovic Musy
Jean-Pierre Martin
Jean-Pierre Martin: “We are all trying to regroup and interconnect all aspects of travel.” Steve Gellatly: “We have recognised that we don’t sell escalators and elevators, we sell people mobility solutions.” Corrado Simontacchi: “We are putting the various elements of the mobility concept together under the purchasing umbrella.”
Paul Tilstone
Steve Gellatly
Norbert van den Eijnden: “You need to have something on board the car to tell you what the state of the car is, and where it is.” Jacq van Roij: “Companies like Google may be the new suppliers, because they own the technology and can enhance it, although at the moment they don’t have the information about this domain.”
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tarting the debate from the client side, Corrado Simontacchi of chemicals company Huntsman, asked whether he had started thinking about mobility, said that his company was definitely interested in this domain. He also said that he was interested in talking to suppliers not only about price, but about solutions. Steve Gellatly of lift manufacturer Kone, said that his company had been handling the topic in individual segments (fleet, travel…) in the past, but that the next step was to bring the whole area together. Who takes the lead in this within the company is the next question. Telematics Moving on to this topic, Ludovic Musy of Peugeot said that his company felt that it was almost mandatory to have a car
linked to some kind of system nowadays. He believed that all of the industry is moving in this direction. Norbert van den Eijnden of Alphabet also said that telematics is a must. Jacq van Roij (Athlon Mobility Solutions) expressed the desire that telematics would be developed with some sort of open source system, to prevent manufacturers simply competing amongst themselves. Moving back to the whole concept, Paul Tilstone of industry association NBTA said that not all company managers yet understood that this new concept was something that affected them and their work. He added that almost all the travel and meetings managers he knew were now investing in what he called ‘ante-travel’, teleconferencing etc., though this did not necessarily replace travel.
Where to go Steve Gellatly expressed some of the confusion surrounding the area, saying it was difficult to know where to go to get the solutions – leasing companies, manufacturers… The partners, he believed, needed to work together, as they were doing in this event! Corrado Simontacchi agreed that an integrated, not a fragmented solution, was required. Jean-Pierre Martin of Thalys felt that the ultimate mobility experience would to be able to use just one card to book a train, a plane, hire a car… Podcast The full report of the launch event in Brussels is available as podcast on http://www.smart-mobilitymanagement.com. Tim HARRUP
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strategy
Integrators
Mobility Integrators, your partners tomorrow Economic development and industrial growth have resulted in urbanization and a change in the landscape of many major cities of the world. With populations of more than 10 million, some of these have been termed megacities.
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he high economic growth characterized by megacities have led to widespread migrations and thereby burdened with many urban challenges. Overcrowding, congestion and socio-economic issues such as ecological overload, unregulated property markets, insufficient housing development are common and in some cases there are even extremes of poverty. The high cost of living in these cities and the initiatives to move residential groups away from commercial establishments have pushed many city dwellers to the suburbs, in turn resulting in daily commutes to the downtown and high traffic volumes. Daily commutes include the use of different modes of transportation, with users left to making the choice based on their discretion, transportation tools and other information available. In such a fast paced world, a person requires a one-stop shop mobility solution provider to integrate and manage all his travel needs. Having been provided with a number of software applications that make his life simpler also needs a similar kind of application, which makes his travel easy. This will lead to the rise of Mobility Integrators (MI), who collaborates with various
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transport providers and facilitators to provide real time solutions for customers. One-Stop Shop Mobility Solutions Mobility Integrators of the future will act as a single window solutions provider, collaborating with several entities including: > Transportation Providers (car/bike sharing, train, tube/metro and bus) > Online Mobility Service Providers and Online Booking Agencies > Online Payment Gateways > Technology Solution Providers and Application Developers > Telecom Operators Customers will be able to get all information related to travel, create a travel plan and schedule it at the click of a button. With the help of technology, the entire transaction can be electronically managed and implemented. Basis for Future Evolution Currently, the concept of offering mobility services exists in the form of travel agencies such as which offer services such as buying airline/train tickets, booking hotel rooms and car hires for long distances travel. Similarly for short distance commuting within the city, there is various mobility options
such as car/bike sharing that are offered in combination with bus/train/tram travel usually in association with public transportation providers. These can be booked online. There is already a trend of integrating various mobility services. For instance, Greenwheels car sharing service is efficiently integrated into the public sharing system - Dutch OVchipkaart (travel card) that integrates all modes of public transportation and car sharing. Similarly, Transportation for London issues Oyster smart card for integrated city transport in London, although car/bike shares are yet to be offered. These smart cards are used as a prepaid card offering flexible public transportation modes such as tube/ metro, bus, trains and trams. The Next Generation Frost & Sullivan believes that Mobility Integrators will take transportation solutions to the next generation by fully integrating the existing long and short distance transportation providers to create a single solution. MIs will partner with various online service providers to offer travel scheduling and ticket booking options to customers through an online web portal. Customers can then register with the MI and use them as a one-stop shop to book tickets for journeys that encompass both local city
02 Vodafone Orange Deutsche Telecom...
TELECOM OPERATORS Solutions developers Galileo - Amadeus App developers Nokia - Blackberry - Microsoft
TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS
Technology evolution Web 2.0 - Mobile 2.0
Long distance Expedia Travelocity
TRANSPORT OPERATORS
MOBILITY INTEGRATOR
ONLINE MOBILITY SERVICE PROVIDERS
Short distance Urban mobility Oyster OV-chipkaart Liftshare
transport and long distance travel on inter-city trains or flights. Mobile communication MIs will use mobile communication systems to update customers about various information related to their trip such as departure/arrival time, bus/ tube/train platforms, pickup points for car/bike sharing and so on. General packet radio service (GPRS) and Global positioning system (GPS) enabled phones will also help in alerting customers about upcoming destinations, traffic information and other navigation features. Customers will only have to produce their travel card for his/her travel. By using this prepaid smartcard he/ she can gain access into a car parked for car sharing or can pay for his bus/ train tickets while using public transportation. The smartcards will also be GSM/GPS enabled to send information related to the payment and the position of the person to the control centre. MIs will start exploiting the Web 2.0 and Mobile 2.0 Internet service to offer mobility-based applications (apps) on smart phones. Though the business sounds interesting, at the end of the day all that matters is
the return on investment (ROI) for the MIs. Although the essence of a MI is to integrate various mobility services, they can play multiple roles including that of a travel search engine providing travel related information or as a dealer promoting services of various travel companies under a single umbrella. But when it narrows down to money, selling mobility services as booking travel tickets will be the core revenue stream. Other sources of revenues will be member subscriptions and renewals, selling other mobility related applications for mobile phones, advertisements. Besides personal mobility, the MIs will also offer mobility solutions to business clients as a travel portal for their internal use. In the long run vehicle manufacturers are expected to partner with MIs or in some cases even emerge as a MI, similar to Peugeot with its Mu. This will help as a brand differentiation factor and also to promote their vehicles. There is a high probability that existing transport operators and online mobility service providers have a greater chance of emerging as MIs by extending their existing business model. The Verdict The concept of a dynamic transport solution integrating different modes under a single entity will make inter-
Rail - Bus Car - Bikes
PAYMENT ENGINES
Visa Mastercard Amex Paypal
modal transportation easier for city dwellers in large Megacities of the future. Although the concept is still in the nascent stage and the stakeholders are operating independently, the future will see an integrated approach. The use of mobile phone app and telecommunications will take this concept to the masses due to the high mobile phone penetration. In the long run, it will follow the business model of developing plenty of apps and marketed by independent developers. The day when MI-based apps become an integral part of our lives similar to word processors or push e-mail is not very far away! Mohamed Mubarak. M. Moosa, Industry Analyst - Business Strategy & Innovation Group, Automotive and Transportation
Expertise Center This article is a part of Frost & Sullivan’s upcoming research study titled “Global Personal Mobility Trends in Megacities and Impact on Vehicle and Technology Planning. For more information: monika.kwiecinska@frost.com
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best practiceS
Steve Gellatly, KONE
Mobility to deliver Service Excellence A world leader in ‘people moving’, KONE has now embraced the total mobility management concept. The company’s Global Car Fleet Category Manager & Area Sourcing Director (Europe), Steve Gellatly explains what the new view on mobility really means, and what the company expects for the future. A world leader in ‘people moving’, KONE has now embraced the total mobility management concept. The company’s Global Car Fleet Category Manager & Area Sourcing Director (Europe), Steve Gellatly explains what the new view on mobility really means, and what the company expects for the future.
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ONE’s strategy is no longer just about providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors together with innovative solutions for maintenance and modernization. It is also about delivering a performance edge to its customers by creating the best user experience with innovative People Flow™ solutions. KONE aims for excellence in its services business and mobility solutions are an important part of it. How do you define Mobility Management? Traditionally mobility has been managed in a fragmented & isolated way i.e. taking decisions in one area without fully assessing the impact on another. I see Mobility Management as taking a long term, holistic and integrated approach to managing inter-related areas to satisfy business requirements and objectives in a sustainable way. Over the past few years there has been a strong focus on developing the category management methodology – segmenting spend categories and sub categories and building cross-functional and cross-border teams to help identify local, regional and global solutions to ultimately optimise TCO (total cost of ownership). However, when we talk about Mobility Management this is leading to a convergence of different categories (facilities, travel, car fleet, technology, logistics…) with crossfunctional, cross-border and now cross-category teams working together to create a common organisation-wide mobility strategy to meet business requirements and objectives. This aligns the different categories with the common goals of optimising TCO, improving employee and customer satisfaction and minimising CO2e.
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Are there any particular obstacles to moving towards an integrated mobility solution? Not in terms of people trying to obstruct this shift in emphasis, perhaps simply that we hadn’t thought about mobility from an integrated perspective before, and didn’t initially understand the benefits of moving in this direction. KONE is a very open company, and everybody is very accessible and open to new ideas. Now we have to get people to understand the concept of total mobility, rather than just looking at all the different chunks within it. It took me a while to fully understand the concept, so I guess that education is an obstacle to overcome. Does your company already have a Mobility Management Strategy? Not yet. However, mobility is at the heart of our core business which is to deliver ‘Service Excellence’. Significant attention has and continues to be given to enhance our field force effectiveness with technology as key ingredient to make this happen. A good example is our ‘Field Mobility’ solution, a KONE specific application that is utilised globally by our service technicians, via smart phones, which helps to meet customer requirements and expectations in a safer, more efficient and sustainable way. In addition we are currently already taking many actions within the different categories that are mobility related, such as: Travel (utilising technology to avoid and enhance travel), Car Fleet (size and type of vehicles depending on role, route, terrain, urban density, customer requirements, CO2), and Technology (route planning, remote monitoring technology to help minimise travel and
Steve Gellatly Global Car Fleet Category Manager & Area Sourcing Director (Europe): Integrated mobility management is the future.
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best practiceS
Steve Gellatly, KONE
“Without integrated solutions and systems, mobility will continue to be sub-optimised and fragmented.”
optimise field force effectiveness). We are also starting to take closer look at our facilities from a mobility perspective: where to locate our offices taking into account customers, public transport & employee commuting. The next step is to build on all of the above initiatives and bring it all together under an integrated organisation wide mobility strategy that cascades from global to region to local level. What are you looking for in integrated mobility management? Integrating all mobility elements is absolutely the future. However, to help companies like KONE to develop in this area there is a strong need for suppliers to shift their mindset in terms of the products and services the are offering. We need integrated mobility solutions and systems that will cover multiple categories, not travel companies providing just travel solutions, leasing companies providing just vehicle related solutions and technology companies providing stand alone solutions. How does your company define when to travel or not? When is moving business critical? The majority of our ‘travel’ is related to service technicians maintaining our customer’s elevators, escalators and automatic doors. Naturally we take many steps to minimise physical travel without compromising end user customer safety & customer satisfaction. Regarding office staff travel, we have made significant progress to eliminate waste. As our way of working has changed to be more regional and global, we have strongly promoted travel avoidance and virtual working for repeat type meetings and as such have significantly lower costs & CO2 emissions per staff member now than we did in 2007. At the same time we promote travel to build relationships, team spirit and trust up
KONE Corporation KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. The company has been committed to understanding the needs of its customers for the past century, providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors as well as innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance. The company’s objective is to offer the best People Flow experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urban environment.
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front. But we ask people to challenge why they travel, thinking about time (the most important factor), cost and environment. The result is that we have dramatically increased the usage of virtual meeting tools i.e. meeting more whilst travelling less. How could companies optimise overall mobility efficiency for its employees? Most importantly companies need to listen to and capture employees’ requirements and needs when defining the mobility strategy – the best ideas are identified this way plus early engagement will ensure they buy in to the final solutions. In addition we need to review and challenge our current business processes to identify more effective and efficient employee mobility to help better satisfy our common goals of optimising TCO, improving employee and customer satisfaction and minimising CO2. How could companies integrate new or alternative transport modes? Public transportation is and will be utilised more and more by field and office staff as global urbanisation continues. Companies offering employees incentives and facilities to utilise public transport, car share or alternative transport such as bicycles will increase. And continental European rail travel will increase as the rail networks and booking systems develop offering a better time, cost and environment balance. What is your opinion about innovative and smart technology to enhance business communication and in that way optimise your costs? Technology is at the core of mobility management, it is the glue. We will continually need new innovative technologies and solutions firstly to ensure we can have an integrated approach to mobility management and secondly to help measure and manage, to identify more cost efficient and sustainable ways whilst still satisfying employees and customers. Smart phones and mobile communication are extremely important and heavily used by office staff and especially KONE field staff. Smart phones with navigation capabilities already exist and this convergence will continue with other technologies allowing one device to cover all requirements. What are your challenges in mobility management for 2011? Invest time to research and benchmark what peer organisations have been doing, ensure the key stakeholders understand what mobility is all about, and commence defining our organisation wide mobility team, strategy & goals.
“Technology is at the core of mobility management”
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry.
We promote travel to build relationships, team spirit and trust up front, but we ask people to challenge why they travel, thinking about time, cost and environment.
What do you expect our new ‘Smart Mobility Management’ platform to bring you in the future? I hope Smart Mobility Management becomes the number one source for up-to-date, reliable and actionable information on mobility management. I was discussing with my colleagues that this is the first time I have a one media platform that is taking this integrated approach instead of just focussing on one element such as travel, fleet and technology. Tim HARRUP
KONE in facts and figures Headquarters
Espoo, Finland
Number of employees
33,000 across more than 50 countries
Turnover 2009
EURO 4.7BN
Total Global Car Fleet
14,000
Annual Air Travel & Car Fleet Category CO2e
105,000 tCO2e (2009)
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best practiceS
Janos Kis, COCA COLA HELLENIC
Combined but not yet integrated As Fleet Support Manager for Coca-Cola Hellenic, Janos Kis is responsible for fleet operations in 28 countries in Europe including Russia, as well as the African country of Nigeria. His views on mobility management extend to trucks, with some interesting observations, and his work as a fleet manager recently merited no less than three ‘Fleet Europe Awards’!
Janos Kis Fleet Support Manager for Coca-Cola Hellenic.
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s it relates to business travel, mobility management is a way of rationalising the process so as to reduce both costs and CO2 emissions. In addition to fleet, however, I also work on logistics and logistics outsourcing. One interesting aspect of mobility management which has not yet received much attention is the transportation of products. Most people focus on business travel instead – taking the train instead of flying, sharing cars, etc. Yet if we look at a company’s logistics and transportation of products - the environmental impact, road infrastructure and road safety - this frequently has a greater impact. Our company needs to distribute millions of bottles of beverages, and it makes a significant difference in terms of environmental impact, infrastructure and safety if we analyse and harmonise transportation rather than deal with it in an ad hoc way. We therefore use dedicated route planning and optimization software to ensure our efficiency in this area.
Have you considered green trucks? The topic of ‘green trucks’ is an interesting one. It’s not so clear-cut in Europe as elsewhere. Let me give you an example from the US where a company has built a hybrid truck fleet which has reduced CO2 and fuel consumption by 30%. We’ve looked at this closely and found that it is
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very important to look at the baseline for such an achievement. In the US they use larger trucks and freightliners with relatively high fuel consumption compared to trucks in Europe. Obviously, it is easier to achieve such reductions when switching to hybrid from trucks with such large engines. Our existing truck fleet in Europe has already achieved the same fuel efficiency as this US hybrid fleet. Research At Coca-Cola Hellenic, we also conduct our own research. Recently, we’ve been conducting trials of hybrid truck models from two different manufacturers. Our key finding is that the technology has not yet reached the maturity we’d need for our business needs. At present, it is probably more suited to such applications as waste collection, where trucks perform numerous ‘stop-and-go’s’. It is also impossible to accurately measure the potential savings unless you were to take two trucks of the same model – one traditionally powered and the other hybrid. During one testing cycle when we were able to set up a comparative model, we only identified a fuel saving potential in single percentage digits. We also found that fuel saving was heavily dependent on the individual driver’s eco-driving skills. We also encountered technical glitches in trialling hybrid trucks, raising question marks about the technology’s application to our business.
We need a higher degree of integration between modes of transport.
Does your company have a travel policy on travel that dictates when people should and should not travel? Although this is largely determined by our travel policy, employees are allowed to use an element of discretion whether to travel or not. When we need to gather people from different locations, we use video conferencing as much as possible. However, if we have a workshop, or a meeting needs a lot of interaction or is about a complex issue, then we believe it is still appropriate for people to physically travel in order to take part. Our operations are geographically spread in such a way that we have central hubs which serve very well for large meetings. We often use Vienna or Budapest, for example, because they are easy to reach from more outlying areas such as Dublin or Moscow.
From Moscow or Dublin there is little choice but to fly but does Coca-Cola Hellenic encourage other modes of transport for shorter journeys? Definitely. We also use the train whenever possible. In general terms, our employees make decisions based on common sense, such as travelling together in one car - even going together in one car to the railway station.
COCA-COLA HELLENIC â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the figures
Travelling to meet customers is different, however. As a customer-centred company, it is vital that we provide our customers with the highest possible service and this does mean spending time with them face to face. We define driving routes for our sales representatives using route planner and optimizing software. The same applies to our truck delivery runs. We use various software applications as well as GPS devices. Our sales representatives who service city centres park their cars in a central area then travel between customers on foot. Some also use motor cycles rather than cars.
Number of cars in fleet
16.000 (management and functional vehicles together)
Number of trucks in fleet
4600
Annual fuel bill (all road vehicles)
~60 M EUR
Annual fleet spend (all road vehicles)
150 Million EUR
How do you think companies could optimise their overall mobility costs? For traditional business travel, such as management meetings, video-conferencing is an obvious cost-saver compared to actual travel. Also, taking the train instead of the plane, and, if flights are unavoidable, travelling economy rather than business class are other ways to keep costs down.
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best practiceS
Janos Kis, COCA COLA HELLENIC
What are your views on what the travel industry can offer? We use travel agencies since they are good at offering optimised solutions. They try to minimise the length of routes and sometimes offer combined transport modes – recommending a flight from A to B, but train travel from B to C and back again, for example. And they handle the arrangements, providing the tickets and hotel bookings. I would call this a combined solution, but I would not say it is integrated yet. What do you see as the next major challenges or opportunities in the area of mobility management? I would like to see a higher degree of integration between modes of transport. I also think that travel agencies could
become more proactive. As a default option, they could provide the most optimised travel solution. They could also offer the best priced air ticket, or recommend the train and explain the time differential. I don’t know whether we will ever get to this, but they might even on occasions say that given the journey and the distance, it could be better to go by car. With regard to product transportation, I’d like to see our various logistics providers offer what is essentially a groupage service, allowing logistic processes to be further optimised. Tim HARRUP
“If a hybrid truck is going to cost significantly more than a recent diesel model, I doubt whether it will be successful”
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best practiceS
Pascal Struyve, Ingersoll Rand
Integration soon a reality Ingersoll Rand as a global company is rapidly embracing the shift from individual elements of employee mobility to a fully integrated mobility management strategy. Pascal Struyve, Global Travel, Fleet & Meeting Services Director explains how he sees the industry moving forwards, what will change, and what won’t.
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hen you look at mobility management, it is integrating a lot of existing elements into an overall strategy, it is the next maturity level of existing programmes such as fleet, travel or meetings management. In most companies these various elements already exist at varying levels of maturity, and region by region. We are currently working hard to make sure we have good service delivery to our internal customers, the users of these programmes, in all regions, to make sure we have consistency across the globe. We then have to achieve a harmonised maturity level everywhere, and integrate it all into an overall strategy. Then you can really talk about mobility management. Does your product profile mean that there is a large amount of unavoidable vehicle travel – in vans for example? Our fleet is a mixture. There is a large part of which represents compensation vehicles, a good proportion of service vehicles, and we attempt to optimise their use. Many of our people need to be on the road to visit customers, and we have to make sure that our policies meet the needs of these people at these times. Obviously, we need our service technicians to be on the road to perform this job. Technological solutions such as videoconferencing, tele-presence, audio-conferencing will probably play an increasingly important role. Does your company have a policy on when to travel and when not to travel? Currently it is down to the judgement of the person involved. We have regular policy reviews, and here we take into consideration the evolution. The policy is owned by HR and our senior leadership. Our role is to give guidance on improving
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these policies based upon best practices, and implement them. I would add here that I am also the president of the Belgian Association of Travel Managers (BATM), and my peers and myself are constantly looking for education opportunities that we can bring to our members. The changes happening in the market including remote meetings of course are part of our focus areas. What is your strategy on alternative transport modes? I think that all forms of transport that are out there can play a role. The criteria to be taken into account are of course efficiency, cost, time management. I think there will be more options, and if the solution is not ‘remote’ but necessitates moving from A to B, you have to look at the most efficient way to do so. We are lucky in having seen over the course of the years a lot of different options coming onto the market, high speed rail, low cost air companies and alternative airports. There is much more choice today than before, and it is now a question of using these choices in an efficient way.
Pascal Struyve is Global Travel, Fleet & Meeting Services Director at Ingersoll Rand and also the president of the Belgian Association of Travel Managers (BATM).
“If there is demand in the market place, this will lead to competition.”
Time management versus cost management? If you simply just take a low cost carrier flying to another airport, but that airport is 100 kilometres from the final destination where a traditional carrier would have taken you to, you need to look at the total cost of the trip. It’s not enough to just look at one component of it any more. What would you like suppliers to provide which they don’t at the moment? The industry needs to give us options, and to make sure that there’s transparency where the total cost is concerned, as well as giving a good insight into the environmental factor and into total travel time. This is beginning to come along, but it needs to develop further. This would enable us to be able to apply best practices in the knowledge that we have the full information in front of us, enabling us to understand the full impact from end to end. Do you think that in your position, in the centre of the company’s travel, meetings and events activities, there now an opportunity for an integrator service? Absolutely, I am convinced that there will be different models coming along in the market place, because the more different elements we try to combine together, the more complex the whole area becomes. We will need experts to manage it. And there will always be a mixture of medium sized companies which can do this in-house, and other companies which might use third party providers. It’s a bit of a ‘chicken and egg’ story. There will clearly be people who will come up with this type of business model, and if there is demand in the market place this will lead to competition. All this also depends of course on what happens in the economy and the world as a
whole. But if there is no further major change in the situation following the economic and financial crisis, then I believe that this is the next logical step. It may be a travel company which will see the need to reinvent its business model and realise that travel management will still be a valuable part of what they do, but that they can become a fully integrated service provider. Who do you think is best placed today to take on this role? Today I would say it is the travel management company because this type of company already covers a large part of the concept – including travel and meetings. And although it might not be fully integrated today, we are already seeing a move towards more and more integration. There are already travel companies offering tele-presence and video-conferencing as an additional service. The technology may not yet be in place to integrate all of this onto one platform, but this is just a matter of time and investment.
Ingersoll Rand Ingersoll Rand is a global and diversified industrial company with a history going back 100 years. It produces a wide range of industrial components such as air compressors, locks, security devices, industrial vehicle parts, along with household fittings such as bathroom accessories, doors and frames, and even leisure items including golf cars! Hussmann, Schlage and Thermo King are amongst its brands.
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best practiceS
Pascal Struyve, Ingersoll Rand
Do you have KPI’s to measure the performance achieved in this area? We have KPI’s to measure our existing programmes of course, the fleet, travel and meetings programmes. The only thing which is missing at the moment but which will absolutely come in the future is consolidation, and there is not yet an over-arching approach. I am a strong believer that it makes more sense to make sure first that all the components which currently exist are at a standardised maturity level. Then, you can start integrating them into a single over-arching strategy.
What is your view on best practices? I am a great believer in integrating what can be integrated, but you most certainly have to listen to the needs of your internal customers. It is all about servicing internal customers, so listen to them, understand their needs and try to find the best solution. This type of approach is not going to change in the future just because mobility management has become a new business model. Personnel requirements and mobility needs will be exactly the same. You can’t just sit somewhere in the world and say ‘this is the way we do it’.
Are global agreements a must in mobility management? We try to have a global framework in place. In the airline industry you can make global agreements, but it makes no sense to have global agreements with every airline. You will still have regional or local agreements depending on the nature of your business. It all depends how you build your strategy. Some agreements, such as car rental, meetings and hotels, can be global. It depends on what will add the most value to your company. Audio-conferencing and video-conferencing are obviously global, but you don’t need everything to be global in order to have a global programme. You will always have circumstances in certain markets where you will have to adapt your programme, it is important to be flexible enough to address the needs of your internal customer, whichever country and region this may be in.
What about the next big challenges in mobility management, or what do you want this domain to deliver to you? The financial crisis has tended to accelerate this even further. Today the domain may not be very tangible, the over-riding strategy, something we can call mobility management, may not yet be in place, but in many companies, the individual elements are already there in one form or another, and what is needed is to coordinate them all together, while obviously optimising your cost structure and service delivery. They will all be brought together into one area. Tim HARRUP
“Mobility management as such may not yet be in place, but in many companies, the individual elements are already there, and what is needed is to coordinate them all together.” Ingersoll Rand in figures
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Headquarters:
Davidson, NC (USA)
Number of employees:
57,000
Turnover 2009:
USe 13 Billion
Annual travel spend:
USe 80 Million
Total spend in air travel: USe 32 Million
4600
Total spend in hotels: USe 25 Million
~60 M e
Annual fleet spend (all road vehicles)
150 Million e
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best practiceS
Karel Boussu, MOBISTAR
3 essential environments One of the major players in the world of telecommunications in Belgium and Luxembourg is Mobistar. Facilities and Real Estate Manager Karel Boussu explains how his company sees the notion of Mobility Management.
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Karel Boussu “The second meeting with a client could be virtual, but not the first one.”
«We can dream of all sorts of futuristic mobility solutions, but we cannot forget the basics – the offering, quality and comfort of public transport.»
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oday, Mobility Management is very limited to physical mobility. “I have to go from point A to point B to point C…” People also focus on mobility in terms of ‘How do I get from home to work, and then from work to somewhere else?’ At Mobistar we of course have ‘mobi’ or mobility, in our name, and we are selling a kind of mobility because we don’t want people to be fixed by being limited to their fixed phones, so we sell mobile solutions. We have already entered the IT and ICT worlds. When we moved into our brand new building, we also focused on the mental mobility of people, in the sense that we believe that ‘going to work’ is not necessarily physically going into a building, but it is an activity which you have to do. And this doesn’t always have to be done at the same place, or the same time, or in the same way that you used to do it. It can be done from any place, at any time. So we try to make a link between the physical, mental and virtual environments of people. And people have to move around and get mobilised in these three areas. Have you formalised this process? We have a group working on it. We believe that for the future we have to decrease the number of physical moves because of the environment, natural resources etc. And we also think that we have the tools and means to do this. We simply have
The mobility supplier of the future Travel agencies are not currently interested in the integrated mobility management approach. They are paid by the number of tickets they can sell me. As long as they do not offer other services such as phones, videos, meeting rooms, they will not move in this direction. Travel agents would have to become a sort of connectivity agent. But not everybody can install the technical equipment needed. Maybe some new companies will emerge in this field and change things. But I don’t yet see any trend in this sense, by contrast with vehicle leasing companies, which are offering add-on services. Travel agents’ core business is travel, and in the midst of a crisis, as we are, companies tend to concentrate on their core business.
to teach people how they can make use of it, help them shift their minds towards new concepts. We encourage people to ask ‘How and why am I moving - do I need to be in the office, could I do this from home?’ This is a total breakthrough, and it needs to be organised. How has this notion affected the amount of work still carried out in the office? We started this system last year, and out of the 1,200 or so people who work here, around 200 have officially signed up for this system. There are also people – including me – who do it on an occasional basis. I try to gather all my purely administrative work together, for example, and do it on one day from home. But we have set some limitations – we do not allow people to spend a whole week away from the office tele-working. We limit this to two days a week. This is also because we want to retain a
social atmosphere within the building – social interaction is very important. Physical contact cannot be replaced by any ICT gadgets. This is also especially important when you have to meet, say, a potential new customer for the first time. A video-conference cannot give you the all-important human interaction. The second meeting could be virtual, but not the first in my view. What about when your staff have to travel to meet clients or suppliers? We have a travel policy like every other company. The first question which the travel policy asks is: “Do you really need to go there?” Think before you get on the train to go to Paris for a one hour meeting and then come back. We have equipped a number of rooms in our offices with video-conferencing facilities and we have innumerable phone conferencing tools, along with a contract with a sister company to be able to
have web-based virtual meetings. We also use Office Communicator which gives you the opportunity to carry out net meetings, and share Powerpoint presentations etc. But when people do have to travel relatively short distances such as Paris, London or Amsterdam, we suggest the train. For longer distances, the plane is necessary. Has your car policy become green? We have been working on making the fleet more ecological for the past five years. We started when the first CO2 legislation and social taxation was introduced, even before fiscal considerations made an appearance. We had 950 company cars so we realised we had to do something and weren’t green at the time. Our average CO2 emissions moved down to 145 grams, and our target is to get below 120 grams. We have signed a contract with one of our lease supplier to achieve this, and the new cars coming
>
We have to teach people how to shift their minds towards new concepts.
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best practiceS
Karel Boussu, MOBISTAR
and services for smart phones and other tablets. This means that more and more, people will be able to leave the pen and paper at home, and use these to make their notes. Cameras and videos will be more integrated, and people will start using all the shared services which are on the internet. Mobistar is trying to go even further by having a perfect connection between all these devices and applications, and a large TV screen. Video-conferencing by iPhone is already possible. The problem is not the scope of the technology, but whether people can keep track of all the changes. I was even asked internally why we don’t install a big screen here so that when people come to work they can use it for Twitter or Facebook, a sort of social network at work, rather than sending e-mails.
into the fleet today are at 123 grams on average. The government unfortunately only concentrates on CO2, and not other elements, but I can only react to what is in front of me. When we started to introduce greener cars, we both rewarded those staff members who opted for them, by allowing them a higher ‘options’ budget, and penalised those who stayed with higher polluting cars, by doing the opposite. This financial carrot and stick made people shift their thinking. What about alternative powertrains? We are waiting for electric cars. The recharging points are already installed in the underground garage, and there are solar panels on the roof. As soon as a manufacturer really comes to me with a viable electric car, I am ready. We are willing to put in a number of small cars to start. Then when staff members need a car for a short trip, they can reserve one and simply pick it up from the special parking area. We want to achieve a position where people get used to the concept of electric cars.
Going beyond all of the topics you have covered, technology, electric cars… is there something else you are expecting to see in the mobility field over the next couple of years? What I would like to see is that the basic services of mobility are installed. Just getting from A to B: the offering of public transport for doing this is insufficient. If I ask my colleagues why they still come here to the office by car, they reply that it is because public transport does not function correctly. We can dream of all sorts of futuristic mobility solutions, but we cannot forget the basics – the offering, quality and comfort of public transport. This is the missing link. And sometimes, by contrast with common belief, it may be more stressful to take the train because of the departure deadline. On top of this, communications by phone do not work very well on normal Belgian trains. To some degree this may lead to a further increase in the use of virtual solutions, but not everybody is in a position to take advantage of these. We cannot just focus on the few early adopters – we have to make sure everyone is catered for. It should also not be forgotten that we may be able to provide the tools for people to be mobile, but we can’t be mobile for them – they have their own needs and have to make their own decisions. Tim HARRUP
The difficulty with electric cars that only have a limited range, is that they take away the freedom to do exactly what you want to do, when you want to do it. We cannot remove the person’s freedom, so we will compensate for this by for example making other vehicles available for weekend use. We will, of course, check the TCO of these vehicles, but I believe that they may eventually turn out to be not only greener, but cheaper. You have mentioned technological devices. From your position as an expert in the field, tell us about the evolution of smartphones in the mobility domain. I go back to the physical, mental and virtual environments. If you look at the smart phone market today, it is booming. Mobistar is investing a lot of money in getting new products
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Mobistar in figures Number of employees
1,500
Launch of the network
1996
Headquarters
Brussels
Number of clients
4 million
Annual travel spend
e607.000
Annual fleet spend
e8.300,000 (car, train, bus, metro, fuel, insurance...)
industry
Electric vehicles
e-mobility In this edition we present some avant-garde vehicles to you, whose characteristic is to be respectful of the environment. This page represents to some degree what the future will be like for us, or for our children. Pierre Ambinet
< The city of Seoul has been
>
Terrafugia Transition is a car equipped with retractable wings which can transform it into a small aeroplane. On the road, the Transition is capable of 100 km/h and has a maximum speed when airborne of 185 km/h. Copyright: Terrafugia.com
> Peugeot Motocycles has
trying out the first OLEV (On-Line Electric Vehicle), an electric vehicle which recharges when it passes over magnetic strips located in the ground. The OLEV can transport 10 persons. Copyright: hanopolis.com
< GM and SAIC are researching this new EN-V concept. The Electric Networked-Vehicle, a 2-seater, is designed for the urban mobility of tomorrow, of which electrification and connectivity will be the strong points. Copyright: GM media
unveiled E-Vivacity, a 50 cc scooter referred to as ‘eco-citizen’. The life of the battery will enable it to cover 40,000 km during normal use, with a range of 80 – 100 km. Copyright: Peugeot media
< The Waverider, a hyper>
Eco-Trans Alliance, LLC is offering a range of electric vehicles charged by solar power within the domain of low speed personal transport, such as for golf buggies, minibuses etc., for example.
sonic pilotless aeroplane, created by Boeing and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne, succeeded in achieving 7,000 km/h at an altitude of some 21,000 metres, for almost 3 minutes. Copyright: flightglobal.com
Copyright: Eco-Trans Alliance
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news Executive lounges on Thalys Thalys is now offering its voyagers the possibility of reserving a ‘conference-room’ style private lounge area within the first class (Comfort 1) sections of its international trains (Brussels - Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne..). Known as ‘Le Salon’, this service provides four luxurious seats around a conference table, wi-fi connection, dining, international newspapers and magazines, and the possibility of reserving a taxi at destination from the train. Tickets can already be booked for this service, with the first trains to be equipped with these areas running from January 12th (More info about the new services of Thalys, see page 12). Thalys’ travellers can reserve a ‘conference-room’ style private lounge area.
Eurotunnel eco-comparison tool Eurotunnel has announced that it is launching a web-based eco-comparison tool. This will allow clients to compare the different environmental implications in terms of CO2 emissions, between the various methods of crossing the channel between the UK and the continent. Eurotunnel points out that the car-carrying Shuttle trains run on clean electricity, compared to the diesel fuel used by the cross-channel ferries. Clients of Eurotunnel can compare the different environmental implications in terms of CO2 emissions.
Digest he ‘autolib’ project for the T Ile de France and Paris City region is to be managed by the Bolloré group. The project involves making electric cars available to inhabitants, for short journeys and rental periods of under 12 hours. There will be some 3,000 cars spread across 1,000 stations throughout the city. The vehicle to be used is the Bolloré Blue Car, which has 4 seats, a range of 250 km, and can be charged in 4 hours. olycom, a video-conferP encing specialist based in California and with several offices throughout Europe, has announced a more efficient video-conferencing solution. Using the company’s H.264 High Profile (high definition) solution, independent tests have shown that only 50% of the broadband space required by other systems is required. This enables users to have high definition video-conferencing for less bandwidth usage. obile telephone equipment M provider Parrot has developed a Bluetooth kit which is multifunctional and compatible with all operating systems. The ‘Parrot Minkit Smart’ enables users to manage conversations and navigation applications simultaneously, including postponing GPS information until the hands free telephone conversation has finished.
CO2 compensation scheme by Brussels Airlines Brussels Airlines has introduced a programme which enables passengers to voluntarily compensate for the CO2 emissions caused by their flights. Passengers will be able to use a calculating system found on the company’s website to see how much CO2 is involved, and then if they wish, make a contribution to a fund which will initially be used to buy more environmentallyfriendly stoves in Africa. These stoves reduce the amount of wood needed per family by 40%, and so contribute to reducing deforestation amongst other benefits. This programme is independent of the ticket price, and is being run in conjunction with CO2logic. Brussels Airlines is also continuing to try and reduce its ecological footprint in other ways, such as lighter materials, improved wing aerodynamics and less paper use within the company. On top of this, staff are encouraged to use public transport where possible. Passenger of Brussels Airlines can make a contribution to a fund which will be used to buy more environmentally-friendly stoves in Africa.
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news Green initiative from Athlon and E.ON
Athlon and E.ON intend to make available a package comprising electric vehicles, financing and an individually configured recharging infrastructure.
Dexia signs car-sharing agreement
Dexia Bank in Belgium and the car sharing programme Cambio signed an agreement which allow to Dexia employees to book a Cambio model.
Athlon Car lease is to work together with E.ON to produce new mobility solutions. The two companies intend to make available a package comprising electric vehicles, financing and an individually configured recharging infrastructure. This ecologicallyfriendly move follows Athlon’s pledge at the beginning of this year to limit its customer and employee fleet to 120 grams of CO2 per km maximum, a move it formalised by signing the Cleaner Car Contract. Commenting on this joint initiative between a car leasing company and an electricity supplier, Ruth Werhahn, Head of Mobility@E.ON, said “Cross-industry partnerships like this one are what we need to enable e-mobility to compete in a real market”. And Athlon Managing Director Ryjan Rutgers added: “The partnership with E.ON will bring us even closer to achieving our climate-protection targets”.
Automated air travel in favour The SITA Air Transport World Passenger survey has shown an increasing demand for, or acceptance of, self service systems for portions of the air travel voyage other than ticket booking and boarding card printing. Automated security checks and automatic boarding gates are now considered as acceptable by around seven out of ten of those surveyed, while facilities such as claiming lost baggage, or booking meals, also find favour. The survey was carried out in seven airports, including Beijing and Frankfurt, and it also showed increasing numbers of people using airline websites to book cars or hotels. The number using the relatively new portable telephone boarding card is still low, however, at between 3% and 14%. Three quarters of respondents would like to be able to drop off their luggage outside the airport, but not if this entailed a fee.
Mobility for businesses took another step forward today in Brussels, with the signing of an agreement between Dexia Bank and Cambio. Cambio is the car-sharing programme which has been operating in the city for a number of years, but in the private domain. “Today marks a major move towards the business community”, explained Brussels Transport minister Brigitte Grouwels, pictured with Luc Van Thielen of Dexia and Frédéric Van Malleghem, Director of Cambio. The minister also explained that her office had subscribed to the Cambio programme, and that it had enabled one car to be removed from the office fleet. In practical terms, Dexia employees who previously signed up for occasional ‘pool car’ use, can now book one of the Cambio models parked outside Dexia’s three main buildings – and they use the Dexia intranet site ‘Intradexia’ to do this, just as they did before. “We have calculated that the cost is lower”, explained Luc Van Thielen, “and we had also noted that in July and August, our pool cars were hardly used at all”.
Air passengers are demanding for more automated facilities to ease their lives.
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news Ernst & Young goes electric
“Within an innovative mobility future, electric cars are crucial”, according to Ernst & Young.
Tax and financial advisors Ernst & Young in Belgium have launched their ‘electric car’ strategy. In the presence of Regional Minister Ingrid Lieten and Minister of State Steve Stevaert, the firm unveiled two of the four models which will form the start point of this strategy. Speaking for E&Y, Jan de Luyck, Harry Everaerts and Ghislain Vanfraechem explained that within an innovative mobility future, electric cars are crucial. The objective is to move the mindset, so that a car changes from being a personal status indicator, to a personal and corporate indicator of a more
sustainable status, they explained. By making this move now, there was also an opportunity for E&Y to expand from giving financial and fiscal advice, to giving social advice and showing the lead. Within the whole area of sustainability in the company, there is a focus on compensating CO2 emissions, driving ecologically, selecting the right car and, when possible, selecting the right mode of transport for the journey in question. Working conditions (the right type of building in the right place, more use of home-working…) also come into the equation.
‘Move About’ expanding with THINK The Norwegian-produced THINK City fully electric car has been selected to be the major vehicle in the Move About car sharing scheme. This project was first launched in the capital of Norway, Oslo, in 2009, and now numbers 1,000 members. It has expanded into neighbouring Scandinavian cities Gothenburg and Copenhagen, and projects are also taking place in Austria and Germany. “Move About is a very innovative organisation and we are proud to be their lead EV partner,” commented Michael Lock, Chief Marketing Officer at THINK, “This programme is a great example of intelligent, efficient and flexible personal mobility”. Seventy nine THINK City cars are involved in the programme. The THINK City car has now sold 2,500 units, and total
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sales of EV’s from the company are approaching 10,000, with an estimated 56 million kilometres covered.
Make CO2 reporting compulsory - Marco Polo group The Euro-American ‘Thinking Circle for Social Responsibility within Globalised Companies’ named Marco Polo has produced a set of proposals which would radically alter the way in which companies both consider and measure their business travel and other activities. The idea is that all companies employing more than 500 persons should be obliged to report on the carbon footprint of their activities, along with all administrations of more than 250 persons and cities of over 50,000 inhabitants. This would automatically have the effect of filtering down through smaller companies which may be suppliers to the ‘big boys’ and whose contribution to this footprint would need to be known. There are currently 42 members of this ‘Marco Polo’ grouping, including some very major names such as the SNCF, Air France, BNP Paribas… Along with this initiative to really find out what is happening, ‘Marco Polo’ proposes some concrete action to help, including a standardised and recognised method for calculating CO2 emissions.
THINK City fully electric cars are involved in the Scandinavian Move About car sharing scheme.
news European traffic congestion survey
Paris is the most congested city in Europe.
Digest usiness Travel News reports B that a survey has revealed that U.S. corporations are expecting to increase their overall spends on business travel this year. The only sector within the entire domain which is not forecast to benefit from this upturn is rental cars. The average corporate travel budget is expected to rise to a little under 100 million dollars, according to the answers provided by the 170 respondents. This represents an increase of 4.5%, coming on top of the 5.5% recorded this year. MW Motorrad (BMW MotorB cycles) has extended its range to include a maxi-scooter. This is in response to a growing demand for individual transport in a context where it is easier to be mobile – particularly in urban environments – on two wheels than on four. The first offering from BMW is of two models with combustion engines. An electric version is also envisaged at a later date. With Athlon Carpool Online, vehicle leasing company Athlon Care Lease is offering a tool in the Netherlands for those who want to carpool. Employers and commuters can check on www.athloncarpoolonline.nl to see who takes the same routes and make carpooling arrangements. The Athlon Carpool Online service is free. Agreements about sharing costs for carpooling will be made with the other carpoolers. Businesses can request their own Carpool Online programme - including CO2 savings reports - from the leasing company.
A survey carried out by road traffic survey bureau Inrix has identified the degree of traffic congestion in major Belgian cities and the whole country, compared to other European metropolitan areas and neighbouring countries. Paris is the most congested city in Europe, followed by London (despite ‘congestion charging’). The ‘Journey time ratio’ system used by Inrix shows that on average, a driver in Brussels, for example, will spend 58% more time in his car during the worst peak period (Monday, 08.00 to 09.00) than he would if making the same journey during fluid traffic conditions. Overall, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg stand at an average of 21% according to this ratio. Whilst a little lower than the UK and slightly higher than Germany, this figure is a full 50% higher than the average for France. .
Working in transit suffering
Crisis-induced constraints imposed on business travellers led to a decrease in productivity during business trips.
The annual survey carried out by the Business Traveller Association (BTA) indicates that crisis-induced constraints imposed on business travellers during 2010 led to a decrease in productivity during business trips. Using economy class when flying and staying in lower grade hotels are two of the factors cited by the report. The time that travellers spend working during the flight diminished – some 54% of those surveyed said they used flight times to work during 2010, down from 68% in 2009. Lack of confidentiality was quoted as being a major reason for not working in economy class. A large majority of those questioned said they feared that even when the recovery is confirmed, there will be no return to pre-crisis travelling conditions.
Offices no longer necessary...
Two out of three employees surveyed believed that an office environment was no longer a necessary tool in order for them to be productive.
The trend towards more flexible working solutions, and away from the traditional 9 to 5 office system, was further proved recently by a worldwide survey carried out by American software giant Cisco. It found that the desire for flexibility and the ability to access information outside of the classical office environment, was such that 60% of employees surveyed would be prepared to take a lower paid job if it afforded them this freedom. Some 2,600 workers across 13 countries were surveyed, and the key finding was that two out of three believed that an office environment was no longer a necessary tool in order for them to be productive. To take advantage of ‘non-corporate’ information sources, almost half of all respondents said they worked extra hours each day.
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industry
Interparking
Cark park as mobility hub The car park as a hub, a connection hub within a network of modality, positioned as it is between the car and the plane, the train, the bicycle even. Interparking has an advanced mobility strategy to serve as integrated mobility supplier.
With Interparking people can park their cars and then get to where they actually want to go, as quickly as possible.
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or more than 50 years, the Interparking Group, a leader in the parking sector, has been a recognised expert in the design, development and operation of public car parks for off-street and on-street parking. 2000 employees are serving the customers of a network of 540 car parks and 270,000 parking places that extends over 340 cities throughout Europe, in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy and The Netherlands.
Interparking Marketing Director Koen Tackx and Operations Director Belgium Julien Verdin, explain the company’s thinking. You work together with large European cities. How exactly does this work? Starting with Belgium, we are in contact with the major cities through our presence, so we are a logical partner. We have car parks in 9 cities and of course at the airport. Depending on the policy and needs of the city in question, we try to bring concrete solutions to their mobility problems. The city of Bruges for example wants to channel its entire visitor flow which comes from outside, and wished to set up a ‘guidance’ system in the city – involving dynamic sign-posting which enables us to communicate, in real time, with visitors. Visitors are directed,
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taking account of the actual traffic situation or road-works. We really are a supplier of mobility, because we develop this type of project from A to Z, and once the city is in agreement with our proposals, we manage the system too via GPS. The airport is another good example: we work in direct collaboration with the police on the one hand for current traffic information and with Brussels Airport. A driver arriving at the airport wants to park his car as quickly as possible, without having to drive round and round looking for a space, and get on his plane. This is why our system indicates exactly where the free spaces are to be found – right down to the actual alleyway and individual space. In Germany, we have a partnership with train operator Deutsche Bahn, where we manage the car parks in the major cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt… They run the trains, we run the car parks. Do these partnerships go as far as to offer any sort of ‘multiservice’ product? We are currently developing a card to do exactly this. Back in Brussels once again, this new card enables a client to park
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Koen Tackx (left) and Julien Verdin
his car, and then use the Brussels public transport network – our chip card is just as valid on the tram or metro as the STIB (Brussels public transport company) magnetic card itself, and is used in exactly the same way, recognised by their reader terminals in the stations and on trams. We have developed and patented the software used for this card, and we will be rolling the system out across Belgium, and to other providers. It will also then be possible to extend into other countries such as Germany and France. This card represents the future and will become the connecting point for all mobility service providers. It is our vocation to be this connecting point enabling people to manage the multi-modal options immediately the car has been parked. We hope to be able to extend it even further into the ‘mobility’ domain – car washes (already in place), assistance and breakdown operators. We already have a partnership in operation in the Austrian city of Salzburg, and in southern France, we are even working together with the retailers in Nimes.
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> > > >
7 countries 340 cities 1900 empoyees 539 car parks
> 269.348 spaces thereof 94.039 on street > More than 70 million client/year
Company revenues by country (in millions of Euros) 300
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How does the end-user client pay for all these different services? We receive the charges from the different partners, but we send the client one single – detailed – invoice, so that once again, simplicity is the key. Your CEO Roland Cracco recently stated that at any given time, 30% of the moving traffic in any city is looking to park. Can you be certain that your strategy has an impact on this? Yes. The figure comes from independent mobility surveys. So if we can guide people coming from outside the town to a car park which has space, and then guide them to a parking space once they are in the car park, we really are positively contributing to mobility. Being at the source of mobility services, have you developed your own mobility strategy and policy? We have developed a strategy at group level which we call ‘Control Room’, and this involves remote car park management. This enables us to react as quickly as possible when a client in a car park may have a problem. If a physical intervention is required by one of our staff, we encourage walking when the car parks are close together, and we also use bikes, along
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with electrically assisted bikes. We also have some ‘smart’ cars, because at night we prefer, for reasons of security, that our personnel have a car available. For reasons of ecology as well as economy, we are also moving towards electric cars. And in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, we are installing electric car charging points in our car parks. To make this more viable, we are also looking to enter into partnerships with car sharing companies, so that a client who comes to a particular car park with an electric car, can put it on charge and leave with a car from one of these schemes. Tim HARRUP
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industry
Rail
On the fast track Railway connections in Europe are improving every year. Technology innovations make train travel ever faster and safer, and in the face of fierce competition from thelow-cost airlines, railway companies are on the fast track to provide their business clients with attractive mobility solutions.
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ore and more often, professionals are able to find tailored offers that satisfy their needs for speed and comfort, and the coming year will only confirm this trend.
High-speed trains are the railway companies’ pride and joy. Constantly more sophisticated and elegantly designed, these impressive machines make possible an ever denser network of connections between European cities. For example, starting in December 2011, the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF) which operates the TGV will directly connect Reims to the Rhônes region, passing through Lyon and Strasbourg. The focus on the eastern side of France is an important evolution. Today, the SNCF’s high-speed trains are still making a stop in Paris, leaving business customers who want a faster, more direct connection with no other choice but to travel by air or car. Partnerships drive speed To extend these new TGV connections that will reach Montpellier and Marseille at one end, and Frankfurt at the other, the SNCF is cooperating with German railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB). Both are part of Railteam (www.railteam.co.uk), a cross-company partnership that aims at densifying the current European rail network. In the same vein, DB plans to open new high-speed lines to the UK in 2013 (see inset). Today, DB already offers ICE connections to Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark through partnerships with national railway companies. Such collaborations will only facilitate the improvement of high-speed connections in Europe, no matter what the size of the country. Thalys, the red high-speed train which connects Brussels with Paris in 1h22mins, and also Cologne and Amsterdam in only 1h47mins and 1h53mins respectively, has been operating at high-speed on all lines since December 13.
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DENSER EUROPE > F rom2013,DBwillofferthreedailyreturntrainjourneysbetween Frankfurt and London via Cologne, Brussels and Lille, as well as connections from Amsterdam via Rotterdam to London. DB’s ICE trains should take less than four hours to reach London from Cologne or Amsterdam and just over five hours from Frankfurt. uxembourg and Strasbourg, both regular destinations for > L European Commission and Parliament staff, will be connected by a new TGV line in 2016. Commuting time will be shortened by an hour (from 2h30 to 1h30). > I mprovements on the Brussels-Luxembourg line are also underway. Commuters may gain 20 to 30 minutes between both cities compared to current travel time of three hours. > I n Switzerland, since December 12, 2010, the connection from Geneva to Paris has gained 25 minutes by using the Haut-Bugey line. According to the Swiss company Chemins de Fer Fédéraux (CFF), the service will be extended to offer nine connections instead of seven. The InterCity and InterRegio connections on the ZurichLyon and Brig-Paris lines will also be optimized.
< High-speed trains are the railway companies’ pride and joy. Constantly more sophisticated and elegantly designed, these impressive machines make possible an ever denser network of connections between European cities.
The Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL) in Luxembourg, the SCNB-NMBS in Belgium and the Chemins de Fer Fédéraux (CFF) in Switzerland also plan to optimize international connections (see inset). Make yourself (more) comfortable While improving connection density and speed, railway companies are also focusing on customer comfort and ease of booking. The SNCF is testing its new ProPremière service on its Paris-Strasbourg line starting in January 2011. Business customers will enjoy the comfort of a dedicated, quieter carriage where snacks, drinks and magazines will be provided and meals can be served to the traveller’s seat. If the offer is a success, it will be launched on other lines. Thalys already offers similar services to its Comfort 1 travellers, and Eurostar to those choosing Business Premier. Since May, cost-conscious professionals travelling with Eurostar can also opt for its mid-class Standard Premier offer. But travelling comfortably starts before boarding the train and after reaching the destination. Today, most frequent traveller programmes include access to business lounges, a faster check-in, discounted rental car rates and hotel deals, as well as a broadening range of mobility solutions that simplify access to personal travel information. Thalys launched in the autumn of 2010 a series of 5 new offerings to enhance the service to its customers: Le Salon, Carpooling Thalys, MobileTicketing, ThePass and 10 daily roundtrips to the Netherlands. Aboard the TGV’s 1st class carriages, ticket collectors will spontaneously offer travellers the possibility of booking a taxi available upon arrival. The Belgian railway company SNCB offers an advantageous Railease programme to companies that seek to merge train and car travel to support sustainable mobility. Railteam offers frequent traveller cards that give professionals access to business lounges across the Railteam network, and up to 25% discount on car rental rates on arrival. As of today, booking cannot be done in advance (see inset for discounts). Across Europe, railway companies are constantly seeking to improve this end-to-end approach so that business customers perceive them as their first choice for travel management. More transparency The same logic applies to the promotion of the e-ticket, or paperless ticket, as an ideal business tool. Printed on each ticket, bar-codes are then read by machines prior to boarding the train.
While improving connection density and speed, railway companies are also focusing on customer comfort and ease of booking.
Thanks to this system, professionals can save considerable time and protect their personal data. Firstly, they do not need to carry around their travel information and identification because it is safely stored away by the railway company. Secondly, their travel schedule is more flexible: since the information is dematerialized, they can instantly change their travel plans by calling up the company or surfing online. They do not need to print a new ticket - the bar-code will reflect these changes when it is scanned at the station. Deutsche Bahn has led the way in the conception of user-centered web portals. After launching bahn corporate where travel managers can see promotions while booking trips, benefit from transparent payment options, and access detailed data reports, DB added Online Business Travel, a centralized travel planning tool that constantly updates information about airline tickets, hotel, and car rental deals. Companies also replicate the functionality and ease-of-use of their web portals in mobile applications. In Belgium, the SNCB has launched Train Info Business Services to keep business travellers informed about connections - such as a widget that can be included in the company’s intranet interface. More and more often, railway companies are injecting technology into their services to improve employees’ travel flexibility and remove constraints. Delfine Reuter
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industry
Car sharing
Car2go in Ulm The recently launched car-share scheme car2go is one of Daimler’s answers to the quest for sustainable mobility. Car2go allows urban motorists to locate and rent the nearest available car via the internet or over the phone. The scheme has already been successfully introduced in Ulm, Germany and Austin, Texas.
Daimler’s car-share scheme car2go is repositioning the car manufacturer as a full-fledged mobility partner.
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he car2go concept is the brainchild of Daimler’s Business Innovation Division, which aims to develop tailor-made business models to meet the growing demand for individual mobility by Daimler’s clients. As for car2go, the first trial period already points to a resounding success. Barely four months after its launch in Austin, in May 2010, car2go could already boast over 20.000 users. Over that period, the smart cars used by the scheme were rented out over 80.000 times, for an average period between 30 and 60 minutes each time. In Ulm as well, the car-sharing formula’s 15.000 users have helped establish it as a valued alternative, providing a type of urban mobility that is both flexible and sustainable. Clearly, car2go is more than a marketing gimmick. In early 2011, Daimler will introduce the scheme in Hamburg, and in the years to come, other cities in Europe and the US will follow. One of the formula’s great advantages is its ease of use and accessibility. Smart cars are made available in different locations throughout the city (at the moment, 200 cars in both Austin and Ulm). A one-time registration will allow the user to rent a smart car via smart phone or via home pc. Renting a Fortwo in Ulm will set you back 19 eurocents per minute (fuel, insurance, and taxes are included), with the maximum set at 9,90 euros per hour. After use, the smart can be parked in a location of choice.
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B2B will follow As yet, car2go is aimed mainly at private customers. But business custom is expected to pick up soon. “As of right now, companies are able to register their employees as car2go customers, giving them the opportunity to use car2go on a company account for business travel”, a Daimler spokesperson says. This is why car2go is already setting up reserved parking spaces at airports and train stations. Stijn PHLIX
Hamburg is next Following the successful trials of car2go in Ulm and Austin, Hamburg will be the first city in which the formula is introduced as part of the planned international launch. The introduction is scheduled for the end of the first quarter of 2011, starting with 300 vehicles, and is a joint venture of car2go GmbH adn Europcar Autovermietung GmbH. The partnership offers both companies far-reaching advantages: car2go can benefit from Europcar’s vast expertise in terms of fleet management and logistics.
industry
LeasePlan MobilityMixx
Money instead of a car As you will be aware, traffic congestion increases rather than decreases corporate demand for mobility solutions. In the Netherlands, a company called Mobility Mixx offers these solutions, and has built up quite a bit of experience along the way. Since 2001, this subsidiary of leasing company LeasePlan, true to its name, offers a mix of mobility solutions to make business travel both more flexible, and more cost efficient.
chosen traffic options (and traffic costs) per employee. This gives the employer extensive control over his mobility budget which can be adjusted, if necessary.” Personal mobility budget A while ago, Mobility Mixx introduced a personal mobility budget specifically for lease drivers. “In practice, this means that a lease driver gets control over a budget instead of a car. This helps the driver weigh the cost of transport, making him more likely to choose his modes of transport wisely. The employer can enhance this system by adding a bonus structure for fuel-efficient employees”, Paul Dam suggests.
Paul Dam Mobility Mixx’s General Manager
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so-called Mobility Card gives its users access to a range of transport options: public transport via train, rental cars, taxis, bikes and access to Park & Ride car parks. Additionally, car sharing is possible via pool cars stationed at the company itself.
“This benefits both employers and employees,” says Paul Dam, Mobility Mixx’s General Manager. “The employee can save money, and win on comfort, by determining for himself how best to reach a destination. The employer, for his part, disposes of an instrument to reduce CO2 emissions and the cost of business mileage. For Mobility Mixx produces reports of movements made, allowing an overview of alternatives to the
Interesting for business trips “The rollout of Mobility Mixx was originally aimed at the lease driver, our services being a nice added bonus,” says Paul Dam. “But we soon found out that our offer was also suitable for employees with a private car. This has now evolved to a situation where two thirds of our clients are from the latter group, with only one third being lease drivers.Employees with a private car use the Mobility Card mainly for work-related trips.”
The popularity of the Mobility Card has been on the increase for a while now. No less than 70.000 Dutch employees are already using the scheme, together representing over 100 million ‘alternatively travelled’ kilometres. The business world certainly still holds plenty of potential for this system. “A recent survey shows that lease drivers using our card can reduce their use of company cars by 7%. For employees with a private car, that difference increases to 20%”, says Paul Dam. He predicts even greater success for the Mobility Card, as its use will expand to urban and regional transport systems (bus, tram and metro), via a OV-Chip card currently being developed. “Soon, nationwide access to public transport will be possible through that single card – and, consequently, our card as well.” Stijn PHLIX
< In the Netherlands, a broad choice of alternative modes of transport is a longestablished given.
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policy & processes
Training
Preparing the future
with mobility management training Finding sustainable mobility solutions is a constant challenge for travel managers. Right-on-target training can help them successfully conceive plans that satisfy employees’ needs and respect a company’s financial objectives. Training programmes can also be ideal platforms for knowledge-sharing and networking.
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oday, too often, mobility management trainings organized in corporate environments are projectdriven. This means that training can be pursued as long as the company allocates funding for it. Regular sessions are still a rarity in most companies. As a result, the creation of an international community of expertise that would bring mobility managers together still remains a utopia. And when the ROI is difficult to picture before the effects (such as lower employee absenteeism and more productivity) are seen some years later, mobility managers are left with too few arguments to implement their vision. Knowledge-sharing and networking with peers can help to investigate more solutions. A moving target These courses need to focus on the broad range of issues that mobility managers face on a daily basis: how to set up awareness campaigns; how to measure the effectiveness of these campaigns; how not to give up the plan because of the complexity of tax regulations; how to handle relationships with unions, etc. Mobility managers also need to learn about soft skills comparable to those used by the Human Resources department. “There’s always a good excuse not to use the train or bike”, says Jan Christiaens. “To change that, you really need to motivate people in their head.” In a corporate environment, once properly trained, mobility managers can have tools at their disposal to reach employees’ minds and foster a sustainable change. But in Europe, the offer remains too scarce and ill-fitted. On the one hand, there are clear signs that things are moving fast. More and more countries are joining the E-POMM platform, created by the European Commission. E-POMM (which stands for European Platform on Mobility Management) is a nonprofit based in Brussels through which governments, universities, private consultants and mobility managers can get together, online or during conferences across Europe. On the other hand, only a small part of the E-POMM conferences might be dedicated to challenges faced by companies.
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This reflects a common problem. In universities, trainings focus on improving mobility, but mainly in urban environments. The keyword: practicality 2011 promises to be an interesting year. In France, the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) organizes a two-day training for corporate travel experts at the end of January 2011 in Paris. Participants will get fresh ideas and access new tools that will be available online after the training. They will also be able to contact an expert to advise them in the development of their own project. NBTA Europe is one of the leading experts in the field of corporate mobility. In Belgium, the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Etude de la Mobilité (CIEM) is the only organization that regularly trains people in the field of corporate mobility management. Like in other training programmes, participants are asked to share their experience as much as possible. The keyword is practicality: finding solutions to conceive their own mobility management plan or, at least, to define the best communication channels to create awareness among their colleagues about the issue. Experts agree that more training programmes will be set up in the future. One thing is certain: participants’ fresh insights will ensure the conversation keeps going. Smart Mobility Management will develop a dedicated training sessions for international decision makers in charge of defining a true mobility strategy. Visit our website for more information. Delphine REUTER
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policy & processes
The multimodal mobility budget
From TCO to TCM The multimodal mobility budget is a concept that gives employees, on top of their company car, a budget to use on public transport. The total investment for the company could very well stay unchanged or even decrease.
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ore and more enterprises are shifting from a fleet or car policy only to a multimodal one. Not only because they want to integrate the corporate social responsibility element, but also for reasons of cost and efficiency. Mainly in urbanized areas, opting only and always for the car, both for home-work trips and business trips, may not cover all needs anymore. Employees lose time and the company loses money because of growing traffic congestion problems and the search for parking spaces. And of course there is the direct financial impact of the car: the increasing cost of parking in cities and the cost of car use as such, increased further by fiscal measures aimed at discouraging car use. But on the other hand, it is clear that the car will remain an essential element in work-related mobility. For this reason, a multimodal, not an exclusive approach is needed. In this regard, the multimodal mobility budget, which can be referred to as Total Cost of Mobility (TCM) is an interesting concept. For those staff members who have a personal company car, it consists in giving them the opportunity to choose between just the car or a (less used or less costly) car plus the necessary allowances to use a range of other transport modes. These can include: public transport, taxis, shared cars,
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Employees who have a company car can choose between just the car or a car plus the necessary allowances to use a range of other transport modes.
company or rented bicycles... Remaining within the existing car budget, the “car +” option generates no financial losses for the company. Moreover, in most cases it will be cost saving. The average cost per km by public transport or bicycle is far lower than the cost of car use, even when a part of the trip is by taxi. On top of this, in most European countries, there will also be important fiscal gains because the (company) car is heavily taxed. Appreciated by HR But it’s not only a question of cost. More employees than may be expected will be very happy to be given this opportunity. Given that they have the means to pay for a range of solutions, they
become more flexible in the choice of transport mode -the right mode for the right trip- and they can organize their personal and business life better. For example, why should an employee with a personal company car, who never uses the vehicle during working hours, use it for commuting to the office? Especially when he or she works in a big city near a major train station, while the roads to the office are always congested? Leaving the company car at home, the employee can increase his quality of life by gaining time and comfort every day. For the company, car and parking costs can decrease dramatically (while the extra cost of a 100% deductible train subscription is negligible).
Public transport systems should be a viable alternative in the area where the concept is applied.
And what about an employee who has to use his company car for business trips starting from the office? When these trips are not frequent, you can also ask him to leave the personal car at home and make him a member of a pool car or car sharing scheme near the office, or even allow him to take a taxi from time to time. The commuting will be avoided, a parking spot is cleared and the savings will pay for a congestion free home-work trip. Even in case of frequent business trips, maybe a part of these can be converted into less expensive train, bus or bicycle kms when these are more efficient. The concept can also be applied to staff members who don’t have a personal company car but take their own car for business trips. In this case, the cost of the reimbursement of business trips will decrease because of a higher proportion of cheaper journeys. Some (mainly public) companies have efficiently saved unnecessary costs this way, even to the degree that a system of shared
or pool cars can be put in place at lower cost. Keys for success In order to guarantee the success of this concept, a few conditions have to be fulfilled. First of all, it will not apply to every member of staff. Therefore, making the system compulsory is not the best idea. And should this be necessary to some degree, a thorough analysis should be carried out as to which type of staff can be addressed, taking into account not only the mobility patterns of the employees but also their personal situation. A second condition is that the legal and fiscal frameworks allow providing both a company car and allowances for other transport modes to the same person. And finally, there have to be satisfactory alternatives. Public transport systems should be a viable alternative in the area where the concept is applied. Their cost
shouldn’t be too high and there should be easy payment systems, as much as possible integrated (ideally including all public transport systems as well as car sharing, taxi, bike renting etc…). EXPERTISE CENTER Bart Desmet Traject – www.traject.be
10 recommendations for a mobility plan 1. Reduce the necessity of home-work trips 2. Reducing the necessity of non-work trips in combination with work trips 3. Provide convenient collective transport 4. Making collective transport more attractive 5. Promote car-pooling 6. Improve infrastructure for walking and cycling 7. Make cycling more attractive 8. Provide alternatives modes for work-related trips 9. Parking management 10. Energy efficient car use
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policy & processes
Homeworking
Is working from home
more productive? Working from home, or teleworking, is on the rise. Many see it as a gift from heaven: no traffic jams, no workplace distraction, and a definite improvement of the balance between work and life. The challenge is to ensure that you really are as productive at home as at the office. Here are seven suggestions to increase your productivity while working at home. These tips also come in handy when working at the office! That is, if you’re ever going to be there again...
Tip 1: More Monitors
Tip 2: Tidy desk(top)
The most effective way to increase the speed of your PC or laptop is to buy some additional memory. Another way to get more productivity out of your telework: buy (or request) a second monitor. Apart from the considerable amount of extra workspace, you’ll be able to reserve one monitor for browsing an e-mail, while continuing work in your Word document on the other monitor. At offices too, more and more workers have a second screen. An extra consideration is that Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 7, has an excellent built-in multi-monitor function. Programmes like Fusion Display allow you to get even more out of your multiple screens.
Many companies maintain a clean desk policy in the office, but a tidy workplace is also very useful at home if you want to get something done. Many people also forget that a cluttered virtual desktop - the one on your PC - may also result in loss of time. If it takes you a few minutes every time you need to find an application, or if you’ve got your entire desktop crammed with links to games, documents and spreadsheets, it’s easy to see how this will affect your productivity negatively. If an extra monitor is not for you, whether by choice or for budgetary reasons, there are applications like RocketDock, which will help keep your favourite applications out of sight, but within reach. You might also opt for a programme like Dexpot, allowing you to add up to three additional desktops, each of which can be designed with its own functionality.
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policy & processes
Homeworking
Tip 5: Remote Management A volcano erupts on Iceland? Sometimes while you are away from home, you still need access to important files on your computer. There are more and more free applications that allow you to make a secure connection remotely, allowing you to transfer a file or solve long-distance ICT problems. Of all the programmes that PC Magazine recently reviewed, LogMeIn and TeamViewer came off as the best. Such applications are also gaining ground in the business world, although ICT managers are often wary of them, because of security concerns.
Tip 6: Optimal Internet Tip 3: Beware multitasking This tip actually applies anywhere; it’s just that the risk of distraction by family, pets or the postman is often greater at home than at work. Therefore, avoid multitasking, but instead set up defined periods for each task. For true multitasking is a very rare skill. It’s recommended to close down programmes you’re not using, and only open them if an when you need them. It’s certainly crucial to dramatically reduce your e-mail usage. Reading and responding to e-mail will add up to significant time loss without you even noticing it. Better to choose three or four times a day to handle your electronic mail in batches. For those who know their way around the internet, the web app Producteev is worth a try. But that is an extra application, of course. You might just want to stick to the original plan...
Because you rely so heavily on your home internet connection while teleworking, it’s essential that your (wireless) network runs smoothly. So make sure that your computer is not too far from your wireless router, and put it, if possible, in a higher place, with the least possible obstacles for the signal. It’s also advisable to restart your modem and your router occasionally. To do this, first disconnect all computers in the house, wait a few minutes and a switch the modem and router back on again. Lastly, and certainly not lastly: make sure your wireless network is on the correct channel. Because almost everyone has a Wi-Fi connection these days, nearby networks can interfere with your signal. Real techies tackle this issue by using free tools like the inSSIDer, allowing them to select the channel with the least interference for their network.
Tip 7: Remember to take a break Tip 4: Know the power of yourmouse The mouse is the most underrated companion of the homeworker. Everybody uses them, but nobody knows all the things they can do. Dive into the manual and look up in the Windows settings how to customise the scroll wheel and click speed. But there’s more. In many applications, you can quickly adjust font size by pressing your Ctrl key while scrolling up or down. Quickly clicking three times in a row on a paragraph in a document or Web page will automatically select it in its entirety, so you can easily copy and paste text without going to too much trouble selecting it. Don’t forget the ‘mouse movement’ function of your browser, and find out which quick actions can be performed by pressing the mouse button in combination with several symbol keys. In Windows, there is even a free, handy application for this: Gmote.
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Teleworking may seem like a quiet, calm alternative to office work, but the absence of colleagues may lead some to actually work a lot harder, if only to justify their ‘home productivity’. If you do not regularly take a break to do some stretching exercises or take some fresh air, you’ll be even more exhausted at the end of the day than after a ‘regular’ office day. There are several applications that help you remember to take the eyes off the screen. Exercise Minder shows you pop-ups of useful physical exercises. The Windows/Linux application Workrave lets you set precisely how often to have a minibreak or a rest in order to avoid complications such as repetitive strain injury (RSI). Again an application that’s also handy at the office, because you can schedule installation on multiple computers simultaneously. EXPERTISE CENTER William Visterin Smart Business Strategies
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