Is the private car now obsolete? In Chile, the trend says yes

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

“Sharing about having will be the key to the world of the future. And that includes mobility,” says Joaquín Nawrath, Co-Founder of Awto, the largest 'carsharing' company in Chile and the second in Latin America.

Nawrath, along with other entrepreneurs and academics in innovative and sustainable transport, was talking about shared mobility and digital platforms at the Latam Mobility Summit 2020 in Chile.

The trend, among businessmen and experts in the field, points to that: mobility in cities is calling into question the need to have a private car for individual use. The game, now, goes for 'carpooling' (sharing with others a journey in the same car, as is Uber Pool) and for 'carsharing' (renting a car for periods of time).

'Carsharing' Joaquín Nawrath, Co-Founder of Awto:

How did the app come about?

We launched it when we were in college, we strengthened it four years ago and a year and a half ago we reached the current version. We started with the idea of ​​carpool and today we offer the service for taxis and school transport. We have technical support for all these media. What we do is connect the one who needs the transfer to a provider that can give it through an efficient and secure platform.

How did you consolidate the model for taxis?

Collective taxis exist here in Chile and are regulated. They are formal taxis that have an established route and that many passengers can get on that route. Together with a business partner, we develop Collective Taxi, an app for them to connect with their passengers.

What results have they had in this first year and a half?

We have more than 200,000 downloads of the app. We are monitoring the origins and destinations and are very well distributed throughout the city. Regardless of income level, it is being used at all social levels. The strongest case of use during the week is the trip to work or study. We cover the sporadic or frequent long-distance trip within the city.

What are the benefits in terms of mobility and the economy?

Users save 40 percent on their transport times compared to others

modes. And drivers save money because they share that expense with passengers. On the other hand, we are decreasing the amount of travel needed to move the same people. That implies that there are fewer vehicles circulating. Therefore, congestion, pollution and transportation costs decrease. It is good, even for those who do not know that carpooling exists.

What references of these practices are there in the world?

Europe. People already have it very incorporated. And it is that the apps allow to lift the barriers of the notion of insecurity that all this gives: it is normal for one to say I do not upload any to my car’, but with the information, it is another matter.

The lack of regulation or late regulation has affected these platforms in the case of Colombia, do you have the same problem here?

Here is a bill that seeks to regulate the operation of paid passenger transport apps. It is informally known as Uber law. My criticism, in particular, is that the bill is very unclear in what is the definition of paid transport and, therefore, creates confusion. Paid is different from paid. In our case nobody is paying the other, we are dividing the expenses or reimbursing them, but it is not generating a profit. So that part complicates and confuses us. People are not sure what can be done or not and we are waiting for that to be clarified.

How have you guaranteed the security of your service?

The person can validate the profile of their counterpart. We have a set of super-strong validations that users can complete. It is not an obligation to do so, but it is recommended because we show the other one what completed his counterpart. Anyway, we invite people to use their common sense. We have not had any cases of crime or harassment.

Did the social protest and the mobility crisis in Santiago de Chile impact your business?

Yes and for good. After the outbreak, many people have affected the way they moved. The uncertainty was very high and there were people who had no way to return home in the afternoon. We saw it as a window to offer you this safe option.

'Carpooling ’ Bernardo Bacigalupo, Co-founder of All Ride:

How did Awto come about?

It is the first carsharing app in Chile. We started in June 2016 with 50 vehicles in about 20 parking points in the eastern sector of Santiago, and after three and a half years of operation, there are already more than 300 cars, more than 35,000 active users on the platform, more than 400 daily trips. Our users use it to go to work and they are men over 30 (years old) who realized that personal vehicle ownership was bad business for their personal economy.

You mentioned in a conference that the individual car is obsolete, why?

It is proven that the vehicle is only occupied at 5 percent of the day and more than 95 percent of the time is parked. Enfrascarse an investment as large as a vehicle, to have it so much time wasted, in the end, is a huge accumulation of expenses for something you do not need. In the region it is a cultural aspect to have a car, it is like the extension of your home.

In Awto we are trying to change that cultural switch and make people see that the vehicle is 5 tons of iron that you do not need to have, but that you can use through the internet of things technology: with an app, you can activate the car and use it at that time you need.

Is shared mobility today?

The collaborative economy is the concept that is revolutionizing the market and without a doubt for us it is the economy of the future. Why have something that I don't need to have all the time. Sharing about having will be the key to this world. Solutions of electric skateboards or shared bikes, mobility platforms and similar businesses are going to make the movement much more friendly in cities. All using the infrastructure we already have.

What has been the response of people in Chile?

People appreciate it and find it innovative. There is little knowledge of carsharing in Latin America, although it exists in the world for 20 years. This is the democratization of a car when a person needs it.

In Colombia there are obstacles to these business models, what do you think is the problem?

It is the delay we have with Europe in all areas. There things work and take off. Everything comes to Latin America a few years later. I would love to see that reforms and public policies related to transport were equally effective. We would like to grow faster, but there is ignorance in both people and local governments. It seems that it is something of our culture to be reactive in the background. When you see that something works, you have to copy and imitate it, but we are not updated on the fly or in our context.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.