On March 1, Allianz hosted the Explorer Micro-Conference in Mexico City. A panel of mobility experts and entrepreneurs discussed the role of new technology and sustainable innovations to transform urban mobility in Mexico City. The panel, composed of Xavier Treviño, CEO and founder of Centrico, Eugenio Riveroll, CEO and Co-founder of Sin Tráfico, Ricardo Weder, Global President of Cabify and Luis Bosch, CEO of Allianz Partners Mexico agreed that while the city´s mobility offer had already transformed significantly over the past decade, the focus on individual car transport at public and private level still posed a fundamental and growing problem.
Riveroll and Treviño agree that it is less the technology but its´ lack of implementation that slows down progress. Riveroll, whose Sin Tráfico is a technology startup that uses big data and mobility analytics for private and public sector, says “we are still making decisions today with very old data, but the data is out there, we could be making better decisions”.
Treviño, an expert in planning and design of sustainable urban mobility projects sees that “we put a lot of resources in developing technology but we don´t put a lot of resources into how to use it”. Treviño sees alternatives in local and society-based approaches even more than in technology itself: “Here, we have strong empathy and strong social networks and we should use our advantages and (..) not copy solutions from other cities”.
Weder and Bosch both iterate that a culture shift, awareness and education will help the current road situation but it will take less cars on the road to create relevant alleviation of the problem. Cabify, of which Weder is Global President, offers vehicles for hire and is part of the rapidly expanding sharing economy in Mexico and Latin America. Effectively, the company works to “reduce the need to own and buy a car”, Weder states.
Luis Bosch of Allianz Partners describes that among the many problems created by lengthy commutes on an individual level, “on a company level, lengthy commutes account for attrition and jeopardize business continuity”. Bosch has introduced models that eliminate the need to commute altogether as the company counts with 20% of call center employees working from home. Weder and Bosch discuss the option of creating Cabify flatrates for employees instead of offering company cars.
While the details of their solutions differed, all panelist and moderator Rasmus Nutzhorn agreed that the epic traffic problem and its detrimental effects on the environment and road safety; on health and economic growth could only be properly addressed through collaboration of the public and private sector, of individuals and groups.
