Advanced Mobility Service – A last mile solution
Advanced Mobility Service (AMS) provides last-mile transportation that connects people and businesses to their final destination efficiently, conveniently, and cost-effectively by providing on-demand ride-sharing services available through an easy-to-use online platform, mobile app, and text messaging service.
Founded in 2015 in the Washington D.C. area as ZipTrip, AMS has rapidly expanded into cities across the United States, including Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Austin, TX; Detroit, MI; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Charlotte NC; Tampa Bay FL and more!
Understanding The Last Mile Problem
The last mile of a public transportation system refers to that final leg from a bus or train stop to one’s home or office. This final leg is typically covered by car, bike, foot, or mass transit. In general, it can be considered as any means of transportation used to traverse those last few miles of a journey (source).
The problem occurs when attempting to move people from a mass transit station to their intended destination in an efficient manner. Public transportation exists solely for its ability to alleviate traffic congestion and pollution on our roads and highways. However, if there is no way for people who need to go three blocks away to get home easily and efficiently, then the whole purpose of bringing them into town on public transportation in the first place has been defeated.
What Is Advanced Mobility Service (AMS)?
Advanced mobility service (AMS) is a technology-based transportation system designed to help move people and goods in areas where public transit options are lacking. It enables customers to order rides using their smartphones, with both driver and vehicle dispatched via GPS for immediate pick up.
Riders pay per trip, without any long-term contracts or membership fees, at rates comparable to those of taxis and other personal transit options. AMS service includes an on-demand network of vehicles that can include wheelchair accessible vans or smaller vehicles like sedans and SUVs, depending on riders’ needs; these vehicles come equipped with commercial insurance policies that provide peace of mind for riders who may be unfamiliar with navigating local roads. The cost per mile can be less than half that charged by taxi companies.
Benefits Of Advanced Mobility Service (AMS)
AMS is designed to provide efficient last-mile transportation. It can be used to move people, goods and/or parcels between a transport hub (e.g., rail, ferry or airport) and their final destination. AMS allows businesses to gain access to customers, employees and vendors that are within a 2km radius of a transport hub but which have been previously unattainable due to inaccessibility by traditional forms of public transportation.
Customers, employees and vendors that currently use private vehicle for transportation within urban centres could replace part of their existing travel with shared rides using AMS as it will take them from home directly to their final destination where they would normally take separate means of transit such as buses or trains. Additionally, customer travel times between transport hubs and destinations would be reduced since they do not need to worry about first getting to an on-route stop where they then transfer onto another mode of transit.
Challenges In Advanced Mobility Services
Advanced mobility services can improve road traffic and increase driver safety, but they are hamstrung by current technology and lack of automation. Current drivers must manually control their vehicles to avoid collisions with other vehicles and pedestrians.
Software/technology is developing rapidly, however, and will soon enable real-time vehicle management that can make advanced mobility services more affordable and efficient. Advancements in sensors, radars, cameras and communications devices have enabled connected car services such as Apple CarPlayTM and Google’s Android AutoTM.
Connected cars allow for autonomous driving capabilities; in time, it could become possible for a single human driver to safely pilot multiple cars simultaneously from a single dashboard display. The most immediate obstacle facing connected car software development is privacy protection: who owns data generated by personal car use?
Use Cases For Advanced Mobility Services
City living is increasingly dynamic, with new jobs and businesses popping up while others go out of business and close down. That makes transportation in city centres challenging: How do you get to your neighbourhood store when it’s shut down? And how can we expand access to essential services, like healthcare or education, when they aren’t in our immediate neighbourhoods?
Advanced mobility services address these issues. Advanced mobility refers to last-mile solutions for transportation. Last-mile solutions allow citizens of densely populated areas to travel between their homes and large bus stops or major subway stations that have multiple lines.
There are a number of effective advanced mobility solutions, including paratransit services using small buses designed for people with disabilities, as well as demand-responsive transit—vanpooling or carpooling based on community needs.
