The unprecedented pandemic has affected people’s socio-economic life like never. Covid-19 has infected over 50 million people worldwide. India’s GDP contracted by 23.9 per cent in Q1 of 2020-21. This makes it one of the worst-hit nations.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), Covid is likely to cost the global economy $1-2 trillion in 2020.

Transportation plays a crucial role in transferring goods from one place to another. Although every sector is impacted, we have now started commuting and adapted to the new normal with new solutions. The mobility industry was significantly affected for two quarters as there were restrictions on the movement of the people.

According to Moovit’s Public Transit Index, ridership decreased by 60-90 per cent in most major cities during lockdown.

With social-distancing norms, there is high demand for private commute. Undoubtedly, though many challenges like affordability and flexibility lie ahead, the coronavirus is accelerating some positive trends. For instance, electrification will increase in the two-wheeler segment.

Growth in personal mobility

Personal mobility will increase due to growth in last-mile delivery, ride hailing, and rentals. A lot of mobility companies offered services to frontline workers to commute during the pandemic, including delivery of essentials and medicines. Even before the pandemic, mobility companies had tied up with various State governments and metros for last-mile connectivity.

Innovative offers to provide best-in-class services have been launched by two-wheeler rental companies, which include home delivery of scooters and flexible options to use the scooter from one day to 60 days.

The advent of Industry 4.0 will play a crucial role in mobility and transportation. Rapid adoption of technology will also be reflected in the two-wheeler rental space. The integration of IoT helped in developing a human-machine interface that allows for minimum human intervention to start and stop the scooter with the help of Bluetooth.

Interconnectivity using IoT creates a network of every device equipped with smart solutions for an ecosystem of wireless connections across a facility, to work in unison. The first wave of digitisation brought revolutionary applications and technologies to mobility like one-click ride/cab booking.

Lately, innovators are working on the next wave — leveraging big data by integrating IoT to define maximum speed, locations allowed to travel, etc.

The growing trend from owning a scooter towards sharing it on a flexible need basis has helped make transportation affordable and hassle-free. This adoption was driven by cutting-edge technology developed by private companies. It has vastly improved the process of booking a rental scooter, unlocking it, riding, and returning the vehicle safely.

In the coming days, artificial intelligence and machine learning will alert a user based on current location if there is any available scooter nearby and choose a perfect scooter for his/her needs. This move will be assisted by private and public tie-ups as scooter-sharing gets integrated further into the mobility ecosystem.

A study published in the British journal Nature Climate Change states that the world decreased its carbon emissions by 17 per cent (or 17 million tonnes) in April 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Post unlock, air quality in Indian cities has started degrading rapidly again.

Self-ride two-wheeler players can play an important role in pioneering a change in mobility from fuel-based vehicles to electric vehicles to curb pollution. The government is also aggressively working towards enabling a sustainable EV infrastructure via multiple industry-friendly policies. Green mobility, pollution-free commute and low-cost scooters are clearly the future of Indian transport.

The writer is Co-founder and CEO, VOGO