Arval Mobility Observatory Newsroom

As the global pandemic ground many industries to a halt and lessened the appeal of public transport, bicycles have experienced a renaissance.

Indeed, in 2020, EU bicycle sales grew 23%, and this growth is expected to continue. Europeans are expected to buy an extra 10 million bikes per year by 2030, a 47% increase from the annual number in 2019. To sustain the two-wheel momentum, €1 bn has been invested to create 2,300km of new bike lanes across the EU.

This article explores what these new trends mean for companies and looks at the perspectives of this growing sector.

At the beginning of 2020, when fleet manager’s interviews were conducted across Europe for the last Arval Mobility Observatory fleet Barometer, the main barrier against PHEV and BEV raised by companies that were not considering implementing these alternatives was the lack of public charging points. Moreover, 2020 saw a continuing trend across Europe of increasing electrification.

At the beginning of 2021, where do we stand regarding the public charging point’s situation?

The next stop in our World Mobility Tour is in Lisbon, the 2020 European Green Capital.

Our discussion with Miguel Gaspar, the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Mobility and Safety, enables us to discover all the mobility aspects and the strategy of this city regarding the mobility topic.

For obvious reasons, 2020 was not a good year for new car registrations in Europe: plants, dealerships and service workshops forced to close due to lockdowns and other restrictions throughout the year led to an unprecedented yearly drop in passenger car demand which fell by 24.3 %  in Europe  (EU + EFTA + UK) according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).

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Today's vehicles provide an unprecedented flow of information. Sensors and other sophisticated equipment collect data enabling new mobility applications such as autonomous vehicles (AVs).

It’s fair to believe that AVs will improve road safety and offer unique mobility opportunities. But they are also vulnerable to cyberattacks, glitches and traffic hazards from other road users which will require innovative insurance products and mindset.

This video presents some risks as well as solutions to address those threats and highlights what the future of insurance could look like in an automated world.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show took place mid of January as an all-digital version for the first time in its history. No need to precise that this was due to the covid 19 pandemic.
During this event, the key trends highlighted were the following: digital transformation and digital health, robotics and drones, 5 G connectivity, vehicle technology (electrification, self-driving vehicle) and smart cities.
Our focus will be on vehicle technology, transportation, the megatrend of electrification remaining but having seen an acceleration during the pandemic in 2020.

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Innovations like the airbag, anti-lock braking and traction control have been developed to protect drivers, the passengers and pedestrians on our roads, but is this enough? As the drop in European road-users fatalities plateaus, governments and industry are breaking the mould to save lives.

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During this year, we will discover how municipalities are managing the mobility topic in their cities. What is key for them, what kind of infrastructures are developed and how they support all their changes.

We will start our World Mobility Tour with the city of Tel Aviv, the “start-up city”, which leverages its high-tech ecosystem to support its transformation. Our discussion with Meital Lehavi, the Deputy Major with responsibility for Transportation will enable us to discover all these mobility aspects and the vision of this city regarding the mobility topic.

What is a Smart City?

You will find different definitions of the concept, various Smart City indexes, and different rankings.
From a mobility perspective, a possible definition could be the following:
Thanks to data, infrastructures, connectivity and new technology, Smart Cities want to improve their residents’ quality of life (safety, security, air quality, health are examples) in a sustainable environment, offering efficient public transports, multi modal mobility and working closely with the private sector. Of course, regulations and policies are implemented in order to accommodate these changes. In France, the city of Lyon wants to exclude diesel car by 2026. In the UK, cities will ban ICE vehicles from 2030 and hybrid from 2035. All these decisions will have an impact on mobility modes in the city centers and city dwellers will have to change their habits.