TECAPSY - Trans European car-pooling and parking systems

Transcription

1 TECAPSY - Trans European car-pooling and parking systems M. Attane, I. Garcia2, J. Marthez2, J, Papi IERF, Belgium. 2SICE, Spain. Abstract TECAPSY is a market validation project co-funded by the European Commission in the framework of the TEN-telecom programme. The objectives of the project are 1) to prove that the carpooling in combination with parking incentives is a viable business case with a huge dormant market, and 2) to prepare everything for the market deployment of the services. Several partners are involved in the project representing the key actors for the future services deployment: system supplier, system integrators, legal experts, dissemination professionals and obviously representatives of several European cities with high road traffic problems. After one year of work, the project has achieved a good degree of results, The most relevant success is the involvement of the public administrations and the development of Local Urban Transport Plans interest for carpooling as a transport mean. Nevertheless, there is still hard work to be done: the users behaviour must be addressed via a good and efficient communication platform taking into account the combination of cat-pooling with parking incentives. 1 Introduction TECAPSY is a market validation project in the framework of the European Union s TEN-Telecom programme that addresses the road transport problems as consequence of the continuous traffic growth and the private car usage in solo driving,

2 The solution underlying the project is the promotion of the car-pooling in combination with parking incentives. The car-pooling (car sharing in England) is a transport concept whereby a car driver (owner) agrees to make its vehicle available to alien passengers with similar travel demands. Several are the experiences that can be found in Europe (Leeds, Brussels, Salzburg, Pilsen, Bern, Yverdon, Graz, Rotterdam, Madrid, Stuttgart, etc.) and in the United States (www,rides.erg) to organise car-pooling and to incentive it mainly by High Occupancy Lanes. However, the efforts of the public administrations are usually promoting the pooling of travelers by means of collective public transport (trains, trams, metros, busses) and very little has been done to systematically motivate private drivers to team up. In addition, the success of an organised car-pooling system requires a certain amount of users (critical mass) that guarantees the ride to a user that demands it with a certain (known) period of time in advance. To reach this critical mass, it is a matter of change of behaviour with no preliminary guarantee of success in the ride, we can call itjffi~h or big and worih incentives. TECAPSY opts for this last option. 2 Background TECAPSY was created to answer the need of analysing the viability and validating the market of several services conceived in a previous RTD project (CARPLUS) co-funded by the Directorate General XIII - Telematics of the European Commission. The three services that were created as result of CARPLUS were: An electronic ride share system that ensures the pooling of drivers and passengers for a given journey ( click+call+pool - current e-carpooling corn). Once a new user subscribes, he can enter the system either to offer seats or to demand passenger seats, either for regular or occasional trips. The system, under request, provides an automatic matching between the offer and the demand and provides to both matched users the information they need to get in touch and to share the ride. 9 An electronic market place for information on parking space availability at privileged places (parkings, restricted areas, etc.), at events (fairs, concerts, etc.) and for renting (at least one hour) in advance ( {click+park current i- parking corn). In this system, the exchange of data is not between the passenger and the driver to share a trip but between the owner of the parking space and the driving car-pooler to share a parking space, A virtual mobility centre that 1) provides the integration in the net of the access to the two previous services, and 2) is a portal for traffic and mobility information ( corn). Two main ideas surround these services and cannot be forgotten implementing the services: while

3 The combination of the three services, mainly the combination of the two first services, makes carpooling less a matter ofjaith and more a matter of convenience. CarPooling without parking incentives will hardly succeed and is likely to never reach the critical mass. The three services have to be developed centrally (one system running) but deployed de-centrally (according to the specific characteristics of each site and the local promotional and operative requirements). The three services were developed in Switzerland where they have reached a fairly good rate of utilisation. However, to implement carpooling as a para-public transport mean in a trans- European scale, a European market validation and the elaboration of a Business Plan with a European perspective was required. TECAPSY in the framework of the TEN-telecom program is a Feasibility and Market Validation project aiming at answering this need. 3 Goals and objectives It is depicted from the previous chapters that the aim of TECAPSY aim in the short-term is to prepare the market introduction of e-carpooling services in combination with i-parking and a virtual mobility centre as innovative services for the mobility of people in Europe. Accordingly, TECAPSY Consortium is setting up a Master Business Plan (MBP) that will be used as guidelines for any city that can be interested in the implementation of TECAPSY S services into the framework of their transport plan, It requires a previous analysis of all the aspects that affect the business model (i.e. user needs, organisational, technical, legal, marketing and financial). This MBP will remain general and flexible so that it can be applied to any city with only very brief modifications. Thus, the MBP is being adapted to and validated in four different European sites: Alicante, Gloucester, Hannover and Grenoble. The idea behind this effort is that a Preliminary Business Plan helps these four cities to elaborate Specific Sites Business Plans that at the same time feedback the Final Master Business Plan to make it easily adaptable to any site, In the meantime, the required analysis and preliminary actions that these sites are undertaking help to: Design a common communication platform for the promotion of the services defining the aspects that can remain general and those that must keep a local perspective. 9 Establish the general legal framework for the operation of the services and for solving the problems in the relationship between the different categories of users, as well as, identi& potential national problems. Identify the general problems and solutions for the market introduction, As a result it is expected that the grounds for a truly trans-european sustainable para-public service can be ploughed. Today this result is in its way. Looking fimther in the titure, TECAPSY will constitute the basis for:

4 836 1//[.$mtdimiblc) ( ill II Establishing carpooling (in combination with parking incentives) as a viable para-public transport service, The solution to more mobility wilh less Irafic, Deploy carpooling on a trans-european basis as a contribution to more efficient, sustainable and intelligent urban mobility. 4 The project TECAPSY started in January 2001 and will end in June We are therefore in the project s final spinning. Brief references to the partners, the work-plan and the state of achievement are given in the following chapters. 4.1 TECAPSY partners The TECAPSY Consortium is constituted by partners that provide specific knowledge on different aspects during the life of the project and for the analysis of the business case. They also represent the agents that are needed for the market deployment of the services. Partner S1( E (Sfraiu) all mobik.rom A(J (Switzerlnrrd) Fidsd (France) ERF (Belgium] Ihiversity of AIicarste (Spain) GJmswster (Great Britain) Harrnover (Germany) Grenoble (France) Role during full market Role during market deployment Acquisition of regions and sites System integration Plans on new mobility services TratNc simulations Sell the system Projectleader validation Advise the sites on the system architecture and on the steps to implement the services Acquisition of regions and sites Prepare systems for initial market Deliver system turn-key or deployment system components in compli~ce Advise on the ~aptati~n of tie Bp with site requests to the sites needs Run central database where Assist in defining the required communications means and coordinate it with the sites invoived Help to implement communication strategy Set up the correspondent legal Check out legal issues per site and t%msework amend central legal framework. Acquisition of regions and sites PR and lobby for the services Communication to the various authorities involved Application of the service in a pilot environment at an early stage Intends to proceed with employerslcommuters first mainly regarding the commutation based on rurallurbao environment Wants to gear up integrating the services into the mobility offerings in connection with the traffic to the fairs Will incentive commuters by addressing parking schemesaswell

5 4,2 TECAPSY work plan Th.susl(/i/7, [h/c ( i{j // 837 The activities envisioned in the project s work-plan to achieve the overall objectives of TECAPSY are grouped under four main tasks. These tasks are very interrelated allowing a feedback loop. A. Master B.P. B. Adaptations to the sites needs. Site-specific B,P. 4 C. Market validation & preparation of initial market deployment (per site) J D, Feedback - refinements Establishing a Master Business Plan (BP) As stated before, one of the main results of the project will be a Master Business Plan (MBP) to be used as guidelines for any city interested in TECAPSY services implementation within the framework of their transport plan and that requires a previous analysis of the business model applied to their own site. To achieve a flexible and global MBP, this phase of the project will be featured by: An analysis of users requirements and sites needs in terms of transport, mobility, and parking availability for each city involved in the project. An analysis of the market surrounding the three intended services (the services, the users, the intermediaries, the promoters, the financia~ framework, the risks and dependencies, the social and economical impacts, the marketing, etc.) from a general perspective and for each site characteristics (Site Specific Business Plans). Elaboration of a coherent communication and promotion platform that 1) considers the marketing of the services from a European perspective and 2) results in a common solution for the services image to be applied in a European scale. This will require taking into consideration the specific solutions for the specific problems of promotion in each site, to be generalised for all the similar situations in Europe.

6 8 Analysis of the legal problems and establishment of a contractual framework giving solution to the relationships among operators, users, license problems, etc. Provision of legal advice to the sites involved in the project, studying their specific legal frameworks, To make this MBP accessible to any city interested in the implementation of the TECAPSY services, the MBP will be a public document available on the professional/commercial project website ( Anyone interested will be able to download its summary. The whole MBP will be provided under request, Site-specific business plans Before starting the market validation phase some tailor-made adaptations in the master business plan are being carried out for each site. These sites business plans will allow: 0 to acquire the experience that the Consortium needs to identifi which are the specific characteristics that the sites need to take into consideration, to provide feedback to the Master Business Plan, so that it becomes as general and flexible as needed Market validation The other main result of the project is the market validation for the intended services and the preparation of their future deployment. In this sense, all the activities preparing a smooth initial market deployment will be undertaken, leading to a good establishment of the services within (public) transport offers. Two different scenarios for validation are conceived within the project. In Alicante, a real field trial will be carried out. In the other sites, the market validation will be more conceptual and the objective is to leave all the relevant aspects ready for the future initial market deployment when the respective cities are ready to host the services. 4,2.4 Feedback: refinement of the business plans As a result of the consolidated market validations, both the master business plan and the site business plans will be improved to arrive at an even better starting point for further sites all over Europe and to more realistic site plans for actual market deployment. 4.3 The field trials The specific activities to achieve the market validation in Gloucester, Grenoble and Hannover are being defined within the framework of the project. Indeed, each site will have to consider their actual situation on transport and the interest of the transport authorities.

7 In the case of Alicante s field trial, a draft of the activities involved in the launch and execution of the trial is given below. Preparation of the promotion of the field trial: establishment of relationships with the responsible bodies of the University to obtain the required permissions for an official promotion and design and elaboration of the PR elements to be used in the promotion campaign (brochures, posters, discounts, parking space availability study, etc.). A help desk office will be available. m Promotion campaign: one month before the launch of the field trial the promotion campaign will start. All the PR elements will be widely spread through the University and several communication channels (press, radio, university organisations meetings, etc.) will advertise the services. Design of the trials: the terms in which the field trial is going to be operated have to be set up. Thus, the system will be made accessible to any student and any staff member who is interested. The registration will be via web or call center (office helpdesk). The user will chose the way of receiving the information (phone, mail or SMS) for both users to get in touch and fix the details (meeting place, meeting time, etc.). Launch of the trials: during the field trials operative, all the relevant data for usability, effectiveness, comfortability, etc. of the services will be acquired. Analysis of results: The attractiveness and usefulness of the services will be evaluated by measuring the users benefiting from the service and the improvement of the traffic surrounding the campus and the parking problems. 5 Interim results The results obtained so far (up to beginning of February) in TECAPSY are focused on the conclusion of all the preliminary analysis (general and in each site) on the aspects that affect to the business model. For further results as the project advances please visit the TECAPSY web sites: belprojectslpr TECAPSY.htm and The work done on the identification of the user and site requirements provides the Consortium with a deep understanding on the mobility problem, on the system s expectations and on the implementation and integration of the services within different urban transport plans. The results are as follows: e The description of the services from a general-commercial perspective. b The identification of scenarios to apply the services interconnectivity. o The identification of requirements for the services interoperability in a trans-european dimension. In each city involved in the project, a deep analysis of the market has been carried out, obtaining a clear comprehension of the TECAPSY business case: Users: definition of the market segments. * Intermediaries: identification and definition of roles. * Competition and market share: identification of the interaction with usual means of transport as main aspect to be considered on the market share,

8 Marketing strategy: emphasis on the marketing to specific segments and on the communication channels and messages to communicate. Promoters: comprehension the key actors involved in the deployment and operation of the services, identification and definition of roles. Organisation, operation and development of the system both in the validation and in the deployment phase: work split among the promoters, identification of constant development needs. First approach of the financial considerations in a general basis, fee;back from the sites analysis is to be incorporated: start up plan, model of revenues, investment needs, sales forecast, profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet for initial deployment, break even point. 9 Analysis of the most relevant risks and dependencies and definition of measures to face them: regulatory issues, property rights, critical mass, end user s behaviour, technological changes. Identification and characterisation of impacts: socio-economic, environmental, citizen s safety and traffic improvement. The work is now more focused on the promotional communication. So far, the Consortium has carried out a deep analysis of the existing PR materials used for the communication and the marketing of similar services to TECAPSY S and, on this ground, has built up the general TECAPSY S communication strategy. The cities are providing their specifications for the adaptation of the strategy to their own characteristics. The achievement ofa common image and a common message is in its way. In the field of the legal aspects, the Consortium has developed a common agreement on the organisational aspects. The framework for the services operation is conceived (problems identified and solutions proposed). All the results mentioned are being integrating in Alicante s field trial to be launched in March. The results expected from the field trial will be the final inputs for the MBP and the Sites Business Plan that are envisioned. Besides, the dissemination tasks largely circulated TECAPSY effort which is now seen has a good known idea among the most relevant institutions in the field of transport. However, the most important result of TECAPSY is that the sites involved in the project have achieved a very high degree of involvement of their respective public administrations so that carpooling is becoming a transport mean integrated in their Local Urban Transport Plans. This outcome makes TECAPSY worth to exist from a perspective of the achievement of an effective and sustainable mobility. 6 Conclusions TECAPSY is a market validation project co-funded by the European Commission in the framework of the TEN-telecom programme that aims in a first approach to prepare the market introduction for a system that facilitates

9 carpooling, The need of carpooling to get a critical mass of users to succeed requires combining it with a group of incentives (mainly privileges in parking) that motivate users, in terms of commodity, to become car-poolers, In the long-term run, TECAPSY aims at integrating the services in the cities overall mobility plans as another para-public transport mean, Many steps towards have been given: the business case is almost defined and stated as viable, the field trial that will be part of the validation phase is to be launched and a common image and a common agreement for the operation of the system when deployment has been achieved. However the most important issue that TECAPSY is making real is the involvement of the public administrations and awakening of the interest of the Local Urban Transport Plans for the carpooling as a transport mean. Not only users need to have incentives but also city authorities need to promote the services if they are to become a contribution to the solution of the solo-driving traffic and to the development of a sustainable city in terms of transport. And TECAPSY isstarting to make it a fact,