Digitization is reshaping customer expectation from the transportation industry. The result, highly transformed interconnected supply chains, autonomous driving, increased connectivity in storage and management of goods and services across borders, and diverse mobility. The major forces driving this current disruption are the recent development of the emerging markets, accelerated rise in new sustainability policies and changing customer preferences.
Popular trends in the digital age transport
Technology integration has already fostered significant changes in the airlines, hotel, and travel companies. The automotive manufacturing sector is also gearing up for dramatic shifts that would help them to better adapt with the changing expectations of the new-age customer. Additionally, with organizations looking at transportation function as a crucial factor rather than it being just business enablers – unleashing the power of technology will help them maintain a healthy business, leverage IT investments, and innovate without disrupting themselves. In short, what these technologies will do are optimize efficiencies and enable cooperative operating models. To cite an instance, advanced technologies such as the driverless cars or the greater use of intelligent traffic management have already brought together manufacturers and others to find innovative solutions that will help improve mobility in the urban environment.
User centric solutions
Personalized services are the order of the day, challenging even the long-standing players of the industry. The demand is dynamic and to meet these challenges, both public and private transport services are offering user-centric solutions. The current pool of public transport services available uses technology to give back the power to their consumers. For example, increased mobility has given birth to multiple ride sharing models that ensure the consumer easy and sustainable transportation throughout the year.
Response in real time
The hyper-connected world demands a seamless transition which means that only with integration of transport companies can movements be as easy as possible. Interconnection of technologies will lead to creating a fluid, unified and intelligent system which can respond in real time to the demands of the traveler. However, one of the major challenges in this is to build and operate a service without making it capital or asset intensive.
Demand driven pricing
Profitability for any transportation organization is driven by the effective use of its current capacity. This means that flat-rate pricing systems will not allow fluctuations in demand, leading to chaos and loss of efficiencies. The ability to predict better and understand the traveler’s behavior by analyzing the data on customer’s travel patterns will enable intelligent approaches allowing companies to optimize its capacity accordingly. Uber and Lfyt already have a business model that adapts according to the demand of the user.
Automation and safety
One of the major reasons for the cause of injury in the transportation sector is humans. While advances in technology have definitely helped in increasing safety, automation is set to reshape the transport sector and its workforce. Automated systems come with the ability to continuously learn and adapt and take decisions in real time. Currently, the autonomous sector is based on engineering and science which is not enough to solve the complexities that exist in any mixed mode transportation. This is why cognitive technologies that offers a car that thinks and drives like a human will transform the way automated cars responds to hazards.
The disruption that we see today is just the beginning. To meet the growing urban needs, millions will be spent on improving the infrastructure. Transportation will become autonomous, intelligent, and better suited to the needs of the customer. Twenty years down the line, the increased innovation will reshape transportation sector as we know it.
Guest article written by: Aditi Biswas is the Digital Marketer at Carrybo, an online marketplace that you can use to get free quotes for your various shipping needs. A strange mashup of a baker, writer, and a marketer, in her time to spare, you will either find her penning her thoughts, reading books or just on an occasional flight of fantasy!