It is understandable that riders are currently worried but the long term benefits of public transit are great. Investment in public transit creates jobs, reduces carbon emissions, makes roads safer and improves community access to employment and socio-economic opportunities.
At Unwire we work with transit agencies and cities to help them become more sustainable and to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 11 to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
We are beginning to see the start of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the environment. During the global lockdown pollution and emission levels fell sharply to the lowest recorded levels for decades.
Who can forget the images populous industrial cities with blue skies overhead rather than grey smog? As many parts of the world are emerging from lockdown experts are predicting that air pollution and emissions will exceed post pandemic levels as people forsake public transit in favour of private cars, and driving alone, to reduce contact with others.
Greenpeace UK warns that the world has a once in a lifetime opportunity to make fundamental changes and we mustn’t squander this.
Due to the pandemic and resultant lock downs, ridership on public transit across the world is down by 50-90% and these low levels may continue if people fear returning to public transit. Despite these fears there have been few COVID-19 cases around the world associated with travel on public transit and there are many ways transit agencies can tackle these fears.
It is understandable that riders are currently worried but the long term benefits of public transit are great. Investment in public transit creates jobs, reduces carbon emissions, makes roads safer and improves community access to employment and socio-economic opportunities.
At Unwire we work with transit agencies and cities to help them become more sustainable and to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 11 to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
So how does a company like Unwire make an impact on this?
We have developed a white label mobile mobility solution which is a powerful tool for public transit agencies and cities to get riders back onto public transit and to keep them using it despite any health or safety concerns they may have.
By offering a quality mobile mobility solution transit agencies can make their riders feel more comfortable buying tickets via an app for their journeys without having to come into close contact with drivers and providers, thus reducing the risk of virus transmission to front line workers and other riders. Ticket vending machines also have a perceived risk which is mitigated by using a mobile solution.
In addition, our platform offers the opportunity for transit agencies to communicate important announcements and information to riders, an aspect which was used to its full capacity during the first few months of the pandemic by DART in Dallas. Being able to communicate delays, busy times on transit, cleaning information and other important announcements is also an essential tool in making sure more riders feel comfortable on public transit and reduces their concerns about safety.
The platform also means that riders can plan and buy tickets for their entire journey all in one app including micro mobility options, paratransit, ride share and other multimodal options so they can reduce contact with frontline transit workers and they can utilise all the transit options open to them for their complete trip.
Unwire’s mobile mobility platform is a white label solution and any transit agency large or small can get up and running rapidly with no need for huge implementation projects and without any large upfront investments. It can also save agencies money in the long term.
